Big Picture Science

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Big Picture Science is a one-hour radio show and podcast that connects ideas in surprising and humorous ways to illuminate the origins, the behavior, and the future of life—and  technology—on Earth.

What came before the Big Bang?  How does the brain work? Will our descendents be human or machine?  What’s the origin of humor?  We ponder these questions daily... and expound on them weekly.

But, wait!  There’s more!

Are you a doubting Thomas?  Good.  Join us as we separate science from pseudoscience—and facts from the phony—in Skeptic Check, our monthly episode devoted to critical thinking.

Whether it’s astrology, Bigfoot, or just the incessant onslaught of UFOs, we take it all on, wielding the skeptical scalpel of solid science.

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

 

Pieces

Caption: To Earth and Back, Credit: Seth Shostak
Meet the NASA officer whose task is to keep Earth, Mars - and the entire solar system - free of hitchhiking bacteria.

  • Added: May 21, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
Caption: That's So Random!, Credit: Seth Shostak
We crave order in things, but we can’t iron out every chaotic crease, nor would we want to: from brain cell activity to the evolution of species, ...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: May 14, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:03
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Skeptic Check: Forget with the Program, Credit: Seth Shostak
Just remember this: Even our memories of dramatic events that seem to burn themselves directly into our brain are riddled with errors.

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: May 07, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Group Think, Credit: Seth Shostak
If two is company and three a crowd, what’s the ideal number for to write a play or invent a new operating system? Experts disagree whether creati...

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Apr 30, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Early Adapters, Credit: Seth Shostak
How Homo sapiens can wield technology to adapt to the onslaught of climate change, a growing population, and the blitz of hi-tech.

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Apr 23, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Humans Need Not Apply, Credit: Seth Shostak
It’s silicon vs. carbon as intelligent, interactive machines out-perform humans in tasks beyond data-crunching – find out what jobs are left for hu...

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Apr 16, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:03
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Second that Emotion, Credit: Seth Shostak
Why flies in milk gross you out and other voyages through human emotion.

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Apr 09, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Life Back Then, Credit: Seth Shostak
Time keeps on ticking, ticking … and as it does, evolution operates to produce remarkable and transformative changes in species.

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Apr 02, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:01
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Found in Space, Credit: Seth Shostak
From Google to GPS – how modern mapping is reshaping our world view.

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Mar 26, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Catch a Wave, Credit: Seth Shostak
What your eye sees is but a narrow band in the electromagnetic spectrum. Discover what the rest reveals about the secrets of the universe.

Bought by KREV-LP and KSJD


  • Added: Mar 19, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Seth's Cabinet of Wonders, Credit: Seth Shostak
A potpourri show: from Sealab … to the next Cosmos series… to software to replace scientists, you never know what you’ll find when you root around ...

Bought by KREV-LP, Yellowstone Public Radio, and KSJD


  • Added: Mar 12, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:02
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Skeptic Check: Prog-Not-Stication, Credit: Seth Shostak
From psychics to the Mayan end-of-world prophesy to computer forecasts: who can divine the future?

Bought by KREV-LP and KSJD


  • Added: Mar 05, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Rife with Life, Credit: Seth Shostak
Follow the water is the astrobiology mantra. Where there’s water, there may be life. Join us for a tour of watery solar system bodies.

Bought by KSJD


  • Added: Feb 27, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Skeptic Check: Saucer's Apprentice, Credit: Seth Shostak
UFO sightings are as common as flies at a picnic, but proof of visitation is alien – find out why belief persists.

Bought by KREV-LP and KSJD


  • Added: Feb 20, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Aware am I?, Credit: Seth Shostak
From food to sex to fine art, humans are pleasure-seekers - discover the surprising motivation behind our desires.

Bought by KSJD


  • Added: Feb 13, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Getting a Spacelift, Credit: Seth Shostak
The future of spaceflight, why humans should go to Mars, the techno-wizardry needed to get there, working on an asteroid, and a space tourist’s pri...

Bought by KREV-LP and KSJD


  • Added: Feb 06, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Material Whirl, Credit: Seth Shostak
The future of man-made materials from 3D printers to artificial skin. Also, why ancient Roman concrete was better than ours.

Bought by KREV-LP and Yellowstone Public Radio


  • Added: Jan 30, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:30
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Skeptic Check: Energy Vortex, Credit: Seth Shostak
The science behind “mysterious energy,” from magnetic poles to haunted houses, and just what the heck is an “energy vortex” anyway?

Bought by KREV-LP and WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Jan 23, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Wired for Thought, Credit: Seth Shostak
A cup of coffee can leave you wired for the day, but a chip in your brain could wire you to a machine forever; the future of brain-machine interfaces.

Bought by KREV-LP, Yellowstone Public Radio, and KUNM


  • Added: Jan 16, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Cosmos: It's Big, It's Weird, Credit: Seth Shostak
It’s all about you. And you, and you, and you and you … that is, if we live in parallel universes. Physicist Brian Greene’s case for multiverses.

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh, KUNM, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jan 09, 2012
  • Length: 00:54:00
  • Purchases: 3