Big Picture Science

Series produced by Big Picture Science

Series image

Big Picture Science is a weekly one-hour science magazine that connects ideas in surprising and humorous ways to illuminate the origins and evolution of life and technology on this planet… and beyond.

From free-thinking robots... to the recipe for dark matter... to the mix-and-match genes of synthetic biology, we have it all! One episode a month, Skeptic Check, is devoted to critical thinking.

Produced at the SETI Institute and hosted by Seth Shostak and Molly Bentley.

Big Picture Science can be found on iTunes and other podcast sites. Radio stations carrying the program are listed on our "listening" page at radio.seti.org

The program is freely available to radio stations for broadcast.

The show began with the title Are We Alone? in 2002.


329 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
For the Birds
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: For the Birds, Credit: Seth Shostak
Birds have it going on. Many of these winged dinosaurs delight us with their song and brilliant plumage. Migratory birds travel thousands of miles ...

Bought by KZUM, WMUU-LP, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KIYU-FM, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and more


  • Added: Apr 15, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 10
Fungi Fear
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Fungi Fear, Credit: Seth Shostak
The zombie eco-thriller “The Last of Us” has alerted us to the threats posed by fungi. But the show is not entirely science fiction. Our vulnerabi...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY, KZUM and more


  • Added: Apr 08, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Coffee of the Future
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Coffee of the Future, Credit: Shannon Rose Geary
Drinking a cup of coffee is how billions of people wake up every morning. But climate change is threatening this popular beverage. Over 60% of the ...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KBBI Alaska, KZUM and more


  • Added: Apr 01, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: When the Moon Hits Your Eye, Credit: Seth Shostak
The Great North American Solar Eclipse will trace a path of shadow across Mexico and 13 U.S. States on April 8th. Phil Plait, also known as The Bad...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, KUNM, KMUN, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Mar 25, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Skeptic Check: Asteroid Mining
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Asteroid Mining, Credit: Seth Shostak
Asteroids are rich in precious metals and other valuable resources. But mining them presents considerable challenges. We discuss these, and conside...

Bought by WVTF, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY and more


  • Added: Mar 18, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Feet Don't Fail Me
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Piece image
Standing on your own two feet isn’t easy. While many animals can momentarily balance on their hind legs, we’re the only critters, besides birds, fo...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WMUU-LP, WRGY and more


  • Added: Mar 11, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Lady Parts
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Lady Parts, Credit: Molly Bentley
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe has ignited fierce debate about bodily autonomy. But it’s remarkable how little we know about female physiology. ...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, KZUM, WRGY and more


  • Added: Mar 04, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Tomb with a View
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Tomb with a View, Credit: Seth Shostak
A century ago, British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the only surviving intact tomb from ancient Egypt. Inside was the mummy of the boy king T...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Feb 26, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Lithium Valley
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Lithium Valley, Credit: Molly Bentley
The discovery of a massive amount of lithium under the Salton Sea could make the U.S. lithium independent. The metal is key for batteries in electr...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY and more


  • Added: Feb 19, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Alien Says What?
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Alien Says What?, Credit: Seth Shostak
Whales are aliens on Earth; intelligent beings who have skills for complex problem-solving and their own language. Now in what’s being called a bre...

Bought by KAZU Seaside, Calif., WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY and more


  • Added: Feb 12, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
The Wrong Stuff
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: The Wrong Stuff, Credit: Seth Shostak
By one estimate the average American home has 300,000 objects. Yet our ancient ancestors had no more than what they could carry with them. How did ...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., KBBI Alaska, WRGY and more


  • Added: Feb 05, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Skeptic Check: Hypnosis
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Hypnosis, Credit: Shannon Rose Geary
You are getting sleeeepy and open to suggestion. But is that how hypnotism works? And does it really open up a portal to the unconscious mind? Hypn...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY, KZUM and more


  • Added: Jan 29, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13
Inside Planets
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Inside Planets, Credit: Seth Shostak
With planets and moons, it’s what’s inside that counts. If we want to understand surface features, like volcanoes, or their history, such as how th...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, KZUM, WRGY and more


  • Added: Jan 22, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Tech in Check
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Tech in Check, Credit: public domain
Worried that AI will replace you? It may not seem like the Hollywood writers’ strike has anything in common with the Luddite rebellion in England i...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WRGY, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Jan 15, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Your Mind on Movies
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Your Mind on Movies, Credit: Seth Shostak
By one estimate we spend a fifth of our lives watching movies or TV. In fact, we consume entertainment almost as habitually as we eat or sleep, act...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., CHSR-FM 97.9, WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska and more


  • Added: Jan 08, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Eclectic Company
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Eclectic Company, Credit: Seth Shostak
We present a grab bag of our favorite recent science stories – from how to stop aging to the mechanics of cooking pasta. Also, in accord with our ...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KBBI Alaska, KZUM and more


  • Added: Jan 01, 2024
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Iron, Coal, Wood
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Iron, Coal, Wood, Credit: Seth Shostak
The first coal-fired stoves changed domestic life, and that changed society. We take you back to that that era, and to millennia prior when iron wa...

Bought by Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, KBBI Alaska, WRGY, CHSR-FM 97.9 and more


  • Added: Dec 25, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
The Ocean's Genome
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Ocean's Genome, Credit: Seth Shostak
After helping to sequence the human genome more than twenty years ago, biochemist Craig Venter seemed to recede from the public eye. But he hadn’t ...

Bought by WVTF, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, WMUU-LP, KZUM and more


  • Added: Dec 18, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Skeptic Check: Naomi Klein
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: Skeptic Check: Naomi Klein, Credit: Seth Shostak
Our information age is increasingly the disinformation age. The spread of lies and conspiracy theories has created competing experiences of reality...

Bought by WVTF, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KZUM, KBBI Alaska, WRGY and more


  • Added: Dec 11, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
End of Eternity
From: Big Picture Science
Series: Big Picture Science
Caption: End of Eternity, Credit: Seth Shostak
Nothing lasts forever. Even the universe has several possible endings. Will there be a dramatic Big Rip or a Big Chill¬ – also known as the heat de...

Bought by WRGY, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, KBBI Alaska, KZUM, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Dec 04, 2023
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 13

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