Big Picture Science

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 vulnerability to pathogenic fungi is more real than many people imagine. Find out what human activity drives global fungal threats, including their menace to food crops and many other species. Our high body temperature has long kept lethal fungi in check; but will climate change cause fungi to adapt to warmer temperatures and threaten our health? Plus, a radically new way to think about these organisms, how they make all life possible, and how we might find balance again.Guests:Emily Monosson – Toxicologist who writes about changes in the natural world. A member of the Ronin Institute and a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she is the author of “Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic.”Arturo Casadevall – Microbiologist, immunologist, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.Michael Hathaway – Anthropologist, director of the Asian Studies Center at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, and author of “What a Mushroom Lives For.” *originally aired February 13, 2023Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact sales@advertisecast.com 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

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 world’s coffee species are at risk of extinction. Scientists are searching for solutions, including hunting for wild, forgotten coffee species that are more resilient to our shifting climate. Find out how the chemistry of coffee can help us brew coffee alternatives, and how coffee grounds can be part of building a sustainable future.Guests:Christopher Hendon - Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Chemistry, University of OregonShannon Kilmartin-Lynch - Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Monash University, AustraliaAaron Davis - Senior Research Leader of Crops and Global Change, Royal Botanical Gardens, KewFeaturing music by Dewey Dellay and Jun MiyakeYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, discusses the upcoming Great North American Solar Eclipse, the Pentagon's UFO report, and moon landing conspiracy theories. Topics include eclipse excitement, lunar settlements, UAPs, and Plait's new book 'Under Alien Skies'.

Asteroids are rich in precious metals and other valuable resources. But mining them presents considerable challenges. We discuss these, and consider how these spinning, rocky resources might be the key to a space-faring future. But an economist points out the consequences of bringing material back to Earth, and a scientist raises an ethical question; do we have an obligation to keep the asteroids intact for science? Guests:Jim Bell - Planetary scientist in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.Martin Elvis - Astronomer and author of “Asteroids: How Love, Fear, and Greed Will Determine Our Future in Space.”Ian Lange - Economist and associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines and author of a paper on the feasibility of asteroid mining.Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun MiyakeYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, for whom bipedalism is completely normal. Find out why, even though other animals are faster, we’re champions at getting around. Could it be that our upright stance made us human? Plus, why arches help stiffen feet, the argument for bare-footin’, and 12,000-year old footprints that tell a story about an Ice Age mother, her child, and a sloth. Guests: Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. Jeremy DeSilva – Professor in the departments of anthropology and biological sciences, Dartmouth College, and author of “First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human.” Madhusudhan Venkadesan – Professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, Yale University School of Engineering. David Bustos – Chief of Resources at White Sands, National Park, New Mexico. Sally Reynolds – Paleontologist at Bournemouth University, U.K. Originally aired May 24, 2021Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun MiyakeYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Find out what studies have been overlooked by science, and what has been recently learned. Plus, why studying women’s bodies means being able to say words like “vagina” without shame ... a researcher who is recreating a uterus in her lab to study endometriosis … and an overdue recognition of medical pioneer Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler.Guests:Melody T. McCloud - Obstetrician Gynecologist and Founder and Medical Director of Atlanta Women's Health Care; co-author of “Black Women's Wellness: Your ‘I've Got This!’ Guide to Health, Sex, and Phenomenal Living”Victoria Gall - Volunteer with the Friends of the Hyde Park Library and the Hyde Park Historical SocietyRachel E. Gross - Science journalist and author of “Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage”Linda Griffith - Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T., Director of the Center for Gynepathology Research, and author of the Boston Globe article, “‘FemTech’ and a moonshot for menstruation science”Roshni Babal - Pediatric Asthma and Chronic Disease Program Coordinator at Boston Medical CenterPerri Klass - Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics at New York University and Author of “The Best Medicine: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future”**Originally aired October 31, 2022Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun MiyakeYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A century ago, British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the only surviving intact tomb from ancient Egypt. Inside was the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun, together with “wonderful things” including a solid gold mask.Treasure from King Tut’s crypt has been viewed both in person and virtually by many people since. We ask what about Egyptian civilization so captivates us, thousands of years later. Also, how new technology from modern physics allows researchers to “X-Ray” the pyramids to find hidden chambers.Guests:Emma Bentley – Postgraduate student in Archeology and Ancient Worlds at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. Sarah Parcak – Archaeologist and Egyptologist, University of Alabama, and author of “Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past.”Richard Kouzes – Physicist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.Salima Ikram – Professor of Egyptology at The American University in Cairo and head of the Animal Mummy Project at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.*Originally aired December 12, 2022Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun MiyakeYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 electric vehicles and solar panels. But the area is also a delicate ecosystem. We go to southern California to hear what hangs in the balance of the ballooning lithium industry, and also how we extract other crucial substances – such as sand, copper and iron– and turn them into semiconductors, circuitry and other products upon which the modern world depends.Guests:Ed Conway – economics and data editor of Sky News and columnist for the Times in London. He’s the author of “Material World, The Six Raw Materials that Shape Modern Civilization“.Frank Ruiz – Audubon California Salton Sea Program Director. Michael McKibben – Geologist, University of California, Riverside. Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun MiyakeYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Alien Says What?" features Brenda, an expert in whale communication and extraterrestrial intelligence. The podcast explores breakthrough research on communicating with humpback whales, discussing their intelligence, complex problem-solving skills, and their own language. They also touch on the implications for communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence and the challenges of studying marine mammals.

In this episode, archeologist Chip Colwell explores the evolutionary history of material accumulation and the shift from self-sufficiency to excessive consumption. Topics covered include the cognitive leap of tool use, assigning meaning to objects, early self-expression through carved zigzag marks, objects as symbols of identity, and the evolution of stuff accumulation from nomadic to settled lifestyles.