Sometimes we just want to be alone, it can be restorative and cathartic to leave the group and be with your own thoughts.

We see it in the animal kingdom as well of course but we don’t necessarily want to get left behind either.

But what if we do?

What could be the evolutionary benefits to getting left behind...in being the loner?

Fernando Rossine, PhD Candidate in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University joined Jonathan to discuss.

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WHY HAS SCIENCE COMMUNICATION FAILED DURING THE PANDEMIC?

 

On this week's Futureproof podcast with Jonathan McCrea, he talks to Dr. Samantha Yammine - Neuroscientist, Science Communicator, and Digital Media Producer - asking if the communication of science during the pandemic has been successful? 

Also on the show Jonathan was joined by Professor Shane Bergin and De Lara Dungan to look at the science news stories of the week.

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Chances are that if you’re reading this you are currently alive.

But the way in which you’re living that life of yours depends on a whole lot of different factors.

Your morning routine might differ widely from your neighbours, your diet a world away from someone who is literally a world away - even how, when and how often you bathe.

So, how exactly are we supposed to live our lives?

Dr Stuart Farrimond, science and health writer and author of ‘ The Science of Cooking’ and ‘The Science of Spice’ and his latest ‘The Science of Living’, published by DK, joined Jonathan to discuss.

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This week on 'Futureproof The Podcast', Jonathan McCrea talks to Dr Paul Jensen - Professor at the Center for Marine Biotechnology & Biomedicine at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego about turning marine slime into drugs.

Also joining the show to look at this weeks main news stories from the science world is Dr Shane Bergin from UCD and Dr. Ruth Freeman of Science Foundation Ireland.

 

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We all know if you’re “left-brained” then you’re analytical, if you’re “right-brained” you’re artistic. 

Except that you’re not. That’s a total myth.

And the idea that art and science are somehow diametrically opposed is another one.

In reality, when it comes to the brain art and science share a lot of similarities.

So says Dr Richard Roche from Maynooth University's Dept of Psychology, co-author of ‘Why Science Needs Art’ - he joined Jonathan to discuss.

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This week on 'Futureproof The Podcast' Jonathan McCrea talks to Irish man Laurence O’ Rourke - Senior Systems Engineer on the European Space Agency’s PLATE Mission who was called in to find the lost Philae lander as part of the Rosetta Mission.

Also joining the show to look at the main news stories from the science world is Dr Shane Bergin from UCD and Dr Jessamyn Fairfield from NUI Galway. 

 

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There is something about a white Christmas that really captures the imagination.

Seeing those tiny white flakes falling from the sky while we peer through a frosted window is a manistay in most our imaginations as we look to celebrate another festive season with friends and family.

But aside from the magic feeling they give us, what exactly are snowflakes and how do they form?

Jonathan was joined by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, author and Professor of Physics at Caltech to discuss.

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Those of us raised in the Christian tradition will be very familiar with the later life of Jesus Christ.

But for years scholars have wondered about the time between the birth of Jesus to the start of his ministry over 2000 years ago.

And while that remains the case today, some archaeologists now believe they may have found the place where he lived - buried beneath a convent in Nazareth.

Professor Ken Dark, Archaeologist at Reading University & author of ‘The Sisters of Nazareth Convent: A Roman-Period, Byzantine, and Crusader Site in Central Nazareth’

Each morning many of us are awoken not by the sound of an alarm but the sound of the birds chirping, or in some cases, squawking, outside.

As blissful or indeed, irritating, as it can be at 6 o'clock in the morning, it’s pretty incredible that what we may actually be hearing has its roots in the ancient past - in the age of the dinosaurs.

But how exactly did we get from T. Rex to tweety-bird?

Jingmai O’Connor, Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago joined Jonathan to discuss.

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This week on 'Futureproof The Podcast' Jonathan McCrea asks "What is the speed of gravity?". To answer that question will be Ethan Siegel - Astrophysicist and Science Writer.

Also joining the show to look at the main news stories from the science world is Dr Ruth Freeman from Science Foundation Ireland and Dr Shane Bergin from UCD.

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