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 mission

ENCORE 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 California, Berkeley
• Jean Paul Jacob – Scholar in Residence at U.C. Berkeley and IBM Researcher, Emeritus

Descripción en español

First aired March 28, 2011

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
• Rachel Harris – Astrobiology student at the NASA Astrobiology Institute
• Stuart Schlisserman – Physician in Palo Alto, California
• Felisa Wolfe-Simon – NASA astrobiology research fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs
• Bas Lansdorp – Founder, Mars One

ENCORE You know the joke about the car and the snail. Look at that escargot? Well, snails may be the only thing not powering the automobiles of the future. Trees, grass, algae, even the garbage you toss on the sidewalk has potential for conversion into biofuel. What is America’s next top model fuel? Join us on a tour of the contenders.

Meet a man who’s mad about miscanthus … an astrobiologist’s attraction to algae… and the blueprint for building your own biofuel bugs.

Also, discover whether any of these next-generation fuel sources could take us to the stars. Put that in your rocket and burn it!

Guests:

• Madhu Khanna – Professor of Agriculture and Environmental Economics at the University of Illinois and at the Energy Biosciences Institute
• Stephen Long – Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Michelle Chang – Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley
• Bret Stroegn – Graduate student researcher, Energy Bioscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley
• Jonathan Trent – Bioengineering Research Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center and founder of Global Research into Energy and the Enviornment (GREEN )
• Richard Obousy – Physicist and co-founder and project leader for Project Icarus

Descripción en español

First released April 25, 2011.

The Day After. 2001. Prometheus. There are sci-fi films a’plenty … but how much science is in the fiction? We take the fact checkers to Hollywood to investigate the science behind everything from space travel to human cloning.

Plus, guess what sci-fi film is the most scientifically accurate (hint: we’ve already mentioned it). Also, why messing with medical facts on film can be dangerous … and the inside scoop from a writer of one of television’s most successful sci-fi franchises.

And, a robot who surpasses even Tinseltown’s lively imagination: a humanoid that may become a surrogate you.

Guests:

• David Kirby – Senior lecturer in science communication studies at the University of Manchester in the U.K. and author of Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists, and Cinema
• Lucas Kavner – Reporter, Huffington Post, author of a piece on the rise of robot surrogates
• Wayne Grody – Medical geneticist, director of the DNA diagnostic Laboratory, UCLA Medical Center
• Andre Bormanis – Television writer and science consultant for Star Trek

Let the games begin! The mad dash to the phone … the sudden spring out of bed … the frantic juggling of car keys, grocery bags and a cell phone! Olympic athletes may have remarkable speed and strength, but it’s easy praise the extraordinary. Here’s to the extreme averageness of the rest of us. From beer bellies to aching backs, we’re all winners in the Darwinian Olympics just by virtue of being here.

Identify the one physical trait that you share with all Olympians – your head – and why it’s a remarkable human evolutionary achievement. Plus, the role of genes in putting on the pounds … and what event Spiderman would enter to win the gold.

Guests:

• Daniel Lieberman – Professor of human evolutionary biology, Harvard University, author of The Evolution of the Human Head
• Callum Ross – Professor of organismal biology and anatomy, University of Chicago
• Kelly Brownell – Psychologist, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University
• Robert Peaslee – Assistant professor, College of Media and Communications, Texas Tech University and author of Web-Spinning Heroics: Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man

One plus one is two. But what’s the square root of 64, divided by 6 over 12?* Wait, don’t run for the hills! Math isn’t scary. It helps us describe and design our world, and can be easier to grasp than the straight edge of a protractor.

Discover how to walk through the city and number-crunch simultaneously using easy tips for estimating the number of bricks in a building or squirrels in the park. Plus, why our brains are wired for finger-counting … whether aliens would have calculators … and history’s most famous mathematical equations (after e=mc²).

*The answer is 16

Guests:

• Ian Stewart – Emeritus professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick, U.K., author of In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World
• Michael Anderson – Psychologist and neuroscientist, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
• Keith Devlin – Mathematician and Director of the Human Sciences and Technology Advanced Research Institute, Stanford University
• John Adam – Mathematician, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, and author of X and the City: Modeling Aspects of Urban Life

Descripción en español

Mooooove over, make way for the cows, the chickens … and other animals! Humans can learn a lot from our hairy, feathered, four-legged friends. We may wear suits and play Sudoku, but Homo sapiens are primates just the same. We’ve met the animal, and it is us.

Discover the surprising similarity between our diseases and those that afflict other animals, including pigs that develop eating disorders. Plus, what the octopus can teach us about national security … how monkeying around evolved into human speech … and the origins of moral behavior in humans.

Guests:

• Rafe Sagarin – Marine ecologist, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, author of Learning From the Octopus: How Secrets from Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorist Attacks, Natural Disasters, and Disease
• Barbara Natterson-Horowitz – Professor of cardiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, and co-author of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing
• Kathryn Bowers – Writer, co-author of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing
• Asif Ghazanfar – Neuroscientist, psychologist, Princeton University
• Christopher Boehm – Biological and cultural anthropologist at the University of Southern California, director of the Jane Goodall Research Center, author of Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame

Expect the unexpected when we go digging in Seth’s storm shelter – who knows what we’ll find! In this cramped never-never land, tucked between piles of dehydrated food packets and old civil defense helmets, we stumble (but don’t step) upon marauding ants … a mission to Pluto…. “evidence” of a spaceship crash … the Apollo astronaut who shot the “Earth Rise” photograph … and Jonah Lehrer meditating on creativity.

Tune in, find out and, help move this box of canned soup, will you?

Guests:

• Mark Moffett – Entomologist, research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, author of Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
• John Spencer – Planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and member of the New Horizons science team
• Joe Nickell – Paranormal investigator, Senior Research Fellow, Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
• William Anders – Astronaut on Apollo 8, and photographer of “Earth Rise”
• Jonah Lehrer – Author of Imagine: How Creativity Works

You are what you eat. But what does that mean if your food is genetically engineered? Chances are it has been if you’ve ever munched down on corn or soybean. The prospect of eating GM food makes some folks afraid, but is their fear warranted?

Discover what experts say about the safety of genetically engineered foods … whether the technology delivers on the promised increase in yield … and the argument for and against labeling.

Also, why some say the issue is not food safety, but the unethical business practices of multinationals. A filmmaker reports from the fields of India.

Plus, GM crops off this planet: the role of synthetic biology in terraforming Mars.

It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

• Pamela Ronald – Professor in the department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis, co-author of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
• Ronald Lindsay – President and Chief Executive Officer and Senior Research Fellow, Center for Inquiry, and author of Future Bioethics: Overcoming Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas
• Micha Peled – Founder, Teddy Bear Films, and the filmmaker for “Bitter Seeds”
• Doug Gurian-Sherman – Plant pathologist, senior scientist, Food and Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
• John Cumbers – Synthetic biologist, working in Northern California