Big Picture Science: Water the Chances

Listen Here!

Water, water everywhere. But most of it is sea water - you can’t drink it. Discover the most promising technologies for desalination and why solar cells are key. Also, how astronauts filter “water-closet water” to drink it, and how to turn a salt pond back to a wetland.

Plus, from Roman aqueducts to modern-day pumps: a history of quenching human thirst. And, why NASA strives to “follow the water.”

Guests:

• Brian Fagan – Anthropologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind
• John Bourgeois – Biologist and Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
• Michael Meyer – Lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program
• Farouk El-Baz – Geologist and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
• Michael Flynn – Principal investigator for NASA’s advanced life support branch, Ames Research Center

More episodes