Big Picture Science

The surprising connections in science and technology that give you the Big Picture. Astronomer Seth Shostak and science journalist Molly Bentley are joined each week by leading researchers, techies, and journalists to provide a smart and humorous take on science. Our regular "Skeptic Check" episodes cast a critical eye on pseudoscience.

Play

Open in

20 episodes
weekly
Avg 56 min
English

Episodes 20

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Yesterday · 58 min
Leave it to Beavers
They are known for holding branches in their paws and gnawing on them like corn cobs. They build lodges and dams which occasionally flood roads. Cute, comical, and considered pests, beavers were nearly hunted to extinction for their pelts before conservation efforts allowed their populations to rebound. Now environmentalists and engineers are reintroducing North America’s largest rodent to drought-prone habitats across the country. As the paddle-tailed animals’ dam-building has revealed itself to be a potent bulwark against climate change-induced water scarcity, the beaver is being hailed as an ecological hero.  Join us as we stomp through soggy meadows getting to know the OG geoengineers. From their water pressure-sensing tails to their intricate branch-weaving, find out why, as our nation’s wetlands disappear, and new federal policies strip protection for many of those that remain, many think that partnership with a wild species could help build ecological resiliency. Guests: Leila Philip – Journalist and author of “Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America” Denise Burchsted – research scientist, and engineer, Keene State College Clay Frazer – restoration ecologist with Native Range Ecological Michael Waasegiizhig Price – traditional ecological knowledge specialist at the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. He is Anishinaabe and a longtime tribal college educator serving at Leech Lake Tribal College and White Earth Tribal and Community College. Originally aired July 28, 2025 You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 24 · 54 min
Measure for Measure
Whether in miles or pounds, meters or kilograms, we take daily measure out our lives. But how did these units ever come to be, and why do we want to change them? From light-years to leap seconds, we look at the history of efforts to quantify our lives and why there’s always room for greater precision. Plus, we debate the virtues of staying imperial measurements vs. going metric. Guest: James Vincent - Author of Beyond Measure, the Hidden History of Measurement Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Originally aired March 24, 2023 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 17 · 54 min
Calling All Aliens
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 updates on this novel signal detection project being conducted on the Very Large Array in the desert of New Mexico. Also, we chat with award-winning science fiction writer Ted Chiang about how he envisions making contact with aliens in his stories, including the one that was the basis for the movie Arrival. And find out why some scientists don’t want only to listen for signals, they want to deliberately transmit messages to aliens. Is that wise and, if we did it, what would we say?  Guests: Chenoa Tremblay – Postdoc researcher in radio astronomy for the SETI Institute and member of COSMIC science team Ted Chiang – Nebula and Hugo award-winning science fiction writer, best known for his collections, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation Douglas Vakoch – Founder and president of METI International, a nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to transmitting intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Originally aired April 3, 2023 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 10 · 55 min
What Moves Us
What physical activity gives you joy? Whether it’s walking, running, dancing or swimming, your body evolved to do it. We are made for movement. But there’s a cost, as anyone with a sore neck or aching back knows. From the tiny muscles in our skin, which raise the hair on our arms, to the intricate mix of bone, blood vessels, and nerves in our neck, natural selection has struck a delicate and sometimes wacky balance between utility and form. In this episode, we explore how parts of the body - our muscles, neck and feet - came to be, and what forces prompted the evolution of efficient yet imperfect bodies. Guests: Kent Dunlap - Professor of biology at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and author of “The Neck: A Natural and Cultural History” Bonnie Tsui - Journalist and author of “On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters” Jeremy DeSilva - Anthropologist at Dartmouth College and author of “First Steps, How Upright Walking Made Us Human” Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Originally aired June 30, 2025 You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 3 · 55 min
Skeptic Check: The Body Electric
Electricity plays an important role in our everyday lives, including allowing our bodies to communicate internally. But some research claims electricity may be used to diagnose and treat disease? Could electric pulses one day replace medications? We speak with experts about the growing field of bioelectric medicine and the evidence for electricity’s healing abilities. Their comments may shock you. Guests: Sally Adee – Science journalist, author of “We Are Electric: Inside the 200-Year Hunt for Our Body’s Bioelectric Code, and What the Future Holds" Samantha Payne – Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at University of Guelph Kevin Tracey – Neurosurgeon and President of the Feinstein Institutes at Northwell Health Descripción en español originally aired June 5, 2023 Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 27 · 1 hr 1 min
Worms of Endearment
Earthworms may be small, limbless, and blind but, as Darwin observed nearly 150 years ago, they play a critical role in soil ecology. Darwin’s 19th century insights about the slimy invertebrates are far-reaching, serving as the backbone of modern ecology as a whole. In recent years, scientists are putting their ears to the ground, listening to worms to monitor soil health. Meanwhile, laboratory studies on another kind of worms—flatworms—are providing insights about how memories are stored, and how stem cells self-renew. We get our hands dirty for this episode about the biology and ecology of worms. Guests: Philip Ball – science reporter, author of “Beautiful Experiments: An Illustrated History of Experimental Science” Jacqueline Stroud – soil scientist, University of Warwick, U.K. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado  – molecular biologist at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, whose focus is on stem cells and regeneration Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 20 · 55 min
Arctic Dispatch
The Arctic serves as the world’s refrigerator, keeping the planet cool. But temperatures in the Arctic are rising nearly four times faster than the rest of the world and its sea ice is near a historic low. We put out a call to scientists aboard research vessels currently sailing in the Arctic Ocean, and two answered “aye.” Hear our ship-to-shore conversations with them about how warmer temperatures affect life on land and sea. Plus, a biologist who recently returned from the field describes how he inadvertently stumbled upon surprising data during his decades-long study of polar bears. Guests: Autun Purser – Marine biologist at the Alfred- Wegener Institute and the current Chief Scientist on the Arctic research vessel, the Polarstern Andrew Derocher – Zoologist at the University of Alberta in Canada who is leading a decades-long study on polar bears of the West Hudson Bay region, in the high Canadian North Jonathan Nash – Oceanographer, Oregon State University, and member of the GIANT team sailing near Greenland aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough Descripción en español Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 13 · 54 min
Cold Comfort
Another scorching summer has us blasting the AC and grabbing a chilled drink. Air conditioning and refrigeration may beat the heat, but they also present a dilemma. The more we use them, the more greenhouse gases we emit, the hotter the planet becomes, and the more we require artificial cooling. Can we escape this feedback loop? We look at the origins of these chilling technologies, tour the extensive chain of cold that keeps food from perishing, and consider how a desert city like Phoenix could not exist without AC. Guests: Nicola Twilley – co-host of the Gastropod podcast, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, and the author of “Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves” Erik Morrison – Chief cooling engineer at Transaera, Somerville, Massachusetts Stan Cox – Lead scientist at the Land Institute, author of “Losing Our Cool: The Uncomfortable Truths about our Air-Conditioned World” Descripción en español Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 6 · 54 min
CRISPR Mosquitoes
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 revolutionary tool change our lives? On the one hand, it could cure inherited diseases and rid the world of malaria-spreading mosquitoes. On the other hand, scientists using it are accelerating evolution and introducing novel genetic combinations that could transform our biological landscape in unforeseen ways. We explore the ramifications of this revolutionary technology. Guests: Nathan Rose – Molecular biologist and head of malaria programs at U.K. based biotech company, Oxitec. Hank Greely – Law professor and director of the Center for Law in the Biosciences at Stanford University and author of “CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans.” Antonio Regalado – Senior Editor for Biomedicine, MIT Technology Review. originally posted April 17, 2023 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 29 · 58 min
Skeptic Check: Blue Light Special
Many of us know the feeling: we intend to go to bed but pull out our phones for one last scroll. Setting them aside hours later, we’re wide awake, unable to fall asleep. For years, scientists have singled out blue light emitted from our devices as the key culprit behind our post-scrolling insomnia, but the scientific consensus is shifting. Although blue light signals to brains that its daytime, surprising new research suggests that our glowing screens may play a smaller role than previously thought. We present the fascinating science around biological mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness, why circadian rhythms have more in common with your grandfather’s clock than you might think, and why scientists who question the role of blue light in causing nighttime restlessness, still don’t let our phones off the hook completely. Guests: Michael Gradisar – clinical psychologist and sleep researcher, former professor at Flinders University in Australia. Currently serves a head of Sleep Science at Sleep Cycle, a sleep tracking app company Jay Dunlap – geneticist and molecular geneticist at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth who works the molecular basis of circadian rhythms Mariana Figueiro – photobiologist, Director of the Light and Health Research Center and Professor of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 22 · 54 min
Make Space for Animals
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 species were drafted into the astronaut corps. They may be our best friends, but we still balk at giving other creatures moral standing. And why are humans so reluctant to accept the fact that we too are animals? Guests: Jo Wimpenny - Zoologist and writer. Author of “Aesop’s Animals” Taylor Maggiacomo - Associate Graphic Editor at National Geographic Alexander Stegmaier - Freelance Graphic Editor at National Geographic Melanie Challenger - An author who writes on nature, environment and human history. Her latest book: “How to be Animal: A New History of What it Means to be Human” Descripción en español If you have a subscription to National Geographic, check out Taylor and Alex's feature providing a visual timeline of every animal that has gone into space. Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake originally aired January 24, 2022 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 15 · 54 min
Skeptic Check: Disclosure Day
The latest Hollywood romp through the world of aliens has landed in theaters. Steven Spielberg’s movie Disclosure Day suggests that our government has been hiding a cache of evidence about alien visitation that spans decades. It’s fun fiction but does it mesh with reality? Officials have made a series of public disclosures containing information about the government’s UAP program over the years, releasing massive amounts of declassified documents along with audio and video files. Will the most recent data dump finally provide evidence that aliens are here? We look at the extended history of public desire to believe in extraterrestrial visitation, plus the scientific efforts to detect intelligent or microbial life on other worlds. Guests: Adam Kirsch – Senior editor at The Atlantic, and author of, “We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters” Sarah Rugheimer – Astrophysicist at the University of Edinburgh and author of “Searching for Extraterrestrial Life” Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 8 · 54 min
Vroom!
Self-driving cars, once a thing of science fiction, have become a reality in a handful of cities across the country. As our vehicles gain autonomy, they may provoke a profound shift not unlike the introduction of the first car in the late1800s and raise the question of whether the human driver will soon be obsolete. For a glimpse into the future of self-driving cars, we take a spin through the history of the automobile, from the Model T to the driverless taxi-cab. Along the way, we explore the rise of American manufacturing and the unmistakable but unexpected way in which we have bonded to our four-wheeled companions. Guests: Witold Rybczynski – Professor emeritus of architecture and design at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book, The Driving Machine: A Design History of the Car Timothy B Lee – Technology journalist and writer of the newsletter, Understanding AI Descripción en español Originally aired April 7, 2025 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 1 · 54 min
Outside of Our Minds
Since humans first chiseled marks into stone, we have externalized our thoughts and ideas. Our tools may have evolved—now we clack away at computer keyboards—but written communication remains a bedrock of modern society. Now that the pace of information creation is exponentially increasing with the advent of artificial intelligence, many are asking what the next frontier of human communication may look like. We look at how we got here, where the latest tools are headed—including brain-machine-interface—and how our brains and culture may be altered in the process. Guests: Alex Bentley – professor of anthropology, archeology, and computational social science at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and co-author of “Collaborators Through Time: How Humans Partnered with Nature, Technology, and Each Other” Michael O’Brien – anthropologist at the Texas A&M University, San Antonio, and co-author of “Collaborators Through Time: How Humans Partnered with Nature, Technology, and Each Other” Tom Mullaney – professor of Chinese history at Stanford University, and author of “The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age” Betts Peters – Brain computer interface researcher at Oregon Health and Science University, treasurer of the Brain Computer Interface Society Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 25 · 54 min
Skeptic Check: Cryptids
Bigfoot could get official status if proposed legislation passes making it the state cryptid of California. If nothing else, the effort shows that fascination with cryptids has an outsized footprint on our culture. We look at why mythical creatures continue to capture imaginations - as well as passions - of die-hard believers, despite no evidence for their existence. An author uncovers the origin of a beloved hoax in the American West and its unexpected ties to a real animal and historical medical breakthrough. But are we looking for creature delights in all the wrong places? A tally of Earth’s species reveals that far more remain unidentified than are currently known. Newly discovered critters such as the Yeti crab and an organism dubbed the Flying Spaghetti Monster are so strange, it challenges us to separate fauna fact from folktale. Guests: Chris Rogers – Assemblymember, California’s 2nd Assembly District Benjamin Radford – Deputy Editor of Skeptical Inquirer Science Magazine, author, and co-host of Squaring the Strange podcast Michael Branch – Writer, humorist, and author of On the Trail of the Jackalope: How a Legend Captured the World’s Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer Boris Worm – Marine ecologist, Professor of Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia Originally released April 14, 2025 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 18 · 54 min
Allergy Reason
Runny nose. Itchy, watery eyes. Sneezing. If you don’t have allergies, you probably know someone who does. The number of people with allergies, including food allergies and eczema, is increasing. What is going on? A medical anthropologist describes how our hygiene habits, our diets, and our polluted environment are irritating our bodies. Also, the case for skipping your shower. Is skin healthier when we stop lathering? Guests: James Hamblin – Preventive medicine physician and a lecturer in public health at Yale and author of Clean: the New Science of Skin Theresa MacPhail – medical anthropologist, professor of science and technology studies at Stevens Institute of Technology and author of Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World. Descripción en español originally aired July 3, 2023 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 11 · 59 min
Preventing Future Pandemics
We may not want to think about another pandemic, but, as epidemiologists say, it is once again a “when,” not “if,” scenario. For his latest book, journalist Jon Cohen, who has written extensively about infectious disease for the magazine Science, interviewed top epidemiologists around the world and followed virus hunters into damp and daunting bat caves to assess our pandemic preparedness readiness. Jon and Molly sit down before an audience in Los Angeles to talk about worrisome cuts to science funding and our ability (or inability) to be vigilant and respond quickly to emerging disease. There is good news: we know how to stop outbreaks. The question is, will we put our tools and vast knowledge to use? Guest: Jon Cohen – senior correspondent with Science Magazine, author of “Planning Miracles: How to Prevent Future Pandemics” Reading: The Trump Administration is Dismantling Efforts to Fight the Next Pandemic Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 4 · 58 min
Shadow of Chernobyl
Forty years later, the exclusion zone surrounding the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains uninhabited by humans. But among the radioactive remnants, wildlife is flourishing, including endangered species. In the second of our two-part series, we look at the state of the disaster site today, consider what lessons we’ve learned during clean up efforts, hear about a strange story about radioactive shellfish, and consider whether small modular reactors could reinvigorate dreams of a nuclear-powered future and bring nuclear energy out of Chernobyl’s shadow. Guests: Steven Biegalski – Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics program at Georgia Institute of Technology Tom Scott – Professor of Nuclear Materials and Devices at the University of Bristol Jacopo Buongiorno – Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), and Director of Science and Technology of the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
April 27 · 1 hr 2 min
40 Years After Chernobyl
On April 26th, 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union blasted a plume of radioactive debris a half mile into the sky, blanketing Europe. Witnesses described a laser of blue light eerily shooting up from the reactor core. Built to represent the bright future of nuclear power, Chernobyl instead became the biggest nuclear disaster in history. In the first of a two-part series, we retell the story of the accident, the role that design flaws and human error played, and the futile attempts at radiation containment. We also consider the long shadow the catastrophe cast over nuclear power, and the significant political fallout of the Soviet coverup; the Ukrainian vote for independence and the fall of the U.S.S.R. Guest: Adam Higginbotham – Journalist and author of “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster” Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
April 20 · 54 min
Skeptic Check: Feeling Risky
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 addressing climate change, how we regard risk is subjective. In this extended conversation with an expert on the psychology of risk, find out about our exaggerated fears, as well as risks we don’t take seriously enough. Meanwhile, while experts warn society about the dangers of self-aware AI – are those warnings being heeded? Guest: David Ropeik – Retired Harvard University instructor, and expert on the psychology of risk Descripción en Español Originally aired April 10, 2023 You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes