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Pacific Rim
What: Robots! And Aliens!
Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi
Featuring guest co-host
Stephen Granade, scientist
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Stephen Granade
All about Stephen and what he’s up to: writing, speaking, Tweeting, corgies, etc.
Website | Twitter
Pacific Rim Uprising
It’s a sequel. To Pacific Rim!
IMDB
Stephen on Pacific Rim again but with more physics
Show Notes
Brain-controlled machines
Brain-machine interfaces. EEG. The advantage of the group over the individual. Humans in tandem with AI and the closing window of human cognitive superiority. Computational offloading. Wetware/hardware integration and explaining the “excessive” neural load of Jaeger drift.
Drifting
Localized neural “loops.” Neural load and body mass. Chasing the rabbit. Multiple input control vectors. Meatsack adaptations and proprioception. Human biofeedback and ambulation vs “Emergence of Locomotion Behaviours in Rich Environments”
Square-cube business
Materials and size scales and the inappropriateness of humanoid design for your giiiiiiiiiiant robots. The square cube law. Don’t forget Godzilla and King Kong!
Kaiju
Neural loads and signal speed. Central pattern generators and “butt brains” and how the dinosaurs didn’t have them. Blue ammonia heavy metal blood. Atmospheric pressures.
Jägers
Metallic construction. Irrational fear of alloys. Possible material engineering choices. Beryllium is the worst. Graphene and spraying pencils. Incentive systems for robot design. Square cube again. Density.
Power sources
The subtlety of nuclear reactors vs nuclear bombs. Orion nuclear blast spacecraft. Carl Sagan. Energy density of fuel sources. Nuclear testing for fun and profit. Playing science fast and loose.
Alien terraforming projects
Playing the looooooooong game. Statistical Great Filter analyses. Earth is a fixer-upper. Jerk bully aliens.
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