Happy New Year HeadStuff Listeners!

As a special New Year’s treat, we’ve compiled the very best moments from all our HeadStuff shows into one episode. Relive the laughs, surprises, and unforgettable moments of 2024!

To find your favourite HeadStuff shows go to the timestamps below.

This is a HeadStuff Podcast produced by Hilary Barry. Edited by Claire Patena. Hosted by Hilary Barry and Jack Kelly.

1:40 - The Lovely Show 

4:55 - Young Hot Guys 

6:24 - Listen, I’m, Delicious 

8:00 - The G Spot 

10:11 - The Baby Tribe 

13:08 - Fad Camp 

15:59 - For Tech Sake 

18:16 - The Greatest Matter 

19:55 - Double Love 

21:35 - Keep It Tight 

23:37 - Agony Rants 

26:30 - I Know That Face

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Cybersecurity researcher Dr Hazel Murray has developed a knack for guessing Irish people’s passwords. But is it really our fault that our passwords have become predictable? 

Listen to this episode to find out why some of the standards enforced on passwords are actually making our accounts less secure, and what you need to do to start the new year with better password protection.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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Are you confused by quantum? You’re not alone! 100 years on and even the science hasn’t settled on quantum mechanics and how they can be applied to technologies such as computing. But how we harness this emergent technology from the outset could have long-term impacts, which is why researchers at the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications are exploring not just quantum computing and quantum networks, but the policy and communication around such technologies.

So strap yourself in for a world-expanding conversation with Dr Harun Šiljak and Dr Tom O’Dea from the Not a Space Race project, on how we discuss and plan for something that doesn’t exist yet, and the usefulness of interpretations of quantum science in pop culture.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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From cross-stitching your research proposals to diagramming the quantum internet, there are many ways that art and science can intersect – and it’s when artists in research are treated as equals that you get the best, most transformative results.   

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion as we dissect the concept of STEAM and try to word the world better with Dr Jessica Foley and Dennis McNulty from the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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You know we love sustainability so we were very excited to learn about plans for digital product passports, which could slow down fast fashion, boost our right to repair and help shoppers make more informed choices. 

Explaining this transformative tech for us are Dr Grace Walsh and Dr John Dooley from the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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Jenny and Elaine are back in studio and catching up after Elaine was zooming around San Francisco in a driverless taxi. But how close are we to seeing fully autonomous cars on every road? Will Tesla’s Cybercab have enough in its computer vision system to see where it’s going? And how safe are self-driving cars, really? 

We put all these questions to Dr Aisling O’Driscoll, a researcher at the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications. At CONNECT, Aisling is discovering how connecting vehicles to create a vast information-sharing network can help improve autonomous capabilities, as well as overall road safety and transport efficiency.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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For Tech’s Sake is back with a very special mini-series in partnership with the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications. Starting from Science Week, we’ll be releasing a new episode every week for five weeks, exploring the intersection of science, art and society with CONNECT researchers. In this preview episode, hear from CONNECT’s director Prof Dan Kilper about what to expect.

Find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie, and check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources.

FTX x CONNECT is brought to you by your hosts Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody, in partnership with CONNECT and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, and produced by Hilary Barry.

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Despite all our “wireless” connectivity and “cloud” computing, the internet we enjoy today relies on extensive cables that cross seas and oceans, and our island on the edge of Europe has had a crucial role to play in this global network, both in the past and present. In this episode, we get a history lesson in telecommunications from Deryck Fay, author of Connecting A Nation, who appears alongside Elaine in the upcoming documentary, The Cable that Changed the World. We also follow this development to the present day, and examine Ireland’s continued critical position in protecting the internet’s infrastructure.

The Cable that Changed the World will air on RTÉ One, August 12th at 9.35pm. You can connect with Deryck Fay at DFIT.ie and pick up a copy of his book online or in stores. And check out ForTechsSake.info for links to some of the stories we discussed here.

For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and produced by Hilary Barry.

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In this episode, Elaine and Jenny look at the risks of working with robots – and it’s not just that they might steal your job. For this discussion, they are joined by Tom Deegan, a health and safety consultant at Mackin EHS who has become the go-to guy for risk assessments in workplaces introducing robotics and cybernetics, ensuring that the bots behave and everyone is safe. (You might even say he’s a robo-cop.)

You can find out more about Mackin EHS at MackinConsultancy.com or connect with Tom on LinkedIn. And check out ForTechsSake.info for links to some of the stories – and the many robots – we discussed here.

For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and produced by Hilary Barry.

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We often look at the mental and emotional effects of technology on For Tech’s Sake, and this episode we have expert help in understanding it all in the form of cyberpsychologist Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton, a lecturer on the topic at IADT.

You can follow Nicola on Instagram @nicolafoxh and on X @foxnic, and check out her work on her website, NicolaFoxHamilton.com. And head to ForTechsSake.info for some relevant links and resources.

For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and produced by Hilary Barry.

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