Futureproof With Jonathan Mccrea

The climate change problem can often seem intractable and in a political sense, painfully slow. But it's important to remember that some progress is being made and we are innovating new techniques and technologies to address the issue. One such innovation is CO2 upcycling - Andrea Ramirez Ramirez, Professor in the Faculty of Low-Carbon Systems and Technologies at Delft University of Technology joined Jonathan to discuss. 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'.

Joining Jonathan on Futureproof this week was Dr Matthew Campbell - Associate Professor in Trinity’s School of Genetics and Microbiology . Dr Campbell has pioneered research on what actually triggers Epileptic seizures in the body. Epilepsy is a central nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations and sometimes loss of awareness. Anyone can develop epilepsy. Epilepsy affects both males and females of all races, ethnic backgrounds and ages. He joined Jonathan to discuss. 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'.

Joining Jonathan on Futureprooof this week was Kory Kiepert - Engineer & Partner at The Gravity Group. Kory is a rollercoaster engineer who designs rollercoasters. Kory in fact, got married on a rollercoaster. So what does Kory actually do as a rollercoaster engineer? He will do some of the structural engineering and the mechanical engineering for the ride. Usually an amusement park will come to him and show him the plot of land they have chosen for the ride, what the budget is, what kind of ride it will be? He incorporates some of the features of the land or to have the ride interact with other rides or buildings in the park. The process is driven by much the same codes that are in place for the design of any building. His job is to give you the illusion that it’s daring and adventurous but at the same time it’s very controlled. That’s at the heart of what he does. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.    Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App

Evolution has a funny way of equipping creatures that are small in size with attributes that make them deadly to deal with - the poison frog, blue-ringed octopus, or some species of jellyfish for instance. But is this also true of scorpions? Is it really a case of "the bigger the better"? Well, that is exactly the question that Dr. Kevin Healy, Lecturer of Zoology at NUI Galway wanted to answer. He joined Jonathan to discuss. 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'.

Since the first draft of a human genome sequence was completed in 2000, genomics research has led to huge strides in the understanding of our biology, but it wasn't complete. Well, in 2019, an international team of scientists set out to rectify that - earlier this month unveiling the first-ever gap-free sequence of a human genome. So how did they do it and what does this mean for the likes of genetic diseases, human diversity, and evolution? Karen Miga, Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz and an Associate Director of the UCSC Genomics Institute joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Shane Bergin & Dr. Lara Dungan also joined Jonathan to run through the week's science news in Newsround. 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'.

We can learn a lot about the animals of the past by studying the fossils we find in the ground but there’s something else that pre-historic creatures leave behind too - their burrows. To discuss what we can learn from these ‘paleoburrows’, Jonathan was joined by Renata Netto, professor at the Geology Graduate Program, Unisinos University in Brazil. 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'.

Earlier this month the Dunedin Study into health and behaviour marked its 50th birthday. In 1972, a researcher in the city set out to track the development of more than 1,000 newborn babies up to the age of three. Little did Phil Silva realise that over the next 50 years, his research would morph into one of the world’s most important longitudinal studies - the subsequent work yielding more than 1,300 peer-reviewed research papers, reports, and books. Terrie E. Moffitt, Ph.D. Nannerl O. Keohane University Professor of Psychology at Duke University, and Associate Director of the Dunedin Study joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Shane Bergin & Dr. Lara Dungan also joined Jonathan to run through the week's science news in Newsround. 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'.

Gravity is everywhere. We and every other thing in the cosmos experience its force at all times no matter how small, no matter how oblivious you might be to its presence - it's there. But for something that causes the falling of a leaf in autumn as well as the collision of supermassive black holes in interstellar space - there’s a whole lot we don’t know about it too. Claudia de Rham, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London joined Jonathan to run through everything we don’t know about gravity. 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'.

We have a funny relationship with alcohol. Many of us enjoy how it can make us more outgoing or ready to laugh but for others, it can be a source of significant, long-term problems. So could a synthetic alcohol - which provides the relaxing and socially lubricating qualities of alcohol without the hangovers - be a solution? Professor David Nutt, Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, and the man behind Alcarelle, joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Shane Bergin & Dr. Lara Dungan also joined Jonathan to run through the week's science news in Newsround. 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'.

Futureproof Extra: The Joy of Science with Jim Al-Khalili

Designing a Vaccine for Covid-19

For millenia the people’s and states of western Europe were at war with each other. They fought the 9 years war, the 100 years war, the Napoleonic wars, two world wars, and way too many others to mention. These people hated each other. It was a cauldron of “us versus them” But today with the rise of the EU and an extended period of peace in the region many of “them” have become “us”. So what caused those centuries of hate, where has it gone, and is it possible to eliminate hate altogether? Matthew Williams, Professor of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences, Director of HateLab and the Social Data Science Lab at Cardiff University, and author of 'The Science of Hate: How Prejudice Becomes Hate And What We Can Do To Stop It' joined Jonathan to discuss. 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: '

For many people, the single greatest human achievement of the 20th century happened on July 20th, 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, and a large proportion of those people probably hope for a similar spectacle on Mars in the coming decades. But aside from it being cool, is there actually any reason to send humans to these far-flung places? Britain's Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, and Astrophysicist & Science Writer Donald Goldsmith consider this very question in their new book 'The End of Astronauts: Why Robots are the Future of Exploration'. They joined Jonathan to discuss. Also joining Jonathan to run through the week's top science stories are Dr. Lara Dungan and Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield. 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'.

One of the things we here at Futureproof talk a lot about is the genome, the complete IKEA instructions to building you that exists in nearly every one of your living cells. As research and genetic technologies improve, the potential for medicine and society is huge, but there are also potential dangers too. It’s why the 'Irish Platform for Patient Organisations, Science & Industry' (IPPOSI) is looking for people to apply to join the Citizens’ Jury on Genomics to discuss all of the implications. To discuss, Jonathan was joined by Gianpiero Cavalleri, Professor of Human Genetics at RCSI & Deputy Director of the SFI FutureNeuro Research Centre. If you think you'd be interested in taking part you can apply at www.ipposi.ie before March 23rd. 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

When you think of motorsport, your mind might think of the speed, the danger, or the excitement. But it might surprise you to find that it is the motorsport industry, and its various R&D Departments, that have contributed to a wide range of applications - from climate change solutions to help in the fight against Covid. Dr. Kit Chapman, an award-winning science journalist and author of ‘Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save The World’ - joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Susan Kelleher & Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield also joined Jonathan to run through the top stories from the week in science for Newsround. 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'.

Futureproof Extra: The Expectation Effect

Can Animals Detect Natural Disasters?

Futureproof Extra: Measuring Intelligence

NeoMimix: The New Sperm Selection Technology

The Winchcombe Lockdown Meteorite