Simon and Rachel are live at the Bluedot festival. They are joined by geomicrobiologist, Sarah Jones, and Holly Shiels, reader in cardiac physiology at the University of Manchester.

Episode summary

The news is first up as we explore some of the latest human enhancements around the globe. Sarah has a story about some scientists working on the first synthetic microbiome – but how do we ensure it stays in the body?

Holly has discovered that bubble wrap is to be placed on the surface of Mars to encourage terraforming. Rach is deeply concerned that Elon Musk is trying to take over our brains.

Next: pitches from our guest experts, the studio audience and Mother Nature herself.

Rach is looking for ways to make her brain more efficient. Holly thinks it would be a great idea to purify the air with our nose hairs. Sarah suggests we eat rocks. The audience want pimped tastebuds, double jointedness and zoom vision. Simon's suggestion from nature is to borrow the super-power of the Chinese water turtle so that he doesn’t have to get up so much in the night.

Which will make it onto the shortlist?

Mentioned this episode

Neural lace: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/17/20697812/elon-musk-neuralink-ai-brain-implant-thread-robot

Terraforming Mars: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/15/scientists-work-out-way-to-make-mars-surface-fit-for-farming

Creating a synthetic microbiome: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180831090941.htm

The Chinese water turtle: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121012-turtles-urine-pee-mouth-science-animals-weird/

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