Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

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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. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Johnathan 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'.

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    • Nov 18, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 28m AVG DURATION
    • 551 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

    Extra: The Age of Rock

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2025 7:15


    Guest: Dr Anjana Khatwa, earth scientist and author of ‘The Whispers of Rock – Stories from the Earth'

    Creating 'Mirror Life'

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2025 41:04


    Guests:Kate Adamala, Associate Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of MinnesotaImmunologist Dr Lara DunganDr John Regan, Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth University

    Extra: How chimps rationally revise their beliefs & face blindness

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2025 35:17


    Guests:Dr Emily Sanford, Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychology at the University of California BerkeleyFiona Newell, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the Trinity Institute of NeurosciencesMeike Ramon, Cognitive Neuroscientist and Assistant Professor at the University of Fribourg

    Recovering Lost Memories

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2025 35:04


    Guests:Prof Jane Aspell, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Head of the Self and Body Lab at Anglia Ruskin UniversityDr Ruth Freeman of Research IrelandDr Shelley Brady, DCU

    Extra: How Close Are We To Lab-Grown Teeth?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2025 18:05


    Guest: Ana Angelova Volponi of King's College London

    Unusual Metamorphoses

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2025 28:14


    Guests:Author Oren HarmanShane Bergin & Susan Kelleher

    Extra: The Origin of Dark Energy

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2025 10:25


    Guest: Prof Kate Maguire, Professor In Astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin

    Recovering fingerprints from ammunition for forensics

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2025 30:42


    Guests:Dr Colm McKeever, Assistant Lecturer and Researcher in Analytical Chemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biotechnology, at TUSDr Shelley Brady, DCUDr Laura Hayes, DIAS

    Extra: How to verify supplement quality

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2025 16:15


    Guest: Professor John Nolan

    Why do pregnant women get morning sickness?

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 36:42


    Guests:Professor Molly Fox of UCLALaura HayesShane Bergin

    Extra: The Future of Solar Energy

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2025 11:05


    Guest: Paul Deane, Clean Energy Futures Lecturer at UCC

    The Harms of Over-Diagnosis

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2025 38:56


    Guests:Neurologist Dr Suzanne O'SullivanShelley Brady, DCUShane Bergin, UCD

    Extra: Huntington's disease slowed with gene therapy

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2025 14:42


    Guest: Dr Lauren Byrne, Principal Investigator at the Huntington's Disease Centre at UCL

    Rebuilding Our Body With Regenerative Medicine

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2025 29:19


    Guests:Mary Roach, Science AuthorDr Laura Hayes, DIASDr Jessamyn Fairfield, University of Galway

    Extra: Making the world's smallest violin

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2025 11:44


    Guest: Prof Kelly Morrison, Professor of Experimental Physics at Loughborough University

    The creation of artificial cartilage

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2025 37:50


    Guests:Prof Oren A. Scherman, Professor of Supramolecular & Polymer Chemistry, and Director of the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis at the University of CambridgeDr John ReganDr Lara Dungan

    Extra: Dinosaur eggs directly dated for the first time

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 13:23


    Guest: Professor Maria McNamara, Professor of Palaeontology at University College Cork

    "Clearest sign" of life on Mars

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 33:01


    Guests:Professor Sanjeev Gupta, Professor of Earth Science at Imperial College LondonDr Susan Kelleher of DCUDr Shane Bergin of UCD

    Extra: Heart attacks may be triggered by infections

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2025 14:18


    Guest: Prof Claudia Monaco, Professor of Cardiovascular Inflammation at the University of Oxford

    Dublin head scanner is 'breakthrough' in brain research

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2025 31:09


    Guests:Prof Redmond O'Connell, Professor in Decision Neuroscience at Trinity College DublinDr Ruth Freeman of Research IrelandDr Shane Bergin of UCD

    Extra: Misophonia Rehabilitation

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2025 12:44


    Guest: Olwyn Morris, Audiologist and clinic owner of Medico Audiology

    How Humans Came to Walk Upright

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2025 34:01


    Guests:Dr Terence D. Capellini, Chair of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard UniversityDr Lara Dungan, ImmunologistDr Shane Bergin of UCD

    Extra: What is Weaver Syndrome?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2025 13:42


    Guest: Adrian Bracken, Professor of Chromatin Biology at the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin

    Creating Toothpaste Made From Hair

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2025 35:17


    Guests:Dr Sherif Elsharkawy, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Prosthodontics, at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King's College LondonDr Shelley Brady of DCUProfessor Oran Kennedy of the RCSI

    Extra: Eirsat-1 and The Future of Irish Satellites

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2025 15:03


    With Dr David McKeown, Assistant Professor at the UCD Centre for Space Research.

    Attacking Cancer: CAR T-Cell Therapy

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2025 36:39


    With Dr Larry Bacon, Consultant Haematologist from St James's Hospital, and Dr Nicola Gardiner, Chief Medical Scientist at the Cryobiology Laboratory Stem Cell Facility at St James's.Newsround with Dr Ruth Freeman from Research Ireland and science communicator Fergus McAuliffe.

    Extra: Is slowing down ageing possible?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2025 12:10


    Guest: Eamonn Mallon, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Leicester

    The science behind memory distortion

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2025 38:17


    Guests:Ciara Greene, Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at UCD, where she heads up the Attention and Memory LaboratoryDr Lara Dungan, ImmunologistDr Tara Shine of Change By Degrees

    Extra: Advances In Ophthalmic Medicine and Eyecare

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2025 11:15


    Guest: Patrick Condon, former Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at University Hospital Waterford and author of ‘Eye Healthcare – 90 Years of Progress'

    Can brain stimulation cure addiction?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2025 38:00


    Guests:Yale Neuroscientist Vaughn SteeleDr Shane Bergin, UCDSciene Writer Dr Claire O'Connell

    Extra: Why is our Earth spinning faster?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2025 14:17


    Guest: Robin Edwards, TCD

    Could colour be the answer to reviving marine life?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2025 27:27


    Guests:Holly CunninghamScience Communicator Eoin MurphySusan Kelleher, DCU

    Extra: The role of mitochondria in why we need sleep

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2025 13:11


    Guest: Gero Miesenböck of Oxford University

    What determines the birth sex of a child?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2025 32:44


    Guests:Siwen Wang, Harvard UniversityDr Ruth Freeman, Research IrelandDr Susan Kelleher, DCU

    Extra: Why newborns feel pain differently to adults

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2025 13:34


    Guest: Professor Lorenzo Fabrizi, Professor of Developmental Systems Neuroscience at University College London

    Biggest human imaging study completes scan of 100,000 people

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2025 37:10


    Guests:Kevin O'Sullivan of The Irish TimesCatherine McGuinness, Science CommunicatorProfessor Naomi Allen, Chief Scientist at UK Biobank and Professor in Epidemiology at the University of Oxford

    Extra: Diabetes - could there be a cure?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2025 14:18


    Guest: Dr Simon Piggott, Clinical Research Fellow with the Diabetes Complications Research Centre at the Conway Institute, UCD

    Why are some species better at fooling predators?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2025 32:56


    Guests:Science Communicator Eoin MurphyDCU's Shelley BradyDr Tom Reader, Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecologist, University of Nottingham

    Extra: How Does Pure Mathematics Shape Our World?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2025 13:25


    Is maths just about numbers and equations? Not even close. Today we're exploring the hidden power of mathematical thinking with Junaid Mubeen, mathematician and author of Think Like a Mathematician. From decoding conspiracy theories to escaping political echo chambers, calculus and dimensionality shape the way we see the world, even if we don't realise it.

    Extra: Did black holes create dark matter?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2025 14:55


    We recently got an email in from a listener to the show about a topic they thought we should cover, and we'd encourage you to get in touch too if there is something you'd like to learn more about – science@newstalk.com. The email was from Dr John Regan, the Royal Society - SFI University Research Fellow in the Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth University.He said: “One of the postdocs in my group recently published a paper on Primordial Black Holes left over from the Big Bang being possible ‘seeds' for super massive black holes. The JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) has, over the last two-three years, been discovering way more and way more massive black holes than was expected.In short, the results from the very early Universe being returned from JWST are both puzzling and electrifying. Primordial black holes may explain some of these results (as well as possibly being a candidate for dark matter)! I think this would be a very cool topic for Futureproof. I would be delighted to discuss these results and perhaps also provide some context to what JWST is seeing and why it is so exciting.”Dr John joins us on the show.

    Can we programme life like software?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2025 31:37


    Can life be programmed like software? Synthetic biology says yes. We're entering an era where DNA is code and biology is becoming a programmable platform. You can now order synthetic DNA online and use AI to design brand-new proteins. Today, we're diving into the frontlines of this biotech revolution — and joining us is microbiologist, geneticist, and futurist Andrew Hessel to explore what's possible now and what's coming next.Also featured in Newsround are Dr Shelley Brady of DCU and Dr Shane Bergin of UCD.

    Extra: How do new planets form?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2025 16:48


    Guest: Dr Christian Ginski, School of Natural Sciences at the University of Galway

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