Big Picture Science

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

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 first of a two-part series: what will be lost and what will still be around 100 years from now? James Lovelock says a hotter planet will prompt mass migrations. And Cary Fowler urges us to save our seeds – the health of future farms may depend on it. Plus, from antibiotics to sewage systems: why human ingenuity ultimately saves the day. And, sure, humans will be around in a century, but – with bionic limbs and silicon neurons – would we recognize them? Guests: James Lovelock - Independent scientist and author of The Vanishing Face of Gaia Cary Fowler - Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust Russell Blackford - Philosopher, writer, and editor-in-chief of the “Journal of Evolution and Technology.” Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watch out, the moon is full… of intrigue. Our lovely satellite is blamed for all sorts of Earth-bound mischief – from robberies to shape-shifting to general nutty behavior. It’s also the setting for more than one loony tale. In this hour, as NASA spacecraft return to the moon, a look at the mythology it inspires. Discover the true correlation between crime and a full moon… the 1835 reports of unicorns and man-bats living on moon… and, our favorite hair-raising howler: the werewolf! Also, why some still insist the Apollo moon landing is a hoax. Plus, space travel – boxed and bundled. Guests: Phil Plait - Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . . Matthew Goodman - Author of The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York Jim Underdown - Executive Director for the Center for Inquiry West, Los Angeles and keeper of the blog Hollywood Reality Check June Pulliam - English professor, Louisiana State University Cynthia Phillips - Scientist at the SETI Institute and author, most recently, of Space Exploration For Dummies (For Dummies (Math & Science)) Paul Spudis - Senior scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are humans unique or do we just do some things a little better than other species? In the second of our two-part series – how our ability to adapt has shaped our evolution. Find out how throwing a burger on the grill has transformed our species… the 1% genetic difference that separate us from chimps… why we’re poorly adapted and stressed out … and why human evolution is not only on the move, but picking up the pace. Richard Wrangham - Biological anthropologist at Harvard University and author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human Katherine Pollard - Biostatistician at the Gladstone Institutes at the University of California, San Francisco Robert Sapolsky - Biological scientist at Stanford University and neurologist at Stanford’s School of Medicine. Author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Third Edition and, more recently, Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals Gregory Cochran - Anthropologist at the University of Utah and co-author of The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are humans unique or do we just do some things a little better than other species? In the first of our two-part series on the nature of humanity: how the influence of others has shaped our evolution. Find out how baby talk gave root to human language and why social isolation can make us sick. Plus, the joke’s on us – new research says we’re not the only laughing species: meet your giggling gorilla cousins. And, what a writer’s visit to a chimp retirement center revealed about human discomfort with our animal ancestry. Dean Falk - Anthropologist at Florida State University and author of Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants, and the Origins of Language John Cacioppo - Director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and co-author of Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection Lori Marino - Biologist at Emory University Kathryn Denning - Anthropologist at York University Charles Siebert - Author of The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals Marina Davila-Ross - Psychologist at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s no escape from the chattering classes – they talk, squawk, squeal and sing all around us. Every animal communicates in some form – it’s essential for survival. They’ve evolved to understand each other … but do we understand them? Find out what’s coded in humpback whale song and whether human-cetacean dialogue is possible… how information theory reveals communication patterns within the animal kingdom… how plants call out to animals to protect them… and why only humans evolved language. Guests: Douglas Carlton Abrams - Author of Eye of the Whale: A Novel Laurance Doyle - Scientist at the SETI Institute Douglas Vakoch - Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute David DeGusta - Anthropologist at Stanford University Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Medicine’s back.. and this time it’s personal. Get ready to have your genome read… your brain scanned… and undergo a chemical analysis so detailed, it’ll reveal the Twinkie you had for lunch. Everyone’s different, and reading those differences at the level of the gene may provide a more accurate profile of health and how to treat disease. But are you ready to know what’s wrong with you? Discover the future of personalized medicine with biologist Craig Venter, as well as a man who turned his body over to the new science. Learn what his tests revealed. Plus, why stem cell research really is a horse race. And, why getting sick is sometimes the best thing. Guests: Craig Venter - Genome scientist Frank McCormick - Director of the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco David Ewing Duncan - Journalist and author of Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World Sharon Moalem - Neurogeneticist and Evolutionary Biologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of Survival of the Sickest Sean Owens - Director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the University of California, Davis Julie Burges - Animal Health Technician, Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, University of California, Davis Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Aspirin and Old Lace?” Okay, it would take a bottle full of pills in a glass of elderberry wine to really harm you, but aspirin can be deadly. So can too much of anything, including water. Dose is key in toxicology, after all, but there are some poisons that can do deadly work in tiny amounts. Hear about the chemistry of poisons … why Botox may freeze your emotions as well as your face… which animal is most lethal to humans… and how 19th-century poisoners got away with murder – until the birth of forensic science. Guests: Deborah Blum – Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York Martyn Smith – Toxicologist, University of California, Berkeley Joshua Ian Davis – Psychologist, Barnard College, New York Jamie Seymour – Venom biologist, director of The Tropical Australian Stinger Research Unit, School of Marine Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We could choose not to pay income tax and suffer the consequences. But we can’t avoid death. The biological functions of all organisms eventually cease. But why should this be? Find out why animals die and meet one creature that is biologically immortal. Plus, a trip to the Body Farm where decaying bodies help science…how we might cheat the Big Sleep with drugs… why Mexican cemeteries look like villages… and a doctor’s fight against one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Guests: Bill Bass - Forensic Anthropologist, founder of the University of Tennessee Forensic Research Facility. Author of Beyond the Body Farm: A Legendary Bone Detective Explores Murders, Mysteries, and the Revolution in Forensic Science and fiction, written under the pen name, Jefferson Bass. The latest: Bones of Betrayal: A Body Farm Novel. Stanley Brandes - Cultural Anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley, author of Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead: The Day of the Dead in Mexico and Beyond Matt Kaeberlein - Pathologist, University of Washington Ross Donaldson - Doctor and author of The Lassa Ward Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new herbal supplements is on the shelf, and it claims to improve memory. Should you take it? It’s not easy to sort through the firehose of health and nutrition advice that comes at us daily. Find out how to get healthy about health advice, plus hear the story of Bernarr Macfadden, the eccentric who kicked off America’s fitness craze; he believed that eating less was good for you, but he didn’t believe germ theory. Plus, our Hollywood skeptic spills his guts and other entrails for a phony class for nurses and Phil Plait gives us the latest lapse in critically-thinking brains. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it. Guests: Phil Plait - Author, badastronomy.com and Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . . Mark Adams - writer and editor, and author of Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West - Los Angeles Steven Novella - Assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s always a surprise to go digging in Seth’s garage – who knows what we’ll find! In this impressive heap of paraphernalia, tucked between boxes of old radio tubes and hydraulic jacks, we stumble upon the secrets to our galaxy’s central black hole… witness the dance of the PhD theses… uncover the genome of milk (while moo-ving boxes) and … hey? Who’s that crunching numbers in the corner? It’s astrophysicist Mario Livio addressing the mathematical mysteries of universe. Guests: Andrea Ghez - Astronomer at University of California, Los Angeles Kathryn Denning - Professor of Anthropology at York University Mario Livio - Senior Astronomer at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and author of Is God a Mathematician? John Bohannon - Gonzo Scientist and Contributing Correspondent for Science Katrien Kolenberg - Astrophysicist, University of Vienna Danielle Lemay - Nutrition Scientist at the University of California, Davis Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We should award frequent travel miles to your brain. After all, it’s evolved a long way from the days of guiding brachiation from tree-to-tree to become the three pounds of web-surfing, Sudoku-playing powerhouse it is today. But a suite of technologies may expand human brains further still. From smart pills to nano-wires: discover the potential – and peril – of neuro-engineering to repair and enhance our cognitive function. Also, how our brains got so big in the first place: a defense of the modern diet. Guests Bill Leonard - department chairman and professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University Michael Gazzaniga - neuroscientist and director of the University of California – Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. Author of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique Ian Pearson - futurologist at Futurizon Steven Rose - biologist and director of the Brain and Behavior Research Group at the Open University in London. Author of The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience Ed Boyden - neuroscientist at MIT’s Media Lab and Department of Biological Engineering Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are a lot of scientific claims out there – how do you separate the good from the bad and the outright fraudulent? Experts failed to do so for years in the case of a physicist whose published papers claimed the invention of a new bio-based transistor. Plus, other stories of deceit – such as the scientist who stooped to coloring mouse fur with markers. Also, why climate science is solid, but its scientists need to be more open with the public. And, from the undersea “bloop” to the Denver airport conspiracy theory. Why urban myths are so popular. Plus, Phil Plait describes someone’s plans to meditate away the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Phil Plait - Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . . Eugenie Samuel Reich - News reporter and author of Plastic Fantastic Michael Shermer - Publisher of Skeptic Magazine and columnist for Scientific American Sheila Jasanoff - Professor of science and public policy at Harvard University Brian Dunning - Science journalist and producer of the podcast Skeptoid Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robot, I presume? Your appendix may be removed by motor-driven, scalpel-wielding mechanical hands one day. Robots are debuting in the medical field… as well as on battlefields. And they’re increasingly making important decisions – on their own. But can we teach robots right from wrong? Find out why the onslaught of silicon intelligence has prompted a new field of robo-ethics. Plus, robo-geologists: NASA’s vision for autonomous robots in space. Guests: P.W. Singer - Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, and the author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century Wendell Wallach - Chair of a technology and ethics working group for Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and the co-author of Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong Pablo Garcia - – Principal engineer working on medical robotics at SRI International, Menlo Park, California Robert Anderson - Planetary geologist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Robyn Asimov - Daughter of author Isaac Asimov Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With more water than land on this planet, Earth is more aptly-named “Ocean” or “Water.” The oceans have been here for billions of years, and make all life possible. Yet, it’s taken less than a century for humans to deal some serious blows to the watery cradle of our existence. Discover how our oceans are changing and the worrisome increase in their acidity from the maker of the documentary film, A Sea Change Also, hear how hope is bubbling up for ocean recovery from famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Learn about her record-breaking voyages underwater and how her reprimand to a Silicon Valley entrepreneur gave birth to Google Ocean. Plus, farming the seas for new antibiotics. Guests: Sylvia Earle - Oceanographer, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, founder of DeepSearch Foundation, and author of Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas (National Geographic Atlas) Sven Huseby - Co-producer of the documentary A Sea Change Peter Moeller - Toxin and Natural Products Chemist at NOAA Pacific Ocean - Largest oceanic division of the world, overlay of the Pacific Plate Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We place sharks in aquariums and elephants in zoos – to observe and conserve. But what if aliens have done the same to us? We’ll hear from Stephen King on a doomed result of a domed experiment - hatched by off-Earth beings, and why captivity may actually save some species on this planet. Plus, you’re entering the Habitable Zone: which is the best bet for life elsewhere in the Solar System - Europa, Enceladus or Mars? Guests: Stephen King - Novelist, author of Under the Dome: A Novel Jim Kasting - Geoscientist, Penn State University and author of How to Find a Habitable Planet (Science Essentials) Oliver Morton - Journalist, author of Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet John Fraser - Director for the Institute for Learning Innovations and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hunter College CUNY Amanda Hendrix - Planetary Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Bob Pappalardo - Planetary Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s always a surprise to go digging in Seth’s crawl space – who knows what we’ll find! In this cramped never-never land, tucked between piles of spilled cat litter and old clarinet reeds, we stumble upon the language of whales … the future of technology … the secret to plant power … and the answer to whether photographic memory exists. Tune in, find out and, grab a broom, will you? Guests: Larry Squire - Professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and a scientist at the V.A. Medical Center in San Diego Nathan Myhrvold - CEO of Intellectual Ventures Oliver Morton - Journalist and author of Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet Fred Sharpe - Executive Director and Principal Investigator at the Alaska Whale Foundation Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Apollo moon landing is a hoax! 9-11 was an inside job! Our government keeps alien bodies racked and stacked in an underground bunker! And as for the evidence … well … put on your tin hats, folks, we’re going deep, deep, deep into conspiracy with journalist David Aaronovitch. Also – the truth is out there, but it’s ignored. Jonah Lehrer on why scientists can overlook evidence. Plus, money for meters and your spooks for free: ghost detectors hit the market. And Hollywood Reality Check and Phil Plait on bogus bomb detectors. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Phil Plait - Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . . David Aaronovitch- Columnist with the Times newspaper of London and author of Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History Jonah Lehrer - Contributing editor at Wired magazine and author of How We Decide Matt Lowry - High school physics teacher and keeper of the Skeptical Teacher web site Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West - Los Angeles Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello! Is anyone out there? As the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence marks its 50th anniversary, there’s been no contact as yet with alien beings. But SETI researchers maintain that we are not alone. Find out why in a SETI retrospective that looks at the past and future of the search. We remember the first scientific SETI search… Carl Sagan... how the SETI Institute began… the WOW signal…and the 1993 NASA budget cuts. We’ll also hear from critics of the search… scientists involved in optical SETI and SETI@home. Plus, international collaborations… and where the search is headed. Guests: Frank Drake - Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute Jill Tarter - Director of the Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute Tom Pierson - CEO, SETI Institute Paul Horowitz - Physicist, electrical engineer, Harvard University Dan Werthimer - Chief Scientist, SETI@home, University of California, Berkeley Ben Zuckerman - Physicist, Astronomer, UCLA Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arctic ice is melting, atmospheric temperatures are climbing – yet climate change science is under attack. Detractors claim that researchers are manipulating data and hoodwinking the public. And the public is increasingly skeptical about the science. Find out what’s behind the surge of climate change skepticism - and what global warming deniers learned from big tobacco about how to spin scientific evidence. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! Guests: Stephen Schneider - Climate scientist, Stanford University Phil Chapman - Apollo 14 Mission Scientist, now a geophysicist and consultant on energy and astronautics Simon Donner - Geographer at the University of British Columbia Naomi Oreskes - Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego and author of Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood horror flicks have captivated us with alien blobs, but the slime slithering on our own planet is as beguiling. From microscopic machines to life on ocean floors, new research reveals how essential slime is to life on Earth, and possibly other worlds. Discover the new materials made from hagfish slime… the social life of a slime mold… and the threat posed by the gray goo of self-replicating nanobots. Plus, it’s been 50 years since it first oozed across the screen: why there’s no escape from The Blob! Guests: Tori Hoeler - Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center Douglas Fudge - Biologist, University of Guelph, Canada John Tyler Bonner - Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, and author of The Social Amoebae: The Biology of Cellular Slime Molds Chris Phoenix - Director of Research, Center for Responsible Technology Andre Bormanis - Television Writer and Producer Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s goodnight moon from President Obama, as he calls for canceling the program that would return astronauts to the moon by 2020. We’ll hear from the private sector, which might win in this deal, and consider whether we should really replace human explorers with robots. Plus, if we can’t fly you to the moon, would you settle for a few acres and a deed? Meet the man who claims to have property on the moon – but will it hold up in court? Wernher von Braun was one of America’s premier rocket engineers and, a new book contends, an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazi party. Find out what the U.S. space program was willing to ignore for the prize of beating the Russians to the moon. Guests: Burt Rutan - Aerospace engineer, founder of Scaled Composites and designer of SpaecShipOne and SpaceShipTwo Steven Weinberg - Nobel Prize-winning physicist at University of Texas at Austin and author of Lake Views: This World and the Universe Phil Chapman - First Australian-born astronaut and Apollo 14 Mission Scientist, now a consultant on energy and astronautics Steven Durst - Editor of Space Age Publishing Frans von der Dunk - Professor of space law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wayne Biddle - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Dark Side of the Moon: Wernher von Braun, the Third Reich, and the Space Race Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The extra-solar planet count is more than 400 and rising. Before long we may find an Earth-like planet around another star. If we do, and can visit, what next? Stake out our claim on an alien world or tread lightly and preserve it? We’ll look at what our record on Earth says about our planet stewardship. Also, whether a massive technological fix can get us out of our climate mess. Plus, what we can learn about extreme climate from our neighbors in the solar system, Venus and Mars. Guests: Ken Caldeira - Climate scientist from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University Keith Cowing - Biologist, and editor of NASAwatch.com Kathryn Denning - Anthropologist at York University in Canada Gary Davis - Director of the Joint Astronomy Center in Hilo, Hawaii David Grinspoon - Curator of the Denver Museum of Science and Nature Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love makes us feel warm and mushy, but the sweet sting of Cupid's arrow makes a compelling chemistry lesson, too. Research into animal mating and human courtship provides clues to an eternal mystery: what's the purpose of love? Learn lessons from the family values of field mice, and affectionate same-sex penguin pairs. Plus: Darwin's take on speed dating, and the science of smooching. Guests Helen Fisher - Anthropologist, Rutgers University Sarah Woodley - Biologist, Duquesne University Skyler Place - Doctoral Student, Indiana University's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Larry Young - Neurobiologist, Emory University Marlene Zuk - Biologist, University of California, Riverside Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever since Einstein, we've known that time doesn't barrel willy-nilly into the future. Moving clocks tick at a different rates, and by riding a fast rocket, we can slow time to a crawl. Such tricks may give you a way to see the distant future, but can you go back in time? Discover one man's quest to build a time machine. Also learn how to put the brakes on aging by getting near a black hole. Plus, does your entire life really pass before your eyes if you jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? Our perception of time. Guests: Roy Gould - Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Ronald Mallett - Professor of Physics, University of Connecticut, and author of The Time Traveller Simon Steel - Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics David Eagleman - Neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine, and Director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time's a mystery, yet we've invented clever ways to capture it. From sundials to atomic clocks, trace the history of time-keeping. Also, discover the surprising accuracy of nature's dating schemes - from the decay of carbon to laying down tree rings. Plus, why the "New York minute" stretches to hours in Rio de Janeiro: cultural differences in the perception of time. Guests: Chris Turney - Geologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia and the author of Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened Demetrios Matsakis - Head of the U.S. Naval Observatory's Time Service Steven Jefferts - Physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado Robert Levine - Psychologist at California State University in Fresno and the author of A Geography of Time: The Temporal Misadventures of a Social Psychologist, or How Every Culture Keeps Time Just a Little Bit Differently Norman Mohr - Owner, Mohr Clocks, Mountain View, California Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A massive black hole lies at the center of our galaxy, a monster hunkered down in the Milky Way’s innermost sanctum. Here, the bizarre laws of General Relativity take over, as the physics we know break down. And our spaceship is headed straight for it. Join us on a special dramatized 26,000 light-year adventure to the Galaxy’s hulking heart of darkness. We explore a cosmos held together by gravity – discover why it’s not really a force – and try to avoid getting too close to a black hole, the ultimate expression of gravity. This program is part of the traveling exhibit: “Black Holes, Space Warps and Time Twists,” a production of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Find out more at: http://web-bh.cfa.harvard.edu/ Voices: Roland Pease, Lilia Roman, Roe DeVasto, Doug Vakoch, Patrick Porter, Gary Niederhoff Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the Kepler spacecraft hunts for habitable planets beyond the solar system, we’ve let one of our own planets slip away! Find out why Pluto’s demotion to dwarf status created a public uproar as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reads us his hate mail. From third-graders! Also, how we might find Earth-like planets… the possibility of life on Saturn’s moon Titan… and TED Prize winner Jill Tarter’s vision for finding E.T. And, the man who made it all possible: 400 years of Galileo and the telescope. Part of our series for the International Year of Astronomy. Guests Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysicist, Head of the Hayden Planetarium, and author of The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet Alan Stern - Planetary Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, lead investigator on NASA’s New Horizons Mission Jeffrey Van Cleve - Astronomer at the Kepler Mission Science Office Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist and Lead for NASA’s Cassini Mission Jill Tarter - Director of SETI Research at the SETI Institute Andy Fraknoi - Astronomer at Foothill College and author of Voyages Through the Universe (with CD-ROM, Virtual Astronomy Labs, and InfoTrac ) Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finally, Bigfoot meets habeus corpus: three men claim they have the body of the elusive hirsute creature on ice, and throw a big press conference to prove it. Lots of journalists show up, as do the Bigfoot baggers. Days later the purported historic discovery turned out to be - gasp! - a hairy hoax. How did these men perpetuate the con - and why did the media, including Are We Alone?, bother to cover it? Join us front row and center at this peculiar press event and for the post-mortem (sans body) of the latest chapter in the ongoing mythology that is Bigfoot. Guests: Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University Jeff Meldrum - Professor of Anatomy at Boise State University, and author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science Jerry Parrino - Owner of costume maker thehorrordome.com James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices