IFLScience - We Have Questions

Can We Preserve A Human Brain For Upload (And Why Aren't Transplants An Option)?

When we talk about death, we often say things along the lines of “it's a fact of life,” but the view can be very different when you’re facing the real and imminent prospect of no longer existing. Given the chance, can we be so sure that we wouldn’t try anything for a little more time?

According to neuroscientist Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston, most of the general public would like 10 years more life than they’re statistically likely to get when asked “how long do you want to live?”, and it seems the hunger for more doesn’t diminish as time goes by.

So, what if there was a way that we could postpone the seemingly inevitable by capturing the essence of who a person was, and storing it until future technologies enable us to bring them back? If we found a way to lock in someone’s way of thinking, their memories, and all the parts that make them unique, could we postpone death indefinitely? And why is it nobody’s tried just popping someone’s brain in another body? Join us as we explore all of this and more in this special bumper episode of We Have Questions.

Why Does Snow Sometimes Look Blue?

Snow is beautiful, but also powerful and destructive – and, if we’re honest, a bit confusing. For something made entirely of water, it can come in many forms: light and fluffy, sticky and heavy, shaped like a perfect snowflake, or falling in needle-like flecks. Its consistency changes a lot, but so does its color, which got us wondering: why does snow sometimes look blue?

To find out, we reached out to Dr Andrew Schwartz at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab in California. As no strangers to snow, and we were delighted to learn that yes, their research sometimes does involve just frolicking in the stuff.

Why Don’t Animals Have To Brush Their Teeth?

Wake up? Brush your teeth. Going to bed? Brush your teeth. The dental routine of being a human can be a bit monotonous, but it’s an important step towards maintaining a happy mouth. It can be slightly baffling, then, to spot a photo of a bonobo with a seemingly perfect grin. How are wild animals getting away with it as we dutifully march off to our next dental hygienist appointment? Why don’t animals have to brush their teeth?

It's a question that led us to the office of Peter Kertesz, who, as well as seeing human patients, is Dental Consultant to ZSL London Zoo and numerous other wildlife establishments around the world. A quick glance at his website shows Kertesz tending to the teeth of everything from elephants to tigers and dolphins with the help of dental nurse Monika Mazurkiewicz.

We sat down with Kertesz to find out more about what it’s really like doing dentistry on non-human species, and why their days aren’t bookended by scrubbing their mouth bones.

What Happens To Eyes During The Mummification Process?

The mummification process is perhaps one of the most talked about aspects of Ancient Egyptian life. It highlights the morbid curiosity shared by those of us alive at a time when funerary practices have gone in a different direction. It’s also a skewed view, offering us insights into the death rituals of only the ancient very rich.

The complex process of mummification is one we’re still trying to understand, not least because trying to step into the mindset of people living thousands of years ago is tricky when you’re burdened with the cultural norms of the 21st century. We know a bit about what they did to their skin, we know a bit about what they did to their organs, but that got us wondering – what happened to the eyes?

We sat down with Egyptologist Dr Campbell Price, Curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum, UK, and author of Brief Histories: Ancient Egypt, to find out. And I must say, I wasn’t expecting the onions.

How Do You Rediscover A “Lost” Species?

DNA analysis confirmed in 2023 that a trapdoor spider lost to science had been rediscovered in the Portuguese village it was named after following a 92-year disappearance. Fagilde’s trapdoor spider (Nemesia berlandi) was first described in 1931 before apparently dropping out of existence – but all that changed when an expedition team happened to look under just the right rock. 

It marked the 12th “most wanted” lost species to be rediscovered since Re:wild’s Search for Lost Species launched in 2017, which got us wondering: how on Earth does such an epic mission unfold? Fagilde’s trapdoor spider was rediscovered by an expedition team led by the Global Center for Species Survival at the Indianapolis Zoo, where Sérgio Henriques is the resident Invertebrate Conservation Coordinator. We caught up with Henriques to find out just how much work goes into tracking down a missing spider. 

Why Do Humans Play Games?

Stick two humans in an enclosed space with nothing to do, and before long, someone is likely to suggest a game of I Spy. Kids are so hot for smartphone games that it inspired its own meme format, and while certain generations might like to tell you this compulsion is a new thing – the fact is, humans have been playing games for thousands of years.

It’s believed that gaming actually predates language, begging the question: why do humans play games? We spoke to Kelly Clancy, a neuroscientist and author of Playing With Reality: How Games Shape Our World, to find out.

How Do You Begin Searching For Alien Life?

From the brain-exploding Martians of Mars Attacks! to the wonderful diversity of Men In Black’s extraterrestrial entourage, the possibility of alien life is a concept that has captured the imagination of our entire planet. Most of us only get to explore it at the movies – but for some scientists, the search for alien earths is at the core of their career. 

One such scientist is Professor Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer who quite literally wrote the book on Alien Earths. That was why we were so excited to catch up with her at CURIOUS Live to find out what the search for life elsewhere in the universe actually entails, and how we even know what to be on the lookout for. 

What Attacks You In The Most Remote Place On Earth?

Point Nemo is the most remote place on Earth, the coordinates where – most of the time – the nearest humans are those occasionally whizzing overhead on the International Space Station. They sail by at a lofty 408 kilometers (253 miles) above the water’s surface, but recently a father-son explorer duo went splashing through the waters of Point Nemo. 

Chris Brown is on a mission to become the first person to tick off traversing all of the “Poles Of Inaccessibility”, and on his latest adventure, he brought along his son, Mika. It would take them 2,688 kilometers (1,670 miles) from the nearest land – a journey that brought with it enormous swells, incredible sea sickness, and a surprise attack from an animal just as they reached the finish line. So, what was it?