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
Caption: Zombies, Bigfoot, and Max Brooks
What do a zombie attack and a viral pandemic have in common? They are both frightening, mindless, and relentless in their assault. And both requi...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio, WPCA-LP, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Apr 06, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Caption: Let's Take a Paws, Credit: Seth Shostak
Humans aren’t the only animals stressed-out by social distancing. Narwhals send out echolocation clicks to locate their buddies and ease their lon...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif., CHSR-FM 97.9, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KICI Iowa City and more


  • Added: Mar 30, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Piece image
“Climate change at warp speed” is the way one scientist described the coronavirus outbreak. Recorded before a live audience at the Seattle AAAS mee...

Bought by WMUU-LP, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio, KICI Iowa City and more


  • Added: Mar 23, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Caption: It's In Material, Credit: It's In Material
Astronauts are made of the “right stuff,” but what about their spacesuits? Find out why suiting up on Mars will require more flexibility, and the...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., Royalton Community Radio, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and more


  • Added: Mar 16, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Caption: Skeptic Check: Pandemic Fear, Credit: Seth Shostak
Contagion aside, coronavirus is a powerful little virus. It has prompted a global experiment in behavior modification: elbow bumps instead of hand...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., WRGY and more


  • Added: Mar 09, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 21
Caption: Climate Changed, Credit: Seth Shostak
Rising waters, more destructive wildfires, record-breaking heatwaves. Scientists have long predicted these events, but reporting on climate change ...

Bought by KZUM, CHSR-FM 97.9, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., WRST-FM Oshkosh, Royalton Community Radio and more


  • Added: Feb 17, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Caption: Frogs' Pants, Credit: Seth Shostak
An 18th century scientist fitted a pair of tailor-made briefs on a male frog to determine the animal’s contribution to reproduction. Find out what...

Bought by WMUU-LP, WMUU-LP, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio and more


  • Added: Feb 10, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Caption: Perpetual Emotion Machine, Credit: Seth Shostak
Get ready for compassionate computers that share your pain, your joy. But wait, our own emotions can be conflicting and irrational. A suite of unc...

Bought by WMUU-LP, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio, WRGY, WPCA-LP and more


  • Added: Jan 13, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Your Brains Reins, Credit: Seth Shostak
You are your brain, everyone agrees. But if your brain is damaged, are you still responsible for your actions? We hear of the first person to pl...

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


  • Added: Jan 06, 2020
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Shell on Earth, Credit: Seth Shostak
Shells provide straightforward defense against predators. So then why did squid and octopuses evolve to lose their shells? Find out what these cep...

Bought by WMUU-LP, WVTF, WMUU-LP, Royalton Community Radio, WRGY and more


  • Added: Dec 09, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Yule Like This, Credit: Seth Shostak
Fir tree needles embedded in carpet are a holiday headache. Why not opt for a genetically-modified, needle-retaining tree instead? Also, science ...

Bought by KUHF, KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio, WRKF, WDET Detroit Public Radio, KUHF and more


  • Added: Dec 02, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 21
Caption: Stopping Ebola, Credit: Seth Shostak
A new vaccine may help turn Ebola into a disease we can prevent, and a new drug may make it one we can cure. But the political crisis in the Democ...

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


  • Added: Nov 18, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Battling Bacteria, Credit: Seth Shostak
More than 75 years ago, a bacteriologist cautioned that the misuse of antibiotics could breed drug-resistant bacteria. In this episode: the rise o...

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


  • Added: Oct 07, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Nailing the Moon Landing
Neil, Buzz, and Michael made it look effortless, but the moon landing was neither easy nor inevitable. So on July 20, 1969, despite enormous diffi...

Bought by KUFM - Montana Public Radio, CHSR-FM 97.9, KCPW Salt Lake City, WCQS, WUFT and more


  • Added: Jul 01, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 19
Caption: It's Habitable Forming, Credit: Seth Shostak
Evidence suggests a subsurface lake on Mars, prompting scientists to use the “h” word. Could the Red Planet be habitable? While we wait – impati...

Bought by WMUU-LP, CHSR-FM 97.9, WMRA, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio and more


  • Added: Jun 10, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Rethinking Chernobyl, Credit: Seth Shostak
The catastrophic explosion at Chernobyl triggered a full-scale destruction of the reactor in the worst nuclear reactor accident in history. But res...

Bought by WMUU-LP, WMUU-LP, CHSR-FM 97.9, New Hampshire Public Radio, WMRA and more


  • Added: May 06, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 23
Caption: Free Range Dinosaurs, Credit: Seth Shostak
Dinosaurs are once again stomping their way across the silver screen. But these colossal beasts stole the show long before CGI brought them roarin...

Bought by WMUU-LP, CHSR-FM 97.9, WMRA, Gallatin Valley Community Radio, WRST-FM Oshkosh and more


  • Added: Apr 15, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Skeptic Check: Political Scientist, Credit: Seth Shostak
Many scientists Marched for Science; now some are diving deeper into political engagement: challenging public policy and even running for office th...

Bought by KMUN, WMUU-LP, RadioFreePalmer, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WHCP-LP Cambridge and more


  • Added: Mar 18, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: Skeptic Check: Astrology Ascending, Credit: Seth Shostak
Mars may be in retrograde, but interest in astrology is rising. People are increasingly drawn to this ancient practice for insight and guidance. T...

Bought by WMUU-LP, WRST-FM Oshkosh, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, Royalton Community Radio and more


  • Added: Feb 04, 2019
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: Space Rocks!, Credit: Seth Shostak
Some astronomers have proposed that an oddly-shaped object that recently passed through our solar system could be an alien artifact, and not an ast...

Bought by WMUU-LP, CHSR-FM 97.9, KCSB-FM, WUFT, KFOI Radio and more


  • Added: Nov 19, 2018
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12