Big Picture Science

No one knows what the future will bring, but science fiction authors are willing to take a stab at imagining it. We take our own stab at imagining them imagining it. Find out why the genre of science fiction is more than a trippy ride through a bizarre, hi-tech world, but a way to assess and vote on our possible shared future. Also, an astronomer learns how many rejection slips it takes before becoming a published science fiction author …. what author Bruce Sterling wants to get off his chest … and what the joke about the neutron walking into a bar to ask the price of beer has in common with H.G. Wells, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Ridley Scott. Oh, and the price of beer? Bartender: “For you, no charge.” Guests: Ed Finn - Director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University Andrew Fraknoi – Chair of the astronomy department at Foothill College. His story, "The Cave in Arsia Mons", is in "Building Red", here. His list of astronomically correct science fiction is here. Bruce Sterling - Science fiction author, journalist, and editor Brian Malow - Science comedian, science communication officer, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can’t pick your parents. But soon you may be able to change the DNA they gave you. CRISPR technology is poised to take DNA editing to new levels of precision and speed. Imagine deleting genes from your body that you don’t like and inserting the ones you want. The swap might not even require a fancy lab. Biohackers are already tinkering with genes in their homes. Find out how CRISPR technology might change everything when the genetic lottery is no longer destiny. Plus, a cardiologist identifies the troublesome genes that once gave us evolutionary advantages but today are fueling obesity, depression and other modern illness. Guests: Lee Goldman – Cardiologist, dean of Columbia University Medical Center, author of “Too Much of a Good Thing; How Four Key Survival Traits Are Now Killing Us” Jacob Corn – Scientific director, Innovative Genomics Initiative, University of California, Berkeley Katelynn Kazane – Research assistant, Innovative Genomics Initiative, University of California, Berkeley Josiah Zayner - Biohacker, former NASA synthetic biologist. His biohacking store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was “one giant leap for mankind,” but the next step forward may require going back. Yes, back to the moon. Only this time the hardware may come from China. Or perhaps Europe. In fact, it seems that the only developed nation not going lunar is the U.S. Find out why our pockmarked satellite is such hot real estate, and whether it has the raw materials we’d need to colonize it. A new theory of how the moon formed may tell us what’s below its dusty surface. But – before packing your bags – you’ll want to skim Article IX of the U.N. treaty on planetary protection. We can’t go contaminating any old planetary body, can we? Guests: James Oberg - Former Space Shuttle Mission Control engineer and space policy expert Clive Neal - Geologist, University of Notre Dame Edward Young - Cosmochemist, geochemist, UCLA Margaret Race - Biologist and research scientist at the SETI Institute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In astronomy, the rule of thumb was simple: If you can’t see it with a telescope, it’s not real. Seeing is believing. Well, tell that to the astronomers who discovered dark energy, or dark matter … or, more recently, Planet 9. And yet we have evidence that all these things exist (although skepticism about the ninth – or is it tenth? – planet still lingers). Find out how we know what we know about the latest cosmic discoveries – even if we can’t see them directly. The astronomer who found Planet 9 – and killed Pluto – offers his evidence. And, a speculative scenario suggests that dark matter helped do away with the dinosaurs. Plus, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics explains why neutrinos that are zipping through your body right now may hold clues to the origin of the universe. Guests: Michael Brown - Astronomer, California Institute of Technology Michael Lemonick - science writer and an editor at Scientific American magazine Lisa Randall - Theoretical physicist, Harvard University, author of Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe Arthur McDonald - Astrophysicist emeritus, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, and winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Only two of the following three creations have had lasting scientific or cultural impact: The telescope … the Sistine Chapel ceiling … the electric banana. Find out why one didn’t make the cut as a game-changer, and why certain eras and places produce a remarkable flowering of creativity (we’re looking at you, Athens). Plus, Yogi Berra found it difficult to make predictions, especially about the future, but we try anyway. A technology expert says he’s identified the next Silicon Valley. Hint: its focus is on genetic – not computer – code and its language in the lab is Mandarin. We got the past and the future covered. Where’s innovation now? We leave that to the biohackers who are remaking the human body one sensory organ at a time. Are you ready for eye-socket cameras and mind readers? Guests: Eric Weiner - Author of “The Geography of Genius; A Search for the World’s Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley” Alec Ross – Technology policy expert, former Senior Advisor for Innovation for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and author of “The Industries of the Future” Kara Platoni - Science reporter, author of “We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exploration: It’s exciting, it’s novel, and you can’t always count on a round-trip ticket. You can boldly go, but you might not come back. That’s no showstopper for robotic explorers, though. Spacecraft go everywhere. While humans have traveled no farther than the moon, our mechanical proxies are climbing a mountain on Mars, visiting an ice ball far beyond Pluto, plunging through the rings of Saturn, and landing on a comet. Oh, and did we mention they’re also bringing rock and roll to the denizens of deep space, in case they wish to listen. We consider some of the most daring explorers since the 16th century – made of metal and plastic - venturing to places where no one else could go. What have they done, what are they doing, and at what point do they declare “mission accomplished” and head for that great spacecraft graveyard in the sky? Guests: Matt Tiscareno– Planetary Scientist at the SETI Institute Mark Showalter– Senior Research Scientist, SETI Institute Jonathan Amos– BBC Senior Writer and Science Correspondent Ashwin Vasavada– Curiosity Project Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eat dark chocolate. Don’t drink coffee. Go gluten-free. If you ask people for diet advice, you’ll get a dozen different stories. Ideas about what’s good for us sprout up faster than alfalfa plants (which are still healthy … we think). How can you tell if the latest is fact or fad? We’ll help you decide, and show you how to think skeptically about popular trends. One example: a study showing that gluten-free diets didn’t ease digestive problems in athletes. Also, medical researchers test whether wearable devices succeed in getting us off the couch and a nutritionist explains how things got so confusing. Plus, why part of our confusion may be language. Find out why one cook says that no foods are “healthy,” not even kale. It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Dana Lis - Sports dietician, PhD student, University of Tasmania Michael Ruhlman - Cook, author of many books about cooking as well as the recent trio of novellas, In Short Measures Beth Skwarecki - Freelance health and science writer, nutrition teacher Mitesh Patel - Assistant professor of medicine, Perlman School of Medicine, Assistant Professor of Health Care Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask anyone what extraordinary powers they’d love to have, and you’re sure to hear “be able to fly.” We’ve kind of scratched that itch with airplanes. But have we gone as far as we can go, or are better flying machines in our future? And whatever happened to our collective dream of flying cars? We look at the evolution - and the future - of flight. Animals and insects have taught us a lot about the mechanics of becoming airborne. But surprises remain. For example, bats may flit around eccentrically, but they are actually more efficient fliers than birds. Meanwhile, new technology may change aviation when self-healing material repairs structural cracks in mid-flight. And a scientist who worked on flying cars for DARPA says he’s now working on the next best thing. Guests: Merlin Tuttle – Ecologist and founder of Bat Conservation International. Executive director of Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation and author of The Secret Life of Bats: My Adventures with the World’s Most Misunderstood Animals. Join his effort and browse his stunning photography at http://www.merlintuttle.com/ David Alexander - Ecologist, evolutionary biologist, the University of Kansas, author of On the Wing: Insects, Pterosaurs, Birds, Bats and the Evolution of Animal Flight Duncan Wass - Professor of chemistry, University of Bristol, U.K. Sanjiv Singh - Research professor, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Admit it – the universe is cool, but weird. Just when you think you’ve tallied up all the peculiar phenomena that the cosmos has to offer – it throws more at you. We examine some of the recent perplexing finds. Could massive asteroid impacts be as predictable as phases of the moon? Speaking of moons – why are some of Pluto’s spinning like turbine-powered pinwheels? Plus, we examine a scientist’s claim of evidence for parallel universes. And, could the light patterns from a distant star be caused by alien mega-structures? Guests: Mike Rampino - Professor of biology and environmental studies at New York University Mark Showalter - Senior research scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California Ranga-Ram Chary - Astronomer, U.S. Planck Data Center, California Institute of Technology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Obesity, diabetes, heart disease … maybe even Alzheimer’s. Could these modern scourges have a common denominator? Some people believe they do: sugar. But is this accusation warranted? We talk with a journalist who has spent two decades reporting on nutrition science, and while he says there’s still not definitive proof that sugar makes us sick, he can make a strong case for it. Also, how a half-century ago the sugar industry secretly paid Harvard scientists to shift the culprit for heart disease from their product to dietary fat. We hear how the companies borrowed from the playbook of Big Tobacco. So is your sweet tooth a threat to your health? Guests: Gary Taubes– Investigative reporter and the author of The Case Against Sugar. Cristin Kearns– Postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. Naomi Oreskes– Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, and the co-author of Merchants of Doubt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ENCORE Congratulations, you have a big brain. Evolution was good to Homo sapiens. But make some room on the dais. Research shows that other animals, such as crows, may not look smart, but can solve complex problems. Meanwhile human engineers are busily developing cogitating machines. Intelligent entities abound – but are they all capable of actual thought? Hear how crows fashion tools from new materials and can recognize you by sight. Also, how an IBM computer may one day outthink the engineers who designed it. Plus, scientists who simulated a rat brain in a computer, neuron-by-neuron, look ahead to modeling the human brain. And, what brain disorders teach us about the brain and our sense of self. Guests: John Marzluff – Professor of wildlife science, University of Washington and the author of In the Company of Crows and Ravens Idan Segev – Professor of computation and neuroscience, Hebrew University, Jerusalem Jeff Welser – Vice president and Lab Director, IBM Almaden Research Center Anil Ananthaswamy – Science journalist, correspondent for “New Scientist,” and author of The Man Who Wasn't There: Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ENCORE Meet your new relatives. The fossilized bones of Homo naledi are unique for their sheer number, but they may also be fill a special slot in our ancestry: the first of our genus Homo. Sporting modern hands and feet but only a tiny brain, this creature may link us and our ape-like ancestors. Some anthropologists hail the discovery as that of a new hominid species. Not all their colleagues agree. Find out what’s at stake in the debate. Also, the scientist who helped retrieve the fossils describes her perilous crawl through a cave with only ten inches of elbow room. And a radical theory about what these old bones might mean: could they be from a burial two million years ago? Guests: Marina Elliott – Paleoanthropologist, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa Carl Ward – Biological anthropologist, University of Missouri John Hawks- Anthropologist, University of Wisconsin, Madison Tim White - Anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She’s among the most famous missing persons in history. On the eightieth anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance, mystery still shrouds her fate. What happened during the last leg of her round-the-world trek? Theories abound. Perhaps she ran out of fuel, and plunged into the ocean … or was captured by the Japanese. A non-profit international organization, TIGHAR, suggests she was a castaway, and offers up a new analysis of bones found on a Pacific atoll during the time of the Second World War. Their researchers will return to this possible landing spot to seek more clues this summer. We consider these theories and weigh the new evidence surrounding Earhart’s puzzling last flight. Also, why are we uncomfortable with open-ended mysteries? Guests: Andrew McKenna– Researcher with TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) Claire Maldarelli– Editor at Popular Science Magazine Andrew Maynard– Director of the Risk Innovation Lab, Arizona State University John Norberg– Journalist and former writer on air and space for Purdue University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Face it – your mug is not entirely yours. It’s routinely uploaded to social media pages and captured on CCTV cameras with – and without – your consent. Sophisticated facial recognition technology can identify you and even make links to your personal data. There are few places where you’re safe from scrutiny. Find out how a computer analyzes the geometry of a face and why even identical twins don’t fool its discerning gaze. Proponents say that biometrics are powerful tools to stop crime, but the lack of regulation concerns privacy groups. Do you want to be identified – and your habits tracked – whenever you step outside? Plus, astronomy meets forensics. How analyzing photos and paintings using weather records, sky charts, and phases of the moon help solve intriguing mysteries, including the history of an iconic V.J. Day photo. Guests: • Donald Olson – Physicist, astronomer, Texas State University • Marios Savvides – Computer engineer, Director, CyLab Biometrics Center, Carnegie Mellon University • Alvaro Bedoya – Executive director, Center on Privacy and Technology, Georgetown Law Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The light bulb needs changing. Edison’s incandescent bulb, virtually unaltered for more than a century, is now being eclipsed by the LED. The creative applications for these small and efficient devices are endless: on tape, on wallpaper, even in contact lenses. They will set the world aglow. But is a brighter world a better one? Discover the many ingenious applications for LEDs and the brilliance of the 19th century scientist, James Clerk Maxwell, who first discovered just what light is. But both biologists and astronomers are alarmed by the disappearance of dark. Find out how light pollution is making us and other animals sick and – when was the last time you saw a starry night? Guests: • Ian Ferguson – Engineer, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing, Missouri University of Science and Technology • Jay Neitz – Professor, department of ophthalmology, University of Washington • Martin Hendry - Professor, gravitational astrophysics and cosmology, University of Glasgow • John Barentine - Program manager, International Dark Sky Association Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The moon jellyfish has remarkable approach to self-repair. If it loses a limb, it rearranges its remaining body parts to once again become radially symmetric. Humans can’t do that, but a new approach that combines biology with nanotechnology could give our immune systems a boost. Would you drink a beaker of nanobots if they could help you fight cancer? Also, materials science gets into self-healing with a novel concrete that fixes its own cracks. Plus, why even the most adaptive systems can be stretched to their limit. New research suggests that the oceans will take a millennium to recover from climate change. Guests: • Lea Goentoro – Professor of biology, California Institute of Technology • Michael Abrams - Biologist, California Institute of Technology • Sarah Moffitt – Paleo-oceanographer, Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis • Mark Miodownik – Materials scientist, director of the Institute of Making, University College, London. Author of “Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape our Man-Made World” • Shawn Douglas - Computer scientist, assistant professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shhh. Is someone coming? Okay, we’ll make this quick. There are a lot of scary things going on in the world. Naturally you’re fearful. But sometimes fear has a sister emotion: suspicion. A nagging worry about what’s really going on. You know, the stuff they aren’t telling you. Don’t share this, but we have evidence that both our fear response and our tendency to believe conspiracy theories are evolutionarily adaptive. A sociologist who studies fear tells us why we’re addicted to its thrill when we control the situation, and how the media exploit our fear of losing control to keep us on edge. Plus, we examine some alien “cover-ups” and discover why it’s not just the tinfoil hat crowd that falls for outrageous plots. It’s Skeptic Check …. but you didn’t hear it from us! Guests: Margee Kerr – Sociologist who studies fear, author of Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear Rob Brotherton – Psychologist, adjunct assistant professor at Barnard College, and author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What you can’t see may astound you. The largest unexplored region of Earth is the ocean. Beneath its churning surface, oceanographers have recently discovered the largest volcano in the world – perhaps in the solar system. Find out what is known – and yet to be discovered – about the marine life of the abyss, and how a fish called the bristlemouth has grabbed the crown for “most numerous vertebrate on Earth” from the chicken. Plus, the menace of America’s Cascadia fault, which has the potential to unleash a devastating magnitude 9 earthquake. Follow Dr. Sager’s voyage back to Tamu Massif in Fall 2015. Guests • Bruce Robison – Deep sea biologist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute • William Sager – Marine geophysicist, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston • Chris Goldfinger - Marine geologist, geophysicist, paleo-seismologist, Oregon State University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earth may be the cradle of life, but our bodies are filled with materials cooked up billions of years ago in the scorching centers of stars. As Carl Sagan said, “We are all stardust.” We came from space, and some say it is to space we will return. Discover an astronomer’s quest to track down remains of these ancient chemical kitchens. Plus, a scientist who says that it’s in our DNA to explore – and not just the nearby worlds of the solar system, but perhaps far beyond. But would be still be human when we arrive? Hear what biological and cultural changes we might undergo in a multi-generational interstellar voyage. Guests: • Timothy Beers – Astronomer, University of Notre Dame • Chris Impey – Astronomer, University of Arizona, author of Beyond: Our Future in Space • Cameron Smith – Archaeologist, Portland State University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Archaeologists continue to hunt for the city of Atlantis, even though it may never have existed. But, what if it did? Its discovery would change ancient history. Sometimes when we dig around in the past, we can change our understanding of how we got to where we are. We thought we had wrapped up the death of the dinosaurs: blame it on an asteroid. But evidence unearthed in Antarctica and elsewhere suggests the rock from space wasn’t the sole culprit. Also, digging into our genetic past can turn up surprising – and sometimes uncomfortable truths – from ancestral origins to genes that code for disease. But do we always want to know? Guests: • Mark Adams – author, Meet Me in Atlantis: My Obsessive Quest to Find the Sunken City • David Morrison – Senior scientist, NASA Ames Research Center • Peter Ward – Paleontologist, University of Washington, author of A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth • Christine Kenneally – Journalist and author of The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"If it bleeds, it leads” is the tried and true tenet of news. Indeed, headlines are often no more than a long list of moral atrocities. Yet one man argues that we’re living in the most civilized era in history. And he credits this to scientific thought and reason. Hang on! Our executive function isn’t enough to promote ethical behavior, says a psychologist. The real fuel behind our drive to be good? Anger, compassion, pride: your emotions! But whether or not you’re a pillar of the community, good intentions might all be for naught when future ethical decisions are made by our silicon successors. Get ready for moral machines. Or not. Guests: • Michael Shermer - Publisher of Skeptic Magazine, author of The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom • David DeSteno – Psychologist, Northeastern University, author of The Truth About Trust • Colin Allen – Historian, philosopher of science and cognitive science, Indiana University. Co-author of Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right From Wrong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s election is divisive, but one subject enjoys some consensus: science and technology policies are important. So why aren’t the candidates discussing these issues? The answers might surprise you. The organizer of Science Debate, who wants a live debate devoted to science and technology, describes one obstacle to meaningful discussion. He also shares how the candidates responded to probing questions about science. Communication expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson looks back to the televised debate of Kennedy and Nixon to discern trends that have made productive discussion about science nearly impossible today (it didn’t start out that way!) And, the unique situation in which the man at the top of one political ticket is flat out wrong about science: a physicist describes how Donald Trump’s anti-science position affects the election. Guests: Shawn Otto - co-founder of sciencedebate.org, and the author of “The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It" Lawrence Krauss - Professor of theoretical physics at Arizona State University, director of its Origins Project, and a member of sciencedebate.org Kathleen Hall Jamieson - Professor of communication, University of Pennsylvania, director of the university’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. Author of more than a dozen books on politics and the media, and co-founder of factcheck.org that has a separate page for science: scifact.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you skeptical? Sure, you raise an eyebrow when some Nigerian prince asks for your bank numbers, or when a breakfast cereal claims that it will turn your kid into a professional athlete overnight. But what do you really know about the benefits of organic milk? Or the power of whitening ingredients in your toothpaste? How credible is what you read on Twitter? Today, information overwhelms us, and the need to keep our skeptical wits about us has never been greater. We follow Seth around as he faces the daily onslaught of hype and hokum. It’s Skeptic Check, our monthly look at critical thinking … but don’t take our word for it! Guests: • Steven Novella – Assistant professor of neurology at Yale University School of Medicine and host of the “Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe” podcast • Guy P. Harrison – journalist and author. His latest book, Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser, will be in bookstores in October 2015. • Andrew Maynard – Professor in the School for Innovation in Society, Arizona State University • Peter Adams – Senior vice president for educational programs with the News Literacy Project • Daniel Armistead – Dentist, Palo Alto, California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darwinian evolution is adaptive and slow … millennia can go by before a species changes very much. But with the tools of genetic engineering we can now make radical changes in just one generation. By removing genes or inserting new ones, we can give an organism radically different traits and behaviors. We are taking evolution into our own hands. It all began with the domestication of plants and animals, which one science writer says created civilization. Today, as humans tinker with their own genome, is it possible we will produce Homo sapiens 2.0? Also, what happens to those species who can’t control their destiny? How climate change is forcing the biggest genetic reshuffling in recorded history. Guests: • Richard Francis – Science writer, author of Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World • Juan Enriquez – Academic, businessman, author, founding director of the Life Sciences Project, Harvard Business School, managing director, Excel Venture Management, and author of Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth • Jessica Hellmann – Biologist, University of Notre Dame Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone knows that a big rock did in the dinosaurs, but smaller asteroids are millions of times more common and can also make a violent impact. Yet unlike the bigger asteroids, we’re not tracking them. Find out what we’d need to keep an eye on the size of space rocks such as that which exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia. And how an asteroid whizzed by Earth in late August 2016, only hours after it had been spotted. Asteroids are the one natural disaster we can defend against, but an economist explains why humans are reluctant to invest in protection against “low probability, high impact” threats. Also, how to authenticate that chunk of asteroid that you found in a field and NASA’s first ever return mission to an asteroid. It plans to bring some fresh samples back to Earth. Guests: Peter Jenniskens – Senior Research Scientist, SETI Institute David Morrison – Senior Scientist of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, NASA Ames Research Center Alex Tabarrok – Economist, George Mason University Sharon Cisneros – Mineralogical Research Company, San Jose, California J. L. Galache – Astronomer, Minor Planet Center, Harvard Center for Astrophysics Christina Richey – NASA Planetary scientist, deputy program scientist, OSIRIS-Rex mission Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re a private person. But as long as you’re on-line and have skin and hair, you’re shedding little bits of data and DNA everywhere you go. Find out how that personal information – whether or not it’s used against you – is no longer solely your own. Are your private thoughts next? A security expert shares stories of ingenious computer hacking … a forensic scientist develops tools to create a mug shot based on a snippet of DNA … and from the frontiers of neuroscience: mind reading may no longer be the stuff of sketchy psychics. Guests: • Marc Goodman – Global security advisor, founder, Future Crimes Institute, author of Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It • Susan Walsh – Forensic geneticist, Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis • Marvin Chun – Psychologist, Yale University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When astronaut Gene Cernan stepped off the moon in 1972, he didn’t think he’d be the last human ever to touch its surface. But no one’s been back. Hear astronaut Cernan’s reaction to being the last man on the moon, the reasons why President Kennedy launched the Apollo program, and why Americans haven’t returned. Now other countries – and companies – are vying for a bigger piece of the space pie. Find out who – or what – will be visiting and even profiting. Will the moon become an important place to make money? Plus, the moon landing was a great step for “a man,” and “men not machines” make space history. But what about women? More than a dozen were qualified for space flight in the early 1960s. Hear from one of these original “Mercury 13,” and find out why NASA grounded them. Guests: Gene Cernan – Retired American naval officer, former NASA Astronaut. John Logsdon – Professor emeritus, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University Al Hallonquist – Aerospace historian Robert Richards – Founder and CEO of Moon Express Sarah Ratley – Former pilot, member of the "Mercury 13" Dan Durda – Planetary scientist, Southwest Research Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are few enduring truths, but one is that no one gets out of life alive. What’s less certain is what comes next. Does everything stop with death, or are we transported to another plane of existence? First-hand accounts of people who claim to have visited heaven are offered as proof of an afterlife. Now the author of one bestseller admits that his story was fabricated. We’ll look at the genre of “heaven tourism” to see if it has anything to say about the possible existence of the hereafter, and why the idea of an afterlife seriously influences how we live our lives on Earth. Also, a neurologist describes what is going on in the brain during near-death and other out-of-body experiences. It’s Skeptic Check, our monthly look at critical thinking … but don’t take our word for it! Guests: • Ben Radford – Paranormal investigator, research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author of the Discovery News article, “Why People Believed Boy’s ‘Visit to Heaven’ Story” • Greg Garrett – Professor of English at Baylor University, writer on books, culture and religion for the Huffington Post, and author of Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination • Steven Novella – Professor of neurology at Yale University School of Medicine and host of the “Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe” podcast Originally Aired May 24, 2015 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all try to fight it: the inexorable march of time. The fountain of youth doesn’t exist, and all those wrinkle creams can’t help. But modern science is giving us new weapons in the fight against aging. So how far are we willing to go? Hear when aging begins, a summary of the latest biotech research, and how a lab full of youthful worms might help humans stay healthy. Also, a geneticist who takes a radical approach: collect the DNA that codes for longevity and restructure our genome. He finds inspiration – and perhaps genes as well – in the bi-centenarian bowhead whale. But what if age really is mind over matter? A psychologist’s extraordinary thought experiment with septuagenarian men turns back the clock 20 years. Will it work on diseases such as cancer as well? Guests: Gordon Lithgow – Geneticist, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California Manish Chamoli – Post-doctoral researcher, Buck Institute for Research on Aging George Church – Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, author of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves Ellen Langer – Professor of Psychology, Harvard University and author of Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility First released April 6, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are what you eat. Whether you dine on kimchi, carnitas, or corn dogs determines which microbes live in your stomach. And gut microbes make up only part of your total micro biome. Find out how your microbes are the brains-without-brains that affect your health and even your mood. Also, why you and your cohorts are closer than you thought: new research suggests that you swap and adopt bugs from your social set. Plus, the philosophical questions that are arise when we realize that we have more microbial DNA than human DNA. And a woman who skipped soap and shampoo for a month to see what would grow on her. Guests: Bill Miller – Physician and author of The Microcosm Within: Evolution and Extinction in the Hologenome Beth Archie – Biologist at the University of Notre Dame Nada Gligorov – Assistant professor of medical education at Mount Sinai Hospital Julia Scott – Freelance reporter working in San Francisco. Her article, “A Wash on the Wild Side” appeared in the May 22, 2014 issue of the New York Times Magazine. of the New York Times Magazine. First released Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t believe everything you see on TV or the movies. Science fiction is just a guide to how our future might unfold. It can be misleading, as anyone who yearns for a flying car can tell you. And yet, sometimes fantasy becomes fact. Think of the prototype cellphones in Star Trek. We take a look at science that seems inspired by filmic sci-fi, for example scientists manipulating memory as in Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And despite his famous film meltdown, Charleton Heston hasn’t stopped the Soylent company from producing what it calls the food of the future. Plus, why eco-disaster films have the science wrong, but not in the way you might think. And, what if our brains are simply wired to accept film as fact? Guests: Steve Ramirez -Neuroscientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Rob Rhinehart – CEO and founder of Soylent Jason Mark – Editor of Earth Island Journal Jeffrey Zacks – Cognitive Neuroscientist, Washington University, St. Louis, and author of Flicker: Your Brain on Movies First released December 22, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wondering whether to vaccinate your children? The decision can feel like a shot in the dark if you don’t know how to evaluate risk. Find out why all of us succumb to the reasoning pitfalls of cognitive and omission bias, whether we’re saying no to vaccines or getting a tan on the beach. Plus, an infectious disease expert on why it may take a dangerous resurgence of preventable diseases – measles, whooping cough, polio – to remind us that vaccines save lives. Also, a quaint but real vaccine fear: that the 18th century smallpox vaccine, made from cowpox, could turn you into a cow! It’s our monthly look at critical thinking … but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Paul Offit – Infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City Adam Korbitz – Lawyer specializing in space law Andrew Maynard – Professor of environmental health science, director, Risk Science Center, University of Michigan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world is hot, and getting hotter. But higher temperatures aren’t the only impact our species is having on mother Earth. Urbanization, deforestation, and dumping millions of tons of plastic into the oceans … these are all ways in which humans are leaving their mark. So are we still in the Holocene, the geological epoch that started a mere 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age? Some say we’ve moved on to the age of man – the Anthropocene. It’s the dawn of an era, but can we survive this new phase in the history of our planet? Guests: Pat Porter - Relative Jonathan Amos – Science writer for the BBC in London Gaia Vince – Writer, broadcaster, former editor for New Scientist, news editor of Nature, and author of Adventures in the Anthropocene: A Journey to the Heart of the Planet We Made David Grinspoon – Astrobiologist, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona Francisco Valero – Emeritus physicist and research scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego Originally aired February 23, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Dear E.T. …” So far, so good. But now what? Writing is never easy, but what if your task was to craft a message to aliens living elsewhere in the universe, and your prose would represent all humankind? Got writer’s block yet? What to say to the aliens was the focus of a recent conference in which participants shifted their attentions away from listening for extraterrestrial signals to transmitting some. In this show, we report on the “Communicating Across the Cosmos” conference held at the SETI Institute in December 2014. Find out what scientists think we should say. Also, how archeology could help us craft messages to an unfamiliar culture. Plus, why journalists might be well-suited to writing the message. And, a response to Stephen Hawking’s warning that attempting to contact aliens is too dangerous. Guests: Douglas Vakoch – Director of interstellar message composition, SETI Institute Paul Wason – Archaeologist, anthropologist and vice president for the life sciences and genetics program at the Templeton Foundation Al Harrison – Emeritus professor of psychology, University of California, Davis Morris Jones – Journalist and space analyst in Sydney, Australia Shari Wells-Jensen – Professor of English, Bowling Green State University First released January 12, 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Electricity is so 19th century. Most of the uses for it were established by the 1920s. So there’s nothing innovative left to do, right? That’s not the opinion of the Nobel committee that awarded its 2014 physics prize to scientists who invented the blue LED. Find out why this LED hue of blue was worthy of our most prestigious science prize … how some bacteria actually breathe rust … and a plan to cure disease by zapping our nervous system with electric pulses. Guests: Siddha Pimputkar – Postdoctoral researcher in the Materials Department of the Solid State Lighting and Energy Electronics Center under Shuji Nakamura, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara Jeff Gralnick – Associate professor of microbiology at the University of Minnesota Kevin Tracey – Neurosurgeon and president of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in New York First released December 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the most dramatic technical development of recent times: Teams of people working for decades to produce a slow-motion revolution we call computing. As these devices become increasingly powerful, we recall that a pioneer from the nineteenth century – Ada Lovelace, a mathematician and Lord Byron’s daughter – said they would never surpass human ability. Was she right? We consider the near-term future of computing as the Internet of Things is poised to link everything together, and biologists adopt the techniques of information science to program living cells. Plus: What’s your favorite sci-fi computer? Guests: Walter Isaacson – President and CEO of the Aspen Institute and the author of The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution Christopher Voigt – Bioengineer at MIT Andy Ihnatko – Technology journalist André Bormanis – Writer, screenwriter, Star Trek John Barrett – Electronic engineer, NIMBUS Centre for Embedded Systems Research at the Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland First released December 7, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You think your life is fast-paced, but have you ever seen a bacterium swim across your countertop? You’d be surprised how fast they can move. Find out why modeling the swirl of hurricanes takes a roomful of mathematicians and supercomputers, and how galaxies can move away from us faster than the speed of light. Also, what happens when we try to stop the dance of atoms, cooling things down to the rock bottom temperature known as absolute zero. And why your watch doesn’t keep the same time when you’re in a jet as when you’re at the airport. It’s all due to the fact that motion is relative, says Al Einstein. Guests: William Phillips – Nobel Prize-winning physicist at Joint Quantum Institute, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland. Bob Berman – Astronomy writer and author of Zoom: How Everything Moves: From Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and Bees Michael Smith – Meteorologist, senior vice president of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, and author of Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather First released August 18, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the century and a half since Charles Darwin wrote his seminal On the Origin of the Species, our understanding of evolution has changed quite a bit. For one, we have not only identified the inheritance molecule DNA, but have determined its sequence in many animals and plants. Evolution has evolved, and we take a look at some of the recent developments. A biologist describes the escalating horn-to-horn and tusk-to-tusk arms race between animals, and a paleoanthropologist explains why the lineage from chimp to human is no longer thought to be a straight line but, instead, a bush. Also, New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer on the diversity of bacteria living on you, and which evolutionary concepts he finds the trickiest to explain to the public. Guests: Douglas Emlen – Biologist, University of Montana and author of Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle Bernard Wood – Paleoanthropologist, George Washington University Carl Zimmer – Columnist for the New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all have at least some musical talent. But very few of us can play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz. His talent was rarefied, and at the tail end of the bell curve of musical ability – that tiny sliver of the distribution where you find the true outliers. Outliers also exist with natural events: hurricane Katrina, for example, or the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Such events are rare, but they often have outsized effects. In this hour we imagine the unimaginable – including the unexpected events labeled “black swans” – and how we weigh the risk for any of them. Also, how a supervolcano explosion at Yellowstone National Park could obliterate the western U.S. but shouldn’t stop you from putting the park on your vacation itinerary. Guests: Donald Prothero – Paleontologist, geologist, author of many books, among them, Catastrophes!: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, and Other Earth-Shattering Disasters Dawn Balmer – Ornithologist at the British Trust for Ornithology Jake Lowenstern – Geologist, USGS, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Hank Heasler – Yellowstone National Park geologist Andrew Maynard – Director of the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan First released October 19, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A single ant isn’t very brainy. But a group of ants can do remarkable things. Biological swarm behavior is one model for the next generation of tiny robots. Of course, biology can get hijacked: a fungus can seize control of an ant’s brain, for example. So will humans always remain the boss of super-smart, swarming machines? We discuss the biology of zombie ants and how to build robots that self-assemble and work together. Also, how to guarantee the moral behavior of future ‘bots. And, do you crave cupcakes? Research suggests that gut bacteria control what we eat and how we feel. Guests: David Hughes – Biologist, entomologist, Penn State University Mike Rubenstein – Roboticist, Self-Organizing Systems Research Group, Harvard University Wendell Wallach – Bioethicist, chair, Technology and Ethics Study Group, Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics Athena Aktipis – Cooperation theorist, Arizona State University and director of Human and Social Evolution, Center for Evolution and Cancer, University of California, San Francisco First released October 13, 2014 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hang on to your globe. One day it’ll be a collector’s item. The arrangement of continents you see today is not what it once was, nor what it will be tomorrow. Thank plate tectonics. Now evidence suggests that the crowding together of all major land masses into one supercontinent – Pangaea, as it’s called – is a phenomenon that’s happened over and over during Earth’s history. And it will happen again. Meet our future supercontinent home, Amasia, and learn what it will look like. Meanwhile, as California waits for the Big One, geologists discover that major earthquakes come in clusters. Also, our planet is not the only solar system body with tectonic activity. Icy Europa is a mover and shaker too. And why is land in the western part of the U.S. literally rising up? Mystery solved! Guests: John Dvorak – Geologist, author of Earthquake Storms: The Fascinating History and Volatile Future of the San Andreas Fault Adrian Borsa – Geophysicist, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego Ross Mitchell – Geologist and post-doctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology Simon Kattenhorn – Structural geologist and a planetary geologist who did his work on Europa while at the University of Idaho First released September 29, 2014 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Germs can make us sick, but we didn’t know about these puny pathogens prior to the end of the 19th century. Just the suggestion that a tiny bug could spread disease made eyes roll. Then came germ theory, sterilization, and antibiotics. It was a revolution in medicine. Now we’re on the cusp of another one. This time we may cure what ails us by replacing what ails us. Bioengineers use advancements in stem cell therapy to grow red and white cells for human blood. Meanwhile, a breakthrough in 3D printing: scientists print blood vessels and say that human organs may be next. Plus, implanting electronic grids to repair neural pathways. Future prosthetics wired to the brain may allow paralyzed limbs to move. We begin with the story of the scientist who discovered the bacteria that caused tuberculosis, and the famous author who revealed that his cure for TB was a sham. Guests: Thomas Goetz – Author of The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis Jose Carmena – Neuroscientist and biomedical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley; co-director of the Berkeley-UCSF Center for Neural Engineering and Prostheses William Murphy -Bioengineer and co-director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison Ali Khademhosseini – Bioengineer, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Woman’s Hospital Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you move with the times, you might stick around long enough to pass on your genes. And that is adaptation and evolution, in a nutshell. But humans are changing their environment faster than their genes can keep pace. This has led to a slew of diseases – from backache to diabetes – according to one evolutionary biologist. And our technology may not get us out of the climate mess we’ve created. So just how good are we at adapting to the world around us? Find out as you also discover why you should run barefoot … the history of rising tides … why one dedicated environmentalist has thrown in the towel … and an answer to the mystery of why Hawaiian crickets suddenly stopped chirping. Guests: Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, author of The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease Brian Fagan – Emeritus professor of anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, author of The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present, and Future of Rising Sea Levels Paul Kingsnorth – Environmental journalist and author of Real England: The Battle Against the Bland and The Wake. The profile of his retreat from environmentalism appeared in the “New York Times Magazine”. Marlene Zuk – Evolutionary biologist, University of Minnesota First aired June 11, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The stars are out tonight. And they do more than just twinkle. These boiling balls of hot plasma can tell us something about other celestial phenomena. They betray the hiding places of black holes, for one. But they can also fool us. Find out why one of the most intriguing discoveries in astrobiology – that of the potentially habitable exoplanet Gliese 581g – may have been just a mirage. Plus, the highest levels of ultraviolet light ever mentioned on Earth’s surface puzzles scientists: is it a fluke of nature, or something manmade? And a physicist suggests that stars could be used by advanced aliens to send hailing signals deep into space. Guests: Paul Robertson – Postdoctoral fellow, Penn State Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds Mike Joner – Research professor of astronomy at Brigham Young University Nathalie Cabrol – Planetary scientist, SETI Institute Anthony Zee – Theoretical physicist at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara First aired July 23, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sure you have a big brain; it’s the hallmark of Homo sapiens. But that doesn’t mean that you’ve cornered the market on intelligence. Admittedly, it’s difficult to say, since the very definition of the term is elusive. Depending on what we mean by intelligence, a certain aquatic mammal is not as smart as we thought (hint: rhymes with “caulpin”) … and your rhododendron may be a photosynthesizing Einstein. And what I.Q. means for A.I. We may be building our brilliant successors. Guests: • Laurance Doyle – Senior researcher, SETI Institute • Justin Gregg – Animal behaviorist, The Dolphin Communication Project, author of Are Dolphins Really Smart?: The mammal behind the myth • Michael Pollan – Journalist, author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. His article, “The Intelligent Plant,” appeared in the December 23rd issue of The New Yorker • Luke Muehlhauser – Executive Director of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute First aired March 19, 2014 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We may be connected, but some say we’re not communicating. The consequences could be dire. A U.S. Army major says that social media are breaking up our “band of brothers,” and that soldiers who tweet rather than talk have less cohesion in combat. What’s the solution? Maybe more connectivity to jump start conversation? The makers of Hello Barbie say its sophisticated speech recognition system will engage children in conversation. But an alternative strategy is to go cold turkey: sign up for a device-free camp (for adults) or stuff a NoPhone in your pocket, and wean yourself from the real thing. But MIT’s Sherry Turkle says there’s only one solution: more face-to-face time. Without it, we are in danger of losing our empathy. Guests: John Spencer – Major in the United States Army, scholar at the Modern War Institute, United States Military Academy, West Point. His op-ed, “A Band of Tweeters,” appeared in the New York Times. Sarah Wulfeck – Head writer and creative director for Hello Barbie Oren Jacob – Chief Executive Officer, ToyTalk Levi Felix – Founder, Digital Detox, director, Camp Grounded, summer camp for adults Van Gould - Co-founder, NoPhone company Sherry Turkle – Professor, Social Studies of Science and Technology, MIT, and author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you feel happy today? How about happily disgusted? Maybe sadly surprised, or sadly disgusted? Human emotions are complex. But at least they’re the common language that unites us all – except when they don’t. A tribe in Namibia might interpret our expression of fear as one of wonderment. And people with autism don’t feel the emotions that others do. So if you’re now delightfully but curiously perplexed, tune in and discover the evolutionary reason for laughter … how a computer can diagnose emotional disorders that doctors miss … and why the world’s most famous autistic animal behaviorist has insight into the emotional needs of cattle. Guests: Scott Weems – Cognitive scientist, author of Ha!: The Science of When We Laugh and Why Brian Malow – Science comedian Aleix Martinez – Cognitive neuroscientist at The Ohio State University Maria Gendron – Post-doctoral researcher at Northeastern University Temple Grandin – Professor of animal science, Colorado State University, author of Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals First released April 21, 2014 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Paris climate talks are scheduled to go ahead despite the terrorist attacks, and attendees hope to sign an international agreement on climate change. A BBC reporter covering the meetings tells us what we can expect from the conference. Also, it’s unclear whether Pope Francis himself will travel to the City of Light, but his encyclical may have already influenced the talks there. A historian considers whether the Church’s acceptance of climate change represents a departure from its historical positions on science. Galileo, anyone? Plus, Hollywood may have stretched the science facts to maximum effect in its cli-sci thriller, The Day After Tomorrow, but find out why the film may not be pure fiction. And why the developing world may take most of the hit as the planet warms. Guests: Sybren Druifhout – Physical oceanographer and climate scientist, Netherlands Meteorological Institute and the University of Southampton, U.K. Virginia Burkett – Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change at the United States Geological Survey, and one of the Nobel Prize winning authors of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report John Durant – Director of the MIT Museum and teacher in the MIT Science, Technology and Society program Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent for the BBC, based in London Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s for dinner? Meat, acorns, tubers, and fruit. Followers of the Paleo diet say we should eat what our ancestors ate 10,000 years ago, when our genes were perfectly in synch with the environment. We investigate the reasoning behind going paleo with the movement’s pioneer, as well as with an evolutionary biologist. Is it true that our genes haven’t changed much since our hunter-gatherer days? Plus, a surprising dental discovery is nothing for cavemen to smile about. And another fad diet that has a historical root: the monastic tradition of 5:2 – five days of eating and two days of fasting. It’s our monthly look at critical thinking, Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it. Guests: Loren Cordain – Professor of health and exercise science, Colorado State University, founder of the modern-day paleo diet, author, The Paleo Diet Revised: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat Andrew Jotischky – Professor of medieval history, Lancaster University Louise Humphrey – Archeologist, Natural History Museum in London Marlene Zuk – Evolutionary biologist, University of Minnesota, and author of Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live First released February 19, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One day, coffee is good for you; the next, it’s not. And it seems that everything you eat is linked to cancer, according to research. But scientific studies are not always accurate. Insufficient data, biased measurements, or a faulty analysis can trip them up. And that’s why scientists are always skeptical. Hear one academic say that more than half of all published results are wrong, but that science still remains the best tool we have for learning about nature. Also, a cosmologist points to reasons why science can never give us all the answers. And why the heck are scientists so keen to put a damper on spontaneous combustion? Studies discussed in this episode: Chocolate and red wine aren’t good for you after all The Moon is younger than we thought Guests: John Ioannidis – Professor of medicine, health research and policy, and statistics, and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford University. His paper, “Why Most Published Research Findings are False,” was published in PLoS Medicine. Marcelo Gleiser – Physicist and astronomer at Dartmouth College, author of The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning Joe Schwarcz – – Professor of chemistry and Director of the Office for Science and Society, McGill University, Montreal and author of Is That a Fact?: Frauds, Quacks, and the Real Science of Everyday Life First released June 16, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices