Last time we told you about a science podcast that was all about getting to the truth, now let's look at a podcast that covers the other side of science. Escape Pod is a weekly short story podcast hosted by Stephen Eley released every Thursday. The three-year-old podcast will stretch your mind with all types of sci-fi including space, time, technology, hard science, and even weird psychological science fiction. Each episode features some of the best science fiction from the present and the past with some stories from the great digests being read as well as this years Hugo nominees.

All stories come with an introduction that helps guide the listener into the work and gives fair warning to parents about the content of the work. Each episode even carries a rating similar to movies (G to R) to help determine whether you want your kids to listen. This week's PG episode features a 2008 Hugo nominee that was published in Asimov's Science Fiction short story magazine last year. The story took our minds on an Outer Limits type journey that included a main character living out the end of his life and discovering someone who may have been the reincarnation of someone very close to him.

Escape Pod is part of a network of short story podcasts including the horror podcast, Pseudopod, and the fantasy podcast, PodCastle.

Download Pod is an occasional series about our favorite podcasts. If you have suggestions for podcasts you think we should check out, let us know in the comments or via our tips page.

We'd never, ever turn down a good ghost story. Aliens, even the abducting kind (especially the abducting kind!) are incredibly cool. Still, we are pretty sure that T. Rex existed and didn't use those huge incisors for gnashing hellaciously into cantaloupes and mangoes. And we have enough acquaintances who act a little too similarly to lower primates to believe Darwin was too terribly far off.

We really dig people who can talk about the Drake Equation. We dig people who can speak articulately about science, sound extra intelligent, and still be accessible enough that we are able to follow along.

Feel the same? Check out The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. The weekly podcast is produced by the New England Skeptical Society and the James Randi Educational Foundation. Each week the panel takes on news from fringe science and takes a scientific look at controversial issues from a number of scientific fields.

Scientific podcasts are a funny thing. There are many out there that remind us way too much of our college days when we sat for two or three hours in a hot lecture hall listening to a professor full of even hotter air drone on about weather patterns. But there are gems like The Skeptic's Guide, which feel much more like you're sitting a table in a restaurant having a conversation with your smartest friends.

And these guys (and girls!) are smart. The host, Dr. Stephen Novella, is a neurologist teaching at Yale Medical School. Rebecca Watson is the resident Skepchick on the panel, and has the unique claim to fame that there's an asteroid named after her. Jay and Robert Novella are regular contributors and leaders in the New England Skeptical Society. And the weekly guest, James Randi, is the most interesting of the bunch: He's a magician. He's a world famous escape artist. And he's ready to expose, explain, and share with the layman the very scientific explanations for the magical things that go on in the paranormal and pseudoscientific world.

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe is available from their site, or through iTunes.

Launchball is a fun, smart, and polished game courtesy of the Science Museum in London. The game uses a common premise: coax a ball into a goal. The objects you can use to accomplish this task though are based generally on electricity, magnetism, and mechanics.

There are basic shapes like "ski jumps" and ramps, but there are also batteries and steam generators (which also require a water tank and fire) to power magnets and fans. There are switches, springs, cushions, and rubber blocks. Each level provides you with a certain set and quantity of objects to help you get the ball in the goal (not all objects need to be used though).

If you take a few seconds to create a free account, you'll be emailed a code so that you can login at a later time and resume where you left off. Otherwise you have to play through all of the levels each time. There are three main categories of levels: tricky, sneaky, and crafty.

You can even create your own levels and share them. In the "Extras" section, you can play levels that were created by players.

[Via toddkedwards]

Ah, YouTube. Your first stop for prime footage of dogs driving cars and prairie dogs with gravitas. There are more educational things on there. Where else can you see a live demonstration (or ten, or twenty) on the effects of Mentos and carbonated soda?

Unbeknownst to many (maybe even your eighth period biology teacher), buried in all the hilarity and drama on YouTube, there is - gasp - educational content. The first trick is finding it. The second trick: Evaluating if it's actually any good.

If you're looking for science-related videos, your search just got a little bit easier. Enter ScienceHack, the science video search engine. These are your standard videos hosted on sites like YouTube or MetaCafe, but they are hand submitted and reviewed for their scientific content and value.

ScienceHack is still in alpha, and doesn't have a whopping amount of content (yet). It is geared toward the general public (so if you're studying for your doctorate in quantum physics, you won't find this site terribly useful). If you're a younger student, or someone with a casual interest in science, though, this will be right up your alley.

Our wish list with ScienceHack: we'd love to know a little more about who is reviewing the videos. Original sources and/or citations would also make the videos much more useful to the student. We really hope these things will come in time.

For now, though, ScienceHack is a great starting point for gathering information on a number of science topics. No sifting through the (somewhat entertaining) distractions of YouTube required.

[Thanks Rami Nasser!]