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.


338 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Shipwrecks
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Shipwrecks, Credit: Seth Shostak
Shipwrecks are scenes of tragedy, but they are also bits of history frozen in time that can provide insights into events and ideas from long ago. T...

Bought by KICI Iowa City, RadioFreePalmer, KIYU-FM, KMXT, and CHSR-FM 97.9


  • Added: Sep 09, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Calling All Aliens
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Calling All Aliens, Credit: Seth Shostak
Are we alone in the universe? Is there other intelligence out there? COSMIC, the most ambitious SETI search yet, hopes to answer that. We hear upda...

Bought by Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WHCP-LP Cambridge, KBBI Alaska, KZUM, KCNP and more


  • Added: Sep 02, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Life in the Solar System
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Life in the Solar System, Credit: Seth Shostak
Spewing lava and belching noxious fumes, volcanoes seem hostile to biology. But the search for life off-Earth includes the hunt for these hotheads ...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WMUU-LP, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio] and more


  • Added: Aug 26, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
Catching Fire
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Piece image
We have too much “bad fire.” Not only destructive wildfires, but the combustion that powers our cars and provides electricity has generated a worry...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Aug 19, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Not Just a Phage
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Not Just a Phage, Credit: Seth Shostak
We’re hurtling towards a post-antibiotic world, as the overuse of antibiotics has given rise to dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Can we fight bac...

Bought by KTXK, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Aug 12, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Skeptic Check: Is Social Media Harming Kids?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Is Social Media Harming Kids?, Credit: Gary Niederhoff
Social media use among teens has risen alongside rates of anxiety and depression. Addressing what he calls a mental health crisis, the Surgeon Gene...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KTXK, KBBI Alaska, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Aug 05, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Animal Alphabets
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Animal Alphabets, Credit: Seth Shostak
Have scientists discovered an alphabet in whale calls? As researchers try to decipher the series of clicks made by sperm whales, we ask whether the...

Bought by KTXK, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, KZUM and more


  • Added: Jul 29, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Allergy Reason
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Allergy Reason, Credit: Seth Shostak
Runny nose. Itchy, watery eyes. Sneezing. If you don’t have allergies, you probably know someone who does. The number of people with allergies, inc...

Bought by KTXK, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, KZUM and more


  • Added: Jul 22, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
CRISPR Mosquitoes
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: CRISPR Mosquitoes, Credit: Seth Shostak
The powerful gene editing tool CRISPR is already being tested on animal and plant cells. It has even been used on humans. How might this revolution...

Bought by KTXK, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Jul 15, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Don't Lighten Up
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Don't Lighten Up, Credit: Seth Shostak
A canopy of stars in the night sky is more than breathtaking. Starlight is also an important tool that astronomers use to study our universe. But t...

Bought by KTXK, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WHCP-LP Cambridge and more


  • Added: Jul 08, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Aliens Now
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Aliens Now, Credit: Shannon Rose Geary
We are closer than ever to finding aliens according to astrophysicist Adam Frank. He isn’t alone in his optimism. Over the last two decades, the to...

Bought by KTXK, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WHCP-LP Cambridge, WRGY and more


  • Added: Jul 01, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Skeptic Check: The Body Electric
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Body Electric, Credit: Seth Shostak
Electricity plays an important role in our everyday lives, including allowing our bodies to communicate internally. But some research claims electr...

Bought by Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, WMUU-LP, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and more


  • Added: Jun 24, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
Flower Power
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Flower Power, Credit: Seth Shostak
Before everything could come up roses, there had to be a primordial flower – the mother, and father, of all flowers. Now scientists are on the hunt...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KBBI Alaska, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and more


  • Added: Jun 17, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Animals Being Jerks
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Animals Being Jerks, Credit: Seth Shostak
They’re cute and cuddly. But they can also be obnoxious. Science writer Mary Roach has numerous tales about how our animal friends don’t always bow...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, WRGY, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Jun 10, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Post Social Media
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Post Social Media, Credit: Seth Shostak
Before you check your social media feeds today. And post. And post again. And get into an argument on Twitter, lose track of time and wonder where ...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, WRGY and more


  • Added: Jun 03, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Skeptic Check: Feeling Risky
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Feeling Risky, Credit: Seth Shostak
It’s not just facts that inform our decisions. They’re also guided by how those facts feel. From deciding whether to buckle our seat belts to addre...

Bought by Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, KZUM, WRGY, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass. and more


  • Added: May 27, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
The Play's the Thing
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Play's the Thing, Credit: Seth Shostak
Has children’s play become too safe? Research suggests that efforts to prioritize safety harms children’s mental and physical development during pl...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KZUM, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: May 13, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Nuts and Bolts
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Nuts and Bolts, Credit: Seth Shostak
How frequently do you think about fasteners like screws and bolts? Probably not very often. But some of them a storied history, dating back to Egyp...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, WRGY, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: May 06, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Phreaky Physics
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Phreaky Physics, Credit: Seth Shostak
It was a radical idea a century ago, when Einstein said space and time can be bent, and gravity was really geometry. We hear how his theories inspi...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, WMUU-LP, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Apr 29, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
De-Permafrosting
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: De-Permafrosting, Credit: Seth Shostak
Above the Arctic Circle, much of the land is underlaid by permafrost. But climate change is causing it to thaw. This is not good news for the plane...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, WRGY, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Apr 22, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14

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