Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

Olive Heffernan - Science Journalist and Author of The High Seas: Ambition, Power and Greed on the Unclaimed Ocean @O_Heffernan

Eleanor Dunn - PhD Researcher at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies @DIAS_Dublin

Guest: Christi Gendron - Research Assistant Professor in Molecular & Integrative Physiology at The University of Michigan.

Eugene Morin - Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Trent University @TrentUResearch @TrentUniversity

Les Johnson - Author & Space Technologist

In this special episode of Futureproof we look at Face Blindness and super recognition with Professor Fiona Newell - Professor of Experimental Psychology at the Trinity Institiute of Neurosciences and Meike Ramon - Cognitive neuroscientist and Assistant Professor at the University of Fribourg

Dr John Breen - Chief Technology Officer of NEG8 Carbon @NEG8Carbon

Guests this week:Dr Aidan Boran - Founder/CEO at Digital Gait Labs @aidan_boran & Professor Seán Kennelly - Consultant Geriatrician and Director of the Institute of Memory & Cognition at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) @SPKennelly @TUH_Tallaght

George Musser - Contributing editor for Scientific American magazine and author of Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation: Why Physicists Are Studying Human Consciousness and AI to Unravel the Mysteries of the Universe

Professor Johanna Vos - Assistant Professor in the School of Physics at Trinity College

Dr. Siobhan Power - Geologist with the Geological Survey Ireland

John Krakauer - Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, and Director of the Center for the Study of Motor Learning and Brain Repair at Johns Hopkins

Fabian Klenner is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Washington

Jules Howard - Zoological Correspondent and Author of Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth

John Whitfield is a Science journalist and Author

Professor Arun Misra is a Thomas Workman Emeritus Professor in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University.

Sam Van Wessenbergh is a Research Professor in the Laboratory for Functional Morphology of the Department of Biology at the University of Antwerp

Joseph Meany is a Science consultant and board member of the IRG (Interstellar Research Group)

Mike Benton is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at University of Bristol and author of Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves

Philip Goff is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and author of Why? The Purpose of the Universe

Bryan Choi - Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of the Centre for Brain Tumour Immunology and Immunotherapy at Mass General (Massachusetts General Hospital)

Jimo Borjigin is Associate Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan

Vanessa Collingridge is an Author, Broadcaster and Doctor of Historical CartographyHelene Courtois is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Lyon and Author of Finding Our Place In The Universe

Annie Jacobsen is a Bestselling author & Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of DARPA - The Pentagon's Brain

Chris French is Emeritus Professor and Former Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at the University of London and author of The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Brains Conjure the Paranormal

Annie Jacobsen is a Bestselling author & Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Nuclear War: A Scenario

Dr. Jennifer Gunter is a Gynaecologist & author of Blood: The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation

Joe Roman - Conservation biologist and marine ecologist at the University of Vermont and Author of Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World

Jonathan speaks with Professor Brian Norton from the Tyndall National Institute

Charlotte Blease is Associate Professor in the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden and co-author of The Nocebo Effect: When Words Make You Sick

Francis Halzen is Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Principle Investigator at the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory

Professor AC Grayling is a Philosopher and Author of Who Owns the Moon?: In Defence of Humanity’s Common Interests in Space

It’s almost exactly 4 years since the Covid 19 pandemic came to these shores and although thankfully the pandemic is over, there is still a lot to learn about the disease and its after effects.Long Covid is particularly perplexing but Irish scientists from the FutureNeuro Centre may have shed some light on one specific aspect of it; Brain FogSo what exactly is brain fog and how does a Covid infection bring it about?Dr. Matthew Campbell is a Professor in Trinity’s School of Genetics and Microbiology and Principal Investigator at the FutureNeuro Centre

Jonathan speaks to Cass Sunstein - Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard and Co-Author of "Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There" about habituation and his new book.

Jonathan is joined by Jim Carlton - Professor of Marine Sciences, Emeritus, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Jonathan is joined by Brenna Hassett - Lecturer in forensic osteology and archaeology at the University of Central Lancashire and author of Growing Up Human

In this special edition of Futureproof, Jonathan joins researchers from DIAS as they travel to a volcano on the Galapagos Islands. Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the TV licence fee. Also funded by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Jonathan speaks to Professor John Cryan from UCC

Scientists at Yale think freezing ovarian tissue at a young age could help us to postpone or event prevent the onset of menopause altogether. Jonathan speaks to Dr Kutluk Oktay, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and Director of the Laboratory of Fertility Preservation and Molecular Reproductive Biology at the Yale School of Medicine.

Researchers from Diageo have discovered that the yeast used to make Guinness is genetically different from any other Irish beer. Joining Jonathan to discuss this is Daniel Kerruish, Group Microbiologist at Diageo.

This week Elon Musk announced his Neuralink company has implanted a wireless brain chip into a human for the first time.But how significant is this step and how exactly does a brain implant affect the mind?Joining Jonathan to discuss this is Dr. Manus Biggs, Associate Professor at the University of Galway and Investigator with Curám, the SFI research centre for medical devices. Also joining Jonathan for this week's installment of Newsround is Dr. Ruth Freeman from Science Foundation Ireland & Laura Healy, Sustainable Food Production Scientist.

As we’ve discussed before on Futureproof, nature has some strange but very cool patterns - one such pattern is the Coriolis Effect. Joining Jonathan to explain this is Dr. Conor Sweeney, Lecturer in Applied and Computational Mathematics in the School of Mathematical Sciences at UCD; Deputy Director of the UCD Earth Institute; and President of the Irish Meteorological Society.

Scientists in Maryland in the United States are exploring what a lab-grown retina can tell us about how we can see millions of colours. Joining Jonathan to explain more about the research is Robert J. Johnston Jr. Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Johns Hopkins University.Also joining Jonathan for this week's Newsround is Dr. Susan Kelleher, School of Chemical Sciences, DCU & Dr Fergus McAuliffe, Communications and Engagement Manager, iCRAG.

As we grow older, we experience a multitude of changes - both emotionally and physically - and while those changes can be challenging at times, it is inevitable.One way we see the process of ageing is right in front of us with the skin on our faces, our hands, and the rest of our body - in many ways telling the story of our lives.But what is actually happening as our skin continues to age throughout our lives.Joining Jonathan to discuss this is consultant dermatologist, Professor Caitriona Ryan.

That old maxim of “knowledge is power” is as true today as it was when Francis Bacon first coined the term back in the late 1500s; and while that is itself still true, the speed at which we send and receive knowledge and information can be just as powerful.We have been witnesses to this through the years as we laid Atlantic telegraph cables in the 1860s, sent satellites into space, and now we may stand again on the precipice of a new age of rapid communication with groundbreaking research into “teleportation”.Joining Jonathan to discuss is Prof Andrew Forbes from the School of Physics at Wits University in South Africa.Also joining us for this week's installment of Newsround is Lianne Shanley, PhD Researcher from the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin & Dr. Shane Bergin, Assistant Professor in Science Education, UCD.

Researchers from University College London have developed an electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) vest that might help identify individuals at a higher risk of sudden cardiac death. Joining Jonathan to explain how it works is Gaby Captur, Consultant cardiologist in Inherited Heart Muscle Conditions at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust & Senior lecturer at the UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science.

We all know that our urine is yellow, or at least, it should be. While we have known for some time that it is urobilin that's responsible for the yellow pigment, it was unclear what was responsible for the urobilin's production - that is of course, until very recently. Brantley Hall, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland joins Jonathan to discuss.Also joining us for this week's installment of Newsround is Fergus McAuliffe, Education, Public Engagement, and Communications Manager at iCRAG & Dr. Oran Kennedy, Associate Professor in Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine at RCSI.

This year we will come closer than ever to touching the Sun than ever before. That’s because of an upcoming NASA mission called the Parker Solar Probe that has been compared in significance to that of the Moon landing. Joining Phil Smyth to discuss is one of the scientists involved, Dr Nour Raouafi from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Road safety has been at the forefront of the minds of many of us with the significant death toll last year but scientists at the University of Cambridge are exploring a new way of warning drivers of road obstacles through 3D holograms. Joining Phil Smyth to discuss this is Jana Skirnewskaja from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering.Also joining Phil for Newsround is Lianne Shanley, Ph.D. Researcher from the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin & Dr. Fergus McAuliffe from iCrag.

Looking back at the best episodes in 2023: Have you ever wondered how humans came about the concept of ‘measuring’ things? How did Ancient Egyptians use giant rulers to predict the harvest in coming months? James Vincent is the author of ‘Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants’ and he joined Jonathan to talk about how this concept shapes the way we see the world.