Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

When it comes to maintaining that youthful luster, we have, over the years, concocted all manner of things - from cosmetics, dietary plans, and exercise regimes - to get the job done.

But unless you’ve got the actual fountain of youth in your back garden or the holy grail sitting on your mantle you’re probably plum out of luck when it comes to reversing the aging process completely.

That being said, researchers at the University of Rochester have uncovered more evidence that the key to longevity resides instead with a simple enzyme.

Vera Gorbunova, Professor of Biology and Medicine & co-director of the Rochester Aging Research Center at the University of Rochester joins Jonathan to discuss.

Dr.Ruth Freeman from the SFI & Shane Bergin, Physicist & Assistant Prof in Science Education at UCD also joined Jonathan for Newsround.

Whether AI is capable of reaching the point of sentience has long been debated; and with the news this week around Blake Lemoine - an engineer at Google who has claimed that the firm's LaMDA AI system has achieved just that - the conversation has been given a new lease of life.

It begs the question - at what point do we call something sentient? And does it even matter, if a computer programme is actually sentient if it appears to be thoughtful, self-aware and reflective?

To tease out these threads and discuss the story of LaMDA in general, Jonathan is joined by Dr. Anya Belz, Professor of Computer Science at DCU & The ADAPT Centre as well as Dr. Benjamin Cowan, Assistant Professor at UCD's School of Information & Communication Studies and Investigator at The ADAPT Centre.

Jonathan is joined by Jules Howard - Zoological Consultant & Correspondent and Author of Wonderdog: How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life

Shane Bergin and Catherine Mc Guinness join us for newsround

An injury to the spinal cord can be hugely traumatic and life-changing in nature.

And while inroads have been made in terms of the development of treatments, there’s still a way to go.

But what are the treatments currently in development and are outcomes getting any better than they were 20 years ago?

Dr. Rory Murphy is a neurosurgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery at Barrow Neurological Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona - he joined Jonathan to discuss.

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.