Big Picture Science

Series produced by Big Picture Science

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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
Deep Time
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
What Do You Make Of It?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
Skeptic Check: About Face
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
Eye Spy
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
De-Extinction Show
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
ZZZZZs Please
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
A Sudden Change in Planets
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
Skeptic Check: Is It True?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
As You Were
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
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
What's the Difference?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: What's the Difference?, Credit: Seth Shostak
We make split second decisions about others – someone is male or female, black or white, us or them. But sometimes the degrees of separation are i...

Bought by Accessible Media Inc., KREV-LP, WRST-FM Oshkosh, Accessible Media Inc. Station Account, WYAP and more


  • Added: Oct 06, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Skeptic Check: Friends Like These
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Friends Like These, Credit: Seth Shostak
We love our family and friends, but sometimes their ideas about how the world works can seem a little wacky. We look at the examples that BiPiSci ...

Bought by WUFT, KKWE Niijii Radio, KRPS, CHSR-FM 97.9, Accessible Media Inc. and more


  • Added: Oct 27, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
Sounds Abound
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Sounds Abound, Credit: Seth Shostak
The world abounds in sound. Now we know what the fuss is about. With computers we can analyze the song of birds (they give each other nicknames) ...

Bought by Gallatin Valley Community Radio, KRPS, CHSR-FM 97.9, WRST-FM Oshkosh, WYAP and more


  • Added: Nov 03, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Skeptic Check: Are You Sure You're Sure?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Are You Sure You're Sure?, Credit: Seth Shostak
You know what you know. But you probably don’t know what you don’t know. Few of us do. Scientists say we’re spectacularly incompetent at recogni...

Bought by WVTF, KSKQ, 91.7 WHUS Storrs, RadioFreePalmer, KRPS and more


  • Added: Jul 27, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
This Land is Island
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: This Land is Island, Credit: Seth Shostak
There are many kinds of islands. There’s your iconic sandy speck of land topped with a palm tree, but there’s also our home planet – an island in ...

Bought by WVTF, KRPS, CHSR-FM 97.9, KREV-LP, WRGY and more


  • Added: Nov 24, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Long Live Longevity
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Long Live Longevity, Credit: Seth Shostak
The science of sticking around: The latest in aging studies, why there's a silver lining for the silver-haired set (older people are happier), and ...

Bought by KSKQ, KKWE Niijii Radio, CHSR-FM 97.9, KAZU Seaside, Calif., WRGY and more


  • Added: Dec 01, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 9
Skeptic Check: Got a Sweet Truth?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Got a Sweet Truth, Credit: Seth Shostak
The sweet stuff is getting sour press. Some researchers say sugar is toxic. But should cupcakes be regulated like alcohol?

Bought by KRPS, RadioFreePalmer, WRIR, WRGY, WYAP and more


  • Added: Dec 29, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Meet Your Replacements
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Meet Your Replacements, Credit: Seth Shostak
There’s no one like you. At least, not yet. But will the future have androids able to do just about everything, computers hooked directly into yo...

Bought by KKWE Niijii Radio, KREV-LP, KRPS, KSKQ, KUNC & The Colorado Sound and more


  • Added: Jan 05, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
Big Questions Somewhat Answered
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Big Questions Somewhat Answered, Credit: Seth Shostak
Why are we here? What happened after the Big Bang? What is dark matter? Will dark energy tear the universe apart? Each of these big puzzlers is...

Bought by KREV-LP, KSKQ, KRPS, WYAP, WRIR and more


  • Added: Jan 19, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Skeptic Check: Mummy Dearest
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Mummy Dearest, Credit: Seth Shostak
Shh …mummy’s the word! We don’t want to provoke the curse of King Tut. We’ll unravel secrets about the famous Egyptian pharaoh, dispel myths abou...

Bought by KPIP-LP, KKWE Niijii Radio, KSKQ, WRGY, KRPS and more


  • Added: Jan 26, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Digging Our Past
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Digging Our Past
Digging Our Past. We hear about two projects that use the tools of modern chemistry and anthropology to deepen our understanding of a dark chapter...

Bought by KKWE Niijii Radio, KSKQ, WYAP, KRPS, WRGY and more


  • Added: Feb 02, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6

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