Posted by John Preston on Jul 11th, 2009
I remain a big fan of the all of the C.S.I. franchises, but sometimes I think they really should be labeled Sci-Fi.
In the episode titled "Collateral Damage", the crew led by Horatio Cane is trying to track down the photographer who took a particular photo of some suspects. They were at a dead-end until one of the lab guys suggested they could identify the make and model of the camera that took the photograph by analyzing the photos pixel pattern. He said that every make and model of camera created a very distinct pixel pattern; he compared it to [...] Continue Reading…
Posted by John Preston on Jul 11th, 2009
Regular readers of these posts will recognize a common theme that takes place nowadays in some of the most popular TV shows. I like to call it the "Let’s take a little bit of theoretical science and make it reality" theme. The latest practitioner of this theme is Grey’s Anatomy.
I have to admit, I hesitated to write this one. It meant I would have to admit that I watched the show. I’ll use my wife as an excuse. She loves it and I just watch to fit in. 
In the episode "What a Difference a Day Makes", Izzie becomes convinced [...] Continue Reading…
Posted by John Preston on Jul 10th, 2009
We Call Bull!!! This is a case where the writers of CSI Miami took some legitimate theoretical science and ran with it.
Here’s the setup… Eric Delko (one of the CSI’s) is about to be deported because some documents showed up that indicated he wasn’t a US citizen. Earlier in the show, Eric supposedly Russian father had lost a tooth that have been recovered by the CSI team. They ground up the tooth and determined the level of particular oxygen isotope in the enamel. Using a map that showed the level of this isotope in the atmosphere at [...] Continue Reading…
Posted by John Preston on Jul 9th, 2009
WeCallBull is designed for the intelligent consumer of modern pop culture. Every time we watch a TV show, kick back for a movie, or open the pages of a book we accept the fact that we’re going to have to suspend our disbelief a little to enjoy the experience. It’s only natural. For some genres, we’re willing to suspend that disbelief significantly. For others not so much. What may be perfectly acceptable in a science fiction movie might seem ludicrous is a documentary. A fan of Lost, for example, is intrigued by the idea of a smoke monster terrorizing [...] Continue Reading…
