Big Picture Science

Latest Episodes:

Skeptic Check: Plotting Along Aug 15, 2011

Show notes

It’s been ten years since the fall of the Twin Towers, but some still believe that the attack was an inside job. They’re not the only ones to buy into a conspiratorial view of world events. Others deny President Obama’s American birth… link autism with vaccines… and even claim that the fluo

ride in our drinking water is there to control our minds. Is it the truth - or the fringe groups - that are “out there?”

Find out why some tinfoil hat ideas never go away. Also, the roots of rational argument: did our brains evolve to seek the truth… or just win arguments?

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

Guests:

Jonathan Kay - Managing editor of National Post in Canada and author of Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiracist Underground
Michael Shermer - Founding Publisher of Skeptic Magazine and author of The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them As Truths
Phil Plait - Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog, badastronomy.com
Hugo Mercier - Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania
Darcia Narvaez - Psychologist at the University of Notre Dame
Ben Recht - Computer Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and author of the paper “On the Effectiveness of Tinfoil Hats”

Descripción en español

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Written in Code Aug 08, 2011

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Genes – what are they good for? Absolutely… something. But not everything. Your “genius” genes need to be turned on – and your environment determines that. Find out how to unleash your inner-Einstein, and what scientists learned from studying the famous physicist’s brain.

Also, the bizarre notion that your children inherit not just your genes, but also the consequences of your habits – smoking, stress, diet, and other behaviors that turn the genes on.

Plus Francis Collins on affordable personal genomes, and a man who decoded his own DNA in under a week.

Guests:

Francis Collins - Geneticist, Director of the National Institutes of Health
David Shenk - Journalist, and author of The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Genetics, Talent and IQ is Wrong
Stephen Quake - Biophysicist, Stanford University
Dean Falk - Anthropologist and Senior Scholar at the School For Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Descripción en español

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Cell! Cell! Aug 02, 2011

Show notes

Live forever? Both cancer cells and stem cells can make a claim to immortality. Left unchecked, tumors will grow indefinitely. And stem cells offer the promise of non-stop rejuvenation.

We’ll find out whether the surprising discovery of stem cells in the brain really can keep our thinking organ young. And we’ll hear the remarkable story of Henrietta Lacks, the woman who unwittingly donated tissue to science in 1951, and whose cancer cells are still grown in laboratories around the world today.

Guests:

Rebecca Skloot - Journalist and author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Fred Gage - Neurobiologist at the Salk Institute
Randy Schekman - Molecular and cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley

Descripción en español

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Water the Chances Jul 25, 2011

Show notes

Water, water everywhere. But most of it is sea water - you can’t drink it. Discover the most promising technologies for desalination and why solar cells are key. Also, how astronauts filter “water-closet water” to drink it, and how to turn a salt pond back to a wetland.

Plus, from Roman aqueducts to modern-day pumps: a history of quenching human thirst. And, why NASA strives to “follow the water.”

Guests:

Brian Fagan - Anthropologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind
John Bourgeois - Biologist and Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
Michael Meyer - Lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program
Farouk El-Baz - Geologist and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
Michael Flynn - Principal investigator for NASA’s advanced life support branch, Ames Research Center

Descripción en español

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Know Laughing Matter Jul 18, 2011

Show notes

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. It’s nearly impossible to fake a laugh. Yet, humans will laugh even if something isn’t funny. Discover the evolutionary function of cracking up and meet the other species that love to giggle (and monkey around).

Also, hilarious science comedy. Yes, science comedy. Plus, teaching machines to write punch lines… and stretching – and splitting – your sides with laughter yoga.

Guests:

Frans de Waal - Primatologist, Emory University and the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia
Brian Malow - Science comedian
Robert Provine - Neuroscientist, University of Maryland, Baltimore, author of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation
Tony Veale - Computer scientist and natural language processing researcher. University College, Dublin, Ireland
Tommy Westerfield - Instructor, We Are Laughter

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The Big Picture Jul 11, 2011

Show notes

How did life begin? What’s the universe made of, and what’s the nature of consciousness?

These are truly some of the biggest puzzlers in science, but answers are in the offing.

We consider the modern-day hunt for life beyond Earth, as well as a new theory of consciousness: could it be merely an illusion to entertain us and make our lives more worthwhile?

Also, after thousands of years of examining the heavens, are we finally learning the true nature of the cosmos?

Guests:

Marc Kaufman - Reporter for the Washington Post, and author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist and leader of the Cassini Imaging Team
Michael Russell - Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Nicholas Humphrey - Theoretical psychologist and author of Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness
Saul Perlmutter - Physicist at the University of California, Berkeley and senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory

Descripción en español

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Alien Invasion Jun 20, 2011

Show notes

They’re heeeere! Yes, aliens are wreaking havoc and destruction throughout the land. But these aliens are Arizona beetles, and the land is in California, where the invasive insects are a serious problem.

And what of space-faring aliens? We have those too: how to find them, and how to protect our planet – and theirs.

From Hollywood to SETI’s hi-tech search for extraterrestrials, aliens are invading Are We Alone?

Guests:

Paul Davies - Physicist and author of The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence
Frank Drake- Senior Scientist, SETI Institute
Andy Ihnatko - Journalist and tech blogger
Margaret Race - Biologist and Principal Investigator at the SETI Institute
Margaret McLean - Director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Ethics, Santa Clara University
Mark Hoddle - Biological Control Specialist at the University of California, Riverside
Vanessa Lopez - Graduate student in entomology, University of California, Riverside

Descripción en español

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Physics Phrontiers May 16, 2011

Show notes

Physics means getting physical if you’re tackling the biggest, most mysterious questions in the universe. Stoic scientists endure the driest, darkest, coldest spots on the planet to find out how it all began and why there’s something rather than nothing. From the bottom of an old iron mine to the top of the Andes, we’ll hear their stories.

Plus, Steven Weinberg on this weird stuff called dark energy, and Leonard Susskind sees double, no, triple, no, …infinite universes.

Guests:

Anil Ananthaswamy - Corresponding editor for New Scientist magazine in London and author of The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
Steven Weinberg - Nobel Prize-winning physicist at University of Texas at Austin and author of Lake Views: This World and the Universe
Leonard Susskind - Professor of theoretical physics, Stanford University
André de Gouvêa - Associate professor of physics, Northwestern University

Descripción en español

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Thanks for the Memories May 09, 2011

Show notes

Memories are slippery things – some are crystal clear, others more like a muddy pool, and some… well, they seem to vanish completely.

Scientists admit that memory is all very complicated, but one piece of the puzzle lies in how we age – we’ll hear the latest research.

Meanwhile, meet the man who digitally logged his every waking moment - and why maybe the secret to happiness isn’t in remembering but in forgetting.

Plus, the case for deleting data from your hard-drive… and from your brain itself.

Guests:

Adam Gazzaley - Director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at University of California, San Francisco
Gordon Bell - Principal researcher at Microsoft Research
Jim Gemmell - Senior researcher at Microsoft Research
James McGaugh - Neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine
Viktor Mayer-Schönberger - Director of the Information and Innovation Policy Research Center at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and the author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age
Todd Sacktor - Neurologist, SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Descripción en español

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Skeptic Check: Mayhem and Octoberhem May 02, 2011

Show notes

The end is nigh. Only, on which nigh should we rely? According to billboards, Judgment Day is in May and the end of the world follows months later. But other authorities claim 2012 as the apocalyptic year, as predicted by the ancient Mayans. It’s a busy time for doomsday prophecy.

Find out what’s driving these pessimistic predictions and whether it’s time to cash in your stock portfolio.

Meanwhile, a survey of the real threats to Earth, and indeed to the universe, from asteroids, exploding stars, or a big cosmic rip. And the lingering menace of atomic weapons... Is nuclear war inevitable or can intelligence and political will forestall atomic Armageddon?

Finally, why everything’s going to be alright! An optimist’s tour of the future.

It’s Skeptic Check, our monthly look at critical thinking on Are We Alone.

Guests: