Big Picture Science Podcast
1) Mars Attracts
Earth invades Mars in February. In a historic trifecta for space exploration, spacecraft of three countries will arrive at Mars, and for two of those it will be their first time at the Red Planet. We ...Show More
2) Hot to Cold
There are benefits to chilling out. When we cool superconductors to 460℉ degrees below zero, they acquire extraordinary properties that help run quantum computers. Can artificially cooling human bodie...Show More
3) Like Lightning
Every second, lightning strikes 50 to 100 times somewhere. It can wreak havoc by starting wildfires and sometimes killing people. But lightning also produces a form of nitrogen that’s essential to veg...Show More
4) Cold to Hot
The icy-white crust of Arctic permafrost is melting, and increased plant growth is turning the glacial north green. Metals like iron, once locked inside the ice, are leaching into hundreds of Arctic r...Show More
5) Where the Wind Blows
It’s omnipresent on Earth and absent on the Moon. When it’s blowing sand in our eyes or frigid air down our necks, we may curse the wind, but living on a planet without it would be stultifying. Join u...Show More
6) Life in the Solar System
Spewing lava and belching noxious fumes, volcanoes seem hostile to biology. But the search for life off-Earth includes the hunt for these hotheads on other moons and planets, and we tour some of the m...Show More
7) Skeptic Check: Hypnosis
You are getting sleeeepy and open to suggestion. But is that how hypnotism works? And does it really open up a portal to the unconscious mind? Hypnotism can be an effective therapeutic tool, and some ...Show More
8) Beyond the Periodic Table
You interact with about two-thirds of the elements of the periodic table every day. Some, like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, make up our bodies and the air we breathe. Yet there is also a class of ele...Show More
9) Movie Mayhem
Science fiction movies force us to face a multitude of end-of-the-world scenarios. Whether the final curtain is dropped by rampaging aliens, killer rocks from space, or virus-infected zombies, these b...Show More
10) The Best Things in Life are Tree(s)
While humans were leaving the Stone Age and entering the Bronze, some Bristlecone pine trees grew from seeds to sprouts. They’ve been growing ever since. These 5,000-year-old pines are among the oldes...Show More