Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea
Episodes
Futureproof Extra: Ηow air pollution affects our health
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
According to the World Economic Forum, 99% of the world’s population experiences air pollution levels exceeding WHO guidelines. But recent studies...
The Woman Who Feels No Pain
02 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The biology underpinning a rare genetic mutation that allows its carrier to live virtually pain-free, heal more rapidly, and experience reduced anxiet...
Futureproof Extra: Harvesting electricity from thin air
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As our energy consumption continues to grow, we will need to find more and more ways to actually create the electricity we need. But soon you might b...
The development of a new drug to prevent blood clotting
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
According to new research, the drug dimethyl fumarate has been shown to block blood clotting during infection, which could make a sizable impact on pe...
Futureproof Extra: Creating the First Synthetic Human Embryo
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have we just been made futile as a reproductive species? This week researchers in the University of Cambridge and in the US announced their creation o...
Why Ireland Has Fewer Earthquakes Than Britain
18 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Generally speaking, Ireland is a pretty safe place. For example, when it comes to natural phenomena, insects, or animals, very few things can do you s...
Futureproof Extra: The Dangers & Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Recently hundreds of leading technology experts, journalists, and policymakers from across the world released a statement saying that: “Mitigating t...
Tackling the growing problem of light pollution
11 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you look up into the night sky and you see the incredible array of stars and planets that are visible to us here on Earth, it is impossible not t...
Futureproof Extra: Combating Bad Data & Misleading Numbers
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nature is, without over-egging things, an unstoppable force – one which we pale miserably in comparison to with all our brio and intellect. But we...
Innovating Healthcare: Galway's Clinical Revolution
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Induced temporary hibernation for surgery and long-term space travel, creating energy from nothing, skin patch immunotherapy for peanut allergies, and...
Futureproof Extra: Immunology Breakthrough
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immunotherapy is a type of treatment which helps the immune system fight cancer. It enhances the system ability to recognize, target, and eliminate ca...
The First Egyptian Astronaut
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People with prosthetic limbs are able to feel warmth in their missing hands, a type of bacteria in babies being a predictor of future weight struggles...
Futureproof Extra: AI Mindreading
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Speech to text, text to speech, but what about thoughts to text? A new technology has been developed which allows AI to convert your thoughts into tex...
Why can’t we breathe underwater?
21 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode, Eoin Murphy and Dr Jessamyn Fairfield take us through the latest stories in our Newsround. We hear about the world’s deadl...
Futureproof Extra: Is Immortality by 2045 Possible?
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It is not a matter of how we become immortal, it's a matter of when- that’s according to this week’s guest, José Luis Cordeiro. He is the author ...
The Science of Measurement
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered how humans came about the concept of ‘measuring’ things? How did Ancient Egyptians use giant rulers to predict the harvest ...
Futureproof Extra: The Secrets Of Our Seas
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Czerski, bubble physicist and the author of 'Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World', joins Jonathan McCrea to discuss the secrets of our ...
Lab-Grown Blood
07 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Futureproof, Dr Susan Kelleher and Dr Lara Dungan join Jonathan McCrea for Newsround, and he explores the future of lab-grown blood...
Futureproof Extra: Curing Hearing Loss
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Zheng-Yi Chen, Associate Scientist in the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories at Mass Eye and Ear Hospital in Boston, speaks with Futureproof host Jonathan...
Vaccine Patches
30 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Futureproof: Dr Ruth Freeman, Science Foundation Ireland & Eoin Murphy, biochemist and science communicator, join Jonathan McCrea f...
Futureproof Extra: The Future of Surrogacy & AI
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Surrogacy can be a complicated enough process but if you bring in the potential of AI into it, how would it look? To discuss this and the future of su...
Short Term Memory Illusions
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Over time, our memory begins to fade but new research suggests human memory can go wrong just three seconds after an event takes place. The author of ...
Futureproof Extra: 'JUICE' Mission & Exploring Jupiter
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Caitriona Jackman is an Irish space scientist and head of the planetary magnetospheres group at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies an...
Injectable Brain Implants
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Implanting an electrode into your fragile brain to control abnormal activity can cause extensive damage. But researchers in Sweden have developed a ty...
Futureproof Extra: Interpreting Alien Signals
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What would a message from ET sound like? Researchers at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Post-Detection Hub at the University of St Andrew...
Have we smelled everything in the world?
09 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joining Jonathan on this episode of Futureproof is Dr Aashish Manglik, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California...
Futureproof Extra: How are diamonds formed?
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Diamond formation occurs when carbon deposits deep within the earth are subject to high temperatures and pressure. But what are the specific environ...
Thomas Hertog on space, time, and working with Stephen Hawking
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking is famous the world over, but one of his closest collaborators for twenty years was working alon...
Futureproof Extra: The Trust Race
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode of Futureproof Extra, we host 'The Trust Race', a six-part podcast series about scandals and controversies that have affected ...
Tickertape Synesthesia & The Future of Quantum Computing
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Although on the outside we may all seem very similar, we experience the world in wildly different ways. A fascinating illustration of this is 'Ticke...
Futureproof Extra: Tenacious Beasts
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Despite being in an environmental and biodiversity crisis, there are a number of animals that have come to the brink of extinction. So what can we lea...
Space prisons & other realities of living beyond Earth
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Settling in space might seem like a fun otherworldly concept, but it could also bring a number of practical realities to consider like what would spac...
Is ChatGPT the beginning of a general AI revolution?
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When ChatGPT came on the scene late last year, it was seen by many as a novel and fun piece of new technology, to others like Nick Cave, "a grotesque ...
Futureproof Extra: Ireland's first solar-powered racing car
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joining Jonathan to discuss the efforts going into creating Ireland's first solar-powered racing car is Philipp Eichhorn, Head of Business for the DCU...
Futureproof Gold: Face Blindness & Super Recognition
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special episode on 'Face Blindness' & 'Super Recognition' featuring Fiona Newell, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the Trinity Instit...
Do facial expressions influence our emotional state?
05 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we’re happy, our bodies become flooded with dopamine and serotonin, two types of neurotransmitters in the brain; our hearts might even beat fas...
The Psychology of Revenge
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Roughly 10% of murders in New York are motivated by revenge. But what exactly is revenge and why are some people consumed by it? Jonathan McCrea spea...
Futureproof Extra: Will we soon be living on the moon?
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How far away are we from actually inhabiting the Moon? Professor Mahesh Anand, Open University Professor in Planetary Science and Exploration, has be...
The Science of Antidepressants
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s estimated that 1 in 8 to 1 in 5 people have depression, but it’s mostly those at the moderate to the severe end who turn to antidepressants. ...
Creating a contraceptive pill for men
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to contraception it seems women have the lion's share of options. This is perhaps down to the fact that society has decided that they, n...
How to conduct an autopsy
12 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It takes a special kind of person to be keen to conduct an autopsy and this week's guest is taking that interest to a whole new level this month as sh...
Futureproof Extra: Underwater Avalanches
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At this stage, we are all pretty familiar with the circular way in which nature works. If we think of the hydrologic cycle for instance we know ther...
The Science of Sleep & Dreams
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For years we have wondered what the purpose of sleep really is, and while huge strides have been made regarding our understanding of the function of s...
Do facial expressions influence our emotional state?
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we’re happy, our bodies become flooded with dopamine and serotonin, two types of neurotransmitters in the brain; our hearts might even beat fas...
The Science of Semiconductors
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Semiconductor devices are everywhere, with almost 80% of the Irish population having a smartphone - not to mention any number of other computer device...
Understanding Endometriosis With Single-Cell Genomics
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Severe period pain, infertility and even depression - living with endometriosis can have serious effects on quality of life. Will new technologies fin...
Futureproof Extra: Hybrid Biomaterials for Spinal Cord Injuries
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An injury to the spinal cord can be hugely traumatic and life-changing. While currently, there are no proven treatments that protect against the con...
Origins of the Africanized Honey Bee
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Africanized honey bee has earned itself the nickname of ‘the killer bee’, but how much truth is there to the suggestion that the species was c...
Futureproof Extra: What makes Roman concrete so duarble?
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Think of those greatly-preserved Roman structures like the Pantheon and you might marvel that they are still standing after all these centuries. So ...
How to build the first city on Mars
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The notion of human beings getting to and settling on Mars has been a staple of science fiction for decades. But what are the social, scientific, and...
Futureproof Extra: The Benefits of Sperm Swimming in Groups
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We would traditionally associate sperm as solitary swimmers but new research suggests that the male reproductive cell can sometimes move into groups. ...
Is it getting harder to maintain focus?
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It may come as no great surprise to any of our listeners that it is our goal here at Futureproof to educate and reveal the world of science to you. I...
Futureproof Special: The Best of 2022
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode of Futureproof, Jonathan looks back at some of our favourite pieces from throughout 2022. - Martin Wikelski, Professor at th...
Futureproof Extra: Beyond Our Five Senses
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our senses are at the heart of how we navigate the world - coalescing in any moment, in any combination, to varying degrees, to relay what is going on...
Do Dark Matter & Dark Energy Actually Exist?
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over the 13 years of doing this show one of the things that we, and indeed all of the field of Astrophysics, has been trying to get our collective hea...
Futureproof Gold: Evolution's Bite
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Evolution is constantly adapting us to our environment, making species more suited and better equipped to survive in their natural habitat. So why di...
Futureproof Extra: The Origins of Sentience
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From day one we feel our way into, and through, the world. By utlising a complex array of sensory receptors that grow and evolve as we mature, we co...
Is Human Hibernation A Possibility?
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most blindingly obvious problems facing human space travel is that space is very big. It’s like REALLY big. Space being big means thing...
Futureproof Extra: The Art of Making the Invisible Visible
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Photography may, at a cursory glance, appear to dwell in the domain of the humanities and artistic expression but it is a vital tool to science as wel...
Evidence of the Multiverse
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For most of us, the word “multiverse” probably conjures up some sort of fun sci-fi episode like the universe in which we all have hot dogs for fin...
Futureproof Gold: Enemies of the State
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this special insatllment of Futureproof Gold, we take a listen back to our award-winning episode 'Enemies of the State'. Among other guests, Mara ...
Futureproof Live: Is there a limit to our intelligence?
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For this very special episode of Futureproof, recorded live at the TU Dublin Grangegorman Campus, Jonathan was joined by a panel of guests to explore ...
Futureproof Live: Is it possible to run forever?
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For this very special episode of Futureproof, recorded live at the TU Dublin Grangegorman Campus, Jonathan was joined by a panel of guests to explore ...
Futureproof Extra: Neurostimulation in E-Sports
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joining Jonathan to discuss how the skills needed to perform laparoscopic keyhole surgery as well as e-sports can be significantly enhanced by applyin...
Gravity Batteries
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When you walk out your door today, it may be sunny, it may be windy, the waves may be crashing against the shores with an awesome fierceness. Or, you ...
The Sounds We Cannot Hear & What Can We Take To Make Us Live Longer?
06 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jonathan is joined by Karen Bakker, Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies and author of 'The Sounds of Life: How Digital Tech...
Using AI to fight blindness
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As well as trying to sell you products you’ve just been talking about but don’t want, and beating humans at chess or Go or Mario cart, AI can actu...
What is energy anyway?
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Physics, while absolutely fascinating, can be impenetrable. And it isn't just cutting-edge ideas that can melt our brains, often we accept basic prin...
Futureproof Extra: How do we tackle chronic pain?
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pain is a deeply subjective thing. When it’s with us it’s all we can think about. So, what is life like then for someone for whom pain never l...
Can Humpback whales be altruistic?
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It can be easy to think poorly of humans. When we're not destroying the planet or starting wars, we're likely off somewhere making fools of ourselves...
Is “Gamification” making fools of all of us?
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Yiddish author and playwright Sholem Aleichem; the man whose stories formed the basis for 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof once proposed that “life ...
Futureproof Extra: The science behind bees' waggle dance
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We have covered the lives and behaviors of bees a few times here on the programme. So much so we thought we’ve seen and heard it all. Well, we may...
Futureproof Extra: The new science of the heart
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Average adults' heart beats 72 times a minute. In a lifetime it creates enough energy to drive the truck to the moon and back and generates astonishi...
Human Organs-on-Chips
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Drug development is notoriously slow and expensive to bring a new compound from the lab bench to market. A major cause of this inefficiency is the tra...
Futureproof Extra: The End of Medicine As We Know It
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you have acute migraines, your doctor might refer you to a neurologist. If your Asthma is really bad, maybe you’ll be sent to a respiratory spec...
Thorium Nuclear Reactors
02 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, the Chinese government has been testing a thorium nuclear reactor that uses molten salt as a coolant. Although this radioactive element has ...
Futureproof Extra: The Large Hadron Collider & The Search for a Fifth Force
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Depending on your social media proclivities you may or may not have noticed that your feed is awash with images from the JWST. Certainly science Twitt...
Longevity, Immortality and the quest to defeat death with Aubrey De Grey
25 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do you eat an elephant? One spoon at a time, right? Well It's the same with living forever. No one is going to find a magic potion that will make ...
The Future of Transport
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A recent Newstalk survey on commuting has found that people are spending longer on their journeys to work since the pandemic. And so all week we’ve...
Futureproof Extra: Survival of the Richest
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve probably seen the likes of '2012' or more recently 'Don’t Look Up' - disaster movies where there’s a race against time to save humanity. ...
Exploring the Idea of Plant Intelligence
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes in science, a question can be so hotly debated that attempting to answer it can become a lifetime project. And more often than not these qu...
Futureproof Extra: What Animals Can Teach Us About Living Longer
10 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Steven N. Austad is the Chair and a Distinguished Professor within the UAB Department of Biology and the author of 'Methuselah's Zoo: What Nature Can ...
Futureproof Extra: The Genetic Age
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of a nuclear chain reaction in 1933 he immediately tried to suppress his own discovery culminating in 1945 with...
Chemputers & The Future of Chemistry
04 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prof. Lee Cronin, Regius Chair of Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow joins Jonathan to discuss working on taking the gu...
The Futureproof Language Special
28 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Language is fundamental to who we are and what has makes us so successful as a species, and while all species have their own means of communicating, w...
Futureproof Extra: Prader-Willi Syndrome
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder that occurs in approximately one out of every 15,000 births. It affects males and females with equ...
The Science of Attraction
21 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most of us could probably put together a list of things we find attractive in a potential partner and a lot of those things will likely come down to o...
Futureproof Extra: The Last Days of the Dinosaurs
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There has been a lot said about the extinction of the dinosaurs. But aside from the actual extinction event itself, when it comes to the days, weeks,...
Inside The Mind of a Bee
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In years gone by, if a bee was annoying you, it was usually "bye-bye Mr. Bee" but nowadays, we’re more likely to put out plates of sugary water to h...
Futureproof Extra: The Trouble with Cloning Birds
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jurassic Park came out in 1993, then "Dolly" the sheep was cloned in 1996, and yet here we are more than two decades later and we still haven’t got ...
Why Usain Bolt Can’t Outrun Your Cat
07 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While you may be King or Queen of your local park run, no matter how much training you do, even if you were to use performance-enhancing drugs, you'll...
Futureproof Extra: Why Do We See Ghosts?
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever seen a ghost, or a UFO, or had some seemingly supernatural experience that you can’t explain? If you haven’t, we'd be willing to be...
Is Animal Translation Possible?
31 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you are a pet owner you probably have plenty of experience trying to get a basic message across to your dog or perhaps if you own a cat you gave up...
Futureproof Extra: The Science of Bisexuality
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Julia Shaw, a psychological scientist at University College London and the author of ‘Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexualit...
The Hidden Depths of Animal Perception
24 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For us humans, our overall sensory capabilities - the scope of our sense of smell, our sight, our hearing, and touch - feels all-encompassing, like th...
The Dream Machine
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We have a complex relationship with psychedelics. To some, they can be gateways to a higher level of consciousness, to others, a poison that should b...
Gazing Into the Deepest Depths of the Cosmos
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The biggest story this week was the release of some absolutely spectacular views of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope, which include the ...
Futureproof Extra: The Secret Perfume of Birds
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There's much to admire about birds. They can soar through the skies, build durable nests, sing the most beautiful songs, and possess a visual acuity t...
How To Change Someone's Mind
10 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do we get someone to change their mind? Is it by arguing them into submission or is it by letting them explain the story about how they arrived ...
Futureproof Gold: DARPA - The Pentagon's Brain
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Annie Jacobsen, author of 'The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency' joins Jonathan to disc...