WALL-E

in Edward Gomez, James Smythe, Piers Horner, Robert Simpson, Science or Fiction by Rob on April 3rd, 2009

WALL-E is an animated Pixar film about robots in love, and what happens to Earth when we abandon it. But is the science quotient more like a fresh young sapling that saves the planet, or is it just a load of old rubbish? more

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Watchmen

in Edward Gomez, James Smythe, Piers Horner, Robert Simpson, Science or Fiction by Rob on March 7th, 2009

Watchmen is thought of as the first major graphic novel, a compenium of the 12 comics written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons.  It’s about a bunch of superheroes in an alternative 1985, and is filled with science.  But who watches the Watchmen’s science quotient?

DISCLAIMER: We apologise for the poor sound quality in this episode. We were unable to record in the studio and the room we ended up in turned out to be wholly unsuitable for podcast recording. That said, we feel there is enough interesting content in this edition to still place it up for download.

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Iron Man

in Edward Gomez, James Smythe, Piers Horner, Robert Simpson, Science or Fiction by Rob on February 25th, 2009

Iron Man, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, is the story of Tony Stark, a wealthy industrialist/arms dealer who, after a nasty accident, ends up using a fantastical metal suit to battle crime.  But as a piece of Science, is it more like finding Gwyneth Paltrow as a PA, or like having the disembodied voice of Paul Bettany charting your every move more

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Event Horizon

in Edward Gomez, James Smythe, Piers Horner, Robert Simpson, Science or Fiction by Rob on December 19th, 2008

The film tells the story of the Lewis & Clark, a ship sent into deep space to search for the thought-lost Event Horizon, a space ship that was capable of super-fast interstellar travel due to its ability to generate black holes, and travel through them. When the ship is found, the Lewis & Clark’s crew - which features Lawrence Fishburne, Joely Richardson and the perennially-dying-in-sci-fi-films Sean Pertwee - are all killed off in gruesome ways by some unnamed power in the black hole that possesses the body of their ship-mate, Sam Neill (the man responsible for the technology).

So, it’s set in space and features black holes, but as a piece of science is it more like an experiment that betters mankind and helps them travel to the furthest reaches of the galaxy in the name of science, or is it like being kicked across a pool of blood by a naked Sam Neill?

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InnerSpace

in Edward Gomez, James Smythe, Piers Horner, Robert Simpson, Science or Fiction by Rob on December 11th, 2008

Synopsis: Innerspace tells the tale of an experimental procedure to shrink a human being and a small vehicle to a size where they could enter the bloodstream of a rabbit.  The experiment goes awry, and the soldier - played by Dennis Quaid - ends up being injected into Martin Short. Together they attempt to overcome a number of obstacles - a bad doctor with a British accent, a wealthy landowner, a Russian cowboy played by Star Trek: Voyager’s Doctor - and try to find a way to restore Dennis Quaid to his normal size.

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Minority Report

in Edward Gomez, James Smythe, Piers Horner, Robert Simpson, Science or Fiction by Rob on December 7th, 2008

Synopsis: Minority Report is the story of John Anderton, a policeman (played by Tom Cruise) in Future-Washington DC’s Pre-crime unity. In Pre-crime they predict the crimes that will occur and stop them before they happen, ably aided by three bald mutants named after crime fiction writers. When Anderton pops up as a future murderer, he goes on the run in an attempt to clear his name, escape the law, and try to stop the murder he’s seen predicted from ever happening. But is the science in the film equivalent to a think-tank of geniuses predicting what is going to happen, or is it a big bath full of photon milk? Here, in the pilot episode of Science Or Fiction, three scientists and a layman attempt to decide.

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