Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

What connects cancer & Alzheimer's disease?

05 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Erin Abner, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University of Kentucky.

The Best of 2024

29 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guests:Les Johnson - Author & Chief Technologist with NASA @LesAuthor @IRG_Space.Robin Tanamachi - Associate Professor in the Department of Earth,...

Extra: What Animals Understand About Death

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Susana Monso - Philosopher of Animal Minds at the National Distance Education University in Madrid and Author of Playing Possum: How Animals Un...

Into the Unknown

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Kelsey Johnson - Professor of Astronomy at the University of Virginia, former president of the American Astronomical Society & author of In...

Extra: Mushroom Robots

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rob Shepherd - Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University @CornellMAE @Cornell.

How quantum computing works

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Ciaran Hickey - Assistant Professor in the School of Physics at UCD and a member of UCD's Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science and Technology (...

Extra: Private speech in twins

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nancy Segal - Professor of Psychology, Director of the Twin Studies Center at California State University and author of 9 books about twins @nlsegal.

Can death be abolished?

08 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston - Neuroscientist and author of The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death @ariel_zj.

Extra: The Prosthetic Memory System

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Robert Hampson - Professor of Physiology/Pharmacology and Neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine and lead author of this paper @wakehealth

Evolution's Bite and the Synthetic Age

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Ungar - Paleoanthropologist and Author of Evolution’s Bite: A Story of Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins @PeterSUngarChristopher Preston - Profes...

Extra: Regeneration - The Internal World

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Caroline Curtin - Senior lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland @CarolineCurtin8 @An...

What 'mastering' AI looks like

24 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Kahn - AI Editor at Fortune Magazine and author of Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future @jeremyakahn @FortuneMagazine

Extra: Regeneration - Virtual Worlds

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Lynch - Lecturer in Computer Games in TUD 0868130745 @WeAreTUDublinAphra Kerr - Professor of Information & Communication Studies and a senio...

Futureproof Live Science Week Special

17 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Collie Ennis - Science Officer with the Herpetological Society of Ireland, Zoology research associate at Trinity College and co-host of The Critter Sh...

Extra: A new blood pressure diagnostic device

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

David Connolly - Cardiovascular Research Programme Manager - College of Medicine, Nursing Health Sciences at National University of Ireland, Galway.

Landing the Paris Agreement

10 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Todd Stern - Chief US negotiator on climate change for President Barack Obama and author of Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why ...

Extra: Why are animals the size they are?

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Shovonlal Roy - Ecosystem modeller and Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading.

Extra: What Is The Fairest Electoral System?

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Now if you’re anything like me, it’s at around this time every four or so years when you once again find yourself wondering how it’s possible th...

Was ancient Greece's Antikythera mechanism the world's first computer?

03 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Edmunds - Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University & Founding member of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project @cardiffPH...

Extra: Mapping the brain of a fly

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Tamara Boto - Assistant Professor of Physiology in Trinity College Dublin @TamaraBoto @TCDPhysiology @tcddublin

The future of law enforcement

27 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Martin Mullins - Director of Transgero and Professor of Risk Manangement at the University of Limerick @mjamullins @transgero @UL

Extra: Estimating Ireland's ancient populations

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Rowan McLaughlin - Researcher in the Hamilton Institute at Maynooth University @MU_Hamilton @MaynoothUni

Replicating the moon

20 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Aidan Cowley - Science Officer at European Space Agency @esa @esaspaceflight

Extra: Incredible new heart-imaging technology

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Christoph Hennersperger, Co-Founder and CTO, Luma Vision.

How drugs are discovered

13 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr William Pao, former Chief Development Officer at Pfizer and Head of Research at Roche and author of 'Breakthrough: The Quest for Life-Changi...

Extra: The Myths of Evolution

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Conway Morris - Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Paleobiology at Cambridge University and Author of From Extraterrestrials to Animal Minds: Si...

The Search for Male Contraception

06 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Logan Nickels - Chief Research Officer with the Male Contraceptive Initiative @MaleBCNow

Extra: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - What Causes It?

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Colm Collins, Assistant Professor at the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences in UCD, and Conway Investigator.

A brief history of UFOs

29 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Greg Eghigian, Professor of History and Bioethics at Pennsylvania State University, Visiting Research Fellow at the Davis Center for Historical...

Extra: Lucid Dreaming

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Emma Peters, a PhD student in the Lucid Lab at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

How AI will change your life

22 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Patrick Dixon, Futurist Keynote Speaker and author of ‘How AI Will Change Your Life: A Futurist's Guide to a Super-Smart World’.

Extra: When can we have lab grown meat?

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Seren Kell - Head of science and technology at the Good Food Institute Europe @SerenLaurelKell @GoodFoodEurope

What happens to your data after you die?

15 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Carl Öhman - Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Uppsala University and author of The Afterlife of Data: What Happens to Your Info...

Extra: What is Psilocybin and how does it work?

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Joshua Siegel - Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Life after death

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Parnia - Director of Critical Care & Resuscitation Research at the New York University School of Medicine and author of Lucid Dying: The New S...

Extra: How our biology shaped world history

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Professor Lewis Dartnell, Astrobiology Research Scientist at the University of Westminster and Author of 'Being Human: How Our Biology Shaped W...

What really happens during brain surgery

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Neurosurgeon Ted Schwartz @TedSchwartz13

Extra: Inflammatory Bowel Disease - What Causes It?

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Colm Collins, Assistant Professor at the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences in UCD, and Conway Investigator.

Extra: A guide to our immune system

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: John Trowsdale, Emeritus Professor of Immunology at the University of Cambridge.

How neurons encode the meaning of words

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Ziv Williams, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.

Extra: Is the dream of fusion power dead?

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Brian D. Appelbe - Research Fellow in the Physics Department at Imperial College London.

What is MicroRNA?

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: David Henshall - Professor of Physiology and Medical Physics at RCSI and author of Fine-Tuning Life: A Guide to MicroRNAs, Your Genome's Master...

Extra: The Wooden Age

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dirk Leder - Research associate in the office for Cultural Heritage in Lower Saxony.

Studying Consciousness

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lorina Naci - Associate Professor, leader of the 'Consciousness and Cognition' group at TCD.

Extra: Symbiosis

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Gregory Moore - Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at The University of Melbourne joined Jonathan on th...

Storm Chasing: The Science of Tornadoes

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Robin Tanamachi - Associate Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University, joined Jonathan on the sho...

Moon Landing 55th Anniversary Special

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Jonathan was joined by Oliver Morton, Senior Editor at The Economist and author of The Moon: A History For The Future and by Sarah T. Stewa...

Extra: Do I know you?

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sadie Dingfelder - Author of Do I Know You?: A Faceblind Reporter’s Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory, and Imagination

Why do some people always get lost?

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nora Newcombe - Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University @NoraNewcombe

Extra: Turbulence

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ivan Marusic is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Melbourne School of Engineering @engunimelb @unimelb

What can we learn from whale ear wax?

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen J. Trumble - Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Baylor University & Affiliate Professor in the Institute of Marine Scienc...

Extra: Mapping the Cosmos

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Seshadri Nadathur, a co-author of the work and senior research fellow at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation @S...

The Evolution of Flight & Digital Babies

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lev Parikian - Conducter & Author of Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing @LevParikian&Professor Ines Thiele - Principal ...

Extra: You're All Talk, What Our Accents Say About Us

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rob Drummond - Professor of Sociolinguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of You’re All Talk: why we are what we speak

The High Seas

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: The Swiftquake Comes to Dublin!

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

How the things you see could alter how long you live!

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: The Evolutionary Effects of Endurance Hunting

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Time Dilation & The Practical Challenges of Interstellar Travel

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Les Johnson - Author & Space Technologist

Gold: Faces

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode of Futureproof we look at Face Blindness and super recognition with Professor Fiona Newell - Professor of Experimental Psychol...

Extra: Carbon Capture

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

How the way we walk can tell us how healthy we are!

02 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Guests this week:Dr Aidan Boran - Founder/CEO at Digital Gait Labs @aidan_boran & Professor Seán Kennelly - Consultant Geriatrician and...

Extra: Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

George Musser - Contributing editor for Scientific American magazine and author of Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation: Why Physicists Are Studying...

Exoplanet Weather

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: How Do We Divide Geological Time?

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Siobhan Power - Geologist with the Geological Survey Ireland

The Video Game that Aids Stroke Recovery

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Could Europa Clipper Detect Life on Jupiter's Moon?

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fabian Klenner is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Washington

The Evolution of Eggs!

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Ant Supercolonies

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

John Whitfield is a Science journalist and Author

Space Elevators

05 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Concussed?

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

The Interstellar Workshop

28 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

The Purpose of the Universe

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Could We Cure Brain Tumours?

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bryan Choi - Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of the Centre for Brain Tumour Immunology and Immuno...

Near Death Experiences

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Gold: Where Are We?

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Vanessa Collingridge is an Author, Broadcaster and Doctor of Historical CartographyHelene Courtois is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of L...

Gold: DARPA - The Pentagon's Brain

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Studying psi

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris French is Emeritus Professor and Former Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at the University of London and author of The Science o...

Nuclear War: A Scenario

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

The Science of Menstruation

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Eat, Poop, Die

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Enhancing Daylight

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan speaks with Professor Brian Norton from the Tyndall National Institute

The Nocebo Effect

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Charlotte Blease is Associate Professor in the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden and co-author of The Nocebo Eff...

Extra: The Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Who Owns The Moon?

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Extra: Brain Fog

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 l...

Why We Humans Can Get Used To Just About Anything

03 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Futureproof Extra: A New Habitat in the Pacific Garbage Patch

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Why Do Humans Grow Up So Slowly?

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Documentary Special: Scorched Earth

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this special edition of Futureproof, Jonathan joins researchers from DIAS as they travel to a volcano on the Galapagos Islands. Funded by Coimisiú...

Extra: Managing Stress Via The Gut

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan speaks to Professor John Cryan from UCC

Could We Delay The Menopause?

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Futureproof Extra: The origins of Guinness yeast

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers from Diageo have discovered that the yeast used to make Guinness is genetically different from any other Irish beer. Joining Jonathan to d...

How does a brain implant affect your mind?

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 st...

Futureproof Extra: What is the Coriolis Effect?

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As we’ve discussed before on Futureproof, nature has some strange but very cool patterns - one such pattern is the Coriolis Effect. Joining Jonathan...

How does the human eye see so many colours?

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Jonath...

Futureproof Extra: How does our skin age?

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The science of quantum teleportation

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Futureproof Extra: The vest that could help predict sudden cardiac death

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers from University College London have developed an electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) vest that might help identify individuals at a higher...