Keywords: Limitless, Brain, Untapped Potential Broadcast on East Coast FM, The Morning Show with Declan Meehan, 30th March, 2011 IMAGE: The idea behind the film Limitless is that we don't use up to 90 per cent of our brain, and if we did, we could develop extraordinary abilities [Credit: sciencedaily.com] In the recent film 'Limitless' a writer that is suffering from writer's block takes a drug that enables him to tap into the untapped potential of his mind, to great effect. How real, or scienti...
Apr 01, 2011•16 min
Keywords: Extra-terrestrial life, TB IMAGE: The Milky Way pictured here, is made up of about 750 billion stars like our Sun, with an even larger number of orbiting planets. Is it conceivable that none of these planets have life, let alone intelligent life? [Credit: NASA] Broadcast 24th March 2011 on 103.2 Dublin City FM The Question Is? It has become common for scientists to assume that the Universe is teeming with life, given its vastness, and the potential number of 'Earth-like' planets that e...
Mar 28, 2011•29 min
Broadcast 10/03/2011 on 103.2 Dublin City FM PIC: 'Buzz Aldrin' pictured on the Moon, July 1969 by Neil Armstrong. Putting men on the Moon was a tremendous technical achievement, but is space exploration worth the effort & resources put into it? [Credit: NASA] WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? The Human Genome Project. What is it? and how will it change our lives? Tommie McCarthy, UCC, explains. THE QUESTION IS? Is space exploration worth all the time, effort and resources put into it? We ask Irish Europ...
Mar 11, 2011•27 min
Broadcast on 24th February 2011 IMAGE: Experts estimate that fossil-fuel burning power plants, such as the one pictured here, a peat fired plant in Ireland at Shannonbridge, Co Offaly, lose up to 70 per cent of their energy through heat losses. New nano materials could change all that [Credit: Wikipedia] WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? Genetics, past, present and future, explained by Ken Wolfe, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) head of the only Irish laboratory involved in The Human Genome Project. THE QUESTION...
Mar 03, 2011•29 min
Broadcast on 17th Feb. 2011 on 103.2 Dublin City FM IMAGE: Solar Flare captured on the Sun by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on 8th Sept. 2010 [Credit: NASA] What's it all about? Solar flares explained by Peter Gallagher, astrophysicist based at TCD. The question is? We see only four per cent of the 'stuff' the Universe is made up of. Where is the invisible 'dark matter' and what is it doing? We ask Paul Callanan, physicist at UCC. Writer's room. We talk to Christian Gerondeau, author of 'Cli...
Feb 25, 2011•28 min
Broadcast on 10th Feb. 2011 on 103.2 Dublin City FM IMAGE: The Mid Atlantic Ridge (in red) can be seen on land in Iceland [Credit: Elliot Lim, CIRES & NOAA/NGOG] What's it all About? Sea Floor Spreading explained by Bettie Higgs, Geology UCC The Question Is? How solid is the Earth's crust where tectonic plates collide? We ask Sergei Lebedev, of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Writer's Room. We talk to Patrick Wyse-Jackson, curator of the Geology Museum at TCD, and author of 'Intro...
Feb 23, 2011•29 min
Broadcast on 103.2 Dublin City FM on 3rd February 2011 IMAGE: Cover of 'Stone by Stone' a guide to the use of building stone in Northern Ireland [Credit: Appletree Press Ltd] What's it all about? Geophysics explained by Prof Chris Bean, School of Geosciences at UCD. The question is? Will nanotechnology change the world, and if so, how? We ask Aidan Quinn, Head of the Nanotechnology Research Unit at the Tyndall National Institute Writer's room. We talk to Dawson Stellfox, editor of 'Stone by Ston...
Feb 07, 2011•29 min
Broadcast on 103.2 Dublin City FM, 27th Jan. 2011 IMAGE: Brown Trout, such as the one pictured here, are the subject of an new book by Irish fishery scientist, Martin O'Grady [Credit: Wikipedia] THE QUESTION IS Trees act as a brake on global warming, as they suck up 'greenhouse gases', but new pests are increasingly threatening trees in Ireland and around the world. We ask John Sweeney, climate researcher at NUI Maynooth, how serious is the threat to trees and what can be done about it? IN WRITE...
Jan 29, 2011•26 min
IMAGE: The cover of 'Ireland's Animals, myths, legends & folkore' by Niall Mac Coitir [Credit: Gordon D'Arcy]. The Question Is Can we improve the quality of our Internet searches through co-operation? We ask Barry Smyth, Professor of Computer Science at UCD. Writers' Room We speak to Niall Mac Coitir, author of 'Ireland's Animals, myths legends and folklore' What's it All About? Prime numbers are the most basic building blocks of mathematics. Professor Des McHale, a mathematician at UCC, exp...
Jan 21, 2011•27 min
IMAGE: Ireland suffered horrendous weather patterns in 2009 and 2010 [Credit: Four Courts Press] The Question Is? Software applications, or 'apps' for smartphones, such as the iPhone, are experiencing an explosion of interest. What is likely to happen in the mobile phone apps market in the next few years? We ask Barry Downes, a research leader in this field, with the Waterford IT-based TSSG research institute. Writer's Room A mountain of words have described our recent economic woes. The other m...
Jan 17, 2011•27 min
IMAGE: Newborn babies can experience undetected seizures, which can lead to serious consequences later in life. A team at UCC is developing technology to better ensure earlier detection and medical intervention. [Credit: Science Foundation Ireland] Science Books: Interview with Richard Kirwan, former director of the Ordnance Survey about his book 'If Maps Could Speak'. The Question Is?: Can scientists develop pro-biotic products that can prevent obesity and even colon cancer? We ask Catherine St...
Jan 06, 2011•28 min
Ireland's Maths Problem; Shape-shifting implants; Mobile defibrillator IMAGE: A smartphone, such as this iphone, could be converted into a mobile defibrillator, according to Belvedere College science students [Credit: Gizmodo] What's it all about? Electroactive Polymers, or EAPs, are materials that change shape in response to electricity. These have potential for use as futuristic medical devices, for use, for example, in people with cardiovascular disease. Frank Stam of the Tyndall National Ins...
Dec 17, 2010•27 min
Quantum Computers, Wave Energy off Ireland, Innovation Academy IMAGE: The wave energy that resides off the coastline of Ireland could provide 40 per cent of our electricity needs, experts state. [credit: www.ecofriend.org/] What's it all about? Experts state that a quantum computer, based on manipulation of atoms, could make today's computers look like a child's abacus. But, how do they work, and when can all expect to be using them? We ask Michael McGettrick, School of Mathematics at NUI Galway...
Nov 26, 2010•29 min
