Big Picture Science

What’s the world made of? Here’s a concrete answer: a lot of it is built from a dense, knee-scraping substance that is the most common man-made material. But while concrete may be here to stay, plenty of new materials will come our way in the 21st century. Discover the better, faster, stronger (okay, not faster) materials of the future, and Thomas Edison’s ill-conceived plan to turn concrete into furniture. Plus, printing objects in 3D… the development of artificial skin… and unearthing the scientific contributions of African-American women chemists. Guests: Darren Lipomi – Chemical Engineering post-doc, Stanford University’s “Skin Lab” Linda Schadler – Professor of materials science and engineering, and associate dean for academic affairs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York Nicolas Weidinger – Research assistant at the Institute for the Future, Palo Alto, California Jeannette Elizabeth Brown – Retired research chemist; author of African American Women Chemists Robert Courland – Au

You may be unique, but is your home planet? NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has uncovered thousands of planetary candidates, far far beyond our solar system. Some may be habitable and possibly even Earth-like. But now a failure in its steering apparatus may bring an abrupt end to this pioneering telescope’s search for new worlds. But Kepler has a massive legacy of data still to be studied. Many new worlds will undoubtedly be found in these data. Hear why the astronomer who has discovered the greatest number of exoplanets is hopeful about the hunt for alien life, and meet the next generation of planet-hunting instruments. Also, “Weird worlds? That was our idea!” Sci-fi writers lay claim to the first musings on exotic planetary locales. And a biographer of Magellan and Columbus describes the dangerous hunt for new worlds five centuries ago. Guests: Charlie Sobeck – Engineer, deputy project manager, Kepler Mission, NASA Ames Research Center Geoff Marcy – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley Dan Clery –

It’s all about you. And you, and you, and you and you… that is, if we live in parallel universes. Imagine you doing exactly what you’re doing now, but in an infinite number of universes. Discover the multiverse theory and why repeats aren’t limited to summer television. Plus, the physics of riding on a light beam, and the creative analogies a New York Times science writer uses to avoid using the word “weird” to describe dark energy and other weird physics. Also, people who concoct their own theories (some would say fringe) of the universe: is all matter made up of tiny coiled springs? Guests: Brian Greene – Physicist and mathematician, Columbia University, and author of The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos Dennis Overbye – Reporter, New York Times Simon Steel – Science educator at University College London Margaret Wertheim – Science writer, author of Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything Descripción en español First r

It’s a record we didn’t want to break. The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere hits the 400 parts-per-million mark, a level which some scientists say is a point of no return for stopping climate change. A few days later, a leading newspaper prints an op-ed essay that claims CO2 is getting a bad rap: it’s actually good for the planet. The more the better. Skeptic Phil Plait rebuts the CO2-is-awesome idea while a paleontologist paints a picture of what Earth was like when the notorious gas last ruled the planet. Note: humans weren’t around. Plus, our skit says NO to O2 … and a claim that climate change skeptics have borrowed from the Creationists’ playbook in challenging the teaching of established science in schools. Guests: Phil Plait – Astronomer, skeptic, and author of Slate Magazine’s blog Bad Astronomy Peter Ward – Paleontologist and biologist, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington in Seattle Josh Rosenau – Programs and Policy Director at the National Center fo

Not all conversation is appropriate for the dinner table – and that includes, strangely enough, the subject of eating. Yet what happens during the time that food enters our mouth and its grand exit is a model of efficiency and adaptation. Author Mary Roach takes us on a tour of the alimentary canal, while a researcher describes his invention of an artificial stomach. Plus, a psychologist on why we find certain foods and smells disgusting. And, you don’t eat them but they could wiggle their way within nonetheless: surgical snakebots. Guests: Mary Roach – Author, most recently, of Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal Martin Wickham – Head of Nutrition, Leatherhead Food Research, U.K. Paul Rozin – Professor of psychology, University of Pennsylvania Michael Gershon – Professor in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center Howie Choset – Professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.

Just remember this: memory is like Swiss cheese. Even our recollection of dramatic events that seem to sear their images directly onto our brain turn out to be riddled with errors. Discover the reliability of these emotional “flashbulb” memories. Also, a judge questions the utility of eyewitness testimony in court. And, don’t blame Google for destroying your powers of recall! Socrates thought the same thing about the written word. Plus, Brains on Vacation! Guests: Phil Plait – Astronomer, Skeptic, and author of Slate Magazine’s blog Bad Astronomy Craig Stark – Neurobiologist, Director for the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at Univeristy of California, Irvine Ronald Reinstein – Former judge on the Superior Court of Arizona and judicial consultant for the Arizona Supreme Court Betsy Sparrow – Psychologist, Columbia University Descripción en español First released May 7, 2012 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are always surprises when we sort through Seth’s wine cellar – who knows what we’ll find! In this cramped cavern, tucked between boxes of old fuses and a priceless bottle of 1961 Chateau Palmer Margaux, we discover the next generation of atomic clock … the key to how solar storms disrupt your cell phone … nano-gold particles that could make gasoline obsolete … and what NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has learned about how our solar system stacks up to others. Tune in, find out and, help us lift these boxes, will you? Guests: •  Chris Sorensen – Physicist, Kansas State University •  Anne Curtis – Senior research scientist, National Physical Laboratory, U.K. •  Jonathan Eisen – Evolutionary biologist, University of California, Davis •  Karel Schrijver – Solar physicist, Lockheed Martin, Advanced Technology Center •  Jonathan Fortney – Astronomer, University of California, Santa Cruz •  Sanjoy Som – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s in a name? “Holocene” defines the geologic epoch we’re in. Or were in? Goodbye to “Holocene” and hello “Anthropocene!” Yes, scientists may actually re-name our geologic era as the “Age of Man” due to the profound impact we’ve had on the planet. We’ll examine why we’ve earned this new moniker and who votes on such a thing. Plus, discover the strongest evidence for human-caused climate change. Also, why cities should be celebrated, not reviled… a musing over the possible fate of alien civilizations … and waste not: what an unearthed latrine – and its contents – reveal about ancient Roman habit and diet. Guests: • William Steffen – Climate scientist and the Executive Director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University, Canberra • Simon Donner – Geographer at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver • Edward Glaeser – Economist, Harvard University, author of Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier • Douglas

Calling all pessimists! Your brain is wired for optimism! Yes, deep down, we’re all Pollyannas. So wipe that scowl off your face and discover the evolutionary advantage of thinking positive. Also, enjoy other smile-inducing research suggesting that if you crave happiness, you should do the opposite of what your brain tells you to do. Plus, why a “well-being index” may replace Dow Jones as a metric for success … a Twitter study that predicts your next good mood … and whether our furry and finned animal friends can experience joy. Guests: •              Frank Drake – Trustee at the SETI Institute and author of the Drake Equation •              Tali Sharot – Cognitive neuroscientist at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at the University College London and the author of The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain •              Michael Macy – Sociologist at Cornell University His team’s Twitter study: http://timeu.se/ •              Carol Graham – Economist at the Brookings Institution a

The tools of forensics have moved way beyond fingerprint kits. These days, a prosecutor is as likely to wave a fMRI brain scan as a smoking gun as “Exhibit A.” Discover what happens when neuroscience has its day in court. Meanwhile, research into the gold standard of identification, DNA, marches on. One day we may determine a suspect’s eye color from a drop of blood. Plus, why much of forensic science – from fingerprinting to the polygraph – is more like reading tea leaves than science. And will future crime victims be robots? Guests: • Owen Jones – Professor of law, Professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee • Manfred Kayser – Forensic molecular biologist, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands • Marc Goodman – Founder, The Future Crimes Institute • David Faigman – Law professor, University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers have discovered life in a buried Antarctic lake. But we’re not surprised. Life is amazingly adaptive. Expose it to any environment – heat, ice, acid or even jet fuel – and it thrives. But this discovery of life under the ice may have exciting implications for finding biology beyond Earth. Scientists share their discovery, and how they drilled down through a half-mile of ice. Also, plunge into another watery alien world with director James Cameron, and the first solo dive to the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. Plus, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist tries to create life in his lab to learn more about biology’s origins, and martian fossils abound in Robert J. Sawyer’s latest sci-fi novel. Guests: • Helen Amanda Fricker – Glaciologist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego • Jill Mikucki – Microbiologist at the University of Tennessee • Chris McKay – Planetary scientist, NASA Ames Research Center • Jack Szostak – Nobel Prize winning chemist, Harvard University, Ma

We’ve all had an “oops” moment. Scientists are no exception. Sometimes science stumbles in the steady march of progress. Find out why cold fusion is a premier example why you shouldn’t hold a press conference before publishing your results. Also, how to separate fumbles from faux-science from fraud. Plus, why ignorance is what really drives the scientific method. And our Hollywood skeptic poses as a psychic for Dr. Phil, while our Dr. Phil (Plait) investigates the authenticity of a life-bearing meteorite. Guests: •  Phil Plait – Skeptic and author of Slate Magazine’s blog Bad Astronomy •  Michael Gordin – Historian of science at Princeton University, author of The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe •  David Goodstein – Physicist, California Institute of Technology •  Stuart Firestein – Neuroscientist, chair of the biology department, Columbia University, and author of Ignorance: How It Drives Science •  Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles

We all talk about the weather. And now scientists are doing something about it: providing more accurate warnings before big storms hit. Discover how smart technology – with an eye on the sky – is taking monster weather events by storm. Plus, why severe weather events caused by a warming planet may trigger social and economic chaos. Also, meet the storm chaser who runs toward tornadoes as everyone else flees… and why your cell phone goes haywire when the sun kicks up a storm of its own. Guests: • Michael Smith – Meteorologist, founder of WeatherData and author of Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather • George Kourounis – Explorer and storm chaser • Jeffrey Scargle – Research astrophyscisit in the Astrobiology and Space Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center • Ken Caldeira – Climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Deparment of Global Ecology • Christian Pareti – Contributing editor of The Nation, visiting scholar at the City Univeristy of New York, and author of Tr

Imagine moving things with your mind. Not with telekinesis, but with the future tools of brain science. Meet a pioneer in the field of computer-to-brain connection and discover the blurry boundary where the mind ends and the machine begins. Plus, how new technology is sharpening the “real” in virtual reality. And, whether our devotion to digital devices is changing what it means to be human. Guests: •  Miguel Nicolelis – Director for the Center for Neuroengineering at Duke University, and author of Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines and How it Will Change our Lives •  Jeremy Bailenson – Director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University and co-author of Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution •  Jim Blascovich – Psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara and co-author of Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution •  Sherry Turkle – Profes

Could you have had a past life? Is it possible that some part of you is the reincarnation of a person – or maybe an animal – that lived long ago? We’ll hear the story of a young boy who started having nightmares about a plane crash. His parents thought he was the reincarnation of a downed, World War II fighter pilot. But his story might not fly. Also … is there any biological basis for reincarnation? Animals that indulge in the big sleep. Suspended animation is Hollywood’s favorite device for interstellar travel … But could we really put a dimmer switch on human metabolism? Learn how techniques for hitting the hold button for humans might be just around the corner. Guests: •  Cynthia Meyersburg – Research psychologist at Harvard University •  Tori Hoehler – Astrobiologist at the NASA Ames Research Center •  André Bormanis – Screenwriter, producer and former science consultant for “Star Trek” •  Matt Andrews – Biologist at the University of Minnesota, Duluth •  Phil Plait – Astronomer, and author of the Bad As

You must remember this… wait, wait... I had it… on the tip of my tongue… (Memory is a tricky thing and most of us would like to improve it)… oh, yes: Discover the secrets of stupefying, knock-your-socks-off recall by a U.S. Memory Champion. Also, almost everything we know about memory comes from the life of one man born in 1926 and known as H.M., the world’s “most unforgettable amnesiac.” Plus, the sum total of the global data storage capacity in hard drives, thumb drives, the Internet, you name it… guess how many exabytes it comes to? Guests: •  Larry Squire – Professor of psychiatry and neurosciences and psychology at the University of California, San Diego and a scientist at the VA Medical Center in San Diego •  Jacopo Annese – Neuroanatomist and Director of the Brain Observatory at the University of California, San Diego •  Joshua Foer – Author of Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything •  Martin Hilbert – Economist and social scientist, University of Southern California A

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 scientists wonder if there isn’t an earlier chapter to our origin story. And maybe chapters before that! What happened before the Big Bang? It’s the ultimate prequel. Plus – the Big Bang as scientific story: nail biter or snoozer? Guests •  Roger Penrose – Cosmologist, Oxford University •  Sean Carroll – Theoretical physicist, Caltech, author of The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World •  Simon Steele – Astronomer, Tufts University •  Andrei Linde – Physicist, Stanford University •  Jonathan Gottschall – Writer, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human •  Marcus Chown – Science writer and cosmology consultant for New Scientist magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is only one show you hear about the end of the world, let it be this one. Recorded before a live audience at the Computer History Museum on October 27th, 2012, this two-part special broadcast of Big Picture Science separates fact from fiction in doomsday prediction. In this second episode: a global viral pandemic … climate change … and the threat of assimilation by super-intelligent machines. Presented as part of the Bay Area Science Festival. Find out more about our guests and their work. Guests: •  Kirsten Gilardi – Wildlife veterinarian at the University of California, Davis. leader of the Gorilla Doctors program, and team leader for the US-AID Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT program •  Ken Caldeira – Climate scientist, Carnegie Intuition for Science at Stanford University •  Luke Muehlhauser – Executive Director of the Singularity Institute •  Bradley Voytek – Neuroscience researcher at the University of California, San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is only one show you hear about the end of the world, let it be this one. Recorded before a live audience at the Computer History Museum on October 27th, 2012, this two-part special broadcast of Big Picture Science separates fact from fiction in doomsday prediction. In this episode: Maya prophesy for December 21, 2012 … asteroid impact and cosmic threats …. and alien invasion. Presented as part of the Bay Area Science Festival. Find out more about our guests and their work. Guests: Guy P. Harrison – Science writer and author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True Andrew Fraknoi – Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all have to go sometime, and that final hour is the mother of all deadlines. But scientists are working to file an extension. Discover how far we can push the human expiration date. Plus, the animal with the shortest lifespan and the chemistry that causes your pot-roast to eventually clothe itself in fuzzy green mold. Also, a clock that won’t stop ticking (for 10,000 years) and our love-hate relationship with that long-lived hydrocarbon that keeps our snack cakes fresh: plastic! Guests: Martin Bucknavage- Senior Food Safety Extension Associate, Department of Food Science at Penn State Leonard Guarente – Biologist, Laboratory for the Science of Aging, M.I.T. Alexander Rose – Executive Director and Clock Project Manager, Long Now Foundation Rick Hochberg – Biologist, University of Massachusetts – Lowell Susan Freinkel – Author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices