#bigpicturescience — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #bigpicturescience, aggregated by home.social.
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Big Picture Science for May. 11, Preventing Future Pandemics
We may not want to think about another pandemic, but, as epidemiologists say, it is once again a “when,” not “if,” scenario. For his latest book, journalist Jon Cohen, who has written extensively about infectious disease for the magazine Science, interviewed top epidemiologists around the world and followed virus hunters into damp and daunting bat caves to assess our pandemic preparedness readiness. Jon and Molly sit down before an audience in Los Angeles to talk about worrisome cuts to science funding and our ability (or inability) to be vigilant and respond quickly to emerging disease. There is good news: we know how to stop outbreaks. The question is, will we put our tools and vast knowledge to use?
Guest:
* Jon Cohen – senior correspondent with Science Magazine, author of “Planning Miracles: How to Prevent Future Pandemics”
Reading: The Trump Administration is Dismantling Efforts to Fight the Next Pandemic
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/preventing-future-pandemics
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
#PandemicPreparedness #GlobalHealth #Epidemiology #PublicHealth #InfectiousDisease #VirusHunters #ScienceFunding #PathogenResearch #BigPictureScience #SETI #News #Podcast #Science
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Big Picture Science for May. 04, Shadow of Chernobyl
Forty years later, the exclusion zone surrounding the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains uninhabited by humans. But among the radioactive remnants, wildlife is flourishing, including endangered species. In the second of our two-part series, we look at the state of the disaster site today, consider what lessons we’ve learned during clean up efforts, hear about a strange story about radioactive shellfish, and consider whether small modular reactors could reinvigorate dreams of a nuclear-powered future and bring nuclear energy out of Chernobyl’s shadow.
Guests:
* Steven Biegalski – Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics program at Georgia Institute of Technology
* Tom Scott – Professor of Nuclear Materials and Devices at the University of Bristol
* Jacopo Buongiorno – Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), and Director of Science and Technology of the MIT Nuclear Reactor LaboratoryDownload podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/shadow-of-chernobyl
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
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Big Picture Science for April. 27, 2026: 40 Years After Chernobyl
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 into the sky, blanketing Europe. Witnesses described a laser of blue light eerily shooting up from the reactor core. Built to represent the bright future of nuclear power, Chernobyl instead became the biggest nuclear disaster in history. In the first of a two-part series, we retell the story of the accident, the role that design flaws and human error played, and the futile attempts at radiation containment. We also consider the long shadow the catastrophe cast over nuclear power, and the significant political fallout of the Soviet coverup; the Ukrainian vote for independence and the fall of the U.S.S.R.
Guest:
* Adam Higginbotham – Journalist and author of “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster”
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/40-years-after-chernobyl
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
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Big Picture Science for April. 20, 2026: Skeptic Check: Feeling Risky
REPEAT
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 to addressing climate change, how we regard risk is subjective. In this extended conversation with an expert on the psychology of risk, find out about our exaggerated fears, as well as risks we don’t take seriously enough. Meanwhile, while experts warn society about the dangers of self-aware AI – are those warnings being heeded?Guest:
* David Ropeik – Professor emeritus Harvard University, and expert on the psychology of risk
Originally aired April 10, 2023
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-feeling-risky
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
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Big Picture Science for Nov. 17, 2025: Skeptic Check: String Theory
REPEAT
The idea that the universe is made of tiny vibrating strings was once the science theory du jour. String theory promised to unite the disparate theories describing particles and gravity, and many people, not just scientists, were optimistic that a theory of everything might be within our grasp. But here we are, many years later, and string theory doesn’t seem to have delivered on its initial promise. What happened? We consider the science around string theory in this episode of Skeptic CheckGuest:
* Brian Greene – Physicist and mathematician at Columbia University, and author of The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory.
Originally aired October 14, 2024
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-string-theory
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
#StringTheory #BigPictureScience #SETI #News #Podcast #Science
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Big Picture Science for Sep. 22, 2025: Spare (Body) Parts
Big Picture Science: Spare (Body) Parts
Strapped-on brass noses, frog skin grafts, human organs grown in pigs: The world of replaceable body parts is both amazing and a bit unsettling. But who better give us a tour of the past and present of what medical engineering considers Plan B, than the inimitable science writer Mary Roach.
Guest:
* Mary Roach – Science writer and author of “Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy”
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/spare-body-parts
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
#BigPictureScience #SETI #News #Podcast #Science #BodyParts #Transplants #Prosthetics #MedicalEngineering
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Big Picture Science for July 14, 2025: Nuts and Bolts
REPEAT
How frequently do you think about fasteners like screws and bolts? Probably not very often. But some of them a storied history, dating back to Egypt in the 3rd century BC. They aren’t just ancient history. They help hold up our bridges and homes today. Join us as we dissect a handful of engineering inventions that keep our world spinning and intact.Guests:
* Roma Agrawal - structural engineer and author of "Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way)"
* Ron Gordon - watchmaker, New York CityThis repeat podcast originally aired on May 6, 2024
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/nuts-and-bolts
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
#BigPictureScience #SETI #News #Podcast #Science #Nuts #Bolts #Screws