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Big Picture Science: A smart and humorous take on emerging trends in science and technology. Tune in and make contact with science. We broadcast and podcast every week. bigpicturescience.org
Forty years later, the exclusion zone surrounding the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains uninhabited by humans. But among the ra...
On April 26th, 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union blasted a plume of radioactive debris a half mile...
It’s not just facts that inform our decisions. They’re also guided by how those facts feel. From deciding whether to buckle our seat belts t...
Great news! We've been nominated for a Webby Award! Our three-part Katrina series is a finalist for Best News & Politics limited series podc...
What’s it like to live on a block of ice, especially when it thaws? An environment writer shares his forty-year experience in the Arctic, in...
Before everything could come up roses, there had to be a primordial flower – the mother, and father, of all flowers. Now scientists are on t...
Thinking small can sometimes achieve big things. A new generation of diminutive robots can enter our bodies and deal with medical problems s...
As protagonist Ryland Grace fights to save Earth - and possibly the universe - in Project Hail Mary, author Andy Weir discusses the science...
As NASA’s Artemis program promises to take us back to the moon for the first time in fifty years, we consider what it means that as many as...
Everyone knows that a big rock wiped out the dinosaurs. But the danger from an asteroid hitting Earth is not limited to ancient history. To...
With only a microscope and a collection of birds, taxidermist Roxie Laybourne became the world’s first forensic ornithologist. The “feather...
We’re going back to the Moon. The planned March 2026 launch of Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972. Historic as it...
There are benefits to chilling out. When we cool superconductors to 460℉ degrees below zero, they acquire extraordinary properties that help...
Every second, lightning strikes 50 to 100 times somewhere. It can wreak havoc by starting wildfires and sometimes killing people. But lightn...
The icy-white crust of Arctic permafrost is melting, and increased plant growth is turning the glacial north green. Metals like iron, once l...
It’s omnipresent on Earth and absent on the Moon. When it’s blowing sand in our eyes or frigid air down our necks, we may curse the wind, bu...
Spewing lava and belching noxious fumes, volcanoes seem hostile to biology. But the search for life off-Earth includes the hunt for these ho...
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 min...
You interact with about two-thirds of the elements of the periodic table every day. Some, like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, make up our bod...
Science fiction movies force us to face a multitude of end-of-the-world scenarios. Whether the final curtain is dropped by rampaging aliens,...
While humans were leaving the Stone Age and entering the Bronze, some Bristlecone pine trees grew from seeds to sprouts. They’ve been growin...
Just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We can’t see gases in our atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, and n...
The Amazon is often described as an ecosystem under dire threat due to climate change and deliberate deforestation. Yet there is still consi...
The worry about whether H5N1 will trigger a human pandemic has concealed a startling reality. Avian influenza has already taken an enormous...
The idea that the universe is made of tiny vibrating strings was once the science theory du jour. String theory promised to unite the dispar...
In Brazil, leaders from across the globe are gathering for COP30, the premier climate summit in the world. For the first time, the U.S. is s...
“The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our fi...
What happens to us after we die is as much a question for anthropology and ecology as it is for theology. Death and decay are not comfortabl...
Shipwrecks are scenes of tragedy, but they are also bits of history frozen in time that can provide insights into events and ideas from long...
Long before Orson Welles provoked a panic with his 1938 radio broadcast of a Martian invasion in War of the Worlds, we were fascinated with...
The tiny bean-shaped structures in your cells – mitochondria – are little powerhouses. Recent research suggests they may unlock overall good...
We’re hurtling towards a post-antibiotic world, as the overuse of antibiotics has given rise to dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Can we fi...
Strapped-on brass noses, frog skin grafts, human organs grown in pigs: The world of replaceable body parts is both amazing and a bit unsettl...
As their name suggests, “forever chemicals” have extraordinary staying power. When these nearly indestructible compounds find their way into...
Have scientists discovered an alphabet in whale calls? As researchers try to decipher the series of clicks made by sperm whales, we ask whet...
We are closer than ever to finding aliens according to astrophysicist Adam Frank. He isn’t alone in his optimism. Over the last two decades,...
A canopy of stars in the night sky is more than breathtaking. Starlight is also an important tool that astronomers use to study our universe...
“The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” said Mark Twain. In this, our fi...
Ever heard of a beauty quark? How about a glueball? Physics is full of weird particles that leave many of us scratching our heads. But these...
Telescopes are like light buckets. The bigger the telescope, the more light collected for astronomers to observe. With recent advances in te...
They are known for holding branches in their paws and gnawing on them like corn cobs. They build lodges and dams which occasionally flood ro...
Has children’s play become too safe? Research suggests that efforts to prioritize safety harms children’s mental and physical development du...
How frequently do you think about fasteners like screws and bolts? Probably not very often. But some of them a storied history, dating back...
Drinking a cup of coffee is how billions of people wake up every morning. But climate change is threatening this popular beverage. Over 60%...
What physical activity gives you joy? Whether it’s walking, running, dancing or swimming, your body evolved to do it. We are made for moveme...
Healthy rivers and riparian ecosystems are teaming with life, but should rivers themselves be considered alive? The question is central to t...
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...
Whales are aliens on Earth; intelligent beings who have skills for complex problem-solving and their own language. Now in what’s being calle...
A big challenge during a hurricane or other disaster is keeping lines of communication open when the power goes out. In this episode, the se...
In the twenty years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, powerful hurricanes such as Sandy, Irma, Maria and Helene have caused...