Futureproof Extra: Protecting our underwater cultural heritage

Listeners to the show might remember that last year we spoke to Dr. Vera Gorbunova from Rochester Aging Research Center at the University of Rochester about her work on SIRT6 - often referred to as the “longevity gene” because of its important role in organising proteins and recruiting enzymes that repair broken DNA. Since then, she and her team have made significant progress in the study of longevity by successfully transferring a different gene from naked mole rats into mice, resulting in improved health and an extension of the mouse’s lifespan. Jonathan is joined by Dr. Vera Gorbunova to discuss.

While the question of 'what is a robot?' might have been easily answered just a few years ago, it is increasingly difficult to define. So, rather than try to fit robots into the existing categories of what is a person and what is a thing, do we need a new framework for the twenty-first century?David J. Gunkel thinks so. He is Professor of Media Studies at Northern Illinois University and author of ‘Person-Thing-Robot: A Moral and Legal Ontology for the 21st Century and Beyond’ - he joins Jonathan to discuss.

Dust. You might hate it, you might want to get rid of it, you might not know where it comes from, but did you know there are actually two billion tonnes of dust lifted into the Earth’s atmosphere each year? Joining Jonathan to discuss the world of dust is researcher Jay Owens, who has written a new book called ‘Dust – The Modern World in a Trillion Particles’.

We think of our eyes as external organs, but anatomically we can also consider them to be an extension of the brain, and this feature is proving to be really useful when trying to understand not just what's happening in our brains, but in our bodies as well. Joining Jonathan to discuss is David Keegan, Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Mater Hospital.

Did you know that in one sleep you will have travelled close to million miles by the time you wake up? This is due to the fascinating science of spin and rotational force. Joining Jonathan to detail his fascinating new book “The Science of Spin" and explain how understanding this force we can enhance our lives was Roland Ennos visiting professor of biological sciences at the University of Hull