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: 65

The Science in The Fiction
Podcast Episodes
Marty and Holly on Brain Uploads in ‘The Terminal Experiment’ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:06
Marty and Holly discuss Robert J. Sawyer's Nebula Award-winning book The Terminal Experiment. We talk about the possibility of uploading our minds into computers and/or replicating our physical brains, and think our way…
Robert J. Sawyer on Solar Physics in 'The Oppenheimer Alternative' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:13
Marty and Holly sit down with Canadian science fiction superstar Robert J. Sawyer to talk about his book The Oppenheimer Alternative. Robert tells us how he spun the mistaken prediction of the sun’s temperature by Hans B…
Marty and Holly Introduce The Sci in The Fi [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:37
Marty and Holly describe what we'd like to do in this podcast. We will talk to science fiction authors and scientists about topics in both hard and soft science fiction, from both the hard and soft sciences. Our conversa…