Broadcast live from the hallowed halls of the Anatomy Museum in Trinity College, Dublin, 'Growing Up Live' has kicked off with an episode as surprising, fascinating and jam-packed as the first few months of parenthood.
Presented by Angela Scanlon, the first episode charts the incredible progress of humans starting from birth and how we are hardwired in the womb. Supported by Science Foundation Ireland as part of Science Week 2018, Growing Up, Live will continue throughout the week and track human life from birth to death and everything in-between with a series of experiments and studies.
A live audience will marvel at the survival techniques logged in our genes and passed down through generations, with demonstrations from The Coombe hospital testing everything from movement to reflexes inherited from monkeys, and showing just how resilient even newborn babies are.
The realities of childbirth, and especially C-sections, are explored in great detail, with experts explaining how C-sections change the very health of your baby from the moment it's born and how to bear this in mind.
Next, we'll be plunged into the dark and confusing recesses of the teenage brain, a vastly different organ from the adult brain and a hotbed of complex hormonal changes. Experts will answer that eternal question: why are teenagers so difficult to understand, explaining the science behind their profound mood changes and helping us to move beyond the bad rep teens get.
As well as this, they will explore the teenage appetite for risk by speaking to some young motocross fanatics, which might help explain just why you were so volatile as a teenager.
Fresh from their celebrated appearance on The Rotunda, Rosemary and Stephen Murphy drop by the studio to talk about life with all ten of their children. Another beloved figure drops by the museum as Munster and Ireland rugby legend Peter Stringer visits to discuss his career, his famous stature and how his body rejected growth hormone treatment as a child.
The show will also explore how robots are learning the secrets of human life from babies, the importance of gut health and the medical marvel that was Cornelius McGrath, the 18th-century "giant" whose skeleton - housed in the Anatomy Museum - is unlocking medical secrets today.
Growing Up, Live airs on the 13th, 14th and 15th of November at 7pm on RTÉ One.
