Big Picture Science for Aug 17, 2026: Calling All Aliens

Big Picture Science: Calling All Aliens

REPEAT

Are we alone in the universe? Is there other intelligence out there? COSMIC, the most ambitious SETI search yet, hopes to answer that. We hear updates on this novel signal detection project being conducted on the Very Large Array in the desert of New Mexico.

Also, we chat with award-winning science fiction writer Ted Chiang about how he envisions making contact with aliens in his stories, including the one that was the basis for the movie Arrival. And find out why some scientists don’t want only to listen for signals, they want to deliberately transmit messages to aliens. Is that wise and, if we did it, what would we say?

Guests:

• Chenoa Tremblay – Postdoc researcher in radio astronomy for the SETI Institute and member of COSMIC science team
• Ted Chiang – Nebula and Hugo award-winning science fiction writer, best known for his collections, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation
• Douglas Vakoch – Founder and president of METI International, a nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to transmitting intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations

Originally aired April 3, 2023

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/calling-all-aliens

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 Sep. 01, 2025: Aliens Now

Big Picture Science: Aliens Now

REPEAT
We are closer than ever to finding aliens according to astrophysicist Adam Frank. He isn’t alone in his optimism. Over the last two decades, the tools used to search for extraterrestrials have been advancing mightily. Where we were once only monitoring with radio telescopes, we are now actively looking for bio and technosignatures on exoplanets. Find out why scientists think new technology may be a game changer in the hunt for life off Earth.

Guest:

• Adam Frank – Astrophysicist and author of a new book “The Little Book of Aliens”

Originally aired July 1, 2024

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/aliens-now

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 June 09, 2025: Alien Says What?

 

Big Picture Science: Alien Says What?

REPEAT
Whales are aliens on Earth; intelligent beings who have skills for complex problem-solving and their own language. Now in what’s being called a breakthrough, scientists have carried on an extended conversation with a humpback whale. They share the story of this remarkable encounter, their evidence that the creature understood them, and how the experiment informs our Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. After all, what good is it to make contact with ET if we can’t communicate?

Guests:

• Brenda McCowan – Research behaviorist at the University of California Davis in the School of Veterinary Medicine who studies the ecological aspects of animal behavior and communication.
• Fred Sharpe – whale biologist and behavioral ecologist at Simon Fraser University and member of the Templeton WhaleSETI Team.
• Laurance Doyle – astrophysicist and information theory researcher at the SETI Institute. 

This repeat podcast originally aired on February 2, 2024

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/alien-says-what

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 Sept. 02, 2024 - Calling All Aliens

Big Picture Science - Calling All Aliens

REPEAT
Are we alone in the universe? Is there other intelligence out there? COSMIC, the most ambitious SETI search yet, hopes to answer that. We hear updates on this novel signal detection project being conducted on the Very Large Array in the desert of New Mexico.

Also, we chat with award-winning science fiction writer Ted Chiang about how he envisions making contact with aliens in his stories, including the one that was the basis for the movie Arrival. And find out why some scientists don’t want only to listen for signals, they want to deliberately transmit messages to aliens. Is that wise and, if we did it, what would we say?

Guests:

• Chenoa Tremblay – Postdoc researcher in radio astronomy for the SETI Institute and member of COSMIC science team
• Ted Chiang – Nebula and Hugo award-winning science fiction writer, best known for his collections, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation
• Douglas Vakoch – Founder and president of METI International, a nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to transmitting intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations

This repeat podcast originally aired on April 3, 2023

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/calling-all-aliens

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 July 01, 2024 - Aliens Now

 

Big Picture Science - Aliens Now

We are closer than ever to finding aliens according to astrophysicist Adam Frank. He isn’t alone in his optimism. Over the last two decades, the tools used to search for extraterrestrials have been advancing mightily. Where we were once only monitoring with radio telescopes, we are now actively looking for bio and technosignatures on exoplanets. Find out why scientists think new technology may be a game changer in the hunt for life off Earth.

Guest:

• Adam Frank – Astrophysicist and author of a new book “The Little Book of Aliens”

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/aliens-now

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 Feb. 12 2024 - Alien Says What?

Big Picture Science - Alien Says What?

Whales are aliens on Earth; intelligent beings who have skills for complex problem-solving and their own language. Now in what’s being called a breakthrough, scientists have carried on an extended conversation with a humpback whale. They share the story of this remarkable encounter, their evidence that the creature understood them, and how the experiment informs our Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. After all, what good is it to make contact with ET if we can’t communicate?

Guests:

• Brenda McCowan – Research behaviorist at the University of California Davis in the School of Veterinary Medicine who studies the ecological aspects of animal behavior and communication.
• Fred Sharpe – whale biologist and behavioral ecologist at Simon Fraser University and member of the Templeton WhaleSETI Team.
• Laurance Doyle – astrophysicist and information theory researcher at the SETI Institute.

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/alien-says-what

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 April 03, 2023 - Calling All Aliens

Big Picture Science - Calling All Aliens

Are we alone in the universe? Is there other intelligence out there? COSMIC, the most ambitious SETI search yet, hopes to answer that. We hear updates on this novel signal detection project being conducted on the Very Large Array in the desert of New Mexico.

Also, we chat with award-winning science fiction writer Ted Chiang about how he envisions making contact with aliens in his stories, including the one that was the basis for the movie Arrival. And find out why some scientists don’t want only to listen for signals, they want to deliberately transmit messages to aliens. Is that wise and, if we did it, what would we say?

Guests:

• Chenoa Tremblay – Postdoc researcher in radio astronomy for the SETI Institute and member of COSMIC science team
• Ted Chiang – Nand Hugo award-winning science fiction writer, best known for his collections, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation
• Douglas Vakoch – Founder and president of METI International, a nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to transmitting intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/calling-all-aliens

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 Monday 25 May 2015 - Skeptic Check: After the Hereafter

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: After the Hereafter

There are few enduring truths, but one is that no one gets out of life alive. What’s less certain is what comes next. Does everything stop with death, or are we transported to another plane of existence? First-hand accounts of people who claim to have visited heaven are offered as proof of an afterlife. Now the author of one bestseller admits that his story was fabricated.

We’ll look at the genre of “heaven tourism” to see if it has anything to say about the possible existence of the hereafter, and why the idea of an afterlife seriously influences how we live our lives on Earth.

Also, a neurologist describes what is going on in the brain during near-death and other out-of-body experiences.

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

Guests:

• Ben Radford – Paranormal investigator, research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author of the Discovery News article, “Why People Believed Boy’s ‘Visit to Heaven’ Story”
• Greg Garrett – Professor of English at Baylor University, writer on books, culture and religion for the Huffington Post, and author of Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination
• Steven Novella – Professor of neurology at Yale University School of Medicine and host of the “Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe” podcast

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

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

Big Picture Science for Monday 12 January 2015 - How to Talk to Aliens

Big Picture Science - How to Talk to Aliens

“Dear E.T. …” So far, so good. But now what? Writing is never easy, but what if your task was to craft a message to aliens living elsewhere in the universe, and your prose would represent all humankind? Got writer’s block yet?

What to say to the aliens was the focus of a recent conference in which participants shifted their attentions away from listening for extraterrestrial signals to transmitting some. In this show, we report on the “Communicating Across the Cosmos” conference held at the SETI Institute in December 2014.

Find out what scientists think we should say. Also, how archeology could help us craft messages to an unfamiliar culture. Plus, why journalists might be well-suited to writing the message. And, a response to Stephen Hawking’s warning that attempting to contact aliens is too dangerous.

Guests:

• Douglas Vakoch – Director of interstellar message composition, SETI Institute
• Paul Wason – Archaeologist, anthropologist and vice president for the life sciences and genetics program at the Templeton Foundation
• Al Harrison – Emeritus professor of psychology, University of California, Davis
• Morris Jones – Journalist and space analyst in Sydney, Australia
• Shari Wells-Jensen – Professor of English, Bowling Green State University

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

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

Big Picture Science for 05/05/14 - Skeptic Check: What, We Worry?

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: What, We Worry?

We all have worries. But as trained observers, scientists learn things that can affect us all. So what troubles them, should also trouble us. From viral pandemics to the limits of empirical knowledge, find out what science scenarios give researchers insomnia.

But also, we discover which scary scenarios that preoccupy the public don’t worry the scientists at all. Despite the rumors, you needn’t fear that the Large Hadron Collider will produce black holes that could swallow the Earth.

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

Guests:

• David Quammen – Science journalist, contributing writer for National Geographic Magazine, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
• Sandra Faber – Astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz
• Paul Saffo – Technology forecaster based in the Silicon Valley
• Seth Shostak – Senior astronomer, SETI Institute, host, Big Picture Science
• Elisa Quintana – Research scientist, SETI Institute
• Lawrence Krauss – Theoretical physicist, Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University

Inspiration for this episode comes from the book, What Should We Be Worried About?: Real Scenarios That Keep Scientists Up at Night edited by John Brockman.

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

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

Big Picture Science for 03/24/14 - Do the Math

Big Picture Science - Do the Math

ENCORE: One plus one is two. But what’s the square root of 64, divided by 6 over 12?* Wait, don’t run for the hills! Math isn’t scary. It helps us describe and design our world, and can be easier to grasp than the straight edge of a protractor.

Discover how to walk through the city and number-crunch simultaneously using easy tips for estimating the number of bricks in a building or squirrels in the park. Plus, why our brains are wired for finger-counting … whether aliens would have calculators … and history’s most famous mathematical equations (after e=mc²).

*The answer is 16

Guests:

• Ian Stewart – Emeritus professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick, U.K., author of In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World
• Michael Anderson – Psychologist and neuroscientist, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
• Keith Devlin – Mathematician and Director of the Human Sciences and Technology Advanced Research Institute, Stanford University
• John Adam – Mathematician, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, and author of X and the City: Modeling Aspects of Urban Life

This encore podcast was first released July 2012

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

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

Big Picture Science for 02/10/14 - Gene Hack, Man

Big Picture Science - Gene Hack, Man

ENCORE: Computers and DNA have a few things in common. Both use digital codes and are prone to viruses. And, it seems, both can be hacked. From restoring the flavor of tomatoes to hacking into the president’s DNA, discover the promise and peril of gene tinkering.

Plus, computer hacking. Just how easy is it to break into your neighbor’s email account? What about the CIA’s?

Also, one man’s concern that radio telescopes might pick up an alien computer virus.

Guests:

• George Weinstock – Microbiologist, geneticist, associate director at the Washington University Genome Institute, St. Louis
• Jim Giovannoni – Plant molecular biologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cornell University campus
• Andrew Hessel – Faculty member, Singularity University, research scientist at Autodesk, and co-author of “Hacking the President’s DNA” in the November 2012 issue of The Atlantic
• Dan Kaminsky – Chief scientist of security firm DHK
• Dick Carrigan – Scientist emeritus at Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois

This encore podcast was first released on December 10, 2012

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

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

Big Picture Science for 12/10/12 - Gene Hack, Man

Big Picture Science - Gene Hack, Man

Computers and DNA have a few things in common. Both use digital codes and are prone to viruses. And, it seems, both can be hacked. From restoring the flavor of tomatoes to hacking into the president’s DNA, discover the promise and peril of gene tinkering.

Plus, computer hacking. Just how easy is it to break into your neighbor’s email account? What about the CIA’s?

Also, one man’s concern that radio telescopes might pick up an alien computer virus.

Guests:

• George Weinstock – Microbiologist, geneticist, associate director at the Washington University Genome Institute, St. Louis
• Jim Giovannoni – Plant molecular biologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cornell University campus
• Andrew Hessel – Faculty member, Singularity University, research scientist at Autodesk, and co-author of “Hacking the President’s DNA” in the November 2012 issue of The Atlantic
• Dan Kaminsky – Chief scientist of security firm DHK
• Dick Carrigan – Scientist emeritus at Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois

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

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

Big Picture Science for 11/26/12 - Doomsday Live, Part I

Big Picture Science - Doomsday Live, Part I

If there is only one show you hear about the end of the world, let it be this one. Recorded before a live audience at the Computer History Museum on October 27^th, 2012, this two-part special broadcast of Big Picture Science separates fact from fiction in doomsday prediction. In this episode: Maya prophesy for December 21, 2012 … asteroid impact and cosmic threats …. and alien invasion.

Presented as part of the Bay Area Science Festival.

Find out more about our guests and their work.

Guests:

• Guy P. Harrison – Science writer and author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
• Andrew Fraknoi – Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California

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

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

Big Picture Science for 07/16/12 - Do the Math

Big Picture Science - Do the Math

One plus one is two. But what’s the square root of 64, divided by 6 over 12?* Wait, don’t run for the hills! Math isn’t scary. It helps us describe and design our world, and can be easier to grasp than the straight edge of a protractor.

Discover how to walk through the city and number-crunch simultaneously using easy tips for estimating the number of bricks in a building or squirrels in the park. Plus, why our brains are wired for finger-counting … whether aliens would have calculators … and history’s most famous mathematical equations (after e=mc²).

*The answer is 16

Guests:

• Ian Stewart – Emeritus professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick, U.K., author of In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World
• Michael Anderson – Psychologist and neuroscientist, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
• Keith Devlin – Mathematician and Director of the Human Sciences and Technology Advanced Research Institute, Stanford University
• John Adam – Mathematician, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, and author of X and the City: Modeling Aspects of Urban Life

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

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

Big Picture Science for 06/25/12 - Seth's Storm Shelter

Big Picture Science - Seth's Storm Shelter

Expect the unexpected when we go digging in Seth’s storm shelter – who knows what we’ll find! In this cramped never-never land, tucked between piles of dehydrated food packets and old civil defense helmets, we stumble (but don’t step) upon marauding ants … a mission to Pluto…. “evidence” of a spaceship crash … the Apollo astronaut who shot the “Earth Rise” photograph … and Jonah Lehrer meditating on creativity.

Tune in, find out and, help move this box of canned soup, will you?

Guests:

• Mark Moffett – Entomologist, research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, author of Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
• John Spencer – Planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and member of the New Horizons science team
• Joe Nickell – Paranormal investigator, Senior Research Fellow, Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
• William Anders – Astronaut on Apollo 8, and photographer of “Earth Rise”
• Jonah Lehrer – Author of Imagine: How Creativity Works

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

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

Big Picture Science for 02/20/12 - Skeptic Check: Saucer's Apprentice

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Saucer's Apprentice

ENCORE They’re here! About one-third of all Americans believe we’re being visited by extraterrestrial spacecraft. But wait, you want evidence?

UFO sighting are as prevalent as flies at a picnic. But proof of visitation – well, that’s really alien.

Hear why belief in extraterrestrial UFOs persists … and why military sightings that “can’t be explained” don’t warrant rolling out a welcome mat for ET.

Plus, the most fab UFOs in the movies!

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it!
Guests:

• Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com
• Benjamin Radford – Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and managing editor of “Skeptical Inquirer Science Magazine”
• Leslie Kean – Journalist, and author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record
• Susan Clancy – Psychology Researcher, Harvard University
  and author of Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens
• Thomas Bullard – Folkorist at Indiana University and author of The Myth and Mystery of UFOs

First aired November 15, 2010.

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

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.

Big Picture Science for 10/03/11 - Skeptic Check, Beast Of

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check, Beast Of

Zombies, aliens, Bigfoot, oh my!! We’ve covered – or rather uncovered – them all and more on Skeptic Check, our monthly look of critical thinking. And now we’ve collected enough strange encounters to assemble a sordid retrospective of sorts.

Sharpen your brain, it’s Skeptic Check, Beast Of. But don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Phil Plait – Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog, badastronomy.com
• 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
• Susan Jacoby – Author of The Age of American Unreason
• Steve Silberman – Contributing editor, Wired Magazine, author of “The Placebo Problem” in the September 2009 issue
• Mary Pope-Handy – Estate Agent, Silicon Valley and keeper of the website hauntedrealestate.com
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles
• Paul Offit – Pediatrician, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure
• Stephen Schneider – Climate scientist, Stanford University
• Brendan Riley – Assistant professor of English, Columbia College, Chicago

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

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 06/20/11 - Alien Invasion

Are We Alone - Alien Invasion

They’re heeeere! Yes, aliens are wreaking havoc and destruction throughout the land. But these aliens are Arizona beetles, and the land is in California, where the invasive insects are a serious problem.

And what of space-faring aliens? We have those too: how to find them, and how to protect our planet – and theirs.

From Hollywood to SETI’s hi-tech search for extraterrestrials, aliens are invading Are We Alone?

Guests:

• Paul Davies – Physicist and author of The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence
• Frank Drake- Senior Scientist, SETI Institute
• Andy Ihnatko – Journalist and tech blogger
• Margaret Race – Biologist and Principal Investigator at the SETI Institute
• Margaret McLean – Director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Ethics, Santa Clara University
• Mark Hoddle – Biological Control Specialist at the University of California, Riverside
• Vanessa Lopez – Graduate student in entomology, University of California, Riverside

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

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.

NOTICE: "The Names They are a-Changin’" - Coming in July, "Are We Alone" will change to "Big Picture Science!"

Are We Alone for 04/04/11 - Sex and the SETI

Are We Alone - Sex and the SETI

ENCORE: Birds do it. Bees do it. But no one sings about how they do it. And frankly, not even Cole Porter can make bedroom behavior that involves decapitating your mate sound romantic. And what rhymes with “cannibalism?” But the animal world abounds with bizarre sexual behavior… and it’s all perfectly normal.

Find out how female spiders lure males to their doom… why dolphins are the friskiest of mammals… whether E.T. would have sex… and why sexual reproduction evolved in the first place.

Also, why the marketing gurus have it all wrong: driving a Hummer or wearing Gucci won’t help you land a mate. Find out what will.

Guests:

• Olivia Judson – Evolutionary biologist at Imperial College in London and author of Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex
• Lori Marino – Evolutionary Biologist at Emory University
• Sharon Moalem – Neuro-geneticist, evolutionary biologist and author of How Sex Works: Why We Look, Smell, Taste, Feel, and Act the Way We Do
• Geoffrey Miller – Evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico and author of Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior

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

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.