Monday, November 29, 2021

Big Picture Science for Nov. 29, 2021 - Talk the Walk






 

Big Picture Science - Talk the Walk

Birds and bees do it … and so do fish. In a discovery that highlights the adaptive benefits of walking, scientists have discovered fish that can walk on land. Not fin-flap their bodies, mind you, but ambulate like reptiles.

And speaking of which, new research shows that T Rex, the biggest reptile of them all, wasn’t a sprinter, but could be an efficient hunter by outwalking its prey.

Find out the advantage of legging it, and how human bipedalism stacks up. Not only is walking good for our bodies and brains, but not walking can change your personality and adversely affect your health.

Guests:

  • Hans Larsson – Paleontologist and biologist, and Director of the Redpath Museum at McGill University in MontrĂ©al.
  • Shane O’Mara – Neuroscientist and professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of “In Praise of Walking.”
  • Brooke Flammang – Biologist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

This repeat podcast originally aired on October 5, 2020

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/talk-the-walk

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.

You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, November 22, 2021

Big Picture Science for Nov. 22, 2021 - Skeptic Check: Shroom with a View






 

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Shroom with a View

(REPEAT) Magic mushrooms – or psilocybin - may be associated with tripping hippies and Woodstock, but they are now being studied as new treatments for depression and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Is this Age of Aquarius medicine or something that could really work? Plus, the centuries-long use of psychedelics by indigenous peoples, and a discovery in California’s Pinwheel Cave offers new clues about the relationship between hallucinogens and cave art.

Guests:


This repeat podcast originally aired on December 7, 2020

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-shroom-with-a-view

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.

Monday, November 15, 2021

Big Picture Science for Nov. 15, 2021 - Suitable For Life?









Big Picture Science - Suitable For Life?

Life nearby? We’ve not yet found any on our favorite planet, Mars. But even if Mars is sterile, could we ever change that by terraforming it? Or seeding it with life from Earth?

The Red Planet is not the only game in town: A new NASA mission to a Jovian moon may give clues to biology on a world where, unlike Mars, liquid water still exists.

Also, the promise of the James Webb Space Telescope and why the solar system’s largest active volcano offers clues to the habitability of other worlds.

Guests:

  • Kate Craft – Planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where she studies icy moons such as Europa.
  • Julie Rathbun – Senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute
  • Courtney Dressing – Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
  • Chris McKay – Research scientist, NASA Ames Research Center


Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/suitable-for-life

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.

Monday, November 08, 2021

Big Picture Science for Nov. 08, 2021 - Your Inner Tree









Big Picture Science - Your Inner Tree

Declining biodiversity is a problem as fraught as climate change.

Loss of habitat, monoculture crops, and the damming of waterways all lead to massive species extinction. They tear at life’s delicate web, and threaten a balance established by four billion years of evolution.

Can we reassess our relationship to Nature? We consider logging efforts that make elephants part of the work force, and how to leverage the cooperative behavior of trees.

Becoming Nature’s ally, rather than its enemy.

Guests:


Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/your-inner-tree

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.

Monday, November 01, 2021

Big Picture Science for Nov. 01, 2021 - Dimming the Sun









Big Picture Science - Dimming the Sun

Does geoengineering offer a Plan B if nations at the U.N. climate meeting can't reduce carbon emissions? The Glasgow meeting has been called “the last best chance” to take measures to slow down global heating.  But we're nowhere near to achieving the emission reductions necessary to stave off a hothouse planet. We consider both the promise and the perils of geoengineering, and ask who decides about experimenting with Earth’s climate.

Guests:


Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/dimming-the-sun

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.