Science Week on RTÉ

RTÉ is marking Science Week 2021 with a wide range of science-themed content across RTÉ television, radio, and online, from Sunday 7th November until Sunday 14th November.

 

After a year in which global science and health news dominated our lives, this year’s Science Week on RTÉ programme has something for everyone. And we’re live once again as Future Ireland returns to RTÉ One with Liz Bonnin and Professor Luke O’Neill, who’ll discuss some of the biggest questions regarding Ireland’s future.

 

 

(LIVE from Explorium, Dublin on RTÉ One, from 7-8pm on November 9th, 10th and 11th)

 

Exactly one year ago, the first Covid 19 vaccines were approved. A year is a long time in science. What will the next year bring? Future Island returns to look ahead and give us a glimpse of all our futures.

 

At the centre of it all is the unique partnership of Liz Bonnin and Professor Luke O’Neill. Known as a science, natural history and environmental broadcaster Liz has a fascination in how science affects every aspect of our lives. And Professor Luke O’Neill brings his unique insight and incredible talent for explaining complex ideas.

 

They will be joined by science demonstrator Phil Smyth who is back to create controlled mayhem as he actively tackles the theory with the practical.

 

With a mix of live studio guests and demos plus illuminating films Future Island will seek to inform and entertain in all that is happening in the world of science. We will reveal the science fact from the science fiction and look at how Irish innovators are changing the world.

 

Possibly the world’s most famous physicist and former musician Brian Cox will join us to chat about physics and the Cosmos and to share the science of sporting success and safety we will welcome the Olympic bronze medallists – the women’s four rowing team made up of Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty – as well as rugby legend Donncha O’Callaghan.

 

The series will also feature Home School Hub and Today presenter Emer O’Neill, comedian and lapsed engineer Colm O’Regan, meteorologist Gerald Fleming and marine scientist and author Finn van der Aar.

 

Future Island will be broadcast live from Explorium, Dublin’s sport and science centre in Sandyford. Future Island is a Loosehorse production for RTÉ.

 

The Ray Darcy Radio Show on RTÉ Radio One will again partner up with the show across the week.

 

(RTÉ One, 10.15pm on 11th November 11th (50-mins))

 

Limerick-born Dr. Phil Kennedy was once a famous neuroscientist. In the late 1990’s he made global headlines for implanting several wire electrodes in the brain of a paralysed man and then teaching the locked-in patient to control a computer cursor with his mind. The Washington Post compared him to Alexander Graham Bell in and became known as ‘The Father of the Cyborgs’. In 2014, he made headlines by having tiny electrodes implanted inside his own brain in order to continue his research.

 

This TV-version of the documentary which wowed critics at the Tribeca Film Festival examines the ethics of self-experimentation and the unintended consequences of a future where technology and human brains combine.

 

(RTÉ One, 8.30pm, Monday 8th November)

 

After a difficult year, which saw science and global health play a central role in our lives an even greater understanding and awareness of the interconnections between humans and our planet have never been more important. Cue Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, Kathriona Devereux and Jonathan McCrea who are back to reveal how Irish research is helping drive us towards a brighter, better world.

 

(RTEjr, Monday 8th November)

 

The new season of Let’s Find Out, the Science Foundation Ireland supported children’s TV series launches on RTEjr on Monday November 8th, during Science Week on RTÉ.

 

The show takes place on the spaceship Curiosity which is captained by a very curious alien called Zoom. Each episode sees Zoom find out something new about planet earth. Her crewmates Amy and Mark are scientists. Along with some curious children, they help Zoom with experiments and demos and end with a trip to a far-off place.

 

This season Zoom and Mark are joined by new crew member, scientist Amy Hassett. Let’s Find Out is produced by stop.watch productions for RTEjr with the support of Science Foundation Ireland.

(RTÉ One, 10.40pm on Wednesday 10th November)

 

Few people need convincing that the world requires a whole lot of fixing right now. Beyond the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, there are monumental times ahead, from climate change to broader societal challenges. It’s clear that our most likely saviour will be science. We’ve already witnessed vaccine innovation in a race against time, but parallel to this are the big, bold disruptive ideas being brought to life in our universities, hospitals, farms, and even back gardens.

 

In order to help catapult Irish innovation to the world stage, and effect change globally, Science Foundation Ireland launched the Future Innovator Prize which made €4m available across two challenges – AI for Societal Good and Zero Emissions – ensuring the competition offered Irish science the money to match its ambition.

 

Science To The Rescue is an hour-long documentary, presented by Trevor Vaugh (Big Life Fix) that gets up close and personal with some of the challenge teams as they tried to win the prize funds. As the clock ticks down, we learn about the motivation behind their work and meet some of those who will benefit from their breakthroughs.

 

From a chance discovery in the lab which could lead to Ireland’s first fully green battery, to a lifesaving blood test for the diagnosis of preeclampsia, a condition that affects one in ten women in pregnancy, it was a tough ask for the international panel of judges. One of Ireland’s biggest carbon offenders, agriculture, was also tackled, as well as climate change adaptation in the developing world.

 

This unique insight offers a reminder of the possibilities within STEM, while also being a celebration of our scientists.

 

Further information, see:

 

 

 

 

Get our morning and on-line forecasts live from Future Island, and across the week.

 

 

Check out rte.ie/Learn for a quick roundup which will let people know all the fun online and interactive events on each day of science week.

 

 

RTÉ Player will have hours of great science content for you to enjoy, including features and documentaries.

 

 

RTÉ’s home for new ideas and insights, will publish a series of features, podcasts and videos during Science Week on such topics as DNA tests, the human genome, renewable energy, who controls the internet, what worms tell us about human disorders and much more.

 

Science Week on RTÉ is supported by Science Foundation Ireland.

 

For more on Science Week on RTÉ visit www.rte.ie/scienceweek. You can also stay up to date on RTÉ’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #scienceweek