William Bains on Dark Ecology in 'Shroud'

William Bains on Dark Ecology in 'Shroud'

Author: Marty Kurylowicz and Holly Carson October 14, 2025 Duration: 57:27
Marty speaks with biochemist and astrobiologist William Bains on the topic of Dark Ecology, as a final chapter to our 4 previous episodes on this topic with Chris Beckett (Ep 56), Julius Csotonyi (Ep 57-58) and Adrian Tchaikovsky (Ep 59). Dr. Bains is the author of “The Cosmic Zoo: Complex Life on Many Worlds”, and has earned degrees from the universities of Oxford, Warwick and Stanford, and has held positions at the University of Bath, MIT, Imperial College London, and in addition to f...

Ever wonder how close that far-future technology in your favorite novel really is, or what a biologist thinks about the alien ecosystems a writer dreams up? That’s the space where The Science in The Fiction lives. Hosted by Marty Kurylowicz and Holly Carson, this series bridges two worlds that often talk past each other. Each episode begins with a conversation with a science fiction author, pulling apart the big ideas and speculative concepts woven into their work. Then, they bring a scientist or expert into the studio to examine those same ideas through the lens of current research and theory. The real magic happens when these perspectives collide, creating a genuine dialogue. You’ll hear a physicist geek out over warp drive mechanics with an author who just wrote about them, or an ethicist debate artificial consciousness with the novelist who imagined it. It’s not just about fact-checking fiction; it’s about using narrative to ask better questions and using science to deepen our sense of wonder. This podcast operates on a simple, powerful belief: that science fiction can make science more compelling and accessible, and that solid science can, in turn, inspire more thoughtful and visionary stories. If you’ve ever finished a brilliant sci-fi book and immediately fallen down a research rabbit hole, this show feels built for you. Tune in for conversations that are as insightful about human creativity as they are about quantum mechanics or xenobiology, all designed to fuel your curiosity.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

The Science in The Fiction
Podcast Episodes
Julius Csotonyi on Dark Ecology in 'Dark Eden' - Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:08
This is the second part of Marty's conversation with Julius Csotonyi about dark ecology in relation to the dark rogue world of Chris Beckett’s book 'Dark Eden'. We discuss the extraordinary existence of anoxygenic autotr…
Julius Csotonyi on Dark Ecology in 'Dark Eden' - Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:49
Julius Csotonyi is a thermal vent biologist with expertise on organisms that thrive on geothermal energy in the dark depths of the ocean where there is almost no light from the sun. He is also someone who has spent a lot…
Chris Beckett on Dark Ecology in 'Dark Eden' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:01
Holly and Marty speak with Chris Beckett about his Dark Eden trilogy, comprised of Dark Eden – which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2012, and was followed by Mother of Eden in 2015 and Daughter of Eden in 2016. Dark E…
Douglas Phillips on Extra Dimensions in 'Quantum Time' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:55
This is part 2 of Marty's conversation with Douglas Phillips about his 'Quantum' Series of hard science fiction novels. In our last episode we talked about 'Quantum Space', and this time we discuss the next two books in…
Douglas Phillips on Extra Dimensions in 'Quantum Space' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:09
This is one of those episodes that exemplifies what we try to do here on this show, going deep on some very big science ideas, and then going off the deep end to expand those ideas into the realm of fiction and making th…
Alan Smale on Lunar Warfare in 'Hot Moon' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:46
Marty talks to Alan Smale, a professional astronomer and author of hard science fiction, alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, and horror. We talk to him about his most recent book 'Hot Moon' - an alternate his…