In this episode we try to make sense of our emotions.

Culturally speaking – we view emotions as distinct archetypes. We all recognise the sudden rage provoked by a dangerous driver or the kind of joy that puppy inspires. But according to Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, not all of us experience and express these emotions in the same way.

Her new book, How Emotions are Made (Pan Macmillan, £9.99), challenges our current understanding of emotions. In it she describes how our feelings aren’t as clear cut as we think that instead, they’re complex psychological experiences crafted in moment and shaped by lives.

She speaks to sciencefocus.com Editor Alexander McNamara about what happens in our brains when we create emotions, how to control them, and what this means for the future of artificial intelligence.

How emotions are made

In this episode we speak to renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku about the future of the human race.

Little over one hundred years ago, the very idea of flight was nothing more than fantasy. Fast forward to today, and astronauts have landed on the Moon, we’ve a permanent space station in orbit around the planet and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are leading the charge to create rockets that can send people into space time and time again. 

So why are we spending so much time and resources trying to escape the confines of planet Earth? As theoretical physicist Michio Kaku explains in his new book, The Future of Humanity, life on this planet is fraught with danger - be it through natural disasters like the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, or man made climate change - so multiplanetary life is key to the survival of the humanity.

He speaks to sciencefocus.com Editor Alexander McNamara about how the human race can prepare for life on other planets, what we can expect when we get there, and who else might be paying attention to our progress.

The future of humanity with Michio Kaku

In this episode we delve into the world of cognitive enhancement.

There’s a growing community of people out there who are attempting to boost their brain power by taking smart drugs and zapping their brains with electricity. In his new book, The Genius Within, David Adam turns human guinea pig and tries out some of these mind hacks for himself, taking the smart drug modafinil and stimulating his brain with electricity.

Along the way, he attempts to cheat his way into Mensa, and asks what it’ll mean for society if these kinds of brain enhancers one day become widespread.

He speaks to BBC Focus magazine staff writer James Lloyd

Disclaimer: doctors recommend that you do not take modafinil without an official prescription, and scientists still do not know what the long-term impacts of electrical brain stimulation could be.

Adventures in brain enhancement

In today’s episode, we’re talking about Exploding Head Syndrome. It sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but in reality, it’s a sleep disorder where sufferers hear a deafening bang just before they fall asleep.

Little is known about the condition, so last year, the Focus team and a group of scientists from Goldsmiths University, Harvard Medical School and Argosy University launched a study to find out more. The goal was to get a sense of how common the condition might actually be and hopefully to crowdsource the beginnings of a treatment for it.

The results of our experiment will be published later in the year in BBC Focus magazine, but with World Sleep Day just around the corner, we thought it this would be a good moment to catch up with professor Brian Sharpless, one of the world’s leading experts on the syndrome and one of the scientists leading our study.

Exploding Head Syndrome

Some of the brightest names in science and technology talk to the BBC Focus magazine team about the ideas and breakthroughs shaping our world. Every issue our team of scientists, doctors and expert writers explain how advances in science and technology are creating a better, brighter future.

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