Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea
Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea is an Irish science and technology show. Jonathan responds to texts and tweets from listeners, covers the latest science stories in the Newsround segment, and interviews two guest experts each episode. The programme comes from Newstalk, Ireland's national independent talk station.
Episodes
The Greenland shark discovered on Ireland’s coast
Guests:Emilie De Loose, Project Officer of the Atlantic Whale Deal in the Irish Whale and Dolphin GroupJohn Regan from Maynooth UniversityLaura Hayes, DIAS
Gold: Neil DeGrasse Tyson - A Brief Welcome to the Universe
Science Communicator extraordinaire Neil deGrasse Tyson joined Jonathan in 2021 to discuss his book ‘A Brief Welcome to the Universe: A Pocket-Sized Tour’, and how we communicate science to the public.
Observing the Solar Eclipse
Guests:Peter Gallagher, Director of Dunsink Observatory at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College DublinJohn Regan from Maynooth UniversityLaura Hayes, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS)If you would like to listen to Jonathan’s experience of flying into the path of totality of the solar eclipse in 2015, here’s the link:https://soundcloud.com
Gold: How does the brain conjure consciousness?
For centuries, philosophers have theorised about the mind-body question. Is the mind something separate from the body? If so what does that mean?So, how does the brain conjure consciousness?In this interview from 2021, Jonathan speaks with Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness and author of ‘Be
Could AI be conscious?
Guests:Charlotte Blease, Philosopher at Uppsala University and author of ‘Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us – and How AI Could Save Lives’Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and author of ‘Free Agents – How Evolution Gave Us Free Will’Alan Smeaton, Professor of Computing at DCUMatthew Campbell from TCDLaura Hayes, DIAS
Extra: Could base editing lead to designer babies?
Guest: Oliver Bower, Founding Scientist at ‘Preventive’
The fish species with no males
Guests:Ed Ricemeyer, Senior Bioinformatician and Chair of Animal Systems Genomics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenJessamyn Fairfield from the University of GalwayShane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Professor in Science Education at UCD
Extra: ET Code of Conduct
Guest: Professor Michael Garrett, Astrophysicist at the University of Manchester and Chair of the International Academy of Astronautics’ SETI Committee
The problem solving powers of bumblebees
Guests:Jussi Kantola, Data Analyst at the University of OuluMatthew Campbell, Professor of Neurovascular Genetics, Trinity College DublinDr Ruth Freeman, Director of Research for Society at Research Ireland
Extra: Neuroscience and AI
Guest: Rana Gujra, CEO of Behavioural Signals, tech entrepreneur and AI expert
Is sitting down for long periods killing us?
Guests:Dr. Frederick Ho, Senior Lecturer in Public health at the University of GlasgowLaura Hayes, Assistant Professor and Royal Society-Research Ireland University Research Fellow at the Dublin Institute for Advanced StudiesPhil Smyth, Physicist, Engineer and Science Communicator
Extra: What is Cystinosis?
Guest: Anuj Chauhan, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines
Is photographic memory a real thing?
Guests:Gabrielle Principe, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the College of CharlestonJessamyn Fairfield from the University of GalwayShane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Professor in Science Education at UCD
Extra: How VR can improve the health of the elderly
Guest: Martin O’Neill, Lecturer in Population Health Informatics & Statistics at the Atlantic Technological University
The Internet of Animals
Guests:Martin Wikelski, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorAndrea Kwakowsky, Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University of Galway
Extra: How Wi-Fi can be used for surveillance
Guest: Felix Morsbach, Privacy and Security Researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
What happens when you're struck by lightning?
Guests: Jessamyn Fairfield from NUI Galway, Eoin Murphy Science Communicator, Mary Ann Cooper Managing Director in the African Centres for Lightning Education & Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois and Felix Morsbach Privacy and Security Researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Extra: Can we cure nightmares?
Guest: Michelle Carr, Director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory at Montreal's Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine and author of ‘Into the Dream Lab: The New Science of Dreams and Nightmares’.
Before Trees - What Were ‘Prototaxites’?
Guests:Dr. Corentin Loron, Paleobiologist in Trinity College DublinDr. Susan Kelleher, Associate Professor of Chemistry in DCUShane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Professor in Science Education at UCD
Extra: Was there human sacrifice in ancient Rome?
Guest: Frederic Auth, Doctoral Researcher at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
How does sperm work in outer space?
Guests:Hannah Lyons, Reproduction Researcher in Adelaide UniversityMatthew Campbell from Trinity College DublinDr Ruth Freeman from Research Ireland
Extra: How microbes tackle pollution
Guest: Ludmilla Aristilde, Environmental Engineering Professor at Northwestern University
The Chimpanzee War in Uganda
Guests:John Mitani, Primatologist at the University of Michigan and Co-Founder of the Ngogo Chimpanzee ProjectLaura Hayes, Dublin Institute for Advanced StudiesDr Ruth Freeman of Research Ireland
Extra: New Prostate Cancer Trials in Ireland
Guest: Dr Paul Kelly, Medical Director of the UPMC Cancer Network in Ireland
Learning while you sleep!
Guests:Dr Karen Konkoly, Dream Scientist at the University of CambridgeDr Ruth Freeman of Research IrelandProfessor Annie Curtis of the RCSI
Extra: Does science back up weird skincare trends?
Guest: Dr Xinyi “Beibei” Du-Harpur, NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer at St John’s Institute of Dermatology and King’s College London
Early flavour memories may shape picky eaters
Guests:Professor Nadja Reissland of Science Foundation IrelandDr Ruth Freeman of Research IrelandDr Fergus McAuliffe of Trinity College Dublin
Extra: Bodyoids
Guest: Hank Greely, Professor of Law and Expert in Bioethics at Stanford University
What is ‘Forensic Botany’?
Guests:Christopher Hardy, Forensic Botanist and Biology Professor at Millersville UniversityLaura Hayes, Dublin Institute for Advanced StudiesTara Shine, Environmental Scientist
Extra: The Power of Plankton
Guest: Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Adviser on the oceans to the United Nations Global Compact and author of ‘The Power of Plankton: How Plankton Made Life On Earth Possible and Why It’s Key To Our Future’.
The Smell of the Past
Guests:Dr. Barbara Huber, Archaeochemist at the at the University of Tubingen in GermanyJessamyn Fairfield from NUI GalwayJohn Regan from Maynooth University
Extra: AI Improving Medicine
Guest: Charlotte Blease, Associate Professor in the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden and Author of ‘Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us – and How AI Could Save Lives’.
Building a Warp Drive
Guests:Dr. Katy Clough, Astrophysicist at Queen Mary University of LondonAnnie Curtis Body Research Lecturer in RCSIShane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Prof in Science Education at UCD
Extra: How apples are engineered
Guest: Kate Evans, Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University
Will AI replace scientists?
Guests:Jeff Clune, CIFAR AI chair at the Victor Institute and Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, CanadaJessamyn Fairfield from NUI GalwayMatthew Campbell from TCD
Extra: Why can’t we figure out static electricity?
Guest: Scott Waitukaitis, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria in Klosterneuburg
The Dawn of Writing
Guests:Genevieve Von Petzinger, Paleoanthropologist and Rock Art Researcher and Project Director of the LIAACAR Project (The Living, Intelligent Archive of Ancient Culture, Art and Relational Archeology)Dr. Ruth Freeman from Science Foundation IrelandShane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Professor in Science Education at UCD
Extra: Why Are We Going Back To The Moon?
Guest: Dallas Campbell, BBC Space Presenter and author of ‘Space Journal: The Art and Science of Cosmic Exploration’
Building a Robotic Oesophagus
Guests:Dr Eoin O'Cearbhaill, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering at University College DublinDr Shane Bergin, Physicist at UCDDr Lara Dungan, Immunologist and Medic
Why should we avoid creating contrails?
Guests:Dr Jessie Smith, Research Associate in Sustainable Aviation at the Department of Engineering at the University of CambridgeDr Fergus McAuliffe, Head of Research Engagement and Impact at Trinity College DublinDr Shelley Brady, Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics at DCU
Extra: Movies reconstructed from mouse brain activity
Guest: Dr Joel Bauer, Research Fellow at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at UCL
What happens during a hallucination?
Guests:Dr Anna Georgiades, Lecturer in Early Intervention in Psychosis at King's College LondonDr Ruth FreemanDr John Regan
Extra: The Origins of Our Musical Ability
Guest: Dr Ani Patel, Tufts University, Massachusetts
How The Brain Can Recover Forgotten Memories
Guests:Dr Benjamin J. Griffiths, University of NottinghamDr Ruth Freeman, Research IrelandDr Tara Shine, Environmental Scientist
Extra: Why animals see the world at different speeds
Guest: Dr Kevin Healy, Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Galway
What you don’t know about respiration
Guests:New York Times bestselling author and Science Journalist James NestorDr Ruth FreemanDr Lara Dungan
Extra: What influences your willingness to be helpful towards strangers?
Guest: Dr Todd Vogel, Research Fellow in Psychology at the University of Birmingham
Clothes with health tracking technology
Guests:Professor Steve Beeby, Chair in Emerging Technologies and Director of the Centre for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles at the University of SouthamptonDr Tara Shine, Environemental ScientistProfessor Matthew Campbell, Head of Department at the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Extra: What drives the power of our tides and waves?
Guest: Prof Iris Möller, Coastal Geomorphologist and Chair of the Geography Department at Trinity College Dublin
Predicting Scorpion Strikes
Guests:Dr Michel Dugon, Assistant Professor in Zoology and Principal Investigator of the Venom Systems Lab at the University of GalwayDr Jessamyn Fairfield, Lecturer in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of GalwayDr Laura Hayes, Research Fellow at the School of Cosmic Physics at DIAS
Extra: Does the Earth’s core hide vast hydrogen reservoirs?
Guest:With Prof Jon Wade, Associate Professor of Planetary Materials, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
Making Life with Artificial Biological Intelligence
Guests: Dr Shelley Brady, Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics at DCUDr Shane Bergin, physicist at University College Dublin Adrian Woolfson, author of ‘The Future of Species: Authoring Life by means of Artificial Biological Intelligence’
Extra: Solar Maximum and the Northern lights explained
Guest:Dr Alexandra Ruth Fogg, Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
What is Aphantasia? Why some brains can’t visualize
Guests: Dr Lara Dungan, immunologist, and Dr Shane Bergin, physicist at University College Dublin Prof Adam Zeman, Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, at the University of Edinburgh
Extra: What Is Childhood Dementia?
Guest: Prof Matthew Campbell, Head of the Genetics Department and Chair of Neurovascular Genetics at Trinity College Dublin
Building a womb lining in the lab
Guests: Dr Susan Kelleher, School of Chemical Sciences at DCUDr Shane Bergin, physicist at University College DublinDr Peter Rugg-Gunn, group leader at the Babraham Institute at the University of Cambridge
Extra: Turning muscle signals into speech
Guest: Professor Luigi Occhipinti, Research Professor of Smart Electronics, Biosystems and AI, at Cambridge University
Why some wounds won’t heal
Guests:Professor Kimberly Kline, Professor in Microbiology and Molecular Medicine at The University of Geneva and Visiting Scholar at Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeDr Shelley Brady, DCU’s Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data AnalyticsDr John Regan, Research Fellow in the Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth University
Extra: What if stopping Alzheimer’s means targeting one gene?
Guest: Dr Dylan Williams, Principal Research Fellow in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology at UCL
Tackling Space Debris
Guests:Dr Penelope Wozniakiewicz, Senior Lecturer in Space Science at the University of KentDr Shane BerginDr John Regan
Extra: What exactly is DNA?
Guest: Dr Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin
How blood vessels boost lab-grown mini-brains
Guests:Dr Mihai Lomora, Scientist with CÚRAM, the Research Ireland Centre for Medical Devices based at the University of GalwayDr Jessamyn Fairfield from the School of Natural Sciences at the University of GalwayDr Fergus McAuliffe, Head of Research Engagement and Impact at Trinity College Dublin
Extra: Earth’s Early Wildfires
Guest: Dr Clayton Magill, Associate Professor of Biogeochemistry at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland
The Surprising Flaws of Evolution
Dr Andy Dobson, author of ‘Flaws of Nature: The Limits and Liabilities of Natural Selection’
Sustaining human life on the Moon and Mars
Guest: Professor Matthew Gilliham, Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, at the University of Adelaide
Extra: CAR T-Cell Therapy (Best of)
Guests:Dr Larry Bacon, Consultant Haematologist from St James’s HospitalDr Nicola Gardiner, Chief Medical Scientist at the Cryobiology Laboratory Stem Cell Facility at St James’s
Best of Futureproof: Creating Dark Matter, Curing Addiction
Guests:Dr John Regan, Maynooth UniversityYale Neuroscientist Vaughn Steele
Extra: Obtaining Fingerprints from Ammunition (Best of)
Guest: Dr Colm McKeever, Assistant Lecturer and Researcher in Analytical Chemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biotechnology, at TUS
Best of Futureproof: Mirror Life & The Science of Embalming
Guests:Kate Adamala, Associate Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of MinnesotaGlyn Tallon, Founder of Tallon Mortuary Specialists in Navan
Extra: Is butt breathing achievable?
Guest: Prof John Laffey, Professor of Anaesthesia Intensive Care Medicine at the School of Medicine of the University of Galway and a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at Galway University Hospitals.
The winter hibernation gene in animals
Guests:Professor Tyler Stevenson, Head of Physiology, Ageing & Welfare at the University of GlasgowDr Ruth Freeman of Research IrelandDr Fergus McAuliffe, Head of Research Engagement and Impact at Trinity College Dublin
Extra: Vitamin D is linked to BMI?
Guest: Prof Lena Zgaga, Professor in Epidemiology at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the School of Health in Trinity
Can we witness stars form planets?
Guests:Dr Emma Whelan, Department of Experimental Physics, Maynooth UniversityDr Tara Shine, Change by DegreesDr Ruth Freeman, Research Ireland
Extra: How we exploit artificial intelligence
Guest: Taha Yasseri, Director of the Joint Centre for Sociology of Humans and Machines at Trinity College Dublin
Is the human mind the next frontier in warfare?
Guests:Malcolm Dando, Emeritus Professor at the School of Social Sciences at the University of BradfordDr Shelley Brady of DCUDr Shane Bergin of UCD
Extra: The one thing you need to know about electricity
Guest: Marcus Chown, Science Writer and author of ‘The One Thing You Need to Know’
Treatment-resistant depression
Guests:Professor Valerie Voon, Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Neuromodulation at the University of CambridgeDr Jessamyn Fairfield of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of GalwayDr Shane Bergin, Physicist at UCD
Extra: The Age of Rock
Guest: Dr Anjana Khatwa, earth scientist and author of ‘The Whispers of Rock – Stories from the Earth'
Creating 'Mirror Life'
Guests:Kate Adamala, Associate Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of MinnesotaImmunologist Dr Lara DunganDr John Regan, Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth University
Extra: How chimps rationally revise their beliefs & face blindness
Guests:Dr Emily Sanford, Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychology at the University of California BerkeleyFiona Newell, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the Trinity Institute of NeurosciencesMeike Ramon, Cognitive Neuroscientist and Assistant Professor at the University of Fribourg
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