- Martin Westwell
The recently discovered traces of ricin in a makeshift laboratory in a flat in London have caused a media frenzy over its potential use in a terrorist attack. What is it?
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- Mark Tester
Genetic modification (GM) is the heritable alteration of the genetic make-up of an organism, and is a natural process as old as genes themselves. Mark has a look at artificial and natural genetic modification.
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- Christa Favot
The last time you opened wide, did you ever imagine that you were opening the door to what is essentially home to thousands of bacteria? Christa Favot introduces you to what's really living in your mouth, including plaque bacteria and biofilms.
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- Dana Mackenzie
George Bush's plan to establish a permanent base on the Moon by 2020, and send astronauts to Mars by 2030, has drawn a less than enthusiastic reaction. Why should we go back?
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- Catherine Zentile
Snowflakes form when water vapour condenses directly into ice crystals, and for many years writers have used their delicate beauty as a metaphor for fragility and uniqueness. But now scientists are studying these same qualities to understand one of the most important molecules on Earth – water.
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- Sarah Urquhart
A period, or menstruation, marks the beginning of the process by which the uterus, or womb, prepares itself for pregnancy. Sarah has a look at the process and what can go wrong including missed or late periods, intermenstrual bleeding, heavy periods, painful periods, pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), and the menopause.
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- Martin Westwell
Ask any A level physicist why we see the colours that we do and they should have no problem with the answer. Martin demonstrates the principle of constancy - how the brain processes vision and changes colours - so what you think you see and what you actually see are different.
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- Helen Carter
There are five million new cases of HIV internationally every year, and the virus is second only to tobacco as the leading cause of death worldwide. But what is HIV, how does it cause disease, what is AIDS, how do anti-AIDS drugs work, and what does HIV mean for Britain?
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- Claire McLoughlin
Claire McLoughlin describes the chemistry of love and what happens when we fall in love, including substances that make us feel turned on, the neurotransmitters involved in orgasm and pheromones, the mediators of sexual attraction.
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- Barrie Lancaster
They are found in well-organised groups; they communicate constantly through long ranging connections; there are 100,000,000,000 of them, surrounded by at least 10 times that many supporters, and they are all inside your head – they're brain cells, but how do they work?
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