Big Picture Science

Latest Episodes:

Skeptic Check: Monsters, Magic, and Music Aug 27, 2012

Show notes

If Bigfoot walks through a forest and no one sees him, does he exist? It’s the job of paranormal investigator Joe Nickell to find out! Discover whether eyewitness accounts are reliable when it comes to tracking down the hirsute big guy and other monsters.

Also, on the subject of “seeing is believing”: how magic fools the brain.

Plus, in our potpourri show: can music boost brain power? A new study says listening to music makes brains happy. Does this support the dubious “Mozart Effect,” that claims listening to Wolfie’s compositions boosts IQ?

And, skeptic Phil Plait on why the so-called “super moon theory” doesn’t predict devastating earthquakes.

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

• Joe Nickell – Paranormal investigator and author of Tracking the Man-beasts: Sasquatch, Vampires, Zombies, and More

• Stephen Macknik – Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona

• Susana Martinez-Conde – Director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona

• Phil Plait – Astronomer, and author of the Bad Astronomy blog at Discover Magazine

• Valorie Salimpoor – Researcher at Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Quebec, Canada

• Penny Glass – Developmental psychologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine

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A.I. Caramba! Aug 20, 2012

Show notes

When the IBM computer, Watson, snatched the “Jeopardy” title from its human competition, that raised the question of just how smart are machines? Could artificial intelligence ever beat humans at their own game… of being human?

Hear why an A.I. expert says it’s time to make peace with your P.C.; the machines are coming. Also, why technology is already self-evolving, and presenting its own demands. Find out what technology wants.

And, a man who went head-to-chip with a computer and says machines will never beat the human mind. Plus, we take a voyage into “2012: An Emotional Odyssey.”

Guests:

• Kevin Kelly – Editor-at-large at Wired and author of What Technology Wants

• Henry Lieberman – Research scientist at the M.I.T. Media Laboratory

• Brian Christian – Science writer, poet and author of The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive

• Horst Simon – Deputy Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

• Shankar Sastry – Dean of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

• Jean Paul Jacob – Scholar in Residence at U.C. Berkeley and IBM Researcher, Emeritus

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A Martian Curiosity Aug 13, 2012

Show notes

We dig the Red Planet! And so does Curiosity. After a successful landing, and a round of high-fives at NASA, the latest rover to land on Mars is on the move, shovel in mechanical hand.

Discover how the Mars Science Laboratory will hunt for the building blocks of life, and just what the heck a lipid is. Plus, how to distinguish Martians from Earthlings, and the tricks Mars has played on us in the past (canals, anyone?).

Also, want to visit Mars firsthand? We can point you to the sign-up sheet for a manned mission. The catch: the ticket is one-way.

Guests:

• John Grotzinger – Geologist, California Institute of Technology, and project scientist, NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission

• Jennifer Heldmann – Research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center

• David Blake – Principal Investigator of CheMin, a mineralogical instrument that is included in the analytical laboratory of the Mars Science Laboratory mission

• Rachel Harris – Astrobiology student at the NASA Astrobiology Institute

• Stuart Schlisserman – Physician in Palo Alto, California

• Felisa Wolfe-Simon – NASA astrobiology research fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs

• Bas Lansdorp – Founder, Mars One

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Fuel's Paradise Aug 06, 2012

Show notes

You know the joke about the car and the snail. Look at that escargot? Well, snails may be the only thing not powering the automobiles of the future. Trees, grass, algae, even the garbage you toss on the sidewalk has potential for conversion into biofuel. What is America’s next top model fuel? Join us on a tour of the contenders.

Meet a man who’s mad about miscanthus … an astrobiologist’s attraction to algae… and the blueprint for building your own biofuel bugs.

Also, discover whether any of these next-generation fuel sources could take us to the stars. Put that in your rocket and burn it!

Guests:

• Madhu Khanna – Professor of Agriculture and Environmental Economics at the University of Illinois and at the Energy Biosciences Institute

• Stephen Long – Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Michelle Chang – Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley

• Bret Stroegn – Graduate student researcher, Energy Bioscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley

• Jonathan Trent – Bioengineering Research Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center and founder of Global Research into Energy and the Enviornment (GREEN )

• Richard Obousy – Physicist and co-founder and project leader for Project Icarus

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Olympics for the Rest of Us Jul 23, 2012

Show notes

Let the games begin! The mad dash to the phone … the sudden spring out of bed … the frantic juggling of car keys, grocery bags and a cell phone! Olympic athletes may have remarkable speed and strength, but it’s easy praise the extraordinary. Here’s to the extreme averageness of the rest of us. From beer bellies to aching backs, we’re all winners in the Darwinian Olympics just by virtue of being here.

Identify the one physical trait that you share with all Olympians – your head - and why it’s a remarkable human evolutionary achievement. Plus, the role of genes in putting on the pounds … and what event Spiderman would enter to win the gold.

Guests:

Daniel Lieberman - Professor of human evolutionary biology, Harvard University, author of The Evolution of the Human Head
Callum Ross - Professor of organismal biology and anatomy, University of Chicago
Kelly Brownell - Psychologist, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University
Robert Peaslee - Assistant professor, College of Media and Communications, Texas Tech University and author of Web-Spinning Heroics: Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man

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Animal Instinct Jul 09, 2012

Show notes

Mooooove over, make way for the cows, the chickens … and other animals! Humans can learn a lot from our hairy, feathered, four-legged friends. We may wear suits and play Sudoku, but Homo sapiens are primates just the same. We’ve met the animal, and it is us.

Discover the surprising similarity between our diseases and those that afflict other animals, including pigs that develop eating disorders. Plus, what the octopus can teach us about national security … how monkeying around evolved into human speech … and the origins of moral behavior in humans.

Guests:

Rafe Sagarin - Marine ecologist, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, author of Learning From the Octopus: How Secrets from Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorist Attacks, Natural Disasters, and Disease
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz - Professor of cardiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, and co-author of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing
Kathryn Bowers - Writer, co-author of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing
Asif Ghazanfar - Neuroscientist, psychologist, Princeton University
Christopher Boehm - Biological and cultural anthropologist at the University of Southern California, director of the Jane Goodall Research Center, author of Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame

Descripción en español

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Nano Nano Jul 02, 2012

Show notes

Think small to solve big problems. That, in a nutshell, is the promise of nanotechnology. In this barely visible world, batteries charge 100 times faster and drugs go straight to their targets in the body. Discover some of these nano breakthroughs and how what you can’t see can help you…

…or hurt you? What if tiny machines turn out to be nothing but trouble? We’ll look at the health and safety risks of nanotech.

Plus, scaling up in science fiction: why a Godzilla-sized insect is fun, but just doesn’t fly.

Guests:

Bill Flounders - executive director of the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley
Joseph DeSimone - professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and chemical engineering at North Carolina State University
David Guston - political scientist at Arizona State University where he directs The Center for Nanotechnology in Society
Stan Williams - Senior Fellow and founding director of the Information and Quantum Systems Lab at Hewlett-Packard
Michael LaBarbera - Professor in organismal biology, anatomy and geophysical sciences, University of Chicago

Descripción en español

First released February 21 2011

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Seth's Storm Shelter Jun 25, 2012

Show notes

Expect the unexpected when we go digging in Seth’s storm shelter – who knows what we’ll find! In this cramped never-never land, tucked between piles of dehydrated food packets and old civil defense helmets, we stumble (but don’t step) upon marauding ants … a mission to Pluto…. “evidence” of a spaceship crash … the Apollo astronaut who shot the “Earth Rise” photograph … and Jonah Lehrer meditating on creativity.

Tune in, find out and, help move this box of canned soup, will you?

Guests:

Mark Moffett - Entomologist, research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, author of Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
John Spencer - Planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and member of the New Horizons science team
Joe Nickell - Paranormal investigator, Senior Research Fellow, Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
William Anders - Astronaut on Apollo 8, and photographer of “Earth Rise”
Jonah Lehrer - Author of Imagine: How Creativity Works

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Skeptic Check: OMG, GMO? Jun 18, 2012

Show notes

You are what you eat. But what does that mean if your food is genetically engineered? And the chances are good that it has been engineered if you munch down on corn or soybean. The prospect of eating GM food makes some folks afraid, but is their fear warranted?

Discover what experts say about the safety of genetically engineered foods … whether the technology delivers on the promised increase in yield … and the argument for and against labeling.

Also, why some say the issue is not food safety, but the unethical business practices of multinationals. A filmmaker reports from the fields of India.

Plus, GM crops off this planet: the role of synthetic biology in terraforming Mars.

It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

Pamela Ronald - Professor in the department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis, co-author of Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
Ronald Lindsay - President and Chief Executive Officer and Senior Research Fellow, Center for Inquiry, and author of Future Bioethics: Overcoming Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas
Micha Peled - Founder, Teddy Bear Films, and the filmmaker for “Bitter Seeds”
Doug Gurian-Sherman - Plant pathologist, senior scientist, Food and Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
John Cumbers - Synthetic biologist, working in Northern California

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Can We Talk? Jun 11, 2012

Show notes

You can get your point across in many ways: email, texts, or even face-to-face conversation (does anyone do that anymore?). But ants use chemical messages when organizing their ant buddies for an attack on your kitchen. Meanwhile, your human brain sends messages to other brains without you uttering a word.

Hear these communication stories … how language evolved in the first place… why our brains love a good tale …and how Facebook is keeping native languages from going extinct.

Guests:

Mark Moffett - Entomologist, research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, author of Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
V.S. Ramachandran - Neuroscientist, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego
Clare Murphy - Performance storyteller, Ireland
Mark Pagel - Evolutionary biologist, University of Reading, U.K., and author of Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind
Margaret Noori - Poet and linguist at the University of Michigan, specializing in Ojibwe, and director of the Comprehensive Studies Program