Big Picture Science for 05/05/14 - Skeptic Check: What, We Worry?

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: What, We Worry?

We all have worries. But as trained observers, scientists learn things that can affect us all. So what troubles them, should also trouble us. From viral pandemics to the limits of empirical knowledge, find out what science scenarios give researchers insomnia.

But also, we discover which scary scenarios that preoccupy the public don’t worry the scientists at all. Despite the rumors, you needn’t fear that the Large Hadron Collider will produce black holes that could swallow the Earth.

It’s Skeptic Check, our monthly look at critical thinking … but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• David Quammen – Science journalist, contributing writer for National Geographic Magazine, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
• Sandra Faber – Astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz
• Paul Saffo – Technology forecaster based in the Silicon Valley
• Seth Shostak – Senior astronomer, SETI Institute, host, Big Picture Science
• Elisa Quintana – Research scientist, SETI Institute
• Lawrence Krauss – Theoretical physicist, Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University

Inspiration for this episode comes from the book, What Should We Be Worried About?: Real Scenarios That Keep Scientists Up at Night edited by John Brockman.

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

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 04/23/12 - Early Adapters

Big Picture Science - Early Adapters

ENCORE The times are a’changing – rising temperatures, growing population, and new technology coming at us faster than a greased cheetah.

So how will humans respond? Find out about future farming in the city – your vegetables might be grown in downtown, hi-rise greenhouses. Also, a population expert tells us how our planet can cope with billions more people, and the man who invented the term ‘cyberspace’ describes what the future might hold for the techno-savvy.

Darwinian evolution takes a long time to accommodate to new environments. But Homo sapiens can beat that rap by wielding the right technology – and becoming early adapters.

Guests:

• Dickson Despommier – Emeritus professor of public health and microbiology at Columbia University, author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century
• William Gibson – Author, most recently, of Zero History
• Joel Cohen – Mathematician and biologist at Rockefeller University
• David DeGusta – Paleoanthropologist at the Paleoanthropology Institute in California

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

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.

First aired December 6, 2010

Are We Alone for 12/06/10 - Early Adapters

Are We Alone - Early Adapters

You are one-of-a-kind, unique and indispensible. Oh, wait … never mind! It seems that computer over there can do what you do … only faster and with greater accuracy.

Yes, it’s silicon vs. carbon as intelligent, interactive machines out-perform humans in tasks beyond data-crunching. We’re not only building our successors, we’re developing emotional relationships with them. Find out why humans are hard-wired to be attached to androids.

Also, the handful of areas where humans still rule… as pilots, doctors, and journalists. Scratch that! Journalism is automated too – tune in for a news story written solely by a machine.

Guests:

• Dickson Despommier – Emeritus professor of public health and microbiology at Columbia University, author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century
• William Gibson – Author, most recently, of Zero History
• Joel Cohen – Mathematician and biologist at Rockefeller University
• David DeGusta – Paleoanthropologist at the Paleoanthropology Institute in California

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

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.