Navigating the Future

Can moonlight and a magnifying glass be used to start a fire? Why do bananas go brown and does it happen faster in the fridge or the fruitbowl? Why are ice and snow slippery? And how does flyspray wor...

22 Okt 20111h 1min

This week, Plant Pests and Plant Pathology - we find out what happens when plants get ill, how to understand and prevent the spread of plant disease, and how they can call up an insect army to defend ...

15 Okt 20111h 9min

This week, we're investigating alternatives to petrol. We'll board a biofuel powered bus to meet the plant scientists who are using algae to make biodiesel. We'll find out how to turn household wast...

8 Okt 20111h 3min

Could a Siphon be used in orbit? Why do leaves change colour in Autumn? How is immunity passed from mother to baby through breastfeeding? Why do earthquakes happen away from plate boundaries? How do m...

1 Okt 20111h 7min

We've whipped up an appetising take on the science of food and cooking for you this week. With a main course of cookery in the kitchen served up by a cake-baking physicist followed by a microbiologica...

24 Sep 20111h 10min

This week, we're chilling out in the world of cryogenics, the science of the super-cold. We'll find out what happens to living tissue when it freezes, and how we can use low temperatures to keep organ...

17 Sep 20111h 3min

This week, we seek the science of supercomputers! We find out how they work, and how they can answer some of the biggest questions in science. We also hear about the World Community Grid, which offe...

10 Sep 201157min

Reader in evolution at Wits University, Lee Berger, made a life-changing discovery when he uncovered the remains of a new species of hominid, Australopithecus sediba, in South Africa. Here, Chris Smit...

7 Sep 201137min