Language is fundamental to who we are and what has makes us so successful as a species, and while all species have their own means of communicating, we are the only ones that seem to have mastered it.

But where did this ability to share complex ideas using sound come from? And what effect has it had on our development?

In this Futureproof special, Jonathan looks to unravel questions about the evolution of language, the impact it has on our brain, and how we might communicate with extraterrestrials if we were to encounter them.

- Mark Pagel, Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading

- Lera Boroditsky, Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at UCSD and author of '7,000 Universes: How the Languages We Speak Shape the Way We Think'

- Daniel Oberhaus, writer with 'Wired' and author of 'Extraterrestrial Languages'