Big Picture Science for Oct. 27, 2025: The Decomposers

Big Picture Science: The Decomposers

What happens to us after we die is as much a question for anthropology and ecology as it is for theology. Death and decay are not comfortable subjects, but some scientists study them unflinchingly, knowing that doing so yields valuable scientific insights about decomposition. We hear about The Body Farm at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where forensic anthropologists dissect how variables, such as weather and insects, affect the rate of decomposition, and why a cadaver island has its own ecology. Plus, how a mystery about Neanderthal diets was solved by studying maggots, and why a chemical element discovered by alchemists, and recycled at death in your garden, is essential for life.

Guests:

• Giovanna Vidoli – Forensic anthropologist and director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Dawnie Steadman – anthropologist and former director of the Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Melanie Beasley – Biological anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University
• Jack Lohmann – author of “White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus in Our Cells, in Our Food, and in Our World”

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Big Picture Science for Oct. 20, 2025: Shipwrecks

Big Picture Science: Shipwrecks

REPEAT
Shipwrecks are scenes of tragedy, but they are also bits of history frozen in time that can provide insights into events and ideas from long ago. That is, if we can find them. From an 11th century Viking sailing ship to a WW II era British cargo ship with a mailbag of letters onboard amazingly preserved, an underwater archeologist takes us on a deep dive into history.

Guest:

• David Gibbins - underwater archeologist, novelist, and the author of nonfiction, including his latest book, “The History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks”.

Originally aired September 9, 2024

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Big Picture Science for Oct. 13, 2025: Mad About Mars

Big Picture Science: Mad About Mars

Long before Orson Welles provoked a panic with his 1938 radio broadcast of a Martian invasion in War of the Worlds, we were fascinated with the possibility of life on the Red Planet. We may be a step closer to finding it after the Perseverance rover turned up tantalizing evidence of possible ancient life in the form of mineral deposits in a Martian rock. But to be sure, we need to test that rock sample in a lab here on Earth, and the NASA Mars Sample Return Mission has been suspended. Still, our passion for our favorite inhabited world has not diminished. From the latest possible biosignature, to the supposed canals on Mars, to how the early 20th century Martian craze influenced vaudeville, we consider the many ways we are Mad About Mars.

Guests:
Janice Bishop – Senior research scientist at the SETI Institute.
Adam Frank – Astrophysicist at the University of Rochester
David Baron – Author of “The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn of the Century America”

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/mad-about-mars

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Big Picture Science for Oct. 06, 2025: Skeptic Check: Health Fads

 

 

Big Picture Science: Skeptic Check: Health Fads

The tiny bean-shaped structures in your cells – mitochondria – are little powerhouses. Recent research suggests they may unlock overall good health, or, when they fail, cause diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. How strong is the science for these claims and what, if anything, should we be doing to improve our mitochondrial health? Should we take a cue from influencers who suggest drinking an industrial dye called methylene blue? Meanwhile, there have been beefed up calls for adding protein to our diets by eating high protein ice cream, energy bars and huge slabs of meat. Protein builds muscles, but is the muscle of science behind these claims? This week, we consider recent health trends on Skeptic Check.

Guests:

• Martin Picard – Professor of behavioral medicine and mitochondrial psychobiology at Columbia University, where he runs the Mitochondrial Psychobiology Group.
• Howard LeWine – General internal medicine physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Chief Medical Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, and editor in chief of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

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

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Big Picture Science for Sep. 29, 2025: Not Just a Phage

Big Picture Science: Not Just a Phage

REPEAT
We’re hurtling towards a post-antibiotic world, as the overuse of antibiotics has given rise to dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Can we fight back using viruses as weapons? An obscure medical therapy uses certain viruses called bacteriophages to treat infection. For a century attempts to turn phage-therapy into a life-saving treatment have faltered, but today there’s renewed interest in this approach. Can we use phages to forestall the antibiotic crisis?

Guests:

• Claas Kirchhelle – Medical historian at the University College, Dublin
• Tom Ireland – Journalist, editor of The Biologist and author of “The Good Virus: The Amazing Story and Forgotten Promise of the Phage”
• Steffanie Strathdee – Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences at the University of California San Diego
• Tom Patterson – Professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego

Originally aired August 12, 2024

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