Big Picture Science for June 28th - Skeptic Check: Science Breaking Bad

 

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Science Breaking Bad

(Repeat) The scientific method is tried and true. It has led us to a reliable understanding of things from basic physics to biomedicine. So yes, we can rely on the scientific method. The fallible humans behind the research, not so much.  And politicians?  Don’t get us started. Remember when one brought a snowball to the Senate floor to “prove” that global warming was a hoax? Oy vey.

We talk to authors about new books that seem to cast a skeptical eye on the scientific method… but that are really throwing shade on the ambitious labcoat-draped humans who heat the beakers and publish the papers … as well as the pinstriped politicians who twist science to win votes.

Find out why the hyper-competitive pursuit of results that are “amazing” and “incredible” is undermining medical science… how a scientific breakthrough can turn into a societal scourge (heroin as miracle cure)… and what happens when civil servants play the role of citizen scientists on CSPAN.

Guests:

• Richard Harris - NPR science correspondent, author of Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions.
• Paul Offit - Professor of pediatrics, attending physician, Division of Infectious Diseases, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, author of Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong.
• Dave Levitan - Science journalist, author of Not a Scientist; How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent and Utterly Mangle Science.

This repeat podcast originally aired on May 22, 2017

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-science-breaking-bad

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 June 21st - After the Plague

Big Picture Science - After the Plague

Everyone is familiar with the immediate consequences of a pandemic – sickness and death. But the long-term ramifications can be just as dramatic: a breakdown of the family and society, shifts in political power, and widespread appeals to magical thinking.

Plagues are societal disrupters. Their effects can linger long after the pathogens have gone.

Also, hear how art responded to a pandemic and how the Louisiana Purchase was made possible by an outbreak of fever in the Caribbean.

Guest:

• Frank Snowden – Professor of History and the History of Medicine at Yale University, and author of Epidemics and Society.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/after-the-plague

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 June 14th - Flush with Excitement

Big Picture Science - Flush with Excitement

The toilet: A ubiquitous appliance that dates to the time of Shakespeare. But billions of people around the world still lack modern sanitation infrastructure. And the incentive to modernize includes the possibility that recycling human waste could help with conservation efforts, energy generation, and even medicine.

Also, a sixth-grader puts lipstick on cats’ bottoms to map places their tush has touched, and in Michigan, why peeing on the peonies can be a good thing.

Guests:

• Kaeden Henry – Sixth grade student in Tennessee.
• Kerry Griffin – Mother of Kaeden Henry; holds a doctorate in animal behavior.
• Yvette Johnson-Walker – Clinical Instructor in Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Chelsea Wald – Science and environmental journalist, and author of Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet.
• Nancy Love – Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/flush-with-excitement

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 June 7th - The Ears Have It

Big Picture Science - The Ears Have It

(Repeat) What’s the difference between a bird call and the sound of a pile driver? Not much, when you’re close to the loudest bird ever. Find out when it pays to be noisy and when noise can worsen your health. Just about everyone eventually suffers some hearing loss, but that’s not merely aging. It’s an ailment we inflict on ourselves. Hear how a team in New York City has put sensors throughout the city to catalog noise sources, hoping to tame the tumult.

And can underwater speakers blasting the sounds of a healthy reef bring life back to dead patches of the Great Barrier Reef?

Guests:

• Mark Cartwright – Research Assistant Professor at New York University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Charles Mydlarz – Research Assistant Professor at New York University’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and the Music and Audio Research Lab (MARL)
• David Owen – Staff writer at The New Yorker, and author of Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World
• Jeff Podos – Professor in the Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Steve Simpson – Professor of Marine Biology and Global Change, Exeter University, U.K.

This repeat podcast originally aired on January 20, 2020

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/the-ears-have-it

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.