Join hosts Seth Shostak and Molly Bentley each week as they explore emerging science and technology research.
What’s a Few Degrees?
Brace yourself for heatwave “Lucifer.” Dangerous deadly heatwaves may soon be so common that we give them names, just like hurricanes. This is one of the dramatic consequences of just a few degrees rise in average temperatures.
Also coming: Massive heat “blobs” that form in the oceans and damage marine life, and powerful windstorms called “derechos” pummeling the Midwest.
Plus, are fungal pathogens adapting to hotter temperatures and breaching the 98.6 F thermal barrier that keeps them from infecting us?
With guests Kathy Baughman McLeod, Pippa Moore, Ted Derouin, Jeff Dukes, Arturo Casadevall
Into the Deep
Have you ever heard worms arguing? Deep-sea scientists use hydrophones to eavesdrop on “mouth-fighting worms.” It’s one of the many ways scientists are trying to catalog the diversity of the deep oceans — estimated to be comparable to a rainforest.
But the clock is ticking. While vast expanses of the deep sea are still unexplored, mining companies are ready with dredging vehicles to strip mine the seafloor, potentially destroying rare and vulnerable ecosystems. Are we willing to eradicate an alien landscape that we haven’t yet visited?
With guests Craig McClain, Steve Haddock, Emily Hall, Chong Chen
More Big Picture Science episodes can be found at http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes.
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