In interior Alaska, and even the Arctic in general, climate models indicate that “we're going to have this warmer, wetter future … which lends itself to more convection, more thunderstorms, and therefore more lightning,” says our guest Peter Bieniek bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lik...

Ben Franklin didn't discover electricity as we were led to believe, and, contrary to the story, a lightning bolt hadn't actually hit his kite. Find out what really happened that day in 1752 as we correct historical, and other myths, about lighting. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lik...

Which one delivers more electrical voltage to the body - a lightning strike or an overhead powerline? The answer to that and which one you’re more likely to survive after (regrettably) making contact: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lik...

Some people see St. Elmo’s Fire, a blue haze around objects, in the moments before lightning strikes. What produces it, and why people often describe smelling ozone, hearing a ringing in their ears, and see sparks fly off zippers before being struck: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lik...

Lightning strikes somewhere on Earth in excess of 50 times a second, and is also common in the solar system. Why might the frequency of lightning strikes be increasing in the Arctic? It’s “Like Lightning” bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lik...

Lightning strikes somewhere on Earth more than 50 times a second. Why the frequency of lightning strikes is increasing in the Arctic, and what to do if you come across a lightning victim. It’s “Like Lightning” bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lik...

A federal proposal to dismantle NCAR, one of the world's premier climate and weather research centers, shocked climate scientists when it was announced in December. Alan Seals, president of the @ametsoc.org, joins us to discuss the latest updates. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

During #AGU25, news broke about the Trump Administration's plans to dismantle NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research. We report on scientist's reactions as the news rippled through the conference, prompting an emergency session. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

You may be surprised to learn that scientists track changes in the Greenland ice sheet by tracing satellite images by hand. Machine learning models could make mapping ice loss faster and more precise. Learn more on this week's episode, as we go from Cold to Hot bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic, says glaciologist Twyla Moon. The loss of sea ice, snow, and land ice cover due to climate change affects the entire global ecosystem. This week, we're going Cold to Hot. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

Ordinarily pristine streams are turning murky and orange in the Arctic as metals leach out of the rapidly melting ground, killing off local wildlife. We hear from scientists at the #AGU25 meeting about the latest changes to the health of the Arctic region. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

Colorful - and concerning - changes are occurring in the Arctic. As the permafrost melts, plant growth is turning the icy landscape green. Metals like iron are leaching into the water, turning rivers orange. bit.ly/3ZxzkuF

Entering the Permafrost Research Tunnel is like walking through a time machine, says microbiologist @tacaro.bsky.social. Surrounded by mammoth bones, ancient vegetation, and 40,000 year old permafrost, researchers study the effects of thaw on our planet. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

Rapid warming in the Arctic is causing thousands of years old permafrost to melt. Frozen microbes, which have been guarded by the ice since the age of mammoths, are thawing along with it. How will these ancient, awakened microbes affect ecology? bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, and the consequences extend far beyond the icy north. What happens when the world's refrigerator heats up? This week, it's "Cold to Hot" bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

Studies show that microbes locked in permafrost since the age of mammoths can be revived when they thaw. The microbes then spew greenhouse gases as they break down organic matter in the soil. We look at this feedback loop and more when we go Cold to Hot. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

Colorful changes are unfolding in the Arctic. As permafrost melts, plant growth turns the glacial north green while metals like iron leach into hundreds of rivers, turning them orange. This episode explores what happens when we go Cold to Hot. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/col...

Why do Earth and Mars have wind, while the Moon has none? We sail through the patterns of moving air on other worlds, as well as our own, on this week’s new episode. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

While we might struggle against strong winds, birds are well adapted to them. Owls, for example, navigate sudden gusts without losing control. On this week’s episode, find out what scientists learned when they put owls in a wind tunnel. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

“The wind is the great unseen actor in human history,” says author Simon Winchester who joins us to trace wind’s role in shaping history including how a subtle shift in an April breeze in 1986 alerted the world to a nuclear disaster. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

Long before coal-burning drove engines or electric grids, wind drove the growth of civilization. Mastery of sailing reshaped trade routes, accelerated migration, and enabled the rise of empires. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

The Santa Ana winds are reputed to spark madness as well as wildfires. On this week's episode, author of “The Breath of the Gods,” Simon Winchester, separates myth from science with regards to this invisible force. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

In this episode, we ask a deceptively simple question: what is wind? From Aristotle’s first explanation to modern climate science, we examine how differences in air temperature and pressure drive events around us. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

D-Day was scheduled for June 5, 1944. Eisenhower delayed it after a weather forecast for that day in France. Author Simon Winchester describes how the strength and direction of wind shaped the Allied landing in Normandy. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

From kite strings to boat sails to turbine blades, we ask how wind has steered human activity in extraordinary ways. Let the invisible force be with you on this week’s episode. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

It’s omnipresent on Earth and absent on the Moon. We may curse it when it’s blowing sand in our eyes or frigid air down our necks, but living on a planet without wind would be stultifying. We consider Where the Wind Blows on this week's episode: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

A wind forecast for the French coast on June 5, 1944, prompted General Eisenhower to postpone D-Day. Author Simon Winchester describes how that delay may have saved his dad’s life and other ways wind has shaped history. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/whe...

Volcanoes help build a planet – they sculpt the surface, bring gases to the atmosphere, and provide the heat and water to let life thrive. But all things in moderation. How volcanoes are essential to life and capable of destroying it: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

Volcanoes are like time travel, says volcanologist @SquigglyVolcano.bsky.social. They give you a peek into a planet’s history and may even reveal why life thrives on some planets and is nonexistent on others. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

Venus shows an alternate timeline that Earth could have gone down, explains volcanologist @SquigglyVolcano.bsky.social. “I like to say that Earth is paradise and Venus is paradise lost”. More on how volcanoes play a role in making our paradise possible: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

As we search the solar system for other Earth-sized worlds, we must keep in mind they may be more like Venus than Earth, explains @ThePlanetaryGuy.bsky.social. What makes Earth habitable could be even more precious than previously thought. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

Earth’s geology is unusual explains @ThePlanetaryGuy.bsky.social. It has features like plate tectonics that are not commonly found throughout the solar system. Could this distinct geology explain Earth’s unique ability to sustain life? bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

Most of Venus – about 80% - is low lying volcanic plains says professor @ThePlanetaryGuy.bsky.social, though it’s difficult to determine if any of them are active. But Venus’ atmosphere gives us some clues about how they behave. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

Geologist Samantha Hansen and her team have found evidence for a new layer in the Earth, sandwiched between the core and mantle. And it has a big impact on our planet, from temperature conditions to Earth’s magnetic field – things essential to life. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

You may not typically think of volcanoes as a place to search for life – with all the hot lava and toxic fumes, we don’t blame you! But it turns out these geological wonders are essential to our existence. This week’s episode is “Life in the Solar System.” bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

How geology determines the habitability of a planet, and what volcanoes – both terrestrial and not – can tell us about the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. This week’s episode is “Life in the Solar System”. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

How volcanoes affect the prospects for life on other worlds, and a new discovery deep in the interior of Earth. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

How volcanoes affect life in the solar system, and a new discovery deep in the interior of Earth. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/lif...

The strain of pain lies mainly in the brain, says David Spiegel. The brain has a lot of potential to heal body and we’re not exploiting that potential. How hypnosis taps into the powerful mind-body link: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Hypnosis is remarkably effective in reducing severe pain. It’s safe. It’s non-addictive. But, unlike opioids, it doesn’t have big, aggressive industry marketing it. “Who’s going to make money selling hypnosis?” asks David Spiegel. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Psychiatrist David Spiegel says hypnosis could help curb the opioid epidemic, as well as treat anxiety and addiction more extensively, if we could get over our hang-ups about it. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

The first scientific double-blind study was performed in the 18th century to determine the therapeutic effects of animal magnetism. It involved magnetizing trees. How do you magnetize trees and what did the study find? bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Modern hypnosis emerged from Viennese physician Franz Mesmer who believed that a magnetic force or "fluid" could be used to control people. He coined a phrase we now use to describe strong physical attraction. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Franz Mesmer believed that a fluid that ran through our bodies could be manipulated. How did his wacky idea of “animal magnetism” lay the foundation for the legitimate technique of hypnotherapy? bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Many people associate a swinging pocket watch with hypnosis. Find out the history of this entrancing hypnosis emblem and why many hypnotherapists prefer that it go away. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

With a snap of the fingers, can a stage hypnotist really prompt you to fall asleep or squawk like a chicken? Or do we buckle under the social pressure to conform and perform? @GoldsmithsPsych Neuroscientist Devin Terhune on the role of “social contracts.” bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Can hypnotherapy really do ALL this: ease severe pain, help us quit cigarettes, and prompt us to cluck like a chicken? We separate hypnotherapy from stage hypnotism in this Skeptic Check about the science of suggestion: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Hypnotism can be an effective therapeutic tool. And yet, the performance aspect of hypnotism is at odds with the idea of somber medical sessions. What about hypnotism is real and what is an illusion? Our Skeptic Check: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Hypnotism has demonstrable therapeutic value for curing addictions and reducing pain – and without a need for dangerous opioids. Does it also tell us something about to what extent pain is in the mind? This week’s episode is “Skeptic Check: Hypnotism.” bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...

Is hypnotism for real? Does it have proven therapeutic value for reducing pain or curing addictions? Despite its show-business appeal, some academics are saying that hypnotism can boast both efficacy and safety. This week, it’s “Skeptic Check: Hypnosis.” bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...