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!

 

 

 

Series

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329 Pieces

Big Picture Science is a weekly one-hour science magazine that connects ideas in surprising and humorous ways to illuminate the origins and evolution of life and technology on this planet… and beyond.


Pieces

Caption: Surviving the Anthropocene, Credit: Seth Shostak
The world is hot, and getting hotter, and our species is changing the planet with urbanization, deforestation, and industrial waste. Some say we’v...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KUNM, KREV-LP, RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Jun 13, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: How to Talk to Aliens, Credit: Seth Shostak
If we send deliberate messages to aliens, what should we say? Scientists from diverse disciplines offer their advice. Also, a response to Stephen...

Bought by KUNM, RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP, WRIR, KRPS and more


  • Added: Jun 06, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Shocking Ideas, Credit: Seth Shostak
Innovation in the use of electricity continues long after the days of Edison and Tesla. Find out why the invention of the blue LED was worthy of a...

Bought by KICI Iowa City, WMUU-LP, RadioFreePalmer, WRIR, and WRGY


  • Added: May 09, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Living Computers, Credit: Seth Shostak
19th century mathematician and Lord Byron’s daughter Ada Lovelace was a pioneer of the computer age. But she said that machines would never outstr...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, RadioFreePalmer, KKWE Niijii Radio, WMUU-LP, 91.7 WHUS Storrs and more


  • Added: May 02, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Moving Right Along, Credit: Seth Shostak
Find out why modeling the swirl of hurricanes takes a roomful of mathematicians and supercomputers, and how galaxies can move away from us faster t...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh, RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP, WRGY, and WRIR


  • Added: Apr 18, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Surfeit of the Vitalest, Credit: Seth Shostak
In the century and a half since Charles Darwin wrote his seminal On the Origin of the Species, our understanding of evolution has changed quite a b...

Bought by RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP, WRIR, and WRGY


  • Added: Apr 11, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Tale of the Distribution, Credit: Seth Shostak
Very few of us can play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz. His talent was at the tail end of the bell curve of musical ability – that tiny sliver o...

Bought by RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP, WRIR, and WRGY


  • Added: Apr 04, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Who's Controlling Whom?, Credit: Seth Shostak
Ants exhibit the kind of swarm behavior that is the model for the next generation of tiny robots. But biology can get hijacked: a fungus can seize...

Bought by WUFT, RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP, WRIR, and WRGY


  • Added: Mar 14, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Land on the Run, Credit: Seth Shostak
Hang on to your globe. The arrangement of continents you see today is not what it once was, nor what it will be tomorrow. Meet our future superco...

Bought by KREV-LP, WMUU-LP, RadioFreePalmer, WRIR, and WRGY


  • Added: Mar 07, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Replace What Ails You, Credit: Seth Shostak
Germs can make us sick, but we didn’t know about these puny pathogens prior to the end of the 19th century. Germ theory and antibiotics created a...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh, WRGY, RadioFreePalmer, WMUU-LP, WRIR and more


  • Added: Jan 25, 2016
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6