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.


329 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Before the Big Bang
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Before the Big Bang, Credit: Seth Shostak
It’s one of the biggest questions you can ask: has the universe existed forever? The Big Bang is supposedly the moment it all began. But now scie...

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


  • Added: Feb 24, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Gene Hack, Man
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Gene Hack, Man, Credit: Seth Shostak
Computers and DNA have a few things in common. Both use digital codes and are prone to viruses. And, it seems, both can be hacked. From restori...

Bought by WRGY and WNJR


  • Added: Feb 10, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Stranded
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Stranded, Credit: Seth Shostak
Imagine not knowing where you are – and no one else knowing either. Today, that’s pretty unlikely. Digital devices pinpoint our location within ...

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


  • Added: Sep 14, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
The Pest of Us
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Pest of Us, Credit: Seth Shostak
Picture a cockroach skittering across your kitchen. Eeww. Now imagine it served as an entrée at your local restaurant. There’s good reason these ...

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


  • Added: Sep 07, 2015
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Can We Talk?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Can We Talk?, Credit: Seth Shostak
The evolution of language, “Dr Bugs” on chemical messaging among ants, and mirror neurons that communicate with other brains without you saying a w...

Bought by KSKQ, KKWE Niijii Radio, WRGY, WPSU, KREV-LP and more


  • Added: Jan 06, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Animal Instinct
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Animal Instinct, Credit: Seth Shostak
What humans can learn from our hairy, feathered, four-legged friends; we may wear suits and play Sudoku, but Homo sapiens are animals all the same.

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


  • Added: Dec 30, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Some Like It Cold
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Some Like It Cold, Credit: Seth Shostak
We all may prefer the goldilocks zone - not too hot, not too cold. But most of the universe is bitterly cold. We can learn a lot if we're willing...

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


  • Added: Dec 16, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Group Think
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Group Think, Credit: Seth Shostak
If two is company and three a crowd, what’s the ideal number to write a play or invent a new operating system? Experts disagree whether creativity...

Bought by WRGY and KREV-LP


  • Added: Dec 23, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Heat is On
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Heat is On, Credit: Seth Shostak
Monster Typhoon Haiyen and other threats to health may be the new normal in a warmer world. Can we make the hard decisions needed to protect ourse...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, WRGY, KREV-LP, WNJR, and KSKQ


  • Added: Nov 18, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Skeptic Check: Science Blunders
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Science Blunders, Credit: Seth Shostak
We’ve all had an “oops” moment. Scientists are no exception. Sometimes science stumbles in the steady march of progress. Hear a few of those bum...

Bought by KSKQ, WRGY, KREV-LP, KUNM, and WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Nov 25, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Life Back Then
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Life Back Then, Credit: Seth Shostak
Time keeps on ticking, ticking … and as it does, evolution operates to produce remarkable and transformative changes in species.

Bought by WRGY, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and WNJR


  • Added: Nov 04, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Shutting Down Science
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Shutting Down Science, Credit: Seth Shostak
The government shut down left one Antarctic researcher's research out in the cold and raises a question about publicly funded science. What do we ...

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


  • Added: Oct 28, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Skeptic Check: War of the Worlds
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: War of the Worlds, Credit: Seth Shostak
It was the most famous invasion that never happened. But Orson Welles’ 1938 “War of the Worlds” broadcast sure sounded convincing as it described a...

Bought by KCPW Salt Lake City, KQED, WUTC, WRFA-LP, WGBH Radio Boston and more


  • Added: Oct 21, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
You Say You Want An Evolution?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: You Say You Want an Evolution?, Credit: Seth Shostak
Just give it time.

Bought by WRGY, WRST-FM Oshkosh, WRIR, and WNJR


  • Added: Sep 16, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Skeptic Check: Follywood Science
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Follywood Science, Credit: Seth Shostak
From Prometheus to 2001: the ratio of science to fiction in sci-fi, the most accurate science fiction film; and why messing with medical facts in f...

Bought by WRGY, WRST-FM Oshkosh, WNJR, and WRIR


  • Added: Sep 09, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Catch a Wave
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Catch a Wave, Credit: Seth Shostak
What your eye sees is but a narrow band in the electromagnetic spectrum. Discover what the rest reveals about the secrets of the universe.

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


  • Added: Sep 02, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Welcome to Our Labor-atory
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Welcome to Our Labor-atory, Credit: Seth Shostak
The end of work? Hi ho, hi ho ... it’s out with work we go! As you relax this holiday weekend, step into our labor-atory and imagine a world wher...

Bought by Accessible Media Inc., WNJR, Accessible Media Inc. Station Account, KRPS, WRGY and more


  • Added: Sep 01, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 8
Rife with Life
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Rife With Life, Credit: Seth Shostak
Follow the water is the astrobiology mantra. Where there’s water, there may be life. Join us for a tour of watery solar system bodies.

Bought by KKWE Niijii Radio, WRGY, KBGA 89.9 FM, KSKQ, WNJR and more


  • Added: Jul 22, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Getting a Spacelift
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Getting a Spacelift, Credit: Seth Shostak
The future of spaceflight, why humans should go to Mars, the techno-wizardry needed to get there, working on an asteroid, and a space tourist’s pri...

Bought by WRGY, KBGA 89.9 FM, WNJR, KSKQ, KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA and more


  • Added: Jul 15, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Material Whirl
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Material Whirl, Credit: Seth Shostak
The future of man-made materials from 3D printers to artificial skin. Also, why ancient Roman concrete was better than ours.

Bought by WRGY, KBGA 89.9 FM, WNJR, KSKQ, KAWC / Border Radio - KOFA and more


  • Added: Jul 08, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6

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