Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

From thermostats, to step counters, pressure gauges, and chips that guide the Roomba around your living room, there are now more electronic sensors in the world than there are people. So what do all of these sensors mean for us and our relationship with the world and where exactly will it take us? Chris Salter, artist & Professor of Immersive Arts at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK) and the author of ‘Sensing Machines: How Sensors Shape Our Everyday Life’ joins Jonathan to discuss.

For centuries, stories about the origin of life have gripped us, while attempts to understand and define it have confounded us as for every metric we use to measure and qualify life, inevitably there’s some microbe or animal that doesn’t quite fit the bill. So, how do we answer this question and what does it mean to be a living thing anyway? Carl Zimmer, an award-winning New York Times columnist sought to discuss just that in his latest book - ‘Life’s Edge: The Search For What It Means To Be Alive’ - he joins Jonathan to discuss.

Of the five (traditionally accepted) senses, smell is definitely the one that gets overlooked. But it can also be one of the most evocative. If you’ve ever had a smell bring you back to a specific time or feeling you’ll know exactly what we mean by that. But how does smell work exactly? Luca Turin is a Biophysicist, Group Leader in Quantum Neurobiology at the Fleming Institute in Athens, and author of 'The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and The Science of Smell' - He joined Jonathan to discuss.

Knowing where we come from can be one of the most important pillars by which we establish and develop our sense of who we are. Not only that, understanding our genealogy can help answer questions around personality traits, physical characteristics, and our genetic history - but what percentage of those traits get passed down through generations, and how much of ourselves is borne of our upbringing? In this special episode of Futureproof, we hear the heartwarming story of one woman and her journey to find her father - in the process, answering questions once thought to be out of reach - and the advancements in science that helped her do it.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, right now, you are vibrating. In fact, the natural frequency of a human body while standing is roughly between 5Hz-10Hz. And the same goes for all things in the universe - the earth for instance resonates at 7.83Hz. But, if all things resonate then sure they must have a sound…and if so, then what do they sound like? Richard Mainwaring is a composer, broadcaster, and author of ‘Everybody Hertz: The Amazing World of Frequency, from Bad Vibes to Good Vibrations’ - he joined jonathan to discuss.

The incredible science behind organ transplant surgery is perhaps something that has become a bit normalised as for the majority of us, these life-saving and life-extending procedures have always been around. But is there a limit to what we can transplant and what might we expect in the years to come in this area? Reza Motallebzadeh, Head of the Centre for Transplantation at University College London joined Jonathan to discuss.

The peopling of the Americas has long been a hot topic. After all, there are no written records and scant archaeological evidence to tell us what happened or how it took place.  There have been many different models put forth to explain how the Americas were peopled but recent strides in the field of genetics are upending some long-held assumptions. Jennifer Raff is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas and author of ‘Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas’ - she 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'.

If you ask most people how the universe began, they might say “the Big Bang” - but it’s hard to be satisfied with that answer and to resist the temptation to ask “but what happened before that?” Well, that is precisely the question that Will Kinney, Professor in the Department of Physics at the University at Buffalo, strives to answer in his new book - 'An Infinity of Worlds: Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe'. He joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr.Ruth Freeman from SFI & Dr. Lara Dungan also joined Jonathan to run through some of the week's biggest science stories 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'.

In our efforts to better understand the very fabric of the universe we sometimes have to think outside the box. So it might seem strange then to think that in our search for the elusive dark matter we need not necessarily look to the depths of the solar system, the Milky Way, or the universe itself but to the ground beneath our feet. Alan Kelly, Professor in Astrophysics and Director of Space Technology and Industry Institute at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia joined Jonathan to talk about The Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory - held inside an active gold mine 1 km beneath the surface of the earth. 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'.

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'.