Big Picture Science

They’re here! About one-third of all Americans believe we’re being visited by extraterrestrial spacecraft. But wait, you want evidence? UFO sighting are as prevalent as flies at a picnic. But proof of visitation – well, that’s really alien. Hear why belief in extraterrestrial UFOs persists … and why military sightings that “can’t be explained” don’t warrant rolling out a welcome mat for ET. Plus, the most fab UFOs in the movies! It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Phil Plait - Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com Benjamin Radford - Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and managing editor of “Skeptical Inquirer Science Magazine” Leslie Kean - Journalist, and author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record Susan Clancy - Psychology Researcher, Harvard University and author of Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens Thomas Bullard - Folkorist at Indiana University and author of The Myth and Mystery of UFOs FIrst aired November 15, 2010. Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans are pleasure-seekers – from food to sex to fine art. But do we know why we crave what we do? Discover the surprising motivation behind our desires. Also, why our hedonistic cousins, the bonobos, may hold the secret to world peace. Plus, self-awareness in monkeys: can they really pass the mirror test? Can bacteria, for that matter? Nope! But since you are, cell for cell, more microbe than human, you’ll want to know just how cognitively aware these critters are. Guests: Paul Bloom - Psychologist at Yale University and author of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like Julie Neiworth - Psychologist, Carleton College Vanessa Woods - Research scientist at Duke University and author of Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo. Find out more about helping bonobos. Jim Shapiro - Bacterial geneticist, University of Chicago First aired November 1, 2010. Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A cup of coffee can leave you wired for the day. But a chip in your brain could wire you to a machine forever. Imagine manipulating a mouse without moving a muscle, and doing a Google search with your mind. Welcome to the future of the brain-machine interface. Don your EEG thinking-cap, and discover a high-tech thought game that may be the harbinger of machine relationships to come. Plus, the ultimate mapping project: the Human Connectdome Project aims to identify all the neural pathways in the human brain. It may help us understand what makes us human, but could it also point the way to making us smarter? And, what all this brain research reveals about the mind and free will – who, or what, is really in charge? Guests: Jan Rabaey - Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley Arthur Toga - Neurologist at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, UCLA School of Medicine, and researcher on the Human Connectome Project Michael Gazzaniga - Neuroscientist, director of the University of California Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, and author of Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain Bradley Voytek - Neuroscientist, University of California, San Francisco Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s it all about? And we mean ALL. What makes up this vast sprawling cosmos? Why does it exist? Why do we exist? Why is there something rather than nothing? Ow, my head hurts! For possible answers, we travel to the moment after the Big Bang and discover all that came into being in those few minutes after the great flash: time, space, matter, and light. Plus, the bizarre stuff that makes up the bulk of the universe: dark energy and dark matter. Also, what we set in motion with the invention of the light blub. How artificial light lit up our homes, our cities and – inadvertently – our skies. Guests: Sean Carroll - Theoretical physicist at California Institute of Technology Leonard Susskind - Theoretical physicist, Stanford University Jane Brox - Author of Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light Peter Fisher - Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Descripción en español First aired September 6, 2010 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wait! Before you step outside... is it Friday the 13th? Any black cats prowling around? Broken a mirror lately? Homo sapiens are a superstitious lot. Find out why our brains are wired for irrational belief. Plus, from the 2012-end-of-the-world prophesy to colliding planets - why some people believe the universe is out to get ‘em. Also, Brains on Vacation takes on a challenge to relativity and our Hollywood skeptic has doubts about exorcism. It’s enough to make your head spin on Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Bruce Hood - Cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and author of The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs David Morrison - Director of the Carl Sagan Center for The Study of Life in The Universe at the SETI Institute and keeper of the NASA website Ask an Astrobiologist Martin Snow - Research Scientist, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West - Los Angeles Phil Plait - Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . . Descripción en español First aired August 16, 2010 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you lost your senses? You’ll find them everywhere you look. Sensors respond to external stimuli – light, sound, temperature and much else – to help us make sense (ha!) of our universe. And more are on their way. “Ubiquitous sensing” is the term that describes a world blanketed by tiny sensors: on bridges, in paint and medicine bottles, and even in our brains! Discover where you’ll find sensors next. And, has the world’s largest detection device found the elusive particle that will help explain the universe? Where are you, Higgsy-wiggsy? Also, out-of-this world sensors have detected a possibly Earth-like planet. What’s next for the Kepler planet-hunters? Plus, DIY sensor kits, and, if computers can do all that, why can’t we send the odor of, say, freshly-baked bread over the Internet? The case for a smell-o-meter. Guests: Frank Close - Physicist at Oxford University, author of The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe Jan Rabaey - Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley Barry Shell - Writer in Vancouver, Canada Andy Huntington - Interaction designer, based in London Sara Seager - Professor of planetary science and physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Planet hunters - Daryll LaCourse and Tom Jacobs, citizen scientists with Planet Hunters Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The term “bird flu” is a misnomer, scientists say, because almost all human influenza originates in our feathered friends. How it lands in you and spreads is another matter … Hear what it takes for a virus to go global, from a virus hunter who plans to stop epidemics in their tiny DNA tracks with an innovative global surveillance system. Also, why your genome is littered with fossil viruses of the past … the two largest viruses discovered so far, Mimi and Mega, square off … and, what it takes for ideas to “go viral.” Guests: Nathan Wolfe - Viral Ecologist, Director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative Robert Gifford - Evolutionary virologist, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Rockefeller University Vincent Racaniello - Virologist at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, host of the podcast, “This Week in Microbiology,” and author of the “Virology Blog” Bill Wasik - Senior Editor at Wired, author of And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mom and apple pie. Computers and silicon. Martians and death rays. Some things just go together naturally. But how about science and politics? Science and religion? Science and fiction? These pairings are often unnatural and contentious … but they don’t have to be. Discover how science can team up with other endeavors in productive, if surprising, symbiosis. Meet a particle physicist, turned U.S. Congressman, who calls for more scientists on Capitol Hill. Also, a tour of the Golden Age of Islamic Science. Plus, scientists named Elmo and Super Grover 2.0 teach small children to conduct experiments with the help of chickens and dancing penguins. And, it’s not quite science but it’s not entirely fiction either: how sci-fi helps shape our cultural debates about the future. Guests: Bill Foster - Physicist and former U.S. representative from Illinois Carol-Lynn Parente - Executive Producer, Sesame Street Ranjana Mehra - Docent at The Tech Museum, San Jose, California Brooks Peck - Curator, EMP Museum, Seattle, Washington Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s no harm talking to your houseplant, but will your chatter really help it grow? We look at various biological claims, from whether plants feel pain to the ability of cats to predict earthquakes. Feline forecasters, anyone? Also, when does understanding biology have important implications for health and policy? The arguments for and against genetically modified foods, and the danger of “pox parties” as a replacement for childhood vaccination. Plus, the history and current state of scientific literacy in the United States. When did we stop trusting science? Guests: Andy Michael - Seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California Ron Lindsay - President of the Center for Inquiry, headquartered in Amherst, NY Steven Novella - Clinical neurologist and Director of General Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine; host of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast Shawn Lawrence Otto - Author of Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America Chelsea Specht - Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wish you could ditch computers? There’s no escape button for that. Computers are not only a part of your daily grind, they may soon be a part of you. We’ll hear from the world’s first cyborg about why we should make nice in our arms race with machines. Also, the secret behind the extraordinary breakthroughs that DARPA scientists are making – from building autonomous cars to wiring robotic surgeons. Plus, making space for humans… and their bodily functions: the engineering tricks of toiletry. And, a carbon-based astronaut on the view of Earth from orbit. Guests: Kevin Warwick - Professor of Cybernetics at University of Reading in the U.K. Santiago Bilinkis - Student at the Singularity University Mary Roach - Writer and author of Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void Tom Jones - United States astronaut, space consultant, and veteran of four Space Shuttle flights Michael Belfiore - Space and Technology writer, and author of The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs Descripción en español First aired August 23, 2010. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think small! Microbes are tinier than the dot at the end of this sentence, yet they can make humans sicker than dogs, dogs sicker than humans, jump from animal to human and keep scientists guessing when and where the next disease will appear. Discover how doctors diagnosed one man’s mysterious infection, the role that animals play as hosts for disease, and why the rate of emerging diseases is increasing worldwide. Also, why your kitchen is a biosafety hazard, and how the Human Microbiome Project will tally all the microbes on – and in - you. Plus, the extreme places on Earth where microbes thrive and what it suggests for the existence of alien life. And, how one strain of bacteria helped a farmer grow a pumpkin the weight of a small car! Guests: Peter Hudson - Biologist, Director of Life Sciences at Penn State University Peter Krause - Senior research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health Durland Fish - Epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health. Information on his Lyme disease app David Relman - Stanford University microbiologist and infectious disease clinician Erich Fleming - Biologist, SETI Institute O. Peter Snyder - Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management John Raeside - Oakland, California Frances Raeside - Oakland, California Jennifer Kate Arnold - Infectious Disease Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group Dave Stelts - Farmer, head of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth Neil Anderson - Owner, president of Reforestation Technologies International. Find retail products. Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Making space for everyone” could be NASA’s motto. But as commercial spaceships get ready to blast off, that populist idea is being tested. Space cowboys in the private sector say they’re the ones who can provide unfettered access to space, for tourists and scientists alike. Meet a scientist who already has a ticket to ride on SpaceShip Two and discover what he hopes to learn about asteroids during his five minutes of weightlessness. Plus, NASA in motion: it’s back to the moon as the GRAIL mission probes the interior of our lovely lunar satellite. Also, can you dig it? The rover Curiosity can. It’s headed to Mars to hunt for clues to alien life … with a jackhammer. Also, as the Hubble Space Telescope shuts down, the James Webb Space Telescope revs up. Or does it? The telescope is designed to study the birth of galaxies and hunt for evidence of water on far away worlds. But will Congress pull the plug? Guests: James Oberg - former Space Shuttle Mission Control engineer, and space expert Maria Zuber - Planetary scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Principal Investigator of NASA’s GRAIL mission Joy Crisp - Geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Principal Investigator on the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity Massimo Stiavelli - Astronomer at the Space Science Telescope Institute, and Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope Dan Durda - Planetary scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado More about the Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What you can’t see … can make you sick. Humans have been battling viruses and bacteria since the beginning of time. The malaria parasite has been keeping deadly company with us for 500,000 years. King Tut had it and so did Julius Caesar. What’s keeping this bug going today? Also, how disease almost halted the most ambitious engineering project in the world … how elite disease detectives puzzle out perplexing epidemics … And – could tiny bugs from spaaace, ace, ace be our ancestors? Guests: Sonia Shah - Author of The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years Michael Conniff - Historian, director of Global Studies at San Jose State University, and author of Black Labor on a White Canal: Panama, 1904-1981 (Pitt Latin American Series) Mark Pendergrast - Author of Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service Robert Zubrin - President of the Mars Society Descripción en español First aired August 2, 2010 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 - Astronomer 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 and author of The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being David DiSalvo - Science and technology writer, author of What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite Robin Ince - U.K.-based comedian Jonathan Balcombe - Animal behavior scientist and author of The Exultant Ark: A Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zombies, aliens, Bigfoot, oh my!! We've covered - or rather uncovered - them all and more on Skeptic Check, our monthly look of critical thinking. And now we've collected enough strange encounters to assemble a sordid retrospective of sorts. Sharpen your brain, it's Skeptic Check, Beast Of. But don't take our word for it! Guests: Phil Plait - Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog, badastronomy.com Bruce Hood - Cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and author of The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs Susan Jacoby - Author of The Age of American Unreason Steve Silberman - Contributing editor, Wired Magazine, author of “The Placebo Problem” in the September 2009 issue Mary Pope-Handy - Estate Agent, Silicon Valley and keeper of the website hauntedrealestate.com Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles Paul Offit - Pediatrician, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure Stephen Schneider - Climate scientist, Stanford University Brendan Riley - Assistant professor of English, Columbia College, Chicago Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shh - can you keep it down? Nope. Not unless you want to do away with civilization. Our buzzing, humming, whirling, machine-driven world is a poster child for technological progress, right? As is hearing loss. It’s driven one man to search the world for silence. We’ll hear what he didn’t hear, and what Einstein predicted we should hear in deep space, where gravitational waves may reveal the hidden sounds of the universe, including the birth of black holes. Guests: George Foy - Author of Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute Silence Garret Keizer - Author of The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want Craig Hogan - Director for Particle Astrophysics at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Descripción en español First aired July 5, 2010 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone who does gardening knows that life is tough. It’s also ancient – the first living things appeared on this planet nearly as soon as our world was habitable. We consider life on real worlds – like Earth and Mars – as well as fictional ones, such as the desert planet from the movie “Dune”. We’ll hear about a new scheme to find Martians, and practical approaches to coping with climate change. And is Pluto seeking revenge? The unmasking of a fourth moon around this former planet! We’re making some lively discoveries in Seth’s Tool Shed on Big Picture Science. Guests: Philip Duffy - Physicist and senior scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Kevin Zahnle - Planetary scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center David Summers - Astrobiologist at the SETI Institute Christopher Carr - Researcher in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mark Showalter - Research scientist at the SETI Institute Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the great age of exploration men risked their lives to set foot upon unknown lands, whether in the humid jungles of Peru or on the barren ice cap of the South Pole. We'll hear those dramatic tales… … but also where modern exploration is taking us. Could it be to the deepest, darkest part of the sea? Or to space? Discover how to build a space suit that will let you move like an athlete on Mars. Also, why some say that the ultimate frontier requires no packing and no travel: voyages into the human brain. Guests: Dava Newman - Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering Systems, MIT David Eagleman - Neuroscientist, Baylor College of Medicine and author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain Mark Adams - Author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu Edward Larson - Author of An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science Liz Taylor - President, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Alameda, CA Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recipe for being a scientist was easy in the old days… just be born into a rich family, have an interest in nature and plenty of time to indulge yourself. But are the days of gentlemen scientists over? Maybe not. We go to the Maker Faire and check out how small-scale projects have big-scale ambitions. Also, how everyday experience often tells us something profound about the universe. Guests: Spencer Weart – Former director of the Center for the History of Physics, at the American Institute of Physics Tim Russ – Actor, and the character Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager Marcus Chown – Science writer and author of The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us About the Universe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An ant … can’t … move a rubber tree plant… but the colony can. As a group, ants are an efficient, organized, can-do bunch. And a model for humans trying to manage complex systems. Find out about the eerie collective intelligence of animals, and how an MIT researcher is hoping to put humans to work collaboratively to solve problems like climate change. Also … hear how research into flocking behavior helps Hollywood film a herd of stampeding dinosaurs. Guests: Steve Strogatz - Applied mathematician at Cornell University and author of Sync: How Order Emerges From Chaos In the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life Craig Reynolds - Senior researcher for Sony Computer Entertainment Thomas Malone - Director of the Center for Collective Intelligence at MIT Iain Couzin - Biologist at Princeton University Descripción en español Originally aired June 21, 2010 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been ten years since the fall of the Twin Towers, but some still believe that the attack was an inside job. They’re not the only ones to buy into a conspiratorial view of world events. Others deny President Obama’s American birth… link autism with vaccines… and even claim that the fluo ride in our drinking water is there to control our minds. Is it the truth - or the fringe groups - that are “out there?” Find out why some tinfoil hat ideas never go away. Also, the roots of rational argument: did our brains evolve to seek the truth… or just win arguments? It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Jonathan Kay - Managing editor of National Post in Canada and author of Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiracist Underground Michael Shermer - Founding Publisher of Skeptic Magazine and author of The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them As Truths Phil Plait - Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog, badastronomy.com Hugo Mercier - Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Darcia Narvaez - Psychologist at the University of Notre Dame Ben Recht - Computer Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and author of the paper “On the Effectiveness of Tinfoil Hats” Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Genes – what are they good for? Absolutely… something. But not everything. Your “genius” genes need to be turned on – and your environment determines that. Find out how to unleash your inner-Einstein, and what scientists learned from studying the famous physicist’s brain. Also, the bizarre notion that your children inherit not just your genes, but also the consequences of your habits – smoking, stress, diet, and other behaviors that turn the genes on. Plus Francis Collins on affordable personal genomes, and a man who decoded his own DNA in under a week. Guests: Francis Collins - Geneticist, Director of the National Institutes of Health David Shenk - Journalist, and author of The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Genetics, Talent and IQ is Wrong Stephen Quake - Biophysicist, Stanford University Dean Falk - Anthropologist and Senior Scholar at the School For Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live forever? Both cancer cells and stem cells can make a claim to immortality. Left unchecked, tumors will grow indefinitely. And stem cells offer the promise of non-stop rejuvenation. We’ll find out whether the surprising discovery of stem cells in the brain really can keep our thinking organ young. And we’ll hear the remarkable story of Henrietta Lacks, the woman who unwittingly donated tissue to science in 1951, and whose cancer cells are still grown in laboratories around the world today. Guests: Rebecca Skloot - Journalist and author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Fred Gage - Neurobiologist at the Salk Institute Randy Schekman - Molecular and cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Water, water everywhere. But most of it is sea water - you can’t drink it. Discover the most promising technologies for desalination and why solar cells are key. Also, how astronauts filter “water-closet water” to drink it, and how to turn a salt pond back to a wetland. Plus, from Roman aqueducts to modern-day pumps: a history of quenching human thirst. And, why NASA strives to “follow the water.” Guests: Brian Fagan - Anthropologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind John Bourgeois - Biologist and Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project Michael Meyer - Lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program Farouk El-Baz - Geologist and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University Michael Flynn - Principal investigator for NASA’s advanced life support branch, Ames Research Center Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. It’s nearly impossible to fake a laugh. Yet, humans will laugh even if something isn’t funny. Discover the evolutionary function of cracking up and meet the other species that love to giggle (and monkey around). Also, hilarious science comedy. Yes, science comedy. Plus, teaching machines to write punch lines… and stretching – and splitting – your sides with laughter yoga. Guests: Frans de Waal - Primatologist, Emory University and the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia Brian Malow - Science comedian Robert Provine - Neuroscientist, University of Maryland, Baltimore, author of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation Tony Veale - Computer scientist and natural language processing researcher. University College, Dublin, Ireland Tommy Westerfield - Instructor, We Are Laughter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did life begin? What’s the universe made of, and what’s the nature of consciousness? These are truly some of the biggest puzzlers in science, but answers are in the offing. We consider the modern-day hunt for life beyond Earth, as well as a new theory of consciousness: could it be merely an illusion to entertain us and make our lives more worthwhile? Also, after thousands of years of examining the heavens, are we finally learning the true nature of the cosmos? Guests: Marc Kaufman - Reporter for the Washington Post, and author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist and leader of the Cassini Imaging Team Michael Russell - Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Nicholas Humphrey - Theoretical psychologist and author of Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness Saul Perlmutter - Physicist at the University of California, Berkeley and senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They’re heeeere! Yes, aliens are wreaking havoc and destruction throughout the land. But these aliens are Arizona beetles, and the land is in California, where the invasive insects are a serious problem. And what of space-faring aliens? We have those too: how to find them, and how to protect our planet – and theirs. From Hollywood to SETI’s hi-tech search for extraterrestrials, aliens are invading Are We Alone? Guests: Paul Davies - Physicist and author of The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence Frank Drake- Senior Scientist, SETI Institute Andy Ihnatko - Journalist and tech blogger Margaret Race - Biologist and Principal Investigator at the SETI Institute Margaret McLean - Director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Ethics, Santa Clara University Mark Hoddle - Biological Control Specialist at the University of California, Riverside Vanessa Lopez - Graduate student in entomology, University of California, Riverside Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Physics means getting physical if you’re tackling the biggest, most mysterious questions in the universe. Stoic scientists endure the driest, darkest, coldest spots on the planet to find out how it all began and why there’s something rather than nothing. From the bottom of an old iron mine to the top of the Andes, we’ll hear their stories. Plus, Steven Weinberg on this weird stuff called dark energy, and Leonard Susskind sees double, no, triple, no, …infinite universes. Guests: Anil Ananthaswamy - Corresponding editor for New Scientist magazine in London and author of The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe Steven Weinberg - Nobel Prize-winning physicist at University of Texas at Austin and author of Lake Views: This World and the Universe Leonard Susskind - Professor of theoretical physics, Stanford University André de Gouvêa - Associate professor of physics, Northwestern University Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Memories are slippery things – some are crystal clear, others more like a muddy pool, and some… well, they seem to vanish completely. Scientists admit that memory is all very complicated, but one piece of the puzzle lies in how we age – we’ll hear the latest research. Meanwhile, meet the man who digitally logged his every waking moment - and why maybe the secret to happiness isn’t in remembering but in forgetting. Plus, the case for deleting data from your hard-drive… and from your brain itself. Guests: Adam Gazzaley - Director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at University of California, San Francisco Gordon Bell - Principal researcher at Microsoft Research Jim Gemmell - Senior researcher at Microsoft Research James McGaugh - Neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine Viktor Mayer-Schönberger - Director of the Information and Innovation Policy Research Center at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and the author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age Todd Sacktor - Neurologist, SUNY Downstate Medical Center Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end is nigh. Only, on which nigh should we rely? According to billboards, Judgment Day is in May and the end of the world follows months later. But other authorities claim 2012 as the apocalyptic year, as predicted by the ancient Mayans. It’s a busy time for doomsday prophecy. Find out what’s driving these pessimistic predictions and whether it’s time to cash in your stock portfolio. Meanwhile, a survey of the real threats to Earth, and indeed to the universe, from asteroids, exploding stars, or a big cosmic rip. And the lingering menace of atomic weapons... Is nuclear war inevitable or can intelligence and political will forestall atomic Armageddon? Finally, why everything’s going to be alright! An optimist’s tour of the future. It’s Skeptic Check, our monthly look at critical thinking on Are We Alone. Guests: Phil Plait - Astronomer, and author of the Bad Astronomy blog at Discover Magazine Ron Rosenbaum - Author of How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III Catherine Wessinger - Professor of religious studies at Loyola University in New Orleans Mark Stevenson - Author of An Optimist's Tour of the Future: One Curious Man Sets Out to Answer "What's Next?" Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The universe is big – really big.* Galaxies, for instance, are often large enough to hold a trillion stars. But how did these heavenly heavyweights come to be? Hear how still-mysterious dark matter is implicated in the birth of galaxies. Also, gamma ray bursts - explosions more energetic than anything since the Big Bang - take place somewhere in the visible universe every day. What are they, and could they obliterate life on Earth? And, the biggest cosmic mystery de jour: dark energy. Why new, super-size telescopes may finally reveal just what it is. We’re living large on “Big, Really Big.” *appreciative nod to Douglas Adams Guests: George Djorgovski - Astronomer, California Institute of Technology Sandra Faber - Astronomer and Chair of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz; leads the CANDELS survey that uses the Hubble Space Telescope to image more than 250,000 distant galaxies Daniel Perley - Astronomer, University of California at Berkeley Ed Stone - Former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and physicist at the California Institute of Technology Richard Panek - Author of The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public distrust of science is higher than at any time since the Enlightenment. New Yorker writer Michael Specter argues how our anti-science bias and our irrationalism about everything from genetically modified foods to climate change to childhood vaccines endangers our future. And remember when… a look back at scientists who at first pooh-poohed plate tectonics... meteorites, and quantum physics. How the evidence turned them around. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it. Guests: Michael Specter - Writer for The New Yorker and author of Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives Read Montague - Director of the Human Neuroimaging Lab at Baylor College of Medicine and author of Why Choose This Book?: How We Make Decisions Spencer Weart - Historian of science Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Birds do it. Bees do it. But no one sings about how they do it. And frankly, not even Cole Porter can make bedroom behavior that involves decapitating your mate sound romantic. And what rhymes with “cannibalism?” But the animal world abounds with bizarre sexual behavior… and it’s all perfectly normal. Find out how female spiders lure males to their doom… why dolphins are the friskiest of mammals… whether E.T. would have sex… and why sexual reproduction evolved in the first place. Also, why the marketing gurus have it all wrong: driving a Hummer or wearing Gucci won’t help you land a mate. Find out what will. Guests: Olivia Judson - Evolutionary biologist at Imperial College in London and author of Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex Lori Marino - Evolutionary Biologist at Emory University Sharon Moalem - Neuro-geneticist, evolutionary biologist and author of How Sex Works: Why We Look, Smell, Taste, Feel, and Act the Way We Do Geoffrey Miller - Evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico and author of Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being first counts in science. Land that coveted spot and you’ll make history, whether it’s with the first steam engine or the discovery of our earliest human ancestor. But what does “first” mean when technological invention so heavily builds on what’s come before... and evolution represents continuous change? Find out how “publish or perish” made Darwin famous… why we’ll never find the first human fossil… and how powerful new telescopes are allowing us to see the earliest galaxies. Plus, the chicken and egg battle it out in line. Guests: Garth Illingworth - Astrophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz Sean B. Carroll - Molecular biologist and geneticist at the University of Wisconsin Madison and author of Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species Leslea Hlusko - Paleontologist at the University of California- Berkeley. Read more about Ardi Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the double-helix to the expansion of the universe, great scientific discoveries reshape our understanding of who we are and how things work. But great discoveries require more than just a great mind. We tour brainy breakthroughs from Archimedes to Darwin, and find out what made their revolutionary insights possible. Also, why you need more than a stratospheric I.Q. to be a super-achiever. And how the invention of reading re-directed the course of civilization and re-wired our brains in the process. Guests: Alan Hirshfeld - Professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and author of Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes Richard Holmes - Author of The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science Angela Duckworth - Psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Her grit study can be found here Stanislas Dehaene - Cognitive neruoscientist at the the Collège de France in Paris, and author of Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The weaker the mixture, the stronger the potency. That paradox is a central tenet of homeopathy. More than 200 years old and developed long before germ theory, the practice is the fastest growing form of alternative medicine worldwide. Proponents say its diluted remedies cure disease. Most scientists maintain there’s nothing in homeopathic solution but water. We’ll hear the arguments, and also the role placebos might be playing in the cure. Plus, skeptic Phil Plait voyages to the edge of the solar system where a new planet has been discovered … maybe! And, consider our brains: the product of millions of years of evolution. So why aren’t we more consistent in our reasoning? It’s Skeptic Check…. but don’t take our word for it. Guests: • Iris Bell – Psychiatrist and researcher in alternative medicine at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine • Simon Singh – Science writer based in the U.K., author of Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine • Phil Plait – Astronomer, skeptic, and keeper of the web site badastronomy.com • Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles • Gordy Slack – Science writer and keeper of the neuroscience web site, "Brainstorm” • Robert Kurzban – Associate professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earth may not be rare after all. New data from NASA’s Kepler mission suggests that the universe is chock-a-block with planets. More than a thousand new possible planets have just been found, and more than fifty of these might be suitable for life. Ready for cosmic company? We discuss the results of the Kepler mission in a roundtable with some of its top scientists. Meanwhile, the Voyager spacecraft continues to be humanity’s point man in the race to interstellar space. Poised to leave our solar system, we reflect on the mission – including its on-board messages for aliens. Plus, out-of-this world science. From lab coats to warp speed: does Hollywood get it right? Does it matter? Guests: • Jon Jenkins – Co-principal investigator for the Kepler Mission • Doug Caldwell – Co-investigator and instrument scientist for the Kepler Mission • Jessie Christiansen – Data scientist working on the Kepler mission • Ed Stone – Professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology, and former Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jennifer Ouellette – Writer and former director, National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re right: it’s a show about ESP. And, correct again: we’re excited about the publication of a paper that claims precognition exists. You’ve already divined what our paranormal investigator says about the paper, whether the statistics that it cites are significant, and what the editor-in-chief of a major scientific journal has to say on the tricky matter of publishing such a result at all. You’re not surprised that Brains on Vacation takes on the matter of Armageddon-by-exploding-star, because, you knew that. You also knew that it will be an excellent show. But, tune in anyway – consider it a repeat. Guests: Bruce Alberts – Editor-in-chief of Science Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry – Los Angeles Jeff Rouder – Quantitative psychologist, University of Missouri Phil Plait – Skeptic and keeper of the website badastronomy.com Steve Macknik – Neuroscientist, author of Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all hear about research discoveries, but what about what scientists don’t find? Tune in for a round-up of eureka moments that have yet to come, such as the hunt for the dark energy of the universe and the search for the elusive elementary particle responsible for the mass of objects. Also, we miss the woolly mammoth so much, scientists plan to clone the hairy beast and bring the extinct animal back. Plus, why the missing link is no longer missing, what extrasolar planets have now been found, and – NASA money for science: where’d it go? Guests: Alan Stern – Aerospace consultant and planetary scientist Natalie Batalha – Deputy Science Team Lead for NASA’s Kepler Mission Leslea Hlusko – Biologist at the University of California, Berkeley Ian Sample – Science writer, author of Massive: The Missing Particle That Sparked the Greatest Hunt in Science Saul Perlmutter – Physicist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Darin Croft – Professor of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the star of our solar system, but much about the Sun is still mysterious. Find out what a new NASA mission to our favorite fireball might discover about its super-hot outer regions. Also, why the most common stars in the galaxy don’t shine thanks to nuclear energy as our Sun does. And, recreating Sol’s energy source on Earth at the National Ignition Facility. Plus, an ex-Star Wars animator and photographer on how to film an atomic blast. Guests: Peter Kuran – An animator on Star Wars, now a filmmaker, documentarian of “Trinity and Beyond,” and author of How To Photograph an Atomic Bomb Davy Kirkpatrick – Astronomer, California Institute of Technology, and scientist for NASA’s WISE mission Stuart Bale – Physicist at the University of California, Berkeley and Director of the Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory Mike Dunne – Physicist, and Program Director for Fusion Energy at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Random is as random does… makes sense doesn’t even that anyway in tune hear to randomness how lives rules. Brain chaos the drives, restoration role of help insight ecology may into randomness the, numbers sense of make statistics can’t why we or, ants not seem of erratic behavior why the may but is. Guests: Leonard Mlodinow - Theoretical physicist and author of The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage) Jon Chase - Biologist and director of the Tyson Research center at Washington University in St. Louis Lori Marino - Evolutionary biologist, Emory University Deborah Gordon - Biologist, Stanford University John Beggs - Physicist, Indiana University at Bloomington Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The march of computer technology continues. But as silicon chips and search engines become faster and more productive – can the same be said for us? The creator of Wolfram Alpha describes how his new “computational knowledge engine” is changing – and improving - how we process information. Meanwhile, suffering from data and distraction burnout? Find out what extremes some folks take to stop their search engines. Also, the Singularity sensation of humans merging with machines… and, why for the ancient Greeks all of this is “been there, done that.” A deep sea dive turns up a 2,000 year old computer! Guests: Jo Marchant - Freelance science journalist and author of Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer-and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets Stephen Wolfram - Mathematican, computer programmer, and founder of Wolfram Research and Wolfram Alpha Fred Stutzman - PhD student at the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science Peggy Orenstein - author and contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine, which is where we found her article “Stop Your Search Engines” Ray Kurzweil - Inventor, futurist and author, most recently, of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's always an adventure to go digging in Seth’s storage locker – who knows what we’ll find … In this imposing pile of paraphernalia, tucked between boxes of socket wrenches and old 45s, we stumble upon the hunt for extrasolar planets, the evidence for water on moons of the solar system, theories of language, a controversial hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, and a new dinosaur fossil. Guests: Steve Brusatte - Vertebrate paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History in New York Steven Pinker - Psychologist, Harvard University Geoff Marcy - Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley Adam Showman - Planetary scientist at the University of Arizona Mike Collins - Associate Director, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every ten microseconds, someone places a cell phone call. These portable gadgets are ubiquitous, and increasingly a take-for-granted part of everyday life. But could cell phones be dangerous? Could holding a microwave transmitter up to your head for hours each day substantially increase the risk of cancer? We investigate some of the latest thinking on the danger of cell phones, and also explain that everyone – even you – is a radio transmitter. It’s Skeptic Check on Are We Alone. And we’ve got your number. Guests: James Geary - Author and journalist. Read "The Man Who Was Allergic to Radio Waves" Richard Muller - Professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of The Instant Physicist: An Illustrated Guide Devra Davis - Scientist, and author of Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The language of science is mathematics. As incredible as it seems, the universe seems to run according to laws we can write down on chalkboards. But it’s not just lab-coated researchers who wield the tool of math: Madison Avenue knows that if they tell you that a shampoo is 32 percent better, you’re likely to buy it. Also, how scientists of the early twentieth century were forced to invent entirely new mathematical paradigms to describe the cosmos on big scales and small – the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics. Plus, what about everyday arithmetic? Have pocket calculators and digital cash registers dumbed down the populace? Guests: Charles Seife - Professor of journalism at New York University, and author of Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception James Kakalios - Professor of physics at the University of Minnesota, and author of The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World Leonard Mlodinow - Physicist, and author with Stephen Hawking of The Grand Design Aimee Ellington - Professor of mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The times are a’changing – rising temperatures, growing population, and new technology coming at us faster than a greased cheetah. So how will humans respond? Find out about future farming in the city – your vegetables might be grown in downtown, hi-rise greenhouses. Also, a population expert tells us how our planet can cope with billions more people, and the man who invented the term ‘cyberspace’ describes what the future might hold for the techno-savvy. Darwinian evolution takes a long time to accommodate to new environments. But Homo sapiens can beat that rap by wielding the right technology – and becoming early adapters. Guests: Dickson Despommier - Emeritus professor of public health and microbiology at Columbia University, author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century William Gibson - Author, most recently, of Zero History Joel Cohen - Mathematician and biologist at Rockefeller University David DeGusta - Paleoanthropologist at the Paleoanthropology Institute in California Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We think of major geologic events as taking place a long time ago – but the Earth is just as active as it ever was. We’re a planet in motion. Discover why earthquakes might be increasing worldwide… descend into daring cave exploration… and take a trip to Hawaii where new volcanoes are gurgling up right now. Plus – the supervolcano under Yellowstone Park... when might it erupt again? Guests: Robert Nadeau - Geologist, University of California, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and part of a team from Rice University researching the San Andreas Fault Joel Achenbach - Reporter, author of “When Yellowstone Explodes”, August 2009 National Geographic cover story Jim Kauahikaua - Scientist-in-Charge, United States Geologic Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Pat Kambesis - Geologist, Assistant Director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute at Western Kentucky University Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are one-of-a-kind, unique, indispensible… oh, wait, never mind! It seems that computer over there can do what you do … faster and with greater accuracy. Yes, it’s silicon vs. carbon as intelligent, interactive machines out-perform humans in tasks beyond data-crunching. We’re not only building our successors, we’re developing emotional relationships with them. Find out why humans are hard-wired to be attached to androids. Also, the handful of areas where humans still rule… as pilots, doctors and journalists. Scratch that! Journalism is automated too – tune in for a news story written solely by a machine. Guests: Clifford Nass - Social psychologist at Stanford University and Director of the Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab Tom Jones - United States astronaut, space consultant, and veteran of four Space Shuttle flights Chris Ford - Business director at Pixar Animation Studios Eric Van De Graaff -Cardiologist at Alegent Health James Bennighof - Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, and professor of music theory at Baylor University in Texas Kathy Abbott - Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Flight Deck Human Factors at the Federal Aviation Administration Kristian Hammond - Co-founder, Narrative Science Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If a tree fell on another planet, would we be able to detect it? Not quite yet – but we might be able to tell if the planet was habitable. A living-planet is the promise of newly-discovered Gliese 581g. But does the planet exist at all? Discover how we learn a planet’s geology and chemistry from afar. Also, what we learn about a civilization from what it discards, beginning with our own sloppy habits. Plus, the hunt for derelict alien spaceships… and a man who sketches alien creatures for a living - based on real science. Guests: Lisa Kaltenegger - Astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Brad Bebout - Biologist, NASA Ames Research Center Robin Nagle - Anthropologist, New York University Robin Hanson - Economist, George Mason University Joel Hagen - Computer graphics instructor, Modesto Junior College Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans have not gone unnoticed on this planet. We’ve left our mark with technology, agriculture, architecture, and a growing carbon footprint. But where is this trajectory headed? In the second of a two-part series: what we’ll lose and what will last in 1000 years or more. Discover what the planet might look like to geologists of the far-off-future… the stubborn longevity of plastic and radioactive waste... human civilization in space… and postcards from the galactic edge; crafting interstellar messages to E.T. Guests: Charles Moore - Sea Captain and founder of Algalita Marine Research Foundation Jan Zalasiewicz - Geologist, University of Leicester and author of The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks? Matthew Wald - Reporter for the New York Times and author of the article “Is There a Place for Nuclear Waste?” in the August 2009 issue of Scientific American Doug Vakoch - Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute David Korsmeyer - Chief of the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices