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
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
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
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: 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
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
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
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
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
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
The Latest Buzz
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Latest Buzz, Credit: Seth Shostak
Is your windshield accumulating less bug splatter? Insects, the most numerous animals on Earth, are becoming scarcer, and that’s not good news. The...

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


  • Added: Apr 24, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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 revolutio...

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


  • Added: Apr 17, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
Skeptic Check: Feeling Risky
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: 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 KAZU Seaside, Calif., KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, WHCP-LP Cambridge and more


  • Added: Apr 10, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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 WNED Buffalo, CHSR-FM 97.9, WVTF, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio] and more


  • Added: Apr 03, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Make Space For Animals
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Make Space for Animals, Credit: Seth Shostak
Long before Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space, Laika, a stray dog, crossed the final frontier. Find out what other surprising sp...

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


  • Added: Mar 27, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Skeptic Check: Do Your Own Research
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Do Your Own Research, Credit: Seth Shostak
Scientists are increasingly finding their expertise questioned by non-experts who claim they’ve done their own “research.” Whether advocating Iverm...

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


  • Added: Mar 20, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
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 WVTF, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., CHSR-FM 97.9, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Mar 13, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Waste Not
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Waste Not , Credit: Seth Shostak
Why create more landfill? Resist the urge to toss those old sneakers or last year’s smart phone. Instead, let global junk entrepreneurs repurpose ...

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


  • Added: Feb 27, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
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 KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], CHSR-FM 97.9, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM and more


  • Added: Feb 20, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Math's Paths
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Math's Paths, Credit: Seth Shostak
If you bake, you can appreciate math’s transformative properties. Admiring the stackable potato chip is to admire a hyperbolic sheet. Find out why ...

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


  • Added: Feb 06, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Skeptic Check: Understanding UAPs
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Understanding UAPs, Credit: Adobe Stock free image
The newest Pentagon report on UAPs – or Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon – reflects long standing public interest about what’s in our skies. Now, NAS...

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


  • Added: Jan 30, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14

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