Under Pressure: Nitrogen Narcosis | Luke McGuinness

FameLab Ireland Final 2014 Luke McGuinness describes Nitrogen Narcosis, seen in scuba divers who have dived to depths where their bodies were under so much pressure that the Nitrogen in their lungs has actually compressed so much that it can slip into our blood stream and wreak havoc with our nervous system. Luke is an NIHR Research Fellow at University of Bristol and an MSc Epidemiology candidate at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. One day he hopes to impact on the understanding of the genetic causes of disease, in particular neuro-degenerative diseases. Luke was previously a part-time Mediator in the Science Gallery, is a partner on FameLab Dublin and loves telling people about science, even if they didn’t specifically ask. As an avid scuba diver, Luke has spent previous summers abroad teaching kids and adults how to scuba dive, while slowly turning a nice lobster-red colour. He also, despite assurances from his friends, truly believes that bow-ties and fezzes are cool.