Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea
452 episodes - English - Latest episode: 20 days ago - ★★★★★ - 11 ratingsJonathan responds to your texts and tweets, is joined in studio for all the latest science stories for Newsround and speaks to one of our two guests featured on the show.
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Episodes
The High Seas
June 30, 2024 12:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBOlive 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!
June 25, 2024 16:09 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBEleanor Dunn - PhD Researcher at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies @DIAS_Dublin
How the things you see could alter how long you live!
June 23, 2024 12:00 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MBGuest: Christi Gendron - Research Assistant Professor in Molecular & Integrative Physiology at The University of Michigan.
Extra: The Evolutionary Effects of Endurance Hunting
June 18, 2024 14:20 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBEugene Morin - Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Trent University @TrentUResearch @TrentUniversity
Time Dilation & The Practical Challenges of Interstellar Travel
June 16, 2024 12:00 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MBLes Johnson - Author & Space Technologist
Gold: Faces
June 06, 2024 16:41 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBIn 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
Extra: Carbon Capture
June 04, 2024 10:30 - 18 minutes - 16.5 MBDr John Breen - Chief Technology Officer of NEG8 Carbon @NEG8Carbon
How the way we walk can tell us how healthy we are!
June 02, 2024 12:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBGuests 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
Extra: Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation
May 28, 2024 10:30 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBGeorge 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
Exoplanet Weather
May 26, 2024 12:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBProfessor Johanna Vos - Assistant Professor in the School of Physics at Trinity College
Extra: How Do We Divide Geological Time?
May 21, 2024 10:30 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBDr. Siobhan Power - Geologist with the Geological Survey Ireland
The Video Game that Aids Stroke Recovery
May 19, 2024 12:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBJohn 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?
May 14, 2024 09:12 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBFabian Klenner is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Washington
The Evolution of Eggs!
May 12, 2024 12:00 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBJules Howard - Zoological Correspondent and Author of Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth
Extra: Ant Supercolonies
May 08, 2024 17:20 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBJohn Whitfield is a Science journalist and Author
Space Elevators
May 05, 2024 12:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBProfessor Arun Misra is a Thomas Workman Emeritus Professor in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University.
Extra: Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Concussed?
April 30, 2024 10:42 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBSam 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
April 28, 2024 12:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBJoseph Meany is a Science consultant and board member of the IRG (Interstellar Research Group)
Extra: Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves
April 23, 2024 14:30 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBMike 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
April 21, 2024 12:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBPhilip Goff is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and author of Why? The Purpose of the Universe
Extra: Could We Cure Brain Tumours?
April 16, 2024 10:40 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBBryan 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)
Near Death Experiences
April 15, 2024 10:30 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBJimo Borjigin is Associate Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan
Gold: Where Are We?
April 07, 2024 07:01 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBVanessa Collingridge is an Author, Broadcaster and Doctor of Historical Cartography Helene Courtois is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Lyon and Author of Finding Our Place In The Universe
Gold: DARPA - The Pentagon's Brain
April 05, 2024 13:40 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBAnnie Jacobsen is a Bestselling author & Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of DARPA - The Pentagon's Brain
Extra: Studying psi
April 02, 2024 10:05 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBChris 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
Nuclear War: A Scenario
March 31, 2024 12:05 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBAnnie Jacobsen is a Bestselling author & Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Nuclear War: A Scenario
The Science of Menstruation
March 27, 2024 12:05 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBDr. Jennifer Gunter is a Gynaecologist & author of Blood: The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation
Eat, Poop, Die
March 24, 2024 13:01 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBJoe 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
March 19, 2024 15:35 - 14 minutes - 13 MBJonathan speaks with Professor Brian Norton from the Tyndall National Institute
The Nocebo Effect
March 17, 2024 13:03 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBCharlotte 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
Extra: The Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory
March 12, 2024 12:30 - 15 minutes - 13.8 MBFrancis 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?
March 10, 2024 13:01 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBProfessor AC Grayling is a Philosopher and Author of Who Owns the Moon?: In Defence of Humanity’s Common Interests in Space
Extra: Brain Fog
March 05, 2024 11:50 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MBIt’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 Fog So 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 ...
Why We Humans Can Get Used To Just About Anything
March 03, 2024 13:01 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBJonathan 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.
Futureproof Extra: A New Habitat in the Pacific Garbage Patch
February 27, 2024 06:01 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBJonathan is joined by Jim Carlton - Professor of Marine Sciences, Emeritus, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Why Do Humans Grow Up So Slowly?
February 26, 2024 16:50 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBJonathan is joined by Brenna Hassett - Lecturer in forensic osteology and archaeology at the University of Central Lancashire and author of Growing Up Human
Documentary Special: Scorched Earth
February 18, 2024 13:01 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBIn 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 of Advanced Studies.
Extra: Managing Stress Via The Gut
February 13, 2024 06:00 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBJonathan speaks to Professor John Cryan from UCC
Could We Delay The Menopause?
February 12, 2024 13:20 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBScientists 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.
Futureproof Extra: The origins of Guinness yeast
February 06, 2024 07:30 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBResearchers 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.
How does a brain implant affect your mind?
February 04, 2024 13:40 - 37 minutes - 34 MBThis 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 Ir...
Futureproof Extra: What is the Coriolis Effect?
January 30, 2024 07:30 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBAs 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.
How does the human eye see so many colours?
January 28, 2024 13:00 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBScientists 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.
Futureproof Extra: How does our skin age?
January 23, 2024 07:30 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBAs 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 Caitr...
The science of quantum teleportation
January 21, 2024 13:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBThat 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 ...
Futureproof Extra: The vest that could help predict sudden cardiac death
January 16, 2024 07:30 - 16 minutes - 15 MBResearchers 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.
What makes urine yellow?
January 14, 2024 13:45 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBWe 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 McAul...
Futureproof Extra: Reaching for the Sun
January 09, 2024 07:30 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBThis 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.
Warning drivers of road obstacles with 3D holograms
January 07, 2024 13:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBRoad 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 McAulif...
Best of 2023 - The Fascinating History of Measurement
December 31, 2023 15:00 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBLooking 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.