Big Picture Science for Sep. 15, 2025: Some Chemicals are Forever

 

Big Picture Science: Some Chemicals are Forever

As their name suggests, “forever chemicals” have extraordinary staying power. When these nearly indestructible compounds find their way into our soil and water, they don’t break down for hundreds or thousands of years. PFAS – the name for these synthetic chemicals – isn’t just in our natural environment. Scientists have found it everywhere, including in the blood of nearly every living being.

In this episode, we talk to the reporter who broke open the story about a decades-long corporate coverup regarding forever chemicals, look at what we know about their health effects, and consider how a kneecapping of the EPA’s regulatory power may weaken the best tool we have for protecting ourselves from PFAS contamination.

Guests:

• Nathaniel Rich – Author of “Second Nature: Scenes from a World Remade,” and the New York Times Magazine article, “The Lawyer Who Became Dupont’s Worst Nightmare”
• Rachel Frazin – Energy and Environment Policy reporter for The Hill, co-author of “Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America”
• Janet McCabe – visiting professor at the Robert McKinney School of Law at Indiana University, former deputy administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency

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Big Picture Science: Animal Alphabets

REPEAT
Have scientists discovered an alphabet in whale calls? As researchers try to decipher the series of clicks made by sperm whales, we ask whether these cetaceans might have language, and if it follows that whales are thinking animals too. Could we one day get a peek into the thoughts of a humpback whale? Meanwhile, somewhere along the long path of evolution, one species emerged with an impressive gift for gab. Are speech and language unique human superpowers?

Guests:

• Carl Zimmer – Columnist, The New York Times, including the article, “Scientists Find an ‘Alphabet’ in Whale Songs”.
• Ev Fedorenko – Cognitive neuroscientist, director of the EV Lab, MIT
• Tecumseh Fitch – Evolutionary biologist at the University of Vienna

Originally aired July 29, 2024

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Big Picture Science for Sep. 01, 2025: Aliens Now

Big Picture Science: Aliens Now

REPEAT
We are closer than ever to finding aliens according to astrophysicist Adam Frank. He isn’t alone in his optimism. Over the last two decades, the tools used to search for extraterrestrials have been advancing mightily. Where we were once only monitoring with radio telescopes, we are now actively looking for bio and technosignatures on exoplanets. Find out why scientists think new technology may be a game changer in the hunt for life off Earth.

Guest:

• Adam Frank – Astrophysicist and author of a new book “The Little Book of Aliens”

Originally aired July 1, 2024

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Big Picture Science for Aug. 25, 2025: Don’t Lighten Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Picture Science: Don’t Lighten Up

REPEAT
A canopy of stars in the night sky is more than breathtaking. Starlight is also an important tool that astronomers use to study our universe. But the growth of artificial light and light pollution are creating dramatic changes to the nighttime environment. Let your eyes adjust to the dark as we travel to a dark sky reserve to gaze upon an increasingly rare view of the Milky Way and explore what we lose when darkness disappears.

Guests:

• Kim Arcand – Visualization scientist & emerging tech lead, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and author of “Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond".
• Don Jolley – Teacher of Math and Sciences at the Bolinas School in Marin, California who has been leading dark sky tours for three decades.
• Christopher Kyba – Interdisciplinary Geographic Information Sciences Research Fellow at Ruhr University Bochum.

Originally aired July 8, 2024

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Big Picture Science for Aug. 18, 2025: Katrina and the River

Big Picture Science: Katrina and the River

“The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our final episode marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we consider how efforts to control the Mighty Mississippi – a river engineered from its Minnesota headwaters to its Gulf Coast outlet – have responded to the devastating storm, and how New Orleans’ relationship to the river has changed. Can the city keep up with the pressure that climate change is putting on this engineered system, or is retreat the only viable response?

Plus, a wetland recovery project that aims to bolster protection from hurricanes and flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Guests:

• Boyce Upholt – Journalist and author of “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River”
• Nathaniel Rich – Author of “Second Nature: Scenes From a World Remade” and the New York Times Op-Ed, “New Orleans’ Striking Advantage in the Age of Climate Change”
• Harriet Swift – New Orleans resident
• Andrew Horowitz – Historian, University of Connecticut, author of "Katrina: A History, 1915-2015"
• Rashida Ferdinand – Founder and Executive Director of Sankofa Community Development Corporation, overseeing the Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail in New Orleans
• Jason Day – Biologist, wetland Scientist, Comite Resources in Louisiana

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/katrina-and-the-river

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Big Picture Science for Aug. 11, 2025: Beyond the Standard Model

Big Picture Science: Beyond the Standard Model

REPEAT
Ever heard of a beauty quark? How about a glueball? Physics is full of weird particles that leave many of us scratching our heads. But these tiny particles make up everything in the quantum world and in us and are the basis of the fundamental scientific theory called The Standard Model. But it doesn’t explain everything. It can’t account for dark matter or dark energy, for example. We find out whether new physics experiments might force us to rewrite the Standard Model. Plus, we discuss a NASA proposal to fly spacecraft close to the sun in search of new physics.

Guests:

• Phil Plait – Aka the Bad Astronomer, former astronomer on Hubble, teacher, lecturer and debunker of conspiracy theories. He is also the author of a new book “Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe.”
• Harry Cliff – Particle physicist at the University of Cambridge who works on the LHCb experiment at the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, CERN. He is the author of:  “Space Oddities, The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe.”
• Slava Turyshev – Research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This repeat podcast originally aired on May 20, 2024 

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Big Picture Science for Aug. 04, 2025: Scoping Out the Universe

Big Picture Science: Scoping Out the Universe

Telescopes are like light buckets. The bigger the telescope, the more light collected for astronomers to observe. With recent advances in technology, amateur astronomers can join professionals for a chance to observe stellar nurseries and exoplanets many light-years away. But as our capabilities increase, so do the mysteries, including those around high-energy bursts coming from an otherwise unremarkable part of the universe. Understanding fast radio bursts could turn physics on its head.

From the Vera Rubin Telescope in Chile to the backyard instruments of amateur astronomers, we share what new things we might learn about stars, the Earth, exoplanets, and the potential for life on other worlds.

Guests:

• Clare Higgs – Astronomer working with the public outreach team for the Vera Rubin Observatory
• Franck Marchis – Senior astronomer and director of citizen science at the SETI Institute, chief science officer and co-founder of Unistellar
• Amanda Cook – Postdoctoral fellow at McGill University and member of the CHIME/FRB Collaboration

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Big Picture Science for July 28, 2025: Leave it to Beavers

Big Picture Science: Leave it to Beavers

They are known for holding branches in their paws and gnawing on them like corn cobs. They build lodges and dams which occasionally flood roads. Cute, comical, and considered pests, beavers were nearly hunted to extinction for their pelts before conservation efforts allowed their populations to rebound. Now environmentalists and engineers are reintroducing North America’s largest rodent to drought-prone habitats across the country. As the paddle-tailed animals’ dam-building has revealed itself to be a potent bulwark against climate change-induced water scarcity, the beaver is being hailed as an ecological hero.

Join us as we stomp through soggy meadows getting to know the OG geoengineers. From their water pressure-sensing tails to their intricate branch-weaving, find out why, as our nation’s wetlands disappear, and new federal policies strip protection for many of those that remain, many think that partnership with a wild species could help build ecological resiliency.

Guests:

• Leila Philip – Journalist and author of “Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America”
• Denise Burchsted – research scientist, and engineer, Keene State College
• Clay Frazer – restoration ecologist with Native Range Ecological
• Michael Waasegiizhig Price – traditional ecological knowledge specialist at the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. He is Anishinaabe and a longtime tribal college educator serving at Leech Lake Tribal College and White Earth Tribal and Community College.

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Big Picture Science for July 21, 2025: The Play’s the Thing

Big Picture Science: The Play’s the Thing

REPEAT
Has children’s play become too safe? Research suggests that efforts to prioritize safety harms children’s mental and physical development during play and contribute to anxiety. One solution: introduce risk into play. We visit an adventure playground where kids play unsupervised with anything from scraps of metal to hammers and nails. Plus, what are the evolutionary benefits of play? After all, we’re not the only species who like to roughhouse, sled, or chase balls. And, reclaiming play for those who have outgrown recess.

Guests:

• David Toomey - Professor of English, University of Massachusetts. Amherst and author of “Kingdom of Play: What Ball-Bouncing Octopuses, Belly-Flopping Monkeys, and Mud-Sliding Elephants Reveal About Life Itself.”
• Mariana Brussoni - Developmental psychologist who studies children's outdoor risky play, and professor at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Medicine
• Yoni Kallai - Interim director, head playworker and co-founder of play:groundNYC
• Peter Gray - Psychology researcher at Boston College and author of  "Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life"

This repeat podcast originally aired on May, 13 2024

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Big Picture Science for July 14, 2025: Nuts and Bolts

Big Picture Science: Nuts and Bolts

REPEAT
How frequently do you think about fasteners like screws and bolts? Probably not very often. But some of them a storied history, dating back to Egypt in the 3rd century BC. They aren’t just ancient history. They help hold up our bridges and homes today. Join us as we dissect a handful of engineering inventions that keep our world spinning and intact.

Guests:

• Roma Agrawal - structural engineer and author of "Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way)"
• Ron Gordon - watchmaker, New York City

This repeat podcast originally aired on May 6, 2024

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Big Picture Science for Jul7 07, 2025: Coffee of the Future

Big Picture Science: Coffee of the Future

REPEAT
Drinking a cup of coffee is how billions of people wake up every morning. But climate change is threatening this popular beverage. Over 60% of the world’s coffee species are at risk of extinction. Scientists are searching for solutions, including hunting for wild, forgotten coffee species that are more resilient to our shifting climate. Find out how the chemistry of coffee can help us brew coffee alternatives, and how coffee grounds can be part of building a sustainable future.

Guests:

• Christopher Hendon - Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Chemistry, University of Oregon
• Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch - Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia
• Aaron Davis - Senior Research Leader of Crops and Global Change, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew

This repeat podcast originally aired on April 8, 2024

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/coffee-of-the-future

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Big Picture Science for June 30, 2025: What Moves Us

 

Big Picture Science: What Moves Us

What physical activity gives you joy? Whether it’s walking, running, dancing or swimming, your body evolved to do it. We are made for movement. But there’s a cost, as anyone with a sore neck or aching back knows. From the tiny muscles in our skin, which raise the hair on our arms, to the intricate mix of bone, blood vessels, and nerves in our neck, natural selection has struck a delicate and sometimes wacky balance between utility and form. In this episode, we explore how parts of the body - our muscles, neck and feet - came to be, and what forces prompted the evolution of efficient yet imperfect bodies.

Guests:

• Kent Dunlap - Professor of biology at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and author of “The Neck: A Natural and Cultural History”
• Bonnie Tsui - Journalist and author of “On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters”
• Jeremy DeSilva - Anthropologist at Dartmouth College and author of “First Steps, How Upright Walking Made Us Human”

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/what-moves-us

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Big Picture Science for June 23, 2025: The Rights of Rivers

Big Picture Science: The Rights of Rivers

Healthy rivers and riparian ecosystems are teaming with life, but should rivers themselves be considered alive? The question is central to the growing rights-of-nature movement that claims that ecosystems and entities, like rivers, have legal rights. After Ecuador enshrined the rights of nature in its constitution, lawyers employed the new personhood status to stop mining companies from clearing a section of the Los Cedros River and its surrounding biodiverse cloud forest. Granting rivers moral standing comes as over-damming, pollution, and climate change have put them in crisis globally. Writer Robert Macfarlane explores how seeing rivers as living beings rather than just resources – a change he calls “a great act of moral imagination” – could help save our watersheds and rivers, upon which all life depends.

Guest:

• Robert Macfarlane – Writer and Professor of Literature and Environmental Humanities at the University of Cambridge, and author of “Is a River Alive?”

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/the-rights-of-rivers

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Big Picture Science for June 16, 2025: Lithium Valley

Big Picture Science: Lithium Valley

REPEAT
The discovery of a massive amount of lithium under the Salton Sea could make the U.S. lithium independent. The metal is key for batteries in electric vehicles and solar panels. But the area is also a delicate ecosystem. We go to southern California to hear what hangs in the balance of the ballooning lithium industry, and also how we extract other crucial substances  – such as sand, copper and iron– and turn them into semiconductors, circuitry and other products upon which the modern world depends.

Guests:

• Ed Conway – economics and data editor of Sky News and columnist for the Times in London.  He’s the author of “Material World, The Six Raw Materials that Shape Modern Civilization“.
• Frank Ruiz – Audubon California Salton Sea Program Director.
• Michael McKibben – Geologist, University of California, Riverside. 

This repeat podcast originally aired on February 19, 2024

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lithium-valley

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Big Picture Science for June 09, 2025: Alien Says What?

 

Big Picture Science: Alien Says What?

REPEAT
Whales are aliens on Earth; intelligent beings who have skills for complex problem-solving and their own language. Now in what’s being called a breakthrough, scientists have carried on an extended conversation with a humpback whale. They share the story of this remarkable encounter, their evidence that the creature understood them, and how the experiment informs our Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. After all, what good is it to make contact with ET if we can’t communicate?

Guests:

• Brenda McCowan – Research behaviorist at the University of California Davis in the School of Veterinary Medicine who studies the ecological aspects of animal behavior and communication.
• Fred Sharpe – whale biologist and behavioral ecologist at Simon Fraser University and member of the Templeton WhaleSETI Team.
• Laurance Doyle – astrophysicist and information theory researcher at the SETI Institute. 

This repeat podcast originally aired on February 2, 2024

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