Simon and Rach consider listener suggestions for human body improvements. This week, adjustable digestive tracts, floral farts, and retractable testicles. In the news Elon Musk’s baby: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52557291 Ocean warming: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2242786-a-japanese-nuclear-power-plant-created-a-habitat-for-tropical-fish/ Golden tongue: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52683468 Wound healing blue-green algae: https://www.newscientist.com/art...
May 26, 2020•26 min
S2E12: Level Up Human is a podcast on a mission to redesign the human body. Simon and Rach chat to biologist and science YouTuber Sally Le Page and science communicator James Piercy . We discuss periods, expanding skulls and a rebooted ear. In the news Female female aggression in fruit flies: https://bit.ly/LUHfruitflies The new kilogram: physicsworld.com/a/new-definition-of-the-kilogram-comes-into-force/ Robots powered by the spines of rats: https://bit.ly/LUHRatSpines The pitches Sally wants s...
May 19, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Simon and Rach consider regeneration. Humans are pretty rubbish at it. Some lizards, newts and salamanders are INCREDIBLE at it. How do we get it, and would we really want to? Check out… The Shining: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/ THAT tweet: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1256239815256797184 Bee sniffing tech: https://phys.org/news/2010-03-bee-sniffing-technology-dangerous-vapors.html FaceTime some Japanese eels: https://www.businessinsider.com/video-call-eels-tokyo-aquarium-so-they...
May 12, 2020•30 min
S2E11: Level Up Human is a podcast on a mission to redesign the human body. This week, Simon and Rach chat to naturalist and broadcaster Steve Backshall and visual perception scientist Kate Storrs . We discuss enhanced vision, limb regeneration, gecko hands, super kidneys and re-breathing. Extended show notes including edited transcripts are available here . In the news Kate is tickled and baffled by a news story about Microsoft Steve's news story is entitled, 'Venomous Frogs use Heads as Weapon...
May 05, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Episode summary Simon and Rachel take a detailed look at flight. Why can’t we fly, how could we achieve it, and wouldn't it be exhausting? An edited transcript is available here . Mentioned this episode Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, the most attractive man in the world, according to Simon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZhCCu-2gbw Starlink: https://www.starlink.com/ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_G...
Apr 28, 2020•33 min
Simon and Rachel recap Episode 10 of Series 2, where we chatted with immunologist Professor Sheena Cruickshank and microbiologist Dr. Chloe James. Plus Simon has good news for Eurovision fans. We dive deeper into what RNA is, how to train bacteriophages, and how we know humans are still evolving. An edited transcript is available here . Mentioned this episode 2001: A Space Odyssey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film) Patrick Moore’s Gamesmaster: https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Apr 20, 2020•25 min
Rachel and Simon are locked down in London. Joining them from Liverpool and Manchester are microbiologist Dr. Chloe James and immunologist Professor Sheena Cruickshank. A full transcript is available here . Episode summary We discuss if it’s possible for scientists to work from home, cytokine storms and a brand new 'magic' toilet. Our panellists this week make pitches for command over our internal armies of bacteria phages and reprogramming our immune cells. The audience want self-scratching bac...
Apr 14, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 10
In the last of our Barbican centre recordings from November 2019, Simon and Rachel are souping up the homo sapien once again. Our guest experts are professor of experimental psychopathology from the university of Birkbeck, Naz Derakshan, and Hephzi Tagoe, a skin specialist from Queen Mary, University of London. Episode summary We discuss resilience as well as the impacts of skin conditions on psychological health and wellbeing. Rach has news of an ant with a six legged gallop. In our pitches for...
Mar 25, 2020•42 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Simon and Rachel report from their respective bunkers during the March 2020 coronavirus pandemic. We take a long hard look at disease. Are humans a particularly diseased species? What can we learn from pandemics and is panic buying inevitable? Mentioned this episode NHS advice on coronavirus: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ Pandemic board game: https://www.zmangames.com/en/games/pandemic/ 28 Days Later: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Days_Later Outbreak: https://en.wikipedi...
Mar 18, 2020•25 min
Simon and Rachel are souping up Homo sapiens once again, live at the Barbican Centre with guest experts: reproductive physiologist Kim Jonas, and cardio-vascular pharmacologist, Michael Preedy. This episode was created with the support of the Physiological Society and the Biochemical Society . Episode summary We discuss the weirdest reproductive physiology on the planet, hypersexuality and how stem cells can now be reprogrammed into a new type of cell. In our news section, Rach explains why putt...
Mar 11, 2020•49 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Simon and Rachel are live at the Barbican with marine biologist, writer and documentary maker, Helen Scales and KCL professor of developmental neurobiology, Robert Hindges. Episode summary First we look at human enhancements from around the world. Helen brings news of a man with an exo-skeleton allowing him to walk. Robert tells us about developments in prosthetics which allow users to experience feedback from artificial limbs. And Rach has evidence that thumbs are getting faster. Next: pitches ...
Feb 26, 2020•49 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Simon and Rachel are live at the Barbican with heart specialist Dr. Vanessa Lowe and comedian, podcaster and researcher, Dr. Cerys Bradley. Episode summary First we look at human enhancements from around the world. Vanessa has news of a heart attack vaccine from Harvard. Cerys tells us that there is a back-up ‘fight or flight’ system in the bones. Rach has found evidence of the loudest mating call on Earth. Next: pitches from our guest experts, the studio audience and Mother Nature herself. Cery...
Feb 12, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Simon and Rachel are live at the Bluedot festival. They are joined by geomicrobiologist, Sarah Jones, and Holly Shiels, reader in cardiac physiology at the University of Manchester. Episode summary The news is first up as we explore some of the latest human enhancements around the globe. Sarah has a story about some scientists working on the first synthetic microbiome – but how do we ensure it stays in the body? Holly has discovered that bubble wrap is to be placed on the surface of Mars to enco...
Jan 29, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Simon and Rachel skype in with some interesting items from the science news. Episode summary On this episode of Level Up Human Extra, we have news that scientists have managed to build the first organic robots using stem cells from the African clawed frog. A team from Japan have successfully cultured an elusive species of archaea and Diego the sex tortoise is retiring. Mentioned this episode Organic robots: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/13/scientists-use-stem-cells-from-frogs-to-b...
Jan 20, 2020•21 min
Simon and Rachel are joined by writer and computer scientist Dr. Kate Devlin and digital artist Eric Drass. Episode summary We dive into the latest human enhancement developments before getting into pitches. Rach has news of a potential Alzheimer’s vaccine; Kate found a robotic tail at a conference and Eric warns of ‘rooms full of people’ listening as we chat to Alexa, Siri and Google. Next: pitches from our guest experts, the studio audience and Mother Nature herself. Eric wants us to have mult...
Dec 04, 2019•40 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Simon and Rachel are joined at the Barbican centre by renal-cardiovascular physiologist Keith Siew and evolutionary psychologist, Dr. Gillian Forrester. Episode summary The team have brought news stories from the world of science to share before we kick off the pitches. Gillian shares a study that suggests that babies can recognise faces in utero, Keith has news that salt makes us hungry rather than thirsty and Rach reports on a colony of tardigrades on the moon. Then we hear pitches for how we ...
Nov 20, 2019•44 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In June, Level Up Human went to Hatch in Manchester for the Microdot festival . Simon and Rachel are joined by bioethicist Prof. Andy Miah and physiologist and cardiovascular specialist Dr. Sarah Withers , both from the University of Salford. If you’d like to see us live, we’re in the middle of a residency at the Barbican in London. Please join us on November 7th 2019. You can reserve free tickets at https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2019/event/level-up-human Episode summary The team have bro...
Nov 06, 2019•52 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Level Up Human is back redesigning the human body! This series we are supported by the Physiological Society . This episode was created with the help of the Society for Endocrinology , a world leading authority on hormones. This episode was recorded at the Barbican as part of the Life Rewired season. Host Simon Watt and judge Rachel Wheeley are joined by Dr. Miles Levy , consultant endocrinologist and honorary associate professor at University Hospitals of Leicester. And by Dr. Clare Jonas , psy...
Oct 22, 2019•51 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Simon breaks exciting news about the brand new series of Level Up Human - hitting your podcast device next Wednesday October 23rd. We've been recording episodes as part of our residency at the Barbican and you can join us at two more recordings happening on October 28th and November 7th. https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2019/event/level-up-human This series of Level Up Human is supported by the Physiological Society. Specials for the Endocrinology Society and the Biochemical Society are comi...
Oct 15, 2019•41 sec
Rach and Simon dive into lab grown meat. Would you eat it, what are the pros and cons and as always, is this the beginning of the end of civilisation? Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Wheeley. More information about the series is at www.leveluphuman.com and you can support us at www.patreon.com/leveluphuman Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/leveluphu...
Mar 22, 2018•22 min
Simon and Rach take a deep dive into gene drives this week, examining the work being done to make island conservation less lethal to the inhabitants it is supposed to be protecting.We consider how CRISPR technology might be able to help with this, how it works and what the unintended consequences of using it might be.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Wheeley.Mor...
Mar 08, 2018•23 min
Simon and Rachel are bickering again, this time about 3D printing. Is it old news, or are recent developments in generative design enough to make it fascinating? Simon thinks it's a toy, no more likely to catch on than Betamax, Rach thinks it's the future of everything. Who is right? We will have to wait and see.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Wheeley.More inf...
Feb 22, 2018•28 min
Producer Rachel and Simon discuss Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy launch, what it means for the future of space travel and whether putting a Tesla onboard was the greatest PR stunt of all time.In this episode we chat with David McKeown, a real rocket scientist. He explains how the two side booster rockets landed, and what the launch means for the Irish space programme.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellc...
Feb 10, 2018•26 min
Simon Watt and Rachel Wheeley rifle through the science pages in search of stories about the future of humanity. This week we are excited about flying cars, considering what information the apocalypse survivors will need and considering a way to mobilise the body's immune system to fight cancer.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Wheeley.More information about the...
Jan 25, 2018•28 min
Happy New Year! Rach and Simon are fisking the science pages once again in search of human enhancement stories. This week they tackle all the most futuristic predictions that came true in 2017. The march of Artificial Intelligence, back-flipping cyborg soldiers and Simon has received the coolest Christmas present of all time.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Whe...
Jan 10, 2018•31 min
Simon and Rach finally tackle the big one: sex robots. We discuss what is driving the fastest development in AI, when a robot will join a company's board of directors, Rach has a fact and Simon explains why we should cuddle more.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Wheeley.For more information, go to www.leveluphuman.com. Support the project via www.patreon.com/lev...
Dec 27, 2017•30 min
Rach and Simon siphon the science news in search for human enhancement stories. This week, why Simon is a harbinger of doom, how to kidnap the Queen and why living in cities might not be such a good idea after all.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Wheeley.For more information, go to www.leveluphuman.com Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/leveluphuman ....
Dec 20, 2017•26 min
Neil Delamere joins Simon Watt to determine the future of the human body. Our experts here at the Cork Science Festival are biochemist Julie O'Sullivan and marine ecologist Ash Bennison. In this episode we find out how we could listen to the bacteria on our bodies, why acne is evolutionarily useful and how seabirds 'see' the ocean using an odourscape.Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. ...
Dec 13, 2017•33 min
Simon and Rachel consider co-evolving with AI. Plus! Space salad, seaweed glitter, how spinach is a fraud and why you should never transport dry ice in a lift.Referenced in this episode are Samuel Youd's* novel 'The Death of Grass', Michael Pollan's 'The Botany of Desire' and 17th century bitcoin: the tulip.If you are enjoying the podcast, you can support us via Patreon, at www.patreon.com/leveluphumanOur theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design...
Dec 06, 2017•31 min
Neil Delamere joins Simon to sculpt the next human at Cork Science Festival. Joining them are engineer and researcher Alison O'Shea and zoologist and seal enthusiast Cian Luck. The panel discuss how goats have put the Faroe islands on Google Street view, how babies know to be scared of snakes and a creature that doesn't poo. Our theme music was written and performed by Laurence Owen. Graphics by Theo Weedon, web design by Ian Bridgeman, support from the Wellcome Trust. The producer is Rachel Whe...
Nov 29, 2017•34 min
