Pleasure from pain might be something we initially associate with sex but it is actually a part of all of our lives. We see it the world over, not just in BDSM halls but in religious fasters, ultra marathoners, and hot chili addicts who revel in the burning sensation it provides. But is this desire in all of us, or is it consigned to a select few?  And why is it there at all? Leigh Cowart, science journalist and author of ‘Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose’ joined Jonathan to discuss. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

Futureproof Extra: Pain for Pleasure

In 1869 a one-armed self-taught geologist led an expedition party down Green River in Wyoming. While staring up at the great walls of the Grand Canyon John Wesley-Powell noticed that the rock formations were less in-depth than expected. By measuring the depth of the rock formations Powell noticed something startling - there was more than a billion-year gap in the geological record. This was coined ‘The Great Unconformity’’ and now geologists are racing to track down this apparent gap in time. To discuss, Jonathan is joined by Rebecca Flowers, Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

The Great Unconformity

Everything we know to be true in the world - and indeed outside of it - can be attributed to our willingness to reach out into the unknown and ask the most important questions. From the edges of the universe to the core of the Earth itself, our unerring curiosity can lead us to the most incredible, unlikely, and sometimes, well, unpleasant areas. Enter Andreas Hejnol - Evolutionary Biologist and research leader at the University of Bergen in Norway, as he discusses the evolution of the anus, where it comes from, and why it is the way it is. First aired 14/04/2018 Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof Gold: The Evolution of the Anus

To many of us, the idea that there could be tribes existing in the world that have had no contact with the outside world seems impossible, but interestingly, there are over 100 uncontacted tribes that we are currently aware of. But logging, drug trafficking, and commercial agriculture are chipping away at territories inhabited by these tribes, and not only that, there is a darker side to old meets new, with examples of massacres of tribes for corporate gain.  Sarah Shenker, Senior Research and Advocacy Officer at Survival International and head of the Uncontacted Tribes campaign joined Jonathan to discuss. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Protecting Uncontacted Tribes

Melissa Hogenboom, science journalist, editor of BBC Reel, and author of ‘The Motherhood Complex: The Story of Our Changing Selves’ joined Jonathan to discuss the incredible physical, emotional, and neurological changes that occur, not only when a mother becomes a woman, but when a person becomes a parent. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof Extra: The Motherhood Complex

Shortcuts can help us in so many ways in the real world, but also when it comes to tackling complex theoretical and scientific problems. Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Society to discuss his new book 'Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut’. Nathan Myhrvold, co-founder, and CEO of Intellectual Ventures and the former chief technology officer of Microsoft also joined Jonathan to chat about the astounding array of applications for different 'Metamaterials' from preventing tsunamis, to invisibility technology. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

The Art of the Shortcut & The Magic of Metamaterials

In this increasingly digitized world, it’s all about making things faster and more efficient. And this is no more exemplified than in the field of computers. Well, things could be getting a lot faster, as an international team has discovered a new molecule that could give computers an extra boost. Professor Damien Thompson,  Professor from the Department of Physics in the School of Natural Sciences, University of Limerick joined Jonathan to discuss. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof Extra: Super Fast Computers

Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries impact the lives of thousands of people every year with rehabilitation lasting anything between a few days to a number of months - or even years. And despite the growing awareness of the damage mTBIs can have on a person’s life - new and effective therapies are still being developed. But could a new spin on brain training make the difference? Dr. Henry Mahncke CEO of Posit Science & Brain HQ joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Ruth Freeman & Dr. Shane Bergin also joined us to discuss the top science news for Newsround. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Brain HQ - Helping People Living with mTBIs

Brian Christian - Visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The Alignment Problem: How Can Machines Learn Human Values? Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof Extra: How Can Machines Learn Human Values?

On this week's Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea -  he asks if other planets have volcanoes that are violent as those on Earth? To answer this he is joined by Natalie Starkey - Author of Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System Also on the show, Jonathan is joined by Dr Share Bergin and Dr Susan Kelleher of UCD to look at the science news stories of the week. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Do Other Planets Have Violent Volcanoes Like Earth?

Now, when you lay your heads down to sleep at night, you might do so with the lingering hope that you’ll have sweet, and pleasant dreams. But so often dreams are bizarre and non-sensical,  but why do we do it? What is it that causes us to hallucinate while unconscious? Is it some sort of biological inheritance that serves no function or are we being trained by our minds to expect anomaly and change? Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, neuro-philosopher and author of the novel ‘The Revelations’. He joined Jonathan to discuss Dreams and how they are more than simply images that accost us when we go to sleep. He argues that dreams serve a much more important purpose than they have previously been credited with, not so much random images and scenarios but something else entirely. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'. Photo by Merlin lightpainting from Pexels

Why Do We Dream?

With no gravity or atmosphere to speak of, and temperatures lurching from 127C to minus 173C - the Moon is a dangerous place. That being said, certain death, if exposed to its environment, isn’t stopping us from trying to get back up there - far from it. But there is one tiny thing that might put a spanner in the works if we do ever manage to land on the Moon’s surface again...and it isn’t the lack of oxygen or the solar radiation. Dr Philip Metzger, Planetary Scientist at the Florida Space Institute from the University of Central Florida joined Jonathan to discuss. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof Gold: The Trouble with Moon Dust

Over the course of the last 20 years, and over many missions, we have inched ever closer to the day of getting humans to Mars. But of the many issues that lie ahead in that pursuit, one is perhaps unexpected - humans and all the things that go with them are heavy. And that's a serious problem. Dr. Philip Metzger, Planetary Scientist at the Florida Space Institute from the University of Central Florida joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Ruth Freeman and Dr. Shane Bergin also joined Jonathan to run through this week's top science news stories. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Could Humans Be Too Heavy For Mars?

BEING YOU: WHERE DOES CONSCIOUSNESS COME FROM - That is what Jonathan McCrea asked Anil Seth Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness and author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Futureproof Extra: Being You - Where Does Consciousness Come From?

As we know, the first people to be overcome and subjugated by the Nazis were the German people themselves. And as a result - in the years prior to WWII as Hiter consolidated power and set out to eradicate any and all of those deemed to be inferior to his notion of Aryan supremacy - millions fled. But not everyone - as some would-be outcasts thrived in Hitler’s Germany despite their genes. Sam Apple is on the faculty of the MA in Science Writing and MA in Writing programs at Johns Hopkins and author of ‘Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection’ - he joined Jonathan to discuss. Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield and Dr. Susan Kelleher also joined Jonathan to run through this week's top science news stories. Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan 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'.

Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection

Jonathan McCrea brings you the latest developments from the world of Science and Technology from robotics in warfare to artificial lifeforms and beyond

hubhopper

Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea

hubhopper