Monday, March 18, 2024

Big Picture Science for Mar 18 2024 - Skeptic Check: Asteroid Mining

 








Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Asteroid Mining

Asteroids are rich in precious metals and other valuable resources. But mining them presents considerable challenges. We discuss these, and consider how these spinning, rocky resources might be the key to a space-faring future. But an economist points out the consequences of bringing material back to Earth, and a scientist raises an ethical question; do we have an obligation to keep the asteroids intact for science?

Guests:


Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-asteroid-mining

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, March 11, 2024

Big Picture Science for Mar 11 2024 - Feet Don’t Fail Me







Big Picture Science - Feet Don’t Fail Me

REPEAT

Standing on your own two feet isn’t easy. While many animals can momentarily balance on their hind legs, we’re the only critters, besides birds, for whom bipedalism is completely normal. Find out why, even though other animals are faster, we’re champions at getting around. Could it be that our upright stance made us human? Plus, why arches help stiffen feet, the argument for bare-footin’, and 12,000-year old footprints that tell a story about an Ice Age mother, her child, and a sloth.

Guests:


This repeat podcast originally aired on May 24, 2021

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/feet-dont-fail-me

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, March 04, 2024

Big Picture Science for Mar 04 2024 - Lady Parts









Big Picture Science - Lady Parts

REPEAT
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe has ignited fierce debate about bodily autonomy. But it’s remarkable how little we know about female physiology. Find out what studies have been overlooked by science, and what has been recently learned. Plus, why studying women’s bodies means being able to say words like “vagina” without shame ... a researcher who is recreating a uterus in her lab to study endometriosis …  and an overdue recognition of medical pioneer Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler.

Guests:


This repeat podcast originally aired on October 31, 2022

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lady-parts

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, February 26, 2024

Big Picture Science for Feb. 26 2024 - Tomb with a View









Big Picture Science - Tomb with a View

REPEAT
A century ago, British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the only surviving intact tomb from ancient Egypt. Inside was the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun, together with “wonderful things” including a solid gold mask.

Treasure from King Tut’s crypt has been viewed both in person and virtually by many people since. We ask what about Egyptian civilization so captivates us, thousands of years later. Also, how new technology from modern physics allows researchers to “X-Ray” the pyramids to find hidden chambers.

Guests:


This repeat podcast originally aired on December 12, 2022

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/tomb-with-a-view

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Big Picture Science for Feb. 19 2024 - Lithium Valley









Big Picture Science - Lithium Valley

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:


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

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, February 12, 2024

Big Picture Science for Feb. 12 2024 - Alien Says What?









Big Picture Science - Alien Says What?

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.

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/alien-says-what

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!


Monday, February 05, 2024

Big Picture Science for Feb. 05 2024 - The Wrong Stuff









Big Picture Science - The Wrong Stuff

By one estimate the average American home has 300,000 objects. Yet our ancient ancestors had no more than what they could carry with them. How did we go from being self-sufficient primates to nonstop shoppers? We examine the evolutionary history of stuff through the lens of archeology beginning with the ancestor who first picked up a palm-sized rock and made it into a tool.

Guest:


Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/the-wrong-stuff

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, January 29, 2024

Big Picture Science for Jan. 29 2024 - Skeptic Check: Hypnosis








 

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Hypnosis

REPEAT
You are getting sleeeepy and open to suggestion. But is that how hypnotism works? And does it really open up a portal to the unconscious mind? Hypnotism can be an effective therapeutic tool, and some scientists suggest replacing opioids with hypnosis for pain relief. And yet, the performance aspect of hypnotism often seems at odds with the idea of it being an effective treatment.

In our regular look at critical thinking, Skeptic Check, we ask what part of hypnotism is real and what is an illusion. Plus, we discuss how the swinging watch became hypnotism’s irksome trademark

Guests:

  • David Spiegel – Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Devin Terhune – Reader in the Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London

This repeat podcast originally aired on June 27, 2022

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-hypnosis

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!





Monday, January 22, 2024

Big Picture Science for Jan. 22 2024 - Inside Planets









Big Picture Science - Inside Planets

With planets and moons, it’s what’s inside that counts. If we want to understand surface features, like volcanoes, or their history, such as how the planet formed or whether it’s suitable for life, we study their interiors. Astronomer Sabine Stanley takes us on a journey to the centers of Venus, Saturn’s large moon Titan, Jupiter’s moon Io, and of course Earth, to help us understand how they, and the solar system, came to be.

Guest:


Download podcast at  - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/inside-planets

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, January 15, 2024

Big Picture Science for Jan. 15 2024 - Tech in Check









Big Picture Science - Tech in Check

Worried that AI will replace you? It may not seem like the Hollywood writers’ strike has anything in common with the Luddite rebellion in England in 1811, but they are surprisingly similar. Today we use the term “Luddite” dismissively to describe a technophobe, but the original Luddites – cloth workers – organized and fought Industrial Revolution automation and the factory bosses who were replacing humans with cotton spinning machines and steam powered looms. Find out what our age of AI can learn from textile workers of 200 years ago about keeping humans in the loop.

Guest:


Download podcast at  - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/tech-in-check

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!





Monday, January 08, 2024

Big Picture Science for Jan. 08 2024 - Your Mind On Movies









Big Picture Science - Your Mind On Movies

By one estimate we spend a fifth of our lives watching movies or TV. In fact, we consume entertainment almost as habitually as we eat or sleep, activities that receive scientific scrutiny and study. So why not consider the effects that watching movies and TV have on our minds and bodies too? When we do, we find that they are not mere escapism. A data scientist reveals why we are what we watch, and how scientists and filmmakers work, often with competing agendas, to create sci-fi entertainment.

Guest:


Download podcast at  - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/your-mind-on-movies

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, January 01, 2024

Big Picture Science for Jan. 01 2024 - Eclectic Company







Big Picture Science - Eclectic Company

REPEAT

We present a grab bag of our favorite recent science stories – from how to stop aging to the mechanics of cooking pasta. Also, in accord with our eclectic theme – the growing problem of space junk.

Guests:

  • Anthony Wyss-Coray – Professor of neuroscience at Stanford University.
  • Oliver O’Reilly – Professor of mechanical engineering, University of California Berkeley.
  • Moriba Jah – Professor of aerospace and engineering mechanics, University of Texas.


This repeat podcast originally aired on March 1, 2021


Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/eclectic-company

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!






Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Big Picture Science for Dec. 25, 2023 - Iron, Coal, Wood







Big Picture Science - Iron, Coal, Wood

REPEAT
Maybe you don’t remember the days of the earliest coal-fired stoves. They changed domestic life, and that changed society. We take you back to that era, and to millennia prior when iron was first smelt, and even earlier, when axe-handles were first fashioned from wood, as we explore how three essential materials profoundly transformed society.

We were once excited about coal’s promise to provide cheap energy, and how iron would lead to indestructible bridges, ships, and buildings. But they also caused some unintended problems: destruction of forests, greenhouse gases and corrosion. Did we foresee where the use of wood, coal, and iron would lead? What lessons do they offer for our future?

Guests:


This repeat podcast originally aired on February 1, 2021

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/iron-coal-wood

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, December 18, 2023

Big Picture Science for Dec. 18, 2023 - The Ocean’s Genome








 

Big Picture Science - The Ocean’s Genome

After helping to sequence the human genome more than twenty years ago, biochemist Craig Venter seemed to recede from the public eye. But he hadn’t retired. He had gone to sea and taken his revolutionary sequencing tools with him. We chatted with him about his multi-year voyage aboard the research vessel Sorcerer II, its parallels to Darwin’s voyage, and the surprising discoveries his team made about the sheer number and diversity of marine microbes and their roles in ocean ecosystems.

Guests:


Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/the-oceans-genome

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, December 11, 2023

Big Picture Science for Dec. 11, 2023 - Skeptic Check: Naomi Klein









Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Naomi Klein

Our information age is increasingly the disinformation age. The spread of lies and conspiracy theories has created competing experiences of reality. Facts are often useless for changing minds or even making compelling arguments. In this episode, author Naomi Klein and science philosopher Lee McIntyre discuss why the goal – not simply the byproduct - of spreading disinformation is to polarize society. They also offer ideas about how we might find our way back to a shared objective truth.

Guests:

  • Naomi Klein - Associate professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia and a co-director at the Center for Climate Justice. Author of Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World
  • Lee McIntyre - Philosopher of science and a research fellow at the Center for Philosophy and the History of Science at Boston University, and author of Post-Truth and On Disinformation.

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-naomi-klein

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!