Big Picture Science for 02/24/14 - Before the Big Bang

Big Picture Science - Before the Big Bang

ENCORE: It’s one of the biggest questions you can ask: has the universe existed forever? The Big Bang is supposedly the moment it all began. But now scientists wonder if there isn’t an earlier chapter to our origin story. And maybe chapters before that!

What happened before the Big Bang? It’s the ultimate prequel.

Plus – the Big Bang as scientific story: nail biter or snoozer?

Guests

• Roger Penrose – Cosmologist, Oxford University
• Sean Carroll – Theoretical physicist, Caltech, author of The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World
• Simon Steel – Astronomer, Tufts University
• Andrei Linde – Physicist, Stanford University
• Jonathan Gottschall – Writer, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human
• Marcus Chown – Science writer and cosmology consultant for New Scientist magazine

This encore podcast was first released on First released December 17, 2102

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

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 06/03/13 - Cosmos: It's Big, It's Weird

Big Picture Science - Cosmos: It's Big, It's Weird

ENCORE: It’s all about you. And you, and you, and you and you… that is, if we live in parallel universes. Imagine you doing exactly what you’re doing now, but in an infinite number of universes.

Discover the multiverse theory and why repeats aren’t limited to summer television.

Plus, the physics of riding on a light beam, and the creative analogies a New York Times science writer uses to avoid using the word “weird” to describe dark energy and other weird physics.

Also, people who concoct their own theories (some would say fringe) of the universe: is all matter made up of tiny coiled springs?

Guests:

• Brian Greene – Physicist and mathematician, Columbia University, and author of The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
• Dennis Overbye – Reporter, New York Times
• Simon Steel – Science educator at University College London
• Margaret Wertheim – Science writer, author of Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything

This encore podcast was first released on January 9, 2012.

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

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 12/17/12 - Before the Big Bang

Big Picture Science - Before the Big Bang

It’s one of the biggest questions you can ask: has the universe existed forever? The Big Bang is supposedly the moment it all began. But now scientists wonder if there isn’t an earlier chapter to our origin story. And maybe chapters before that! What happened before the Big Bang? It’s the ultimate prequel.

Plus – the Big Bang as scientific story: nail biter or snoozer?

Guests

• Roger Penrose – Cosmologist, Oxford University
• Sean Carroll – Theoretical physicist, Caltech, author of The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World
• Simon Steele – Astronomer, Tufts University
• Andrei Linde – Physicist, Stanford University
• Jonathan Gottschall – Writer, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human
• Marcus Chown – Science writer and cosmology consultant for New Scientist magazine

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

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.


Tags:  SETI, news, podcast, cosmology, physics, culture, multiverse, universe, inflation,

Big Picture Science for 01/09/12 - Cosmos: It's Big, It's Weird

Big Picture Science - Cosmos: It's Big, It's Weird

It’s all about you. And you, and you, and you and you… that is, if we live in parallel universes. Imagine you doing exactly what you’re doing now, but in an infinite number of universes.

Discover the multiverse theory and why repeats aren’t limited to summer television.

Plus, the physics of riding on a light beam, and the creative analogies a New York Times science writer uses to avoid using the word “weird” to describe dark energy and other weird physics.

Also, people who concoct their own theories (some would say fringe) of the universe: is all matter made up of tiny coiled springs?

Guests:

• Brian Greene – Physicist and mathematician, Columbia University, and author of The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
• Dennis Overbye – Reporter, New York Times
• Simon Steel – Science educator at University College London
• Margaret Wertheim – Science writer, author of Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything

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

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.