Big Picture Science for June 26, 2023 - Made for Mars

Big Picture Science - Made for Mars

Do you have what it takes to survive on Mars?  Beginning this month, four people will spend a year in a prototype Martian habitat meant to simulate living on the Red Planet.  It’s part of NASA’s efforts to prepare us for real human missions to Mars.  Find out how well we can replicate that world on Earth and what we might learn from doing so.

Also, a new robotic mission aims to be the first to bring back a piece of the Red Planet, and why Mars has enchanted us for centuries.

Guests:

• Scott Smith – Lead for the nutritional biochemistry lab at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, and member of the CHAPEA team.
• Matthew Shindell – Historian of science and Curator of Planetary Science and Exploration at the National Air and Space Museum. Author of For the Love of Mars; a Human History of the Red Planet.
• Pascal Lee – Planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, principal investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project, and co-founder of The Mars Institute
• Michela Muñoz Fernández – Program Executive for NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission

Download podcast at -  https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/made-for-mars

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!

Big Picture Science for June 19, 2023 - Skeptic Check: NASA UFO Study

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: NASA UFO Study

NASA is studying more than 800 sightings of unidentified objects in our sky as part of its investigation into the UFO phenomenon. We get an update on the agency’s study in a conversation with a member of the NASA UAP panel.

We also hear why the belief that aliens exist has broad consensus, but that’s not the same as saying they routinely visit Earth. Plus, a UFO investigator analyzes the startling claim that the military is hiding evidence of alien technology.

Guests:

• Nadia Drake – Science journalist and member of NASA’s UAP group
• Mick West – Science writer, skeptical debunker, former video game programmer. Author of “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”

Download podcast at -  https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-nasa-ufo-study

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!

Big Picture Science for June 12, 2023 - The Ears Have It

Big Picture Science - The Ears Have It

What’s the difference between a bird call and the sound of a pile driver? Not much, when you’re close to the loudest bird ever. Find out when it pays to be noisy and when noise can worsen your health. Just about everyone eventually suffers some hearing loss, but that’s not merely aging. It’s an ailment we inflict on ourselves. Hear how a team in New York City has put sensors throughout the city to catalog noise sources, hoping to tame the tumult.

And can underwater speakers blasting the sounds of a healthy reef bring life back to dead patches of the Great Barrier Reef?

Guests:

• Mark Cartwright – Research Assistant Professor at New York University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Charles Mydlarz – Research Assistant Professor at New York University’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and the Music and Audio Research Lab (MARL)
• David Owen – Staff writer at The New Yorker, and author of Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World
• Jeff Podos – Professor in the Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Steve Simpson – Professor of Marine Biology and Global Change, Exeter University, U.K.

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/the-ears-have-it

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!

Big Picture Science for June 05, 2023 - Skeptic Check: The Body Electric

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: The Body Electric

Electricity plays an important role in our everyday lives, including allowing our bodies to communicate internally. But some research claims electricity may be used to diagnose and treat disease? Could electric pulses one day replace medications?

We speak with experts about the growing field of bioelectric medicine and the evidence for electricity’s healing abilities. Their comments may shock you.

Guests:

• Sally Adee – Science journalist, author of “We Are Electric: Inside the 200-Year Hunt for Our Body’s Bioelectric Code, and What the Future Holds"
• Samantha Payne – Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at University of Guelph
• Kevin Tracey – Neurosurgeon and President of the Feinstein Institute at Northwell Health

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-the-body-electric

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!