Big Picture Science for 12/26/11 - Skeptic Check: Superstition

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Superstition

ENCORE Wait! Before you step outside… is it Friday the 13th? Any black cats prowling around? Broken a mirror lately? Homo sapiens are a superstitious lot. Find out why our brains are wired for irrational belief. Plus, from the 2012-end-of-the-world prophesy to colliding planets – why some people believe the universe is out to get ‘em.

Also, Brains on Vacation takes on a challenge to relativity and our Hollywood skeptic has doubts about exorcism. It’s enough to make your head spin on Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Bruce Hood – Cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and author of The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs
• David Morrison – Director of the Carl Sagan Center for The Study of Life in The Universe at the SETI Institute and keeper of the NASA website Ask an Astrobiologist
• Martin Snow – Research Scientist, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles
• Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Superstition

This podcast First aired August 16, 2010

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 08/16/10 - Skeptic Check: Superstition

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Superstition

Wait! Before you step outside… is it Friday the 13th? Any black cats prowling around? Broken a mirror lately? Homo sapiens are a superstitious lot. Find out why our brains are wired for irrational belief. Plus, from the 2012-end-of-the-world prophesy to colliding planets – why some people believe the universe is out to get ‘em.

Also, Brains on Vacation takes on a challenge to relativity and our Hollywood skeptic has doubts about exorcism. It’s enough to make your head spin on Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Bruce Hood – Cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and author of The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs
• David Morrison – Director of the Carl Sagan Center for The Study of Life in The Universe at the SETI Institute and keeper of the NASA website Ask an Astrobiologist
• Martin Snow – Research Scientist, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles
• Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Superstition

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

And be sure to check out the Are We Alone iPhone/iPad app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/are-we-alone-make-contact/id374968004?mt=8

Are We Alone for 11/09/09 - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

ENCORE PRESENTATION: Hollywood has a few ideas of how the world will end: killer asteroids … lethal pandemics … deadly ice-ages. These themes have all played out on the big screen. But, hey, they’re only movies, right?

We’ll separate the science from the fiction in doomsday movies. From the 2012 prophesy of the Mayans … to colliding worlds … to abrupt climate change, find out which among this crowd of cinematic scares are for real, and which aren’t worth the price of popcorn.

Guests:

• Dave Morrison – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Lynn Rothschild – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Ken Caldeira – Scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department of Global Ecology

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 08/10/09 - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

Hollywood has a few ideas of how the world will end: killer asteroids … lethal pandemics … deadly ice-ages. These themes have all played out on the big screen. But, hey, they’re only movies, right?

We’ll separate the science from the fiction in doomsday movies. From the 2012 prophesy of the Mayans … to colliding worlds … to abrupt climate change, find out which among this crowd of cinematic scares are for real, and which aren’t worth the price of popcorn.

Guests:

• Dave Morrison – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Lynn Rothschild – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Ken Caldeira – Scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department of Global Ecology

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.