Sunday, November 29, 2015

Big Picture Science for Monday November 30, 2015 - Happily Confused













Big Picture Science - Happily Confused

ENCORE: Do you feel happy today? How about happily disgusted? Maybe sadly surprised, or sadly disgusted? Human emotions are complex. But at least they’re the common language that unites us all – except when they don’t. A tribe in Namibia might interpret our expression of fear as one of wonderment. And people with autism don’t feel the emotions that others do.

So if you’re now delightfully but curiously perplexed, tune in and discover the evolutionary reason for laughter … how a computer can diagnose emotional disorders that doctors miss … and why the world’s most famous autistic animal behaviorist has insight into the emotional needs of cattle.

Guests:

This encore podcast was first released on April 21, 2014

Download episode at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/Happily_Confused

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.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Big Picture Science for Monday November 23, 2015 - Climate Conversation












Big Picture Science - Climate Conversation

The Paris climate talks are scheduled to go ahead despite the terrorist attacks, and attendees hope to sign an international agreement on climate change.  A BBC reporter covering the meetings tells us what we can expect from the conference.

Also, it’s unclear whether Pope Francis himself will travel to the City of Light, but his encyclical may have already influenced the talks there.  A historian considers whether the Church’s acceptance of climate change represents a departure from its historical positions on science.  Galileo, anyone?

Plus, Hollywood may have stretched the science facts to maximum effect in its cli-sci thriller, The Day After Tomorrow, but find out why the film may not be pure fiction.

And why the developing world may take most of the hit as the planet warms.

Guests:
  • Sybren Druifhout – Physical oceanographer and climate scientist, Netherlands Meteorological Institute and the University of Southampton, U.K.
  • Virginia Burkett – Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change at the United States Geological Survey, and one of the Nobel Prize winning authors of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report
  • John Durant – Director of the MIT Museum and teacher in the MIT Science, Technology and Society program
  • Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent for the BBC, based in London

Download episode at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/climate-conversation

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.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Polar Geomagnetic Storms This Week


Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 17, 2015: http://spaceweather.com

GLANCING-BLOW CME: Polar geomagnetic storms are possible on Nov. 18th and 19th in response to a glancing blow from an incoming CME (coronal mass ejection). Auroras could appear in northern-tier US states from Maine to Washington. Visit Spaceweather.com for more information.

LEONID METEOR SHOWER: This week, Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, source of the annual Leonid meteor shower. This is not a "storm year" for the Leonids. Forecasters expect a mild display of no more than 15 or 20 meteors per hour best seen during the dark hours before sunrise. Got clouds? You can listen to Leonid radar echoes on Space Weather Radio.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Big Picture Science for Monday November 16, 2015 - Skeptic Check: Paleo Diet













Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Paleo Diet

ENCORE: What’s for dinner? Meat, acorns, tubers, and fruit. Followers of the Paleo diet say we should eat what our ancestors ate 10,000 years ago, when our genes were perfectly in synch with the environment.

We investigate the reasoning behind going paleo with the movement’s pioneer, as well as with an evolutionary biologist. Is it true that our genes haven’t changed much since our hunter-gatherer days?

Plus, a surprising dental discovery is nothing for cavemen to smile about.

And another fad diet that has a historical root: the monastic tradition of 5:2 – five days of eating and two days of fasting.

It’s our monthly look at critical thinking, Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

This encore podcast was first released on February 19, 2014

Download episode at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Paleo_Diet

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.

The "Omics" of Space Travel


Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 15, 2015

During an unprecedented 1-year mission to the International Space Station, scientists are studying how astronauts' bodies respond to long-duration space travel.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2015/15nov_omics/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/lgL_7-qT8S8



Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Mystery Space Junk to hit Earth on Nov. 13th


Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 12, 2015: http://spaceweather.com

MYSTERY SPACE JUNK: On Friday the 13th, a bright flash of light will appear in the noontime sky off the coast of Sri Lanka. The explosion will mark the disintegration of a piece of space junk, apparently hollow, returning to Earth from a translunar orbit.  At the moment, no one knows what the incoming object is, although much speculation has focused on spent rocket shells and lunar modules from the Apollo program. 

Visit Spaceweather.com for  more information.

GLANCING-BLOW CME: A coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun on Nov. 9th is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field later today, Nov. 12th, sparking polar geomagnetic storms.

Aurora alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Big Picture Science for Monday November 09, 2015 - Thinking About Thinking












Big Picture Science - Thinking About Thinking

Congratulations, you have a big brain.  Evolution was good to Homo sapiens.  But make some room on the dais.  Research shows that other animals, such as crows, may not look smart, but can solve complex problems.

Meanwhile human engineers are busily developing cogitating machines.  Intelligent entities abound – but are they all capable of actual thought?

Hear how crows fashion tools from new materials and can recognize you by sight.  Also, how an IBM computer may one day outthink the engineers who designed it.

Plus, scientists who simulated a rat brain in a computer, neuron-by-neuron, look ahead to modeling the human brain.  And, what brain disorders teach us about the brain and our sense of self.

Guests:

Download episode at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/thinking-about-thinking

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.

Thursday, November 05, 2015

CME impact expected on Nov. 7th


Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 5, 2015: http://spaceweather.com

INCOMING CME:  Sunspot AR2443 erupted yesterday, producing a CME that could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 7th. G1-class geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras are possible when the CME arrives this weekend.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information.

TAURID FIREBALLS: The annual Taurid meteor shower is underway--and it is unusually good.  Observers around the world are reporting bright fireballs in the night sky as Earth plows through a swarm of gravelly debris from parent Comet Encke.  Forecasters say the display could continue until Nov. 10th.

Sunday, November 01, 2015

Geomagnetic Storm Warning for Nov. 2-3


Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 1, 2015: http://spaceweather.com

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: A high-speed stream of solar wind is about to hit Earth's magnetic field, prompting NOAA forecasters to estimate an 85% to 90% chance of geomagnetic storms on Nov. 2-3.  This is the same 800 km/s stream that lashed Earth's magnetic field in early October, sparking strong geomagnetic storms and bright auroras over northern-tier US states.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

TAURID FIREBALLS: The annual Taurid meteor shower is underway and it is lighting up the midnight sky with bright fireballs. Taurid meteoroids are gravelly pieces of debris from Comet Encke that strike our planet's atmosphere at 70,000 mph.  They pose no danger to people on the ground as they disintegrate entirely high above Earth's surface every few hours.  If forecasters are correct, the display could continue until Nov. 10th.  Tune into Space Weather Radio for live radar echoes.

Big Picture Science for Monday November 02, 2015 - Going All to Species












Big Picture Science - Going All to Species

Meet your new relatives.   The fossilized bones of Homo naledi are unique for their sheer number, but they may also be fill a special slot in our ancestry: the first of our genus Homo.   Sporting modern hands and feet but only a tiny brain, this creature may link us and our ape-like ancestors.

Some anthropologists hail the discovery as that of a new hominid species.  Not all their colleagues agree.  Find out what’s at stake in the debate.

Also, the scientist who helped retrieve the fossils describes her perilous crawl through a cave with only ten inches of elbow room.  And a radical theory about what these old bones might mean: could they be from a burial two million years ago?

Guests:
  • Marina Elliott  – Paleoanthropologist, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Carl Ward – Biological anthropologist, University of Missouri
  • John Hawks - Anthropologist, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Tim White - Anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley

Download episode at: http://bigpicturescience.org/Going-All-To-Species

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.

Worlds within Worlds: Hubble Peels Back the Layers of a Warm Neptune


Source - NASA Science News for Oct. 31, 2015

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered an immense cloud of hydrogen evaporating from a Neptune-sized planet named GJ 436b. The planet’s atmosphere is evaporating because of extreme irradiation from its parent star.

The complete article can be found here
: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2015/31oct_worlds/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at
: http://youtu.be/TbWX7-ZoJAk



Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

Using a Tablet Computer in Space


Source - NASA Science News for Oct. 31, 2015

The Fine Motor Skills experiment on the station is looking at how long-duration microgravity effects fine motor task performance.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2015/31oct_tablet/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/-ZAcBOf6nnE



Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)