Big Picture Science

We all talk about the weather. And now scientists are doing something about it: providing more accurate warnings before big storms hit. Discover how smart technology – with an eye on the sky – is taking monster weather events by storm. Plus, why severe weather events caused by a warming planet may trigger social and economic chaos. Also, meet the storm chaser who runs toward tornadoes as everyone else flees… and why your cell phone goes haywire when the sun kicks up a storm of its own. Guests: • Michael Smith – Meteorologist, founder of WeatherData and author of Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather • George Kourounis – Explorer and storm chaser • Jeffrey Scargle – Research astrophyscisit in the Astrobiology and Space Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center • Ken Caldeira – Climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Deparment of Global Ecology • Christian Pareti – Contributing editor of The Nation, visiting scholar at the City Univeristy of New York, and author of Tr

Imagine moving things with your mind. Not with telekinesis, but with the future tools of brain science. Meet a pioneer in the field of computer-to-brain connection and discover the blurry boundary where the mind ends and the machine begins. Plus, how new technology is sharpening the “real” in virtual reality. And, whether our devotion to digital devices is changing what it means to be human. Guests: •  Miguel Nicolelis – Director for the Center for Neuroengineering at Duke University, and author of Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines and How it Will Change our Lives •  Jeremy Bailenson – Director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University and co-author of Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution •  Jim Blascovich – Psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara and co-author of Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution •  Sherry Turkle – Profes

Could you have had a past life? Is it possible that some part of you is the reincarnation of a person – or maybe an animal – that lived long ago? We’ll hear the story of a young boy who started having nightmares about a plane crash. His parents thought he was the reincarnation of a downed, World War II fighter pilot. But his story might not fly. Also … is there any biological basis for reincarnation? Animals that indulge in the big sleep. Suspended animation is Hollywood’s favorite device for interstellar travel … But could we really put a dimmer switch on human metabolism? Learn how techniques for hitting the hold button for humans might be just around the corner. Guests: •  Cynthia Meyersburg – Research psychologist at Harvard University •  Tori Hoehler – Astrobiologist at the NASA Ames Research Center •  André Bormanis – Screenwriter, producer and former science consultant for “Star Trek” •  Matt Andrews – Biologist at the University of Minnesota, Duluth •  Phil Plait – Astronomer, and author of the Bad As

You must remember this… wait, wait... I had it… on the tip of my tongue… (Memory is a tricky thing and most of us would like to improve it)… oh, yes: Discover the secrets of stupefying, knock-your-socks-off recall by a U.S. Memory Champion. Also, almost everything we know about memory comes from the life of one man born in 1926 and known as H.M., the world’s “most unforgettable amnesiac.” Plus, the sum total of the global data storage capacity in hard drives, thumb drives, the Internet, you name it… guess how many exabytes it comes to? Guests: •  Larry Squire – Professor of psychiatry and neurosciences and psychology at the University of California, San Diego and a scientist at the VA Medical Center in San Diego •  Jacopo Annese – Neuroanatomist and Director of the Brain Observatory at the University of California, San Diego •  Joshua Foer – Author of Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything •  Martin Hilbert – Economist and social scientist, University of Southern California A

It’s one of the biggest questions you can ask: has the universe existed forever? The Big Bang is supposedly the moment it all began. But now scientists wonder if there isn’t an earlier chapter to our origin story. And maybe chapters before that! What happened before the Big Bang? It’s the ultimate prequel. Plus – the Big Bang as scientific story: nail biter or snoozer? Guests •  Roger Penrose – Cosmologist, Oxford University •  Sean Carroll – Theoretical physicist, Caltech, author of The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World •  Simon Steele – Astronomer, Tufts University •  Andrei Linde – Physicist, Stanford University •  Jonathan Gottschall – Writer, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human •  Marcus Chown – Science writer and cosmology consultant for New Scientist magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is only one show you hear about the end of the world, let it be this one. Recorded before a live audience at the Computer History Museum on October 27th, 2012, this two-part special broadcast of Big Picture Science separates fact from fiction in doomsday prediction. In this second episode: a global viral pandemic … climate change … and the threat of assimilation by super-intelligent machines. Presented as part of the Bay Area Science Festival. Find out more about our guests and their work. Guests: •  Kirsten Gilardi – Wildlife veterinarian at the University of California, Davis. leader of the Gorilla Doctors program, and team leader for the US-AID Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT program •  Ken Caldeira – Climate scientist, Carnegie Intuition for Science at Stanford University •  Luke Muehlhauser – Executive Director of the Singularity Institute •  Bradley Voytek – Neuroscience researcher at the University of California, San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is only one show you hear about the end of the world, let it be this one. Recorded before a live audience at the Computer History Museum on October 27th, 2012, this two-part special broadcast of Big Picture Science separates fact from fiction in doomsday prediction. In this episode: Maya prophesy for December 21, 2012 … asteroid impact and cosmic threats …. and alien invasion. Presented as part of the Bay Area Science Festival. Find out more about our guests and their work. Guests: Guy P. Harrison – Science writer and author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True Andrew Fraknoi – Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all have to go sometime, and that final hour is the mother of all deadlines. But scientists are working to file an extension. Discover how far we can push the human expiration date. Plus, the animal with the shortest lifespan and the chemistry that causes your pot-roast to eventually clothe itself in fuzzy green mold. Also, a clock that won’t stop ticking (for 10,000 years) and our love-hate relationship with that long-lived hydrocarbon that keeps our snack cakes fresh: plastic! Guests: Martin Bucknavage- Senior Food Safety Extension Associate, Department of Food Science at Penn State Leonard Guarente – Biologist, Laboratory for the Science of Aging, M.I.T. Alexander Rose – Executive Director and Clock Project Manager, Long Now Foundation Rick Hochberg – Biologist, University of Massachusetts – Lowell Susan Freinkel – Author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Internet is not the only globally-uniting phenomenon. Viruses and bacteria can circle the globe as fast as we can, and the effects can be devastating. Discover what it takes for an animal disease to become a human pandemic. Also, was hurricane Sandy a man-made disaster? The future of severe storms and climate change. Plus, the view of our science from abroad: why Brits have no trouble accepting the theory of evolution but Americans do. And what about a new annex for Silicon Valley – 12 miles out to sea? Guests: •  Jerry Meehl – Senior scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO •  Alok Jha – Science correspondent, The Guardian •  David Quammen – Science journalist and author, most recently of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic •  Max Marty – Co-founder and CEO of Blueseed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indiana Jones meets Star Trek in the field of space archaeology. Satellites scan ancient ruins so that scientists can map them without disturbing one grain of sand. Discover how some archaeologists forsake their spades and brushes in favor of examining historic sites from hundreds of miles high. Also, if you were to hunt for alien artifacts – what would you look for? Why ET might choose to send snail mail rather than a radio signal. Plus, the culture of the hardware we send into space, and roaming the Earth, the moon, and Mars the Google way. Guests: •  Alice Gorman – Archaeologist at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia •  Christopher Rose – Professor of Computer and Intellectual Engineering, Rutgers University, New Jersey •  Robin Hanson – Economist at George Mason University, Virginia •  Tiffany Montague – Engineer, and Intergalactic Federation King Almighty, Commander of the Universe, at Google, Inc. •  Compton Tucker – Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Learn more about your ad choices.

If you’re itching it get away from it all, really get away from it all, have we got some exotic destinations for you. Mars … Jupiter’s moon Europa … asteroids . Tour some enticing worlds that are worlds away, but ripe for exploration. Also, why private spaceships may be just the ticket for getting yourself into space, unless you want to wait for a space elevator. And, why one science journalist boasts of an infectious, unabashed, and unbridled enthusiasm for space travel. Guests: •  Cynthia Phillips – Planetary geologist, SETI Institute •  Britney Schmidt – Research scientist, University of Texas, Austin •  Paul Abell – Planetary geologist, NASA’s Johnson Space Center •  Richard Hollingham – Science journalist, producer of Space Boffins podcast, living in the U.K. •  Barry Matsumori – Senior vice president for commercial sales and business development, SpaceX Corporation •  Peter Swan – Space System Engineer and Vice President, International Space Elevator Consortium Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me

By thinking different, scientists can make extraordinary breakthroughs. Learn about the creative cogitation that led to the discovery of dark matter and the invention of a.c. power grids, disinfectant, and the Greek “death ray.” Also, whether one person’s man of genius is another’s mad scientist. And, the scientist who claims pi is wrong and biopunks who tinker with DNA – in their kitchens and on the cheap. Plus, from string theory to the greenhouse effect – how metaphor sheds light on science. Discover why your brain is like a rain forest (that’s a simile!). 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 •  Marcus Wohlsen – Reporter for the Associated Press, and author of Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life •  John Monahan – Author of They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness, and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge •  Michael Hartl – Phy

Stuttering speech and facial tics are among the strange symptoms that swept through a New York high school. Discover what’s behind the odd outbreak, and why one sociologist sees parallels to Salem, Massachusetts 300 years ago. Also, an update on the cellphone cancer debate, and why one congressman wants warning labels on all new phones. Plus, the ultimate cleanse: giving up on food to survive on light and air. We investigate the claims of Breatharians. It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it! Guests: •  Dennis Kucinich – U.S. Representative, Ohio’s 10th congressional district •  Joshua Muscat – Epidemiologist, professor of public health sciences, Penn State at Hershey College of Medicine •  Michael Wyde – Toxicologist, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences •  Robert Bartholomew – Sociologist, Botany College, Auckland, New Zealand, author of Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior •  Gordy Slack – Science writer •  Benjamin Radford – Deputy editor, Skeptical Inquir

It’s all in the numbers. The trick is, finding what you’re looking for. But that’s the name of the game with big data. We have a giga-gigabyte of information, and combing through it will lead to new cures for disease, new discoveries about the cosmos, or clues to our social and economic behavior. But is big data Big Brother? You leave a little bit of yourself behind with each mouse click. Discover how surveillance and privacy issues bubble out of the mix, as the terabytes keep flowing in. Plus one man’s quest to know himself through the numbers as he records everything – and we do mean everything – about his body. Guests: •  Atul Butte – Associate professor, division chief, systems medicine, Stanford University •  Larry Smarr – Professor of computer science, University of California, San Diego, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, (Calit2) •  Karen Nelson – Microbiologist, director of the Rockville Campus of the J. Craig Venter Institute •  Gerry Harp – Physi

"I feel your vibe!” Well, that describes a number of fabled locales that claim to pulse with mysterious energy – perhaps prompting books to fly across the room or airplanes to vanish into thin air. But what’s the science behind it? We examine spots marked with an X, for “extraordinary” – from a haunted house to the Bermuda Triangle – to sort out natural from supernatural phenomena. Plus, what causes the aurora borealis… a haywire Russian space probe… and just what the heck is an “energy vortex,” anyway? Guests: • Phil Plait – Skeptic and keeper of Discover Magazine’s blog: badastronomy • Mike Borg – Group Sales Coordinator, Winchester Mystery House • Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles • Peter Williams – Hydrodynamicist at Agilent Technologies • Guy P. Harrison – Writer and business owner in Southern California, author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True • Rob Lillis – Space and Planetary Physicist, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley Lear

Before you chase it with a broom, consider this – without the rat, we might miss critical insights into the nature of stress, cancer … and even love. These furry, red-eyed rodents have a unique role in medical research – and a ubiquitous companion to our urban lives. Discover the origins of the albino laboratory rat … what rat laughter sounds like, and why these four-legged fur balls don’t fall victim to the pressure of the rat race … but we do. Guests: •  Kelly Lambert – Behavioral Neuroscientist, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, author of The Lab Rat Chronicles: A Neuroscientist Reveals Life Lessons from the Planet’s Most Successful Mammals •  Michael Gould – Professor of Oncology and Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison •  Jaak Pankseep – Neuroscientist, Veterinary College, Washington State University, author of The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) •  Pico Iyer – Writer, author of The Man Within My Head and

To need air is human. Our lungs thank us for each breath we take. But air is more than a transporter of O2. It shapes our weather, keeps birds aloft and moves spores from here to there. A cubic foot of air is anything but “empty” (hot dog grease particles, anyone?). The same goes for space (minus the hot dog grease). It’s a happening place. Discover why interstellar space is more than a whole lot o’ nothing; and what happens when the Voyager spacecraft leaves our solar system. Plus, catch a skydiver in action! Guests: •  Mako Igarashi – Skydiving instructor, Skydive Hollister, Hollister, CA •  Rhett Allain – Physicist at Southeastern Louisiana University, blogger for Wired.com •  William Bryant Logan – Author of Air: The Restless Shaper of the World •  Robert Wagoner – Emeritus professor of physics, Stanford University •  Alex Filippenko – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley •  Ed Stone – Physicist at CalTech, former Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project scientist for the Voyager missi

If Bigfoot walks through a forest and no one sees him, does he exist? It’s the job of paranormal investigator Joe Nickell to find out! Discover whether eyewitness accounts are reliable when it comes to tracking down the hirsute big guy and other monsters. Also, on the subject of “seeing is believing”: how magic fools the brain. Plus, in our potpourri show: can music boost brain power? A new study says listening to music makes brains happy. Does this support the dubious “Mozart Effect,” that claims listening to Wolfie’s compositions boosts IQ? And, skeptic Phil Plait on why the so-called “super moon theory” doesn’t predict devastating earthquakes. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it. Guests: •  Joe Nickell – Paranormal investigator and author of Tracking the Man-beasts: Sasquatch, Vampires, Zombies, and More •  Stephen Macknik – Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona •  Susana Martinez-Conde – Director of the Laboratory o

When the IBM computer, Watson, snatched the “Jeopardy” title from its human competition, that raised the question of just how smart are machines? Could artificial intelligence ever beat humans at their own game… of being human? Hear why an A.I. expert says it’s time to make peace with your P.C.; the machines are coming. Also, why technology is already self-evolving, and presenting its own demands. Find out what technology wants. And, a man who went head-to-chip with a computer and says machines will never beat the human mind. Plus, we take a voyage into “2012: An Emotional Odyssey.” Guests: •  Kevin Kelly – Editor-at-large at Wired and author of What Technology Wants •  Henry Lieberman – Research scientist at the M.I.T. Media Laboratory •  Brian Christian – Science writer, poet and author of The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive •  Horst Simon – Deputy Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory •  Shankar Sastry – Dean of Engineering, University of C

We dig the Red Planet! And so does Curiosity. After a successful landing, and a round of high-fives at NASA, the latest rover to land on Mars is on the move, shovel in mechanical hand. Discover how the Mars Science Laboratory will hunt for the building blocks of life, and just what the heck a lipid is. Plus, how to distinguish Martians from Earthlings, and the tricks Mars has played on us in the past (canals, anyone?). Also, want to visit Mars firsthand? We can point you to the sign-up sheet for a manned mission. The catch: the ticket is one-way. Guests: •  John Grotzinger – Geologist, California Institute of Technology, and project scientist, NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission •  Jennifer Heldmann – Research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center •  David Blake – Principal Investigator of CheMin, a mineralogical instrument that is included in the analytical laboratory of the Mars Science Laboratory mission •  Rachel Harris – Astrobiology student at the NASA Astrobiology Institute •  Stuart Schlisserman –