Big Picture Science for Monday August 22, 2016 - They Know Who You Are

Big Picture Science - They Know Who You Are

ENCORE: You’re a private person. But as long as you’re on-line and have skin and hair, you’re shedding little bits of data and DNA everywhere you go. Find out how that personal information – whether or not it’s used against you – is no longer solely your own. Are your private thoughts next?

A security expert shares stories of ingenious computer hacking … a forensic scientist develops tools to create a mug shot based on a snippet of DNA … and from the frontiers of neuroscience: mind reading may no longer be the stuff of sketchy psychics.

Guests:

• Marc Goodman – Global security advisor, founder, Future Crimes Institute, author of Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
• Susan Walsh – Forensic geneticist, Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis
• Marvin Chun – Psychologist, Yale University

This encore podcast was first released on May 18, 2015

Download this podcast at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/They_Know_Who_You_Are

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.

Giant Bolt of "Space Lightning" Sighted over China

Source - Space Weather News for Aug. 16, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

SPACE LIGHTNING OVER CHINA: While photographing the Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 13th, a sky watcher in China captured rare images of a "gigantic jet" leaping out of a thundercloud. The luminous purple and red structure stretched its tentacles almost to the edge of space before vanishing in full view of dozens of onlookers. 

Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and more information about this phenomenon.

Big Picture Science for Monday August 15, 2016 - Are We Over the Moon?

Big Picture Science - Are We Over the Moon?

When astronaut Gene Cernan stepped off the moon in 1972, he didn’t think he’d be the last human ever to touch its surface.  But no one’s been back.  Hear astronaut Cernan’s reaction to being the last man on the moon, the reasons why President Kennedy launched the Apollo program, and why Americans haven’t returned.

Now other countries – and companies – are vying for a bigger piece of the space pie. Find out who – or what – will be visiting and even profiting.  Will the moon become an important place to make money?

Plus, the moon landing was a great step for “a man,” and “men not machines” make space history.  But what about women?  More than a dozen were qualified for space flight in the early 1960s.  Hear from one of these original “Mercury 13,” and find out why NASA grounded them.

Guests:

• Gene Cernan – Retired American naval officer, former NASA Astronaut.
• John Logsdon – Professor emeritus, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University
• Al Hallonquist – Aerospace historian
• Robert Richards – Founder and CEO of Moon Express
• Sarah Ratley – Former pilot, member of the "Mercury 13"
• Dan Durda – Planetary scientist, Southwest Research Institute.

This postcast downloaded at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/are-we-over-moon

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.

Big Picture Science for Monday August 08, 2016 - Skeptic Check: After the Hereafter

ENCORE: 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 theDiscovery 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

This encore podcast was first released on Monday 25 May 2015

Download podcast at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_After_the_Hereafter

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.

Perseid Meteor Outburst

Source - Space Weather News for August 7, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: Do you love the Perseid meteor shower?  This year, you will love it even more. Forecasters say the 2016 Perseids should be twice as active as usual, filling the sky with 200+ meteors per hour on peak nights between Aug. 11th and 13th.  This is happening because Earth is heading for an unusually rich stream of debris from parent comet Swift-Tuttle.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps, observing tips, and links to live webcasts of the Perseid outburst.

The Sun Swallows a Comet

Source - Space Weather News for Aug. 3, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

THE SUN IS SWALLOWING A COMET: One of the brightest sungrazing comets of the last 20 years is plunging toward the sun and vaporizing furiously. The icy visitor from the outer solar system may only have hours left to "live."

Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and updates.

Magnetic Storm Sparks Summertime Auroras

Source - Space Weather News for Aug. 3, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

SUMMERTIME AURORAS: As expected, a high-speed stream of solar wind (with a CME embedded in the flow) hit Earth's magnetic field during the late hours of Aug. 2nd.  The resulting G1-class geomagnetic storm sparked bright auroras across countries in Europe as well as several northern-tier US states.  The show might not be over. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of similar storms on August 3rd as Earth continues to feel the effects of the solar wind. 

Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and more information.

Geomagnetic Storm Warning for Aug. 2nd

Source - Space Weather News for July 31, 2016: http://spaceweather.com
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of geomagnetic storms on Aug. 2nd when a CME is expected to strike Earth's magnetic field.  A solar wind stream following close on the heels of the CME could boost storm levels to G2 (moderately strong). High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. 

Visit http://spaceweather.com for updates and more information.

Big Picture Science for Monday August 01, 2016 - On Defense

Big Picture Science - On Defense

The military is a dangerous calling.  But technology can help out, so researchers are constantly trying to make soldiers safer.  Writer Mary Roach investigates how scientists studying so-called human factors are protecting troops from such aggressive foes as heat, noise, and fatigue.  She also learns how bad odors were once considered a secret weapon.

And while soldiers have long used camouflage to help them blend in, insects may be the original masters of disguise.  A discovery in fossilized amber shows that a variety of bugs employed D.I.Y. camouflaging tricks 100 million years ago.

But where is the defense race headed?  The top-secret branch of the Pentagon whose job is to make tomorrow happen today has some ideas.  A reporter shares DARPA’s plan for augmented super-soldiers.

Plus, do we always need a technological boost to stay safe?  Find out how your innate chemical defense system protects you.  It’s an adrenaline rush!

Guests:

• Mary Roach  - Science reporter, author of “Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War”
• Michael Engel – Entomologist, invertebrate paleontologist, University of Kansas, and senior curator of its Natural History Museum
• Annie Jacobsen – Journalist, author of The Pentagon’s Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America’s Top-Secret Military Research Agency
• Brian Hoffman – Professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, author ofAdrenaline

Download podcast at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/on_defense

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.

Chinese Rocket Disintegrates over the USA

Source - Space Weather News for July 28, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

CHINESE ROCKET DISINTEGRATES OVER THE USA: The body of an experimental Long March 7 rocket (a type of rocket expected to play a key role in the construction of a future Chinese space station) disintegrated in the atmosphere above the western USA last night.  The glowing trail was spotted from Utah, Nevada, and much of California. 

Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos, video and more information.

THE PERSEID METEOR SHOWER IS BEGINNING: Earth is entering the outskirts of a broad stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Forecasters don't expect the shower to peak until Aug.11-13, but already NASA cameras are detecting Perseid fireballs streaking across the night sky as the shower slowly intensifies.

Visit http://spaceweather.com to see the first Perseid of 2016.

Big Picture Science for Monday July 25, 2016 - Musical Universe

Big Picture Science - Musical Universe

In space, no one can hear you scream, but, using the right instruments, scientists can pick up all types of cosmic vibrations – the sort we can turn into sound.  After a decade of listening, LIGO, a billion-dollar physics experiment, has detected gravitational waves caused by the collision of massive black holes, a brief shaking of spacetime that can be translated into a short squeal. 
 
We listen to the chirp of black holes crashing into each other and wonder: could the universe contain more than individual sounds, but have actual musical structure? 
 
A theoretical physicist and jazz saxophonist updates the ancient philosophical concept of the Music of the Spheres to probe the most vexing questions confronting modern cosmology.  Find out how the evolution of the universe resembles an improvisational jazz piece, and the musical inspiration John Coltrane drew from Albert Einstein.
 
Guests:

• Janna Levin – Physicist, astronomer, Barnard College at Columbia University, author of “Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space”
• Stephon Alexander - Professor of physics, Brown University, author of “The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe”

Download podcast at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/musical-universe

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.

The Strongest Solar Flare of 2016

Source - Space Weather News for July 23, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR FLARES: Departing sunspot complex AR2565-AR2567 unleashed a pair of rapid-fire solar flares during the early hours of July 23rd. One of them was the strongest flare of the year so far.  The explosions caused shortwave radio blackouts on the dayside of Earth and may have hurled CMEs into space.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

Geomagnetic Storm in Progress

Source - Space Weather News for July 20, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Unexpectedly, a CME struck Earth's magnetic field during the late hours of July 19th. The impact sparked a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm that could intensify in the hours ahead as Earth passes through the CME's strongly-magnetized wake.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for updates.

Big Sunspots Staring at Earth

Source - Space Weather News  for July 17, 2016: http://spaceweather.com

BIG SUNSPOTS STARING AT EARTH: Solar activity has been low for months.  That could soon change.  Two big sunspots are staring directly at Earth, and one of them has an unstable magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Images and updates are available at http://spaceweather.com

NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS INVADE THE USA: For the first time this summer, bright noctilucent clouds have crossed the Canadian border into the continental USA.  Formed by wisps of summertime water vapor freezing around meteor smoke, the electric-blue ripples were sighted by multiple observers in Seattle and surrounding areas. Check out the video on http://spaceweather.com.

Big Picture Science for Monday July 18, 2016 - Raising the Minimum Age

ENCORE: We all try to fight it: the inexorable march of time. The fountain of youth doesn’t exist, and all those wrinkle creams can’t help. But modern science is giving us new weapons in the fight against aging. So how far are we willing to go?

Hear when aging begins, a summary of the latest biotech research, and how a lab full of youthful worms might help humans stay healthy.

Also, a geneticist who takes a radical approach: collect the DNA that codes for longevity and restructure our genome. He finds inspiration – and perhaps genes as well – in the bi-centenarian bowhead whale.

But what if age really is mind over matter? A psychologist’s extraordinary thought experiment with septuagenarian men turns back the clock 20 years. Will it work on diseases such as cancer as well?

Guests:

• Gordon Lithgow – Geneticist, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California
• Manish Chamoli – Post-doctoral researcher, Buck Institute for Research on Aging
• George Church – Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, author of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves
• Ellen Langer – Professor of Psychology, Harvard University and author of Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility

This encore podcast was first released on April 6, 2015

Download blog at: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/Raising_the_Minimum_Age

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.