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
What Is Testosterone?
January 09, 2022 11:05 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBhe Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us
Futureproof Extra: Reading Monkey Brains with AI
December 21, 2021 07:30 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MBFutureproof Extra: Reading Monkey Brains with AI
Futureproof Extra: Resignation Syndrome & Other Mysterious Illnesses
December 16, 2021 07:30 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBFutureproof Extra: Resignation Syndrome & Other Mysterious Illnesses
FutureProof Gold: The Pentagon's Brain
December 14, 2021 07:30 - 30 minutes - 28 MBFutureProof Gold: The Pentagon's Brain
FutureProof Gold: The Pentagon's Brain
December 14, 2021 07:30 - 30 minutes - 1.78 KBFutureProof Gold: The Pentagon's Brain
How Military Funding Shapes What We Know About The Oceans
December 12, 2021 11:00 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBHow Military Funding Shapes What We Know About The Oceans
Deepfakes: Have We Crossed The Uncanny Valley?
December 05, 2021 12:00 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBMichael Grothaus Novelist, Journalist and Author of ‘Trust No One: Inside the World of Deepfakes’ joined Jonathan McCrea to discuss his book and the scary reality of deepfakes currently. Grothaus examines cases that demonstrate the threats presented by morally dubious creators. From the personal to political, the impact of deep fakes is considered carefully by Grothaus, both on the victims and on society as a whole, creating an essential picture of a growing trend in disinformation. The imag...
Futureproof Extra: Of Sound Mind
November 30, 2021 07:30 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBThe Science of Sound with Dr. Nina Kraus
Can We Make Synthetic Blood?
November 28, 2021 12:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBCan We Make Synthetic Blood?
The Cosmos, Blackholes & Time Loops With Neil deGrasse Tyson
November 21, 2021 11:00 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBOn the program this week Jonathan chats to world-renowned Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about his new book as well as all things cosmos related. This week for the Newsround Jonathan McCrea was joined by Dr Fergus McAuliffe and scientist Jessamyn Fairfield. They discussed a recent incident in which the US has condemned a Russian anti-satellite test this week which forced crew members on #ISS to scramble into their spacecraft for safety! Amongst other interesting stories in the News this ...
Futureproof Extra: The Invisible Universe
November 16, 2021 07:30 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBFutureproof Extra: The Invisible Universe
Can Self-Driving Cars Be Moral?
November 14, 2021 11:05 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBEvery time you get behind the wheel of the car you will have to deal with countless driving decisions that get you safely from A to B, and it could be argued that those decisions amount to what are essentially life-or-death considerations. But self-driving cars might soon have to make those kinds of judgements and settling on a universal moral code for the AI that drives them could be a problem. Jean-François Bonnefon, Research Director at the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifi...
The Intricate Skills Required For Bomb Disposal
November 07, 2021 11:01 - 1 hour - 55.4 MBIn your news feed or the newspapers or on television, there is probably a recent story on the explosion of some kind of improvised explosive device (IED). For us here in Ireland, those occurrences are nowadays quite rare. However, there are many countries where explosives are a regular occurrence and every day there are men and women who put themselves in harms way in order to deactivate these devices. These are the bomb disposal experts who make a living from switching off devices designed t...
Futureproof Extra: Fighting Infectious Diseases
November 02, 2021 07:30 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBFutureproof Extra: Fighting Infectious Diseases
Life As We Made It
October 31, 2021 11:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBLife As We Made It with Beth Shapiro
Futureproof Extra: Universally Recognised Words & Sounds
October 26, 2021 07:28 - 16 minutes - 962 BytesUnderstanding words across cultural and linguistic boundaries
Futureproof Extra: Pain for Pleasure
October 19, 2021 07:30 - 19 minutes - 1.13 KBPleasure from pain might be something we initially associate with sex but it is actually a part of all of our lives. We see it the world over, not just in BDSM halls but in religious fasters, ultra marathoners, and hot chili addicts who revel in the burning sensation it provides. But is this desire in all of us, or is it consigned to a select few? And why is it there at all? Leigh Cowart, science journalist and author of ‘Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose’ joined Jona...
The Great Unconformity
October 17, 2021 14:02 - 38 minutes - 2.27 KBIn 1869 a one-armed self-taught geologist led an expedition party down Green River in Wyoming. While staring up at the great walls of the Grand Canyon John Wesley-Powell noticed that the rock formations were less in-depth than expected. By measuring the depth of the rock formations Powell noticed something startling - there was more than a billion-year gap in the geological record. This was coined ‘The Great Unconformity’’ and now geologists are racing to track down this apparent gap in time...
Futureproof Extra: New Dinosaurs Discovered on the Isle of Wight
October 14, 2021 07:30 - 16 minutes - 962 BytesOur search for prehistoric fossils can take us all around the world. Usually, they are found in places that we western Europeans might consider exotic - the sparsely populated regions of China, North America, or Argentina, for instance. But there is one place, a lot closer to home, that has proven very fruitful indeed for fossil hunters and they may have just discovered two entirely new species there. Dr. Dave Hone, Paleontology Lecturer at Queen Mary, the University of London specializing in...
Futureproof Gold: The Evolution of the Anus
October 12, 2021 07:30 - 14 minutes - 878 BytesEverything we know to be true in the world - and indeed outside of it - can be attributed to our willingness to reach out into the unknown and ask the most important questions. From the edges of the universe to the core of the Earth itself, our unerring curiosity can lead us to the most incredible, unlikely, and sometimes, well, unpleasant areas. Enter Andreas Hejnol - Evolutionary Biologist and research leader at the University of Bergen in Norway, as he discusses the evolution of the anus, ...
Protecting Uncontacted Tribes
October 10, 2021 14:07 - 34 minutes - 2 KBTo many of us, the idea that there could be tribes existing in the world that have had no contact with the outside world seems impossible, but interestingly, there are over 100 uncontacted tribes that we are currently aware of. But logging, drug trafficking, and commercial agriculture are chipping away at territories inhabited by these tribes, and not only that, there is a darker side to old meets new, with examples of massacres of tribes for corporate gain. Sarah Shenker, Senior Research an...
Futureproof Extra: The Motherhood Complex
October 05, 2021 07:30 - 15 minutes - 901 BytesMelissa Hogenboom, science journalist, editor of BBC Reel, and author of ‘The Motherhood Complex: The Story of Our Changing Selves’ joined Jonathan to discuss the incredible physical, emotional, and neurological changes that occur, not only when a mother becomes a woman, but when a person becomes a parent. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on ne...
The Art of the Shortcut & The Magic of Metamaterials
October 02, 2021 13:05 - 32 minutes - 1.89 KBShortcuts can help us in so many ways in the real world, but also when it comes to tackling complex theoretical and scientific problems. Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Society to discuss his new book 'Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut’. Nathan Myhrvold, co-founder, and CEO of Intellectual Ventures and the former chief technology officer of Microsoft also joined Jonathan to chat about the astounding array of applications ...
Futureproof Extra: Super Fast Computers
September 28, 2021 07:30 - 15 minutes - 927 BytesIn this increasingly digitized world, it’s all about making things faster and more efficient. And this is no more exemplified than in the field of computers. Well, things could be getting a lot faster, as an international team has discovered a new molecule that could give computers an extra boost. Professor Damien Thompson, Professor from the Department of Physics in the School of Natural Sciences, University of Limerick joined Jonathan to discuss. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jo...
Brain HQ - Helping People Living with mTBIs
September 25, 2021 12:30 - 32 minutes - 1.89 KBMild Traumatic Brain Injuries impact the lives of thousands of people every year with rehabilitation lasting anything between a few days to a number of months - or even years. And despite the growing awareness of the damage mTBIs can have on a person’s life - new and effective therapies are still being developed. But could a new spin on brain training make the difference? Dr. Henry Mahncke CEO of Posit Science & Brain HQ joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Ruth Freeman & Dr. Shane Bergin also jo...
Futureproof Extra: How Can Machines Learn Human Values?
September 20, 2021 09:00 - 15 minutes - 932 BytesBrian Christian - Visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The Alignment Problem: How Can Machines Learn Human Values? Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.
Do Other Planets Have Violent Volcanoes Like Earth?
September 18, 2021 16:34 - 37 minutes - 2.19 KBOn this week's Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea - he asks if other planets have volcanoes that are violent as those on Earth? To answer this he is joined by Natalie Starkey - Author of Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System Also on the show, Jonathan is joined by Dr Share Bergin and Dr Susan Kelleher of UCD to look at the science news stories of the week. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the...
Why Do We Dream?
September 16, 2021 11:14 - 18 minutes - 1.08 KBNow, when you lay your heads down to sleep at night, you might do so with the lingering hope that you’ll have sweet, and pleasant dreams. But so often dreams are bizarre and non-sensical, but why do we do it? What is it that causes us to hallucinate while unconscious? Is it some sort of biological inheritance that serves no function or are we being trained by our minds to expect anomaly and change? Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, neuro-philosopher and author of the novel ‘The Revelations’. H...
Futureproof Gold: The Trouble with Moon Dust
September 14, 2021 07:30 - 18 minutes - 1.07 KBWith no gravity or atmosphere to speak of, and temperatures lurching from 127C to minus 173C - the Moon is a dangerous place. That being said, certain death, if exposed to its environment, isn’t stopping us from trying to get back up there - far from it. But there is one tiny thing that might put a spanner in the works if we do ever manage to land on the Moon’s surface again...and it isn’t the lack of oxygen or the solar radiation. Dr Philip Metzger, Planetary Scientist at the Florida Space I...
Could Humans Be Too Heavy For Mars?
September 11, 2021 13:00 - 31 minutes - 1.86 KBOver the course of the last 20 years, and over many missions, we have inched ever closer to the day of getting humans to Mars. But of the many issues that lie ahead in that pursuit, one is perhaps unexpected - humans and all the things that go with them are heavy. And that's a serious problem. Dr. Philip Metzger, Planetary Scientist at the Florida Space Institute from the University of Central Florida joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Ruth Freeman and Dr. Shane Bergin also joined Jonathan to r...
Futureproof Extra: Being You - Where Does Consciousness Come From?
September 06, 2021 19:14 - 13 minutes - 821 BytesBEING YOU: WHERE DOES CONSCIOUSNESS COME FROM - That is what Jonathan McCrea asked Anil Seth Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness and author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by ...
Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection
September 04, 2021 14:40 - 41 minutes - 2.44 KBAs we know, the first people to be overcome and subjugated by the Nazis were the German people themselves. And as a result - in the years prior to WWII as Hiter consolidated power and set out to eradicate any and all of those deemed to be inferior to his notion of Aryan supremacy - millions fled. But not everyone - as some would-be outcasts thrived in Hitler’s Germany despite their genes. Sam Apple is on the faculty of the MA in Science Writing and MA in Writing programs at Johns Hopkins and ...
Futureproof Extra: Why It's Hard To Break Bad Habits
August 30, 2021 12:07 - 20 minutes - 1.2 KBWHY IT’S HARD TO BREAK BAD HABITS This is what Jonathan McCrea asked Russell Poldrack - Professor at Stanford Psychology and Director of Stanford Center for Reproducible Neuroscience and author of 'Hard to Break: Why Our Brains Make Habits Stick'. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and as...
Could Ancient Myths Be Rooted In Scientific Fact?
August 28, 2021 13:40 - 42 minutes - 2.51 KBAs a country of storytellers, we all grew up with tales of tragic heroes, lost lands, and mystifying creatures that captured our imagination. But where do these myths and legends actually come from and should they be casually disregarded as complete fiction? Patrick D. Nunn, is Professor of Geography & Co-Director of the Sustainability Research Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast and author of ‘Worlds in Shadow: Submerged Lands in Science, Memory, and Myth - he joined Jonathan to d...
Futureproof Extra: What Is The Hubble Constant?
August 24, 2021 08:00 - 17 minutes - 1.04 KBThe universe is expanding and fast - but how fast? The answer lies in the 'Hubble Constant' but what is that? Steffen Hagstotz - Astronomer & Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Physics at Stockholm University explained all to Jonathan McCrea on Futureproof. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the N...
The Myth & Mystery Of The Fireproof Supermaterial 'Starlite'
August 23, 2021 17:25 - 29 minutes - 1.7 KBOn this week's Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea - he looks at the myth and mystery of the fireproof super material known as 'Starlite' with Ben Cusick - Creator of the NightHawkInLight YouTube Channel Also on the show, Jonathan is joined by Dr Share Bergin and Dr Susan Kelleher of UCD to look at the science news stories of the week. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also ...
Futureproof Extra: Pixar & The Pixel
August 17, 2021 15:11 - 10 minutes - 629 BytesPIXAR & THE PIXEL What is a pixel? To answer this difficult question Johnathan McCrae was joined by Alvy Ray Smith - Co-founder of Pixar and Altamira Software, the first Director of Computer Graphics at Lucasfilm and the first Graphics Fellow at Microsoft and author of ‘The Biography of the Pixel’ . Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App. You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstal...
The Mystery of Havana Syndrome
August 14, 2021 13:00 - 45 minutes - 2.69 KBFor a number of years, U.S. and Canadian diplomats based in Cuba have been complaining of unusual, and unexplained health issues. The individuals, after hearing a buzzing sound, would soon thereafter be struck with bouts of dizziness, memory loss, or even brain injury. This strange phenomenon has been dubbed 'Havana Syndrome' and experts are still unsure of the root cause - with some saying it is some kind of elaborate weapon used by nefarious foreign actors. But is there a more straightforwa...
Futureproof Extra: The Human Swarm
August 03, 2021 15:12 - 22 minutes - 1.29 KBIn the animal kingdom "Strangers are Danger!" So how is it then that humans are tolerant? How do we build a society where strangers feel safe among us and we among them? Well to answer those questions, Johnathan McCrea was joined by Mark Moffett - Research Biologist at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian and the author of ‘The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall’ Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. ...
Are UFOs Actually Alien Spacecraft?
July 31, 2021 13:45 - 37 minutes - 2.19 KBLast month there was quite a stir concerning a US intelligence report based on 144 UFO sightings by US military personnel. At just nine pages in length, it was a fairly scant report, but it did make for some interesting reading nonetheless. Chris Impey, Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona joined Jonathan to discuss. Also on the show, Jonathan was joined by Dr. Susan Kelleher and Dr. Shane Bergin to look at the top science news stories of the w...
Futureproof's Moon Special
July 28, 2021 14:37 - 43 minutes - 2.53 KBIt’s over 50 years that a human being first landed on another world. It is undoubtedly one of the most monumental moments in human history. This week's Futureproof we look back at our special show to try to bring home the sheer audacity of what happened half a century ago on this day. We’ll hear about Ireland’s very own piece of the moon. Planetary Scientist and Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the UC Davis, Sarah T Stewart, tells us how the rocks that Apollo ast...
Futureproof Extra: How Does Our Brain Get Things Done?
July 20, 2021 07:30 - 15 minutes - 909 BytesEvery minute of every day we are forced to make split-second decisions in order to navigate the worlds we have cultivated for ourselves. The most amazing thing is that all of these actions come as second nature - we don’t even realise we’re actually engaged in a highly sophisticated dance of thought and action. But how do we actually do this? How do we get from the formation of a thought to taking the right course of action? In other words - how do we get things done? David Badre is Professor...
The Mars500 Simulation
July 17, 2021 12:40 - 34 minutes - 2.04 KBIf humans ever do manage to get to Mars, an untold number of problems will have had to have been solved to do it. From propulsion, life support, radiation and just actually landing there - there’s a lot to take care of. But what kind of effect might this kind of journey have on the human body itself? What kind of changes might we expect to take place? Nicholas Brereton, a research fellow at the University of Montreal’s Plant Biology Research Institute joined Jonathan to discuss. Also on the s...
Futureproof Extra: The Mystery of the Travelling Stones
July 13, 2021 16:25 - 12 minutes - 726 BytesThere’s nothing like a good mystery. If you or I were out walking in the Rockies we’d probably barely notice the different types of rocks under our feet, let alone realise that some rocks are a little out of place. But when John Craddock and his team of archaeologists found some unusual rocks at their feet they knew something was afoot. Dr John Craddock is Professor in the Geology department at Macalester College, Minnesota
Futureproof Extra: Turning Off Hunger
July 13, 2021 16:13 - 14 minutes - 844 BytesNow, when it comes to the obesity crisis facing many developed nations all across the world it can be easy to be reductive about it. “Just eat less” or “ just cut out the junk” or something like that. But what if there was something going on inside your brain that meant you never felt satisfied? What if you felt hungry all the time no matter how much you ate? How could we fight such a primal urge? Dr Moran Shalev-Benami, from the Department of Chemical & Structural Biology & Principal Investi...
What Happens When Our Neurons Fire?
July 12, 2021 12:22 - 42 minutes - 2.49 KBOn this week's Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea asks what happens when our neurons fire? He'll be talking to Professor Mark Humphries - Chair in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Nottingham and author of ‘The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds’ Also on the show, Jonathan is joined by Dr Jessamyn Fairfield from NUI Galway and Dr Fergus McAuliffe of iCRAG, to look at the science news stories of the week. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea...
How Humans Have Altered Life on Earth
July 03, 2021 13:46 - 56 minutes - 3.32 KBFor millions of years, things were very much the same; just the wild randomness of the natural world throwing challenges and opportunities at different species and seeing what happened next. But for the last few thousand years, humans have started to become perhaps the primary cause of change for so many other animals and plants on this planet. So, just how much of an impact are we having on the evolution of life around us? Helen Pilcher, science writer and author of ‘Life Changing: How Human...
Futureproof Extra: The History of The Handshake
June 29, 2021 07:30 - 13 minutes - 813 BytesWe have all had to adapt and make changes over the last 15 months. Keeping our distance is probably the biggest one, and the one that has impacted people’s lives the most. From staying at home, avoiding people in the street, to no more handshakes - it all felt so unnatural. But what is that reflex of reaching out to shake someone’s hand? Where does it come from? Is it cultural or something deeper? Ella Al-Shamahi, a National Geographic Explorer, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist, an...