This week, a science fiction special. We find out how Star Trek can be used to teach ethics.

In just 35, 40 minutes, it introduces half of a medical ethics curriculum.

And the works of science fiction that inspired real science.

The movie Gattaca really captured thinking about the ultimate future of genetic control

seemed fantastical at the time, like impossible. Plus, in a break from all the sci-fi, we take a look at

how to get agricultural theory into the hands of farmers. This is the nature podcast for September

8th, 2016. I'm Kerry Smith. And I'm Adam Levy.

Science fiction writer H.G. Wells was born 150 years ago this month. A hundred years later and the first episode of Star Trek was aired.

What better excuses could we have for a sci-fi special?

And for our resident Treki, Shomani Bundell,

this was the perfect opportunity to revise her Star Trek trivia.

As she found out, she's not the only one studying up on the show for their

coursework. In the now 50 years since Star Trek first aired, technology has progressed

massively and many scientists and engineers have taken inspiration from Star Trek's

transporters, phasers, pads and warp engines. But science fiction has always been about much more than futuristic

technology, and researchers and educators in different fields have been making use of Star Trek

in discussions of ethics. I've always been a fan of Star Trek, partly because of my interest

in technology, but there was also all the human and what I later realized

were moral elements to the show.

Andy Lau is an associate professor of engineering at Penn State and leads a weekly seminar

that aims to get students talking about ethics.

When you're talking about ethical issues, it often helps to talk about people that are different

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