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) Amazing Amazonia
The Amazon is often described as an ecosystem under dire threat due to climate change and deliberate deforestation. Yet there is still considerable hope that these threats can be mitigated. In the fa...Show More
3) Flu the Coop
The worry about whether H5N1 will trigger a human pandemic has concealed a startling reality. Avian influenza has already taken an enormous toll on the lives of other animals. Since 2005, the number o...Show More
4) Skeptic Check: String Theory
The idea that the universe is made of tiny vibrating strings was once the science theory du jour. String theory promised to unite the disparate theories describing particles and gravity, and many peop...Show More
5) Solar Good
In Brazil, leaders from across the globe are gathering for COP30, the premier climate summit in the world. For the first time, the U.S. is sitting it out, after exiting the Paris Agreement. There is, ...Show More
6) Katrina and the River
“The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our final episode marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrin...Show More
7) The Decomposers
What happens to us after we die is as much a question for anthropology and ecology as it is for theology. Â Death and decay are not comfortable subjects, but some scientists study them unflinchingly, k...Show More
8) Shipwrecks
Shipwrecks are scenes of tragedy, but they are also bits of history frozen in time that can provide insights into events and ideas from long ago. That is, if we can find them. From an 11th century Vi...Show More
9) Mad About Mars
Long before Orson Welles provoked a panic with his 1938 radio broadcast of a Martian invasion in War of the Worlds, we were fascinated with the possibility of life on the Red Planet. We may be a step ...Show More
10) Skeptic Check: Health Fads
The tiny bean-shaped structures in your cells – mitochondria – are little powerhouses. Recent research suggests they may unlock overall good health, or, when they fail, cause diseases such as diabetes...Show More