IFLScience - The Big Questions

How Do We Know When A Species Is Extinct?

It’s no secret that species extinction and biodiversity loss are making our environment increasingly less stable. As it feels like we inch closer to waving goodbye to threatened animals like the Javan rhino, a question springs to mind: How do we know when a species is extinct? How, for instance, do we know there aren’t some animals left just hiding in a bush somewhere? In this episode, host Rachael Funnell puts the question to Dr Barney Long of Re:wild, whose mission is the conservation of endangered mammal species and ways of recovering their populations.

Can Humans Live Forever?

We live in a society that idolizes youth for sure, but also with age comes wisdom. However, aging is not all it’s cracked up to be. Could we keep getting older without the drawbacks of being old? Other animals do it, so maybe one day it could apply to humans too. In this episode, host Dr Alfredo Carpineti is joined by Dr Andrew Steele, author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, to talk about the medical fight against old age at a cellular level and whether humans could ever live forever. 

Is The Future Of Farming Underwater?

As the human population increases so too does our demand for food, but in the face of the climate crisis scientists are seeking alternative and sustainable solutions to traditional agricultural practices. In this episode of IFLScience, The Big Questions, we teamed up with BBC Earth to speak with Luca Gamberini of Nemo’s Garden to ask: Is the future of farming underwater?

Nemo’s Garden is working to create an alternative system of agriculture that uses the oceans and other bodies of water to establish a more sustainable way of farming. In this episode, host Rachael Funnell speaks to Gamberini about the complexities of farming underwater and how their innovative agricultural practices could help to protect and conserve the planet.

This episode is presented in partnership with BBC Earth as part of #OurGreenPlanet – an impact initiative that aims to protect our green spaces by sharing the extraordinary stories of people around the globe dedicating their lives to positive change. In association with Moondance Foundation.

How Will The Universe End?

Studying the Universe told us the cosmos began with the Big Bang. But how will everything end? In a cold and desolate nothingness? Or will everything collapse back into itself in a Big Crunch? In this episode, host Dr Alfredo Carpineti is joined by theoretical astrophysicist Dr Katie Mack, the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at the Perimeter Institute, who has written extensively about the subject. Together they discuss what the curtain call of the Universe might look like. 

What Is The Universe Made Of?

Everything we see and interact with, regular matter, is only a small fraction of what the universe contains. In fact, the vast majority of the universe is invisible to us. We've named these mysterious components dark matter and dark energy, but our understanding of them – and if they even exist – remains lacking. To unravel more of this mystery, Dr Alfredo Carpineti sat down with Dr Mandeep Gill from the Dark Energy Survey collaboration to ask: Will the new generation of upcoming observatories help us understand what the universe is really made of?

Can We Achieve Unlimited Energy?

Humanity's ever-growing need for energy has led to a world that is dramatically changing, ravaged by extreme weather events. The way we get power has to change. Our question in this episode is about a potential new approach. Can we master nuclear fusion and achieve unlimited energy? Our host Dr Alfredo Carpineti talks to Dr Elise Delchambre of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France – the world's largest fusion experiment – about nuclear fusion, the many challenges ahead, and how it might change the world. 

What Is Consciousness?

Of all the mysteries of the universe, none is closer to us as human beings than this one: what is consciousness? How does our brain turn electrical signals into thoughts and feelings? In this episode, host Dr Alfredo Carpineti and Professor Liad Mudrik from the School of Psychological Sciences And Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University discuss these questions and more as they try and get to the bottom of what is consciousness?

Can We Stop Or Reverse Climate Change?

The climate crisis is unfolding around us with extreme weather events becoming more common and living organisms having to survive or perish in a changing world. In this episode, host Dr Alfredo Carpineti sat down with Dr Alexandre Kōberle, a research fellow at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, to discuss how we got here, how we can avoid the worse case scenarios, what political will is needed, and if there are ways to actually fix the mess we are in? 

Are We Alone In The Universe?

From extraterrestrial intelligence to simple life forms, the Universe might be teeming with life. Can we find and communicate with these life forms? IFLScience spoke to Dr Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute to tackle the fundamental question: are we alone in the Universe?

The Big Questions Trailer

A little teaser for our upcoming podcast