Big Picture Science for Mar 31, 2025: Skeptic Check: Asteroid Mining

Big Picture Science: Skeptic Check: Asteroid Mining

REPEAT
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:

• Jim Bell - Planetary scientist in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.
• Martin Elvis - Astronomer and author of “Asteroids: How Love, Fear, and Greed Will Determine Our Future in Space.”
• Ian Lange - Economist and associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines and author of a paper on the feasibility of asteroid mining.

This repeat podcast originally aired on March 18, 2024

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

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

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Big Picture Science for Mar 24, 2025: Disappearing Data

Big Picture Science: Disappearing Data

Firing federal workers and freezing grants has upended research institutions, prompting uncertainty about their futures. We look at the real-world impacts these policy changes may have for our mechanisms for collecting and sharing important data. An NIH grant recipient considers the future of her lab’s ability to do basic research, including studying complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s and heart disease. An interruption in reliable access to CDC data comes as highly contagious avian influenza continues to evolve and spread in the U.S. And what does the gutting of NOAA imply for collecting essential weather data, including those used to forecast hurricanes?

Guests:

• Kimberly Cooper – Developmental biologist at the University of California, San Diego
• Amy Maxmen – Public health reporter at KFF Health News
• Alan Sealls – Retired broadcast meteorologist, adjust professor at the University of South Alabama and president-elect of the American Meteorological Society
• Bernadette Woods Placky – Chief meteorologist and Climate Matters director at the nonprofit organization, Climate Central

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/disappearing-data

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!

Big Picture Science for Mar 17, 2025: Amazing Arctic

Big Picture Science: Amazing Arctic

What’s it like to live on a block of ice, especially when it thaws? An environment writer shares his forty-year experience in the Arctic, including the time a paddling polar bear tracked him on a river. He describes the stunning beauty of America’s last truly wild place and the dramatic changes to the landscape he recently witnessed. Recent research has backed up his eyewitness accounts, as an arctic scientist presents the latest data collected from a part of world warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.

Guests:

• Jon Waterman – Author of Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder Amid the Arctic Climate Crisis
• Twila Moon – Deputy Lead Scientist and Science Communication Liaison at the National Snow and Ice Data Center

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/amazing-arctic

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!

Big Picture Science for Mar 10, 2025: Preventable

Big Picture Science: Preventable

Two infectious diseases that we’ve been able to prevent for a half-century are re-emerging. One of the most contagious viruses in the world, measles, is spreading in the United States. Anti-vax sentiment has driven vaccination rates down leading to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico. The U.S. has also seen an uptick in cases of tuberculosis which has reclaimed its position the deadliest infection globally. The author John Green shares how his travels to Sierra Leone inspired his new book about TB. Through the story of a young patient, Henry, he highlights the health inequities that contribute to over a million and a half tuberculosis deaths annually despite the existence of a cure.

Guests:

• Adam Ratner – Pediatric infectious disease doctor in New York City, and author of Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health
• John Green – Author of The Fault in Our Stars, The Anthropocene Reviewed, and Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/preventable

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!

Big Picture Science for Mar 03, 2025: Your Mind On Movies

Big Picture Science: Your Mind On Movies

REPEAT
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:

• Walt Hickey - journalist, data scientist, and author of “You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything”

This repeat podcast originally aired on January 8, 2024

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

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!