Angela Scanlon brings us human life from birth to death and everything in between in Growing Up, Live on RTÉ One as part of Science Week 2018. Featured on the programme are "sibling scientists" (although they're not loving that title, Ray) Dr Deirdre Robertson and Dr Ruairi Robertson who spoke to Ray D'Arcy about some of the fascinating subjects they study and mention on the programme. Deirdre is a psychologist who works with the Behavioural Research Unit of the ESRI and told Ray about the connection between how we think and how we age.
"Nobody is saying that you don't age… but what we know is that the psychology can exacerbate (things)… If you think, I'm going to slow down, and that changes your behaviour so you become less physically active or you're less inclined to become socially engaged, that can become a self-fulfilling prophesy."
Ruairi enlightened Ray on the "hottest topic" in science at the moment, which is looking at the ecosystem of our gut. How is that achieved? you might well ask, and it would be a good question. Ruairi assessed the bacterial balance of Peter Stringer. "You analysed his poo," said Ray. "I didn't personally but somebody did," clarified Ruairi. It turns out Peter's, eh, sample, showed that he had 93 different types of bacteria in his gut. A normal, healthy gut has about 60 different strands, so Peter is ahead of the game and doing well in the self-care stakes. The way the bacteria affects our overall health is no joke.
"They can affect us in so many different ways and I suppose they can affect our weight, they can affect our blood sugar and all these physical things but the most interesting area these days is looking at how it can also affect our central nervous system so they can affect our brain and how we think and how maybe our brains function in the long term."
Ways to optimise our gut bacteria include avoiding unnecessary antibiotics and maintaining a high fibre diet, with plentiful supplies of fruit and veg.
Before heading off, Deirdre and Ruairi conducted an on-air hearing test that reveals the age of your ears which you can participate in by listening back to their interview here.