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Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

Science EN ↓ 497 episodes

Jonathan 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. CONVERSATION THAT COUNTS | Ireland’s national independent talk station for news, sport, analysis and entertainment Listen to Newstalk at  http://newstalk.com/listenlive  | Download the GoLoud app now, the new home for Newstalk

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: pscrb.fm

Author

Newstalk

Category

Science

Podcast website

pscrb.fm

Latest episode

Sep 29, 2026

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Episodes

Extra: CMLase - The Enzyme That Could Reverse Ageing 29.09.2026

Guest: Aaron Cravens, Founder and Chief executive of Revel Pharmaceuticals

Why are killer whales ramming yachts? 27.09.2026

Guests: Dr. Luke Rendell, Biologist at Sean Mammal Research Unit in the University of St. Andrews Matthew Campbell, Professor of Genetics at TCD Ciara Greene, Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, UCD

Extra: Did Life Start Twice On Earth? 22.09.2026

Guest: Bill Martin - Evolutionary Biologist and Head of the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf 

Could ozempic cure addiction? 20.09.2026

Guests:  Philip Smyth, Broadcaster and Science Communicator  Dr. Laura Hayes, Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies  Prof. Paul Kenny, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City 

Extra: Behind The Scenes of The Lost Bridge 15.09.2026

Presenter Jonathan McCrea and Producer Aidan McKelvey discuss the making of the Futureproof documentary ‘The Lost Bridge’.

Futureproof Special: The Lost Bridge 13.09.2026

Guests: Genevieve Von Petzinger, Paleoanthropologist and rock art researcher and Project Director of the LIACARA Project Dr. George Nash, Associate Professor in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool Dr. Barbara Oosterwijk, Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Exeter Shane Diffily, National Treasurer Irish Cave Rescue Organisation

Gold: What is time? 10.09.2026

We conventionally think of time as something simple and fundamental that flows uniformly, independently from everything else, from the past to the future, measured by clocks and watches. In the course of time, the events of the universe succeed each other in an orderly way: pasts, presents, futures. The past is fixed, the future open... And yet, all of this has turned out to be false. Carlo Rovell...

Extra: Decoding Birdsong 08.09.2026

Guest: Julie Elie, Associate Project Scientist in the Department of Neuroscience at University of California, Berkeley.

Jim Al-Khalili on time and time travel 06.09.2026

Guests: Jim Al Khalili, Theoretical Physicist, Host of BBC’s ‘The Life Scientific’ and author of ‘On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe Tick‘ Dr. Ruth Freeman from Research Ireland Matthew Campbell, Professor of Genetics in Trinity College Dublin

Extra: The Genetics of Wrongdoing 01.09.2026

Guest: Kathryn Paige Harden, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of ‘Original Sin: The Genetics of Wrongdoing, the Problem of Blame and the Future of Forgiveness’

Did we find evidence of life on Mars in the 1970’s? 30.08.2026

Guests: Steven A. Benner, Chemist, Astrobiologist and author of ‘Meet the Neighbors: Life on Mars and How to Find It’ Jessamyn Fairfield from the University of Galway Fergus McAuliffe, Head of Research Engagement and Impact Trinity College Dublin

Extra: Growing Old in Ireland - 20 Years of the TILDA Study 25.08.2026

Guest: Rose Anne Kenny, Regis Professor of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin and Founding Principal Investigator of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

How many insects are there? 23.08.2026

Guests: Alex Smith, Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada Dr Ruth Freeman from Science Foundation Ireland Matthew Campbell from TCD

Extra: The Irish scientists tackling organ transplant rejection 18.08.2026

Guest: Professor Róisín Dolan, Chief Investigator with the Sentinel Study Ireland at St. Vincent's University Hospital

The Greenland shark discovered on Ireland’s coast 16.08.2026

Guests: Emilie De Loose, Project Officer of the Atlantic Whale Deal in the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group John Regan from Maynooth University Laura Hayes, DIAS

Gold: Neil DeGrasse Tyson - A Brief Welcome to the Universe 11.08.2026

Science Communicator extraordinaire Neil deGrasse Tyson joined Jonathan in 2021 to discuss his book ‘A Brief Welcome to the Universe: A Pocket-Sized Tour’, and how we communicate science to the public.

Observing the Solar Eclipse 09.08.2026

Guests: Peter Gallagher, Director of Dunsink Observatory at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin John Regan from Maynooth University Laura Hayes, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) If you would like to listen to Jonathan’s experience of flying into the path of totality of the solar eclipse in 2015, here’s the link: https://soundclou...

Gold: How does the brain conjure consciousness? 04.08.2026

For centuries, philosophers have theorised about the mind-body question. Is the mind something separate from the body? If so what does that mean? So, how does the brain conjure consciousness? In this interview from 2021, Jonathan speaks with Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness and author of ‘...

Could AI be conscious? 02.08.2026

Guests: Charlotte Blease, Philosopher at Uppsala University and author of ‘Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us – and How AI Could Save Lives’ Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and author of ‘Free Agents – How Evolution Gave Us Free Will’ Alan Smeaton, Professor of Computing at DCU Matthew Campbell from TCD Laura Hayes, DIAS

Extra: Could base editing lead to designer babies? 28.07.2026

Guest: Oliver Bower, Founding Scientist at ‘Preventive’

The fish species with no males 26.07.2026

Guests: Ed Ricemeyer, Senior Bioinformatician and Chair of Animal Systems Genomics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Jessamyn Fairfield from the University of Galway Shane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Professor in Science Education at UCD

Extra: ET Code of Conduct 21.07.2026

Guest: Professor Michael Garrett, Astrophysicist at the University of Manchester and Chair of the International Academy of Astronautics’ SETI Committee

The problem solving powers of bumblebees 19.07.2026

Guests: Jussi Kantola, Data Analyst at the University of Oulu Matthew Campbell, Professor of Neurovascular Genetics, Trinity College Dublin Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Research for Society at Research Ireland

Extra: Neuroscience and AI 14.07.2026

Guest: Rana Gujra, CEO of Behavioural Signals, tech entrepreneur and AI expert

Is sitting down for long periods killing us? 11.07.2026

Guests: Dr. Frederick Ho, Senior Lecturer in Public health at the University of Glasgow Laura Hayes, Assistant Professor and Royal Society-Research Ireland University Research Fellow at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Phil Smyth, Physicist, Engineer and Science Communicator

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