Show Me the Science with Luke O'Neill Newstalk

What is the role of the brain in our immune response? We already know that the brain makes us feel rotten when we're sick so we stay away from the rest of the herd and don't spread the infection further. But, now there is new research into the brain stem which showcases the two neural pathways that increase and suppress inflammation.
While there are still questions to be answered about finding the right balance of suppressing inflammation without leaving us susceptible to infection, Luke explains why it's such an exciting breakthrough.

You know if things had worked out differently 800,000 years ago you wouldn't be here to listen to this podcast? There wouldn't even BE podcasts which is even more shocking to comprehend. In this week's episode Luke discusses how fossil records have recently revealed that there was a big disappearance of hominids which has led them to conclude that we may not have happened!

There is no doubting that A.I is here to stay and it is here to revolutionise pretty much every aspect of our lives. There has been many concerns as to what that future will look like but in this week's episode Luke tries to allay at least some of those fears by identifying 4 major benefits of A.I.

Utilizing our own immune systems to fight cancer has always been an interesting idea to scientists, and now there's serious progress being made in this filed that could see us developing personalized treatments for the disease.
Radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgeries are all useful treatments but a vaccine against the tumor could be much more effective without being as intrusive.
Luke explains how they might make these vaccines and gives the latest update on the clinical trials going on.

Between 1980 and 2009, the rate of twinning in the US increased by 76%, and this trend is seen across the world. Twins can be either fraternal where two eggs are fertilized at the same time, or identical where one fertilized egg splits in two. Both of these offer huge opportunities for scientists to learn about genetic traits and environmental impacts on development.
Luke explains what we've learned from twin studies and why they're so useful.

The Covid-19 pandemic may still be fresh in all our memories, but scientists are already looking ahead to the next big pandemic to allow us to prepare and get ahead of it.
A flu virus seems to be the most likely cause and in particular there is concern around the H5N1 strand which has now jumped from birds to cattle, and even a few dairy farmers. Human to human transmission is the next big warning sign which is being closely monitored.
Luke explains what we learned during the last pandemic to prevent the spread of another virus and another global lockdown.