Big Picture Science

Series produced by Big Picture Science

Series image

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.

From free-thinking robots... to the recipe for dark matter... to the mix-and-match genes of synthetic biology, we have it all! One episode a month, Skeptic Check, is devoted to critical thinking.

Produced at the SETI Institute and hosted by Seth Shostak and Molly Bentley.

Big Picture Science can be found on iTunes and other podcast sites. Radio stations carrying the program are listed on our "listening" page at radio.seti.org

The program is freely available to radio stations for broadcast.

The show began with the title Are We Alone? in 2002.


329 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: As You Were, Credit: Seth Shostak
From memory storage to self-healing materials to stem cells - creative approaches to capturing things are they were. Plus, the arrow of time in re...

Bought by KRPS, KBYS 88.3 FM, Accessible Media Inc., WRST-FM Oshkosh, WYAP and more


  • Added: Sep 22, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Skeptic Check: Is It True?, Credit: Seth Shostak
We often hear fantastic scientific claims that would change everything if true. We examine news stories that seem too sensational to be valid, yet...

Bought by KRPS, Accessible Media Inc., KSKQ, WRST-FM Oshkosh, Accessible Media Inc. Station Account and more


  • Added: Sep 15, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: A Sudden Change in Planets, Credit: Seth Shostak
A planet is a planet is a planet. Unless it’s Pluto. Scientists say that the unpopular re-classification of Pluto as a dwarf planet by astronomer...

Bought by XRAY.fm, WLPR , WRST-FM Oshkosh, KREV-LP, KSKQ and more


  • Added: Sep 08, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: ZZZZZs Please, Credit: Seth Shostak
The science of why we sleep and technology that may allow us to record dreams.

Bought by KSKQ, KRPS, WILL, WRGY, WYAP and more


  • Added: Aug 25, 2014
  • Length: 53:58
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: De-Extinction Show, Credit: Seth Shostak
Maybe goodbye isn’t forever. Get ready to mingle with mammoths and gaze upon a ground sloth. Scientists want to give some animals a round-trip ti...

Bought by Accessible Media Inc. Station Account and WRGY


  • Added: Aug 11, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Eye Spy, Credit: Seth Shostak
Who’s watching you? Could be anyone, really. Social media sites, webcams, CCTV cameras and smartphones have made keeping tabs on you as easy as t...

Bought by WESM 91.3 FM, KKWE Niijii Radio, KREV-LP, WRGY, and WRIR


  • Added: Aug 04, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Skeptic Check: About Face, Credit: Seth Shostak
Humans are pattern seeking animals – and the silhouette of Elvis appears in our burrito. Does that mean The King is speaking to us through TexMex?...

Bought by KSKQ, RadioFreePalmer, KAZU Seaside, Calif., WYAP, WRIR and more


  • Added: Jul 14, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: What Do You Make Of It?, Credit: Seth Shostak
You are surrounded by products, and most of them are factory-made. Yet there was a time when building things yourself was commonplace. Participan...

Bought by KSKQ, KFOK-LPFM, and WRIR


  • Added: Jun 23, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Deep Time, Credit: Seth Shostak
Think back, way back. Beyond last week to what was happening on Earth 100 million years ago or earlier. It’s hard to fathom such enormous stretch...

Bought by Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KVSC, WRIR, KFOK-LPFM, and WGBH Radio Boston


  • Added: Jul 07, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Time for a Map, Credit: Seth Shostak
It’s hard to get lost these days. GPS pinpoints your location to within a few feet. Discover how our need to get from A to B holds clues about wh...

Bought by WRGY, KFOK-LPFM, and WRIR


  • Added: Jun 30, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Skeptic Check: Check the Skeptics, Credit: Seth Shostak
A scientist tells us that more than half of all published scientific studies are wrong, but that science still remains the best tool we have for le...

Bought by WMUU-LP, KRPS, WRGY, 91.7 WHUS Storrs, WRIR and more


  • Added: Oct 26, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: A New Hope for Life in Space, Credit: Seth Shostak
A flurry of recent discoveries has shifted the odds of finding alien life: a planet the same size and temperature as Earth, the possibility of tens...

Bought by WRIR and KAZU Seaside, Calif.


  • Added: Jun 02, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Say La Vie, Credit: Seth Shostak
Researchers discover life in a subglacial Antarctic lake. James Cameron takes the first solo dive to the deepest, darkest part of the ocean.

Bought by KSKQ, WRIR, and WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: May 26, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: We Can Rebuild It, Credit: Seth Shostak
It’s human nature: when calamity strikes, we rebuild. Learn about the consequences of the biggest volcanic explosion in 5,000 years, and the reani...

Bought by KFOK-LPFM, KVSC, WRIR, and WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: May 19, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Caption: Smiley Virus, Credit: Gary Niederhoff
For many, the word virus is a synonym for disease – diseases of humans, plants, and even computers. And yet the vast majority of viruses are not o...

Bought by WMUU-LP, 91.7 WHUS Storrs, WMUU-LP, RadioFreePalmer, WRGY and more


  • Added: Oct 19, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Caption: Our Tasteless Show, Credit: Seth Shostak
Imagine biting into a rich chocolate donut and not tasting it. That’s what happened to one woman when she lost her sense of smell. Discover what ...

Bought by KFOK-LPFM, KREV-LP, KSKQ, WRIR, and KVSC


  • Added: Apr 28, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: That's Containment!, Credit: Seth Shostak
We all crave power - to run laptops, charge cell phones, and play Angry Birds. But why don’t batteries last longer? Discover why their technolog...

Bought by KREV-LP, WRST-FM Oshkosh, KFOK-LPFM, WRIR, KSKQ and more


  • Added: Apr 14, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Since Sliced Bread, Credit: Seth Shostak
Happy Birthday, World Wide Web! The 25-year-old Web, along with the Internet and the personal computer are among mankind’s greatest inventions. ...

Bought by KREV-LP, WRST-FM Oshkosh, WRGY, WNJR, WRIR and more


  • Added: Apr 07, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Do the Math, Credit: Seth Shostak
Fun puzzles for your next urban hike, why brains are wired to count on fingers, and the world’s most famous equations (after e=mc2).

Bought by KKWE Niijii Radio, KSKQ, WRGY, WNJR, WRIR and more


  • Added: Mar 24, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: We Heart Robots, Credit: Seth Shostak
Here come the machines. Meet the prototypes of your future robot buddies and discover how you may come to love a hunk of hardware. Also, should ...

Bought by WRGY, KREV-LP, WRIR, and WNJR


  • Added: Mar 10, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4