There's tons of wearable tech in Star Wars! Luke has a prosthetic hand and Darth Vader is more machine than man. How does that technology integrate into their bodies and minds? Benajmin Smarr shares his insights from researching health technology that helps people understand the patterns our bodies go through. He also speculates about projects he'd pursue if he was a professor in the Star Wars galaxy - including whether Jedi's midichlorian count changes are they age, train, or even just don't sleep well. We also get into women's reproductive health. How could Padme's pregnancy with twins have gone overlooked? Here on Earth, why are there still so many mysteries surrounding the female body? We also tackle circadian rhythms and (just weeks into daylight savings time) ponder how so many species from hundreds of planets manage to adjust to a standard time.

Check out the Smarr Lab's website for tons more info about his research projects and publications.

Book recommendations by Benjamin about circadian rhythm: Satchin Panda's "The Circadian Code" and "The Inner Clock" by Lynne Peeples.

Learn more about UCSD's Center for Microbiome Innovation.

Listen to our feminism episode mentioned in this conversation. And also our episode about prosthetics!

You can order James's crossword puzzle book now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads!

Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!

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Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.

Dr. Wendy Bohon joins us this month to discuss how life might begin and be sustained on planets in a galaxy far, far away. The answer is earthquakes! Or are they called Tatooine-quakes and Hoth-quakes? We dive into Naboo's watery core and discuss whether Mustafar was the right place to build an evil lair. And of course we get in to the Death Star's ability to destroy planets. Alderaan is in pieces but what happened during the tests on Jedha and Scarif?

Follow Wendy on YouTube, Instagram, BlueSky, and other social media sites. And check out her website!

Learn more about the Cave of the Crystals Wendy mentions, that reminds her of Crait and the crystal foxes!

If you can't get enough geology talk, give our debut episode (from 2021!) a listen. We also talked more about Mustafar in our Revenge of the Sith panel at Star Wars Celebration 2025.

You can order James's crossword puzzle book now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads!

Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!

Follow us on BlueSky and Instagram or join our Facebook fan group!

Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.

Giraffe joins us to talk about her early introduction to languages with Stargate and The Mummy. She explains the difference between scripts and languages. She also answers important questions like: Does Yoda talk that way just to be different? and Why does anyone hang out with C-3PO? We also get into the inevitable discussion of AI's role in translating and understanding ancient languages and scripts, as well as how the Empire removing people from their individual cultures comes straight from the colonizer's playbook.

Check out Giraffe on the Star Trek podcast Strange New pod, which is live every Thursday at 6:30pm Pacific time! And find her on Instagram and BlueSky!

We mentioned some relevant past episodes during this discussion: check out our languages episode with David Peterson, who created languages for Game of Thrones, Marvel movies, and more, and our anti-fascism episode with historian and author Chris Kempshall.

You can order James's crossword puzzle book now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads!

Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!

Follow us on BlueSky and Instagram or join our Facebook fan group!

Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.