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.


330 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Finding Endurance
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Finding Endurance, Credit: Seth Shostak
In 1915, Endurance, the ship that took Ernest Shackleton to the Antarctic, was slowly crushed and sank. Shackleton, and the 28 men he brought with ...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., KIYU-FM, CHSR-FM 97.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: May 01, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Catching Fire
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Catching Fire, Credit: Seth Shostak
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 KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WVTF, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KIYU-FM, CHSR-FM 97.9 and more


  • Added: May 08, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Skeptic Check: Shroom With a View
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Shroom with a View, Credit: Seth Shostak
Magic mushrooms – or psilocybin - may be associated with tripping hippies and Woodstock, but they are now being studied as new treatments for depre...

Bought by WVTF, KZYX, CHSR-FM 97.9, KIYU-FM, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio] and more


  • Added: May 15, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Let's Stick Together
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Let's Stick Together, Credit: Seth Shostak
Crowds driving you crazy? Remember, we evolved to be together. Humans are not only social, we’re driven to care for one another. We look at some...

Bought by WNED Buffalo, KIYU-FM, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: May 22, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
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 KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KIYU-FM, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: May 29, 2023
  • 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 WNED Buffalo, KIYU-FM, CHSR-FM 97.9, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jun 05, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
The Ears Have It
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Ears Have It, Credit: Seth Shostak
What’s the difference between a bird call and the sound of a pile driver? Not much, when you’re close to the loudest bird ever. Also, how everyda...

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


  • Added: Jun 12, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Skeptic Check: NASA UFO Study
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: NASA UFO Study, Credit: Seth Shostak
NASA is studying more than 800 sightings of unidentified objects in our sky as part of its investigation into the UFO phenomenon. We get an update ...

Bought by WVTF, CHSR-FM 97.9, KIYU-FM, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jun 19, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Made for Mars
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Made for Mars, Credit: Seth Shostak
Do you have what it takes to survive on Mars? Beginning this month, four people will spend a year in a prototype Martian habitat meant to simulate...

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


  • Added: Jun 26, 2023
  • 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 WVTF, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., KIYU-FM, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jul 03, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Dinosaurs' Last Gasp
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Dinosaurs' Last Gasp, Credit: Seth Shostak
Do we have physical evidence of the last day of the dinosaurs? We consider fossilized fish in South Dakota that may chronicle the dramatic events t...

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


  • Added: Jul 10, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Fantastic-er Voyage
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Fantastic-er Voyage, Credit: Seth Shostak
Thinking small can sometimes achieve big things. A new generation of diminutive robots can enter our bodies and deal with medical problems such as ...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], RadioFreePalmer, KIYU-FM, WRGY and more


  • Added: Jul 18, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
We'll Always Have Parasites
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: We'll Always Have Parasites, Credit: Scott Gardner
Imagine tapeworms longer than the height of an adult human. Or microbes that turn their hosts into zombies. If the revulsion they induce doesn’t do...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KBBI Alaska, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Jul 31, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
Skeptic Check: UFO Conspiracy
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: UFO Conspiracy, Credit: Seth Shostak
UFOs are back. This time they’ve landed on Capitol Hill in the form of a public, congressional hearing. We watched the hearing with great interest,...

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


  • Added: Aug 07, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Granting Immunity
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Granting Immunity, Credit: Seth Shostak
“Diversity or die” could be your new health mantra. Don’t boost your immune system, cultivate it! Like a garden, your body’s defenses benefit from...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., CHSR-FM 97.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY and more


  • Added: Aug 14, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
A Twist of Slime
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: A Twist of Slime, Credit: Seth Shostak
Your daily mucus output is most impressive. Teaspoons or measuring cups can’t capture its entire volume. Find out how much your body churns out and...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, CHSR-FM 97.9 and more


  • Added: Aug 21, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Talk the Walk
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Talk the Walk, Credit: Seth Shostak
Birds and bees do it … and so do fish. In a discovery that highlights the adaptive benefits of walking, scientists have discovered fish that can wa...

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


  • Added: Aug 28, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Building a Space Colony
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Building a Space Colony, Credit: Seth Shostak
Ready to become a space emigre? For half a century, visionaries have been talking about our future off-Earth – a speculative scenario in which many...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Sep 04, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
What's a Few Degrees?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: What's a Few Degrees, Credit: Seth Shostak
Brace yourself for heatwave “Lucifer.” Dangerous heatwaves may soon become so common that we give them names, just like hurricanes. This is one of ...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Sep 11, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Into the Deep
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Into the Deep, Credit: Seth Shostak
Have you ever heard worms arguing? Deep-sea scientists use hydrophones to eavesdrop on “mouth-fighting worms.” It’s one of the many ways scientist...

Bought by KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Sep 18, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15

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