IFLScience - The Big Questions – Details, episodes & analysis

Our Solar System is very stable. Planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets go forth in their orbit without trouble. But it won't be like this forever. The future of the solar system will have major changes in the Sun and in the planets. We spoke with astronomer Dr Jon Zink to cast our mind's eye far into the future and explore the end of the solar system.

Hinging our happiness on animals known to have a significantly shorter lifespan than our own was, in hindsight, a bad idea. Saying goodbye to a pet is an incredibly painful time in a person’s life, but what if there were a way we could help our pets live longer, better lives?

That’s exactly what Celine Halioua has been exploring as CEO and founder of Loyal, a biotech startup developing drugs to extend dog lifespan. Join host Rachael Funnell as she finds out if science really can help dogs live longer. 

There are many methods that allow us to look back into Earth’s past and study its climate, including the collection of ice cores. Extracting ancient ice from deep inside some of the most remote glaciers can reveal how our planet has changed over millions of years. But it’s not just about the past: what is ancient ice telling us about the future?

Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke with Dr Liz Thomas of the Ice Core Research Group at the British Antarctic Survey to discuss how understanding Earth’s changing climate helps refine our models for the future and how the natural world is responding to the unfolding climate crisis.

The Sun shapes what goes on in space around our planet. Plasma from our star is continuously thrown at Earth in the form of solar winds or coronal mass ejections, changing the shape of the magnetic field, and affecting the atmosphere and anything in it, like the satellites that we depend on. These changes are part of what we call space weather.

Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke to Dr Nigel Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey about what space weather actually is and how it affects us. We even have some incredible recordings of what these space weather events sound like! 

The path beyond the limits of regular computers, even the most powerful supercomputer, lies with the theory of quantum mechanics. Quantum computing promises to change the world, but how do quantum computers work, and how close are we to this fabled new approach to computation?

Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke with Professor Winfried Hensinger, Professor of Quantum Technology at the University of Sussex, to discuss why we need quantum computers, what they would be used for, and why it's taking so long to get them.   

In this age of climate change, habitat loss, and destruction of the natural world, we take an in-depth look at one endangered species in particular: the northern white rhino. Just two females remain in the world and neither are capable of carrying a pregnancy. With such constraints in place, we ask the experts if it's possible to save a species on the very brink of extinction.

Host Eleanor Higgs spoke with Dr Susanne Holtze from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research to discuss if and how it might be possible to use genetics research to save the northern white rhino from extinction and whether we should even try.

Space junk is a problem and it’s only set to get worse. In 2018, there were over 2,000 satellites in orbit. Now, thanks to mega-constellations like Starlink, there are 9,000 satellites, and by the end of the decade, this number is expected to reach 60,000. A crowded space environment runs the risk of Kessler Syndrome, where there is so much pollution in orbit that collisions between objects become inevitable, and produce even more space junk.

Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke with space environmentalist Professor Moriba Jah from the University of Texas at Austin to discuss why space junk is such a big deal and how we can make space safe, secure, and sustainable.

Polar bears have long been the poster animal and early warning system for all things climate change. We asked experts what is really going on with the “white hairy canaries” of the Arctic. 

Host Eleanor Higgs spoke with Alysa McCall, Polar Bears International Staff Scientist and Director of Conservation Outreach, on the polar bear monster truck to find out all about the Hudson Bay polar bear population, how “bear-dar” AI is used to protect communities, and to answer the question: How Is Climate Change Affecting Polar Bear Populations?

In the 30 years since the Spielberg movie came out, people from all walks of life have wondered if bringing back dinosaurs is possible, and we couldn’t let the anniversary pass without asking scientists working on dinosaurs and cloning if such a feat is feasible.

IFLScience’s Digital Content Producer Rachael Funnell spoke with Dr. Susie Maidment from the Natural History Museum London and Ben Lamm from Colossal Biosciences to ask a question 66 million 30 years in the making: Is Jurassic Park possible?

For as long as humans have walked this Earth, we have been using chemicals to alter our state of mind. Drugs and alcohol have been used in rituals and medication, for inspiration and escapism, as well as a way to cope with the world. Only in more recent decades have we begun to appreciate the physiological effects that substances have on our brains through science. Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke to neuropsychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt about these effects and a new approach to manufacturing alcohol without the negative consequences.