Big Picture Science - Just For the Fund Of It
Get ready for déjà vu as you listen to some of our favorite
interviews in the past year. It’s our annual fundraising podcast. Come
for the great interviews, stay for the great interviews. Lend us your
support along the way.
What’s for dinner? Maybe fried bugs. Listen as we do a taste test.
Speaking of dinner, learn why saliva’s acceptable as long as it’s in
our mouth. But dollop some into our own soup, and we push the bowl
away.
Hear adventures of space walking and of space hunting: what happens
to the search for extrasolar planets now that the Kepler spacecraft is
compromised, and an astronomy research project that takes our
interviewer by surprise. Plus, the case for scrapping high school
algebra. That’s right: No more “the first train leaves Cleveland at
4:00 pm …” problems. Also … why “The Simpsons” is chock-a-block with
advanced math.
And, in a world where everyone carries
GPS technology in their pockets, will humans ever get lost again – and what’s lost if we don’t.
Plus, Mary Roach gives us a tour of our digestive systems.
All this and more on a special
Big Picture Science podcast.
Guests:
- Hiawatha Bray – Technology reporter, Boston Globe, author of You Are Here: From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves
- Chris Hadfield – Astronaut and author of An
Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About
Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything
- Geoff Marcy – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley
- Andrew Hacker – Professor of political science and mathematics at Queens College, City University of New York. His article, “Is Algebra Necessary?”, appeared in The New York Times in 2012.
- Simon Singh – Science writer, author of The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
- Mary Roach – Author, most recently, of Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
- Jill Mikucki – Microbiologist at the University of Tennessee
- Michael Pollan – Journalist, author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
. His article, “The Intelligent Plant,” appeared in the December 23rd issue of The New Yorker.
NOTE: Since this is a fund raising show the episode "Say La Vie" will be the show featured on radio stations
Permalink:
http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Just_For_the_Fund_Of_It
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.