World Questions

Why do locusts swarm? How do ants manage their traffic flow so much better than humans? Iain Couzin talks to Matthew Sweet about what we can learn from collective animal behaviour.

Henry Markram has received the biggest personal grant in the history of science. He has a billion euros to build a super computer which will replicate the human brain. He tells A.C.Grayling and an audience at Wellcome Collection how the virtual brain will reveal revolutionise the treatment of mental disorders.

Molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, a world specialist in how bacteria communicate within the human body, discusses the key to solving the antibiotic problem and her groundbreaking discoveries in bacterial communication. Topics covered include the fascinating world of bacteria, their roles in our bodies, the concept of quorum sensing in bacterial communication, challenges posed by harmful bacteria and antibiotic resistance, and potential alternative strategies for treating bacterial infections.

Why doesn’t money make us happy? French economist Daniel Cohen explores the paradox of why growing economies do not lead to growing satisfaction with life. He tells Justin Rowlatt, and an audience at Paris Dauphine University that economics focusses us on competition while it’s cooperation and free-giving that makes us happy.

He has been described as a ‘super hero of the mind’ and ‘the hottest thinker in the world; the one-time business trader and full-time philosopher of randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb joins Justin Rowlatt and an audience at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne in Paris for a special event staged in partnership with Paris Dauphine University.