2004 Series Oct-Dec

Chris Smith

This week Professor John Zarnecki, from the Open University, joins us to discuss the Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and Ministry of Defence (MOD) official Nick Pope, who headed the government's UFO desk for 3 years, talks about UFOs and listens to your close encounters of the third kind !

Chris Smith

Adel Fattah

This week the world of bacteria, fungi, viruses and superbugs goes under the microscope. Microbiologist Dr Mark Farrington discusses the worsening issue of antibiotic resistance and the MRSA problem. He is joined by Nottingham University bacteriologist Dr Liz Sockett who works on Bdellovibrio, a predatory bacterium that hunts down other bacteria and might be useful as a 'living' antibiotic, and Professor Nick Mann, from Warwick University, who is developing bacteriophages (viruses that can attack bacteria including MRSA) that can safely be applied to wounds, in a dressing or as a nose-spray, to eliminate the carriage of bacteria, or infection.

Chris Smith

Helen Scales

Today's show is dedicated to the science of light. Professor Robin Clarke, from University College London, joins us to talk about the use of Raman spectroscopy to date paintings and manuscripts, to identify pigments, and spot forgeries. Also in the studio is Professor David Philips, from Imperial College London, who joins us to discuss the therapeutic applications of light including photodynamic therapy for the treatment of cancers, light-therapy for the treatment of neonatal jaundice, and a laser-toothbrush he's currently working on.

Chris Smith

Helen Scales

In the run up to World AIDS week consultant GU medicine physician Dr Sarah Edwards joins us to talk about the present epidemic of sexually transmitted infections including chlamydia, HIV, herpes, syphilis and gonorrhoea, and Prof. Margaret Stanley, from the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge, discusses how she has developed a vaccine against human papilloma virus (HPV), the agent which causes cervical cancer. Also joining us on the show is Dr. Helen McShane, from Oxford University, to talk about a new vaccine she has developed to combat the huge global problem of tuberculosis (TB).

Chris Smith

Catherine Hawkins

In today's show, we discuss the weather, climate change, and the hole in the ozone layer. From the University of East London Drs. Tom Hill and Bruce Moffett discuss how they have discovered cloud-living bacteria that could be responsible for triggering rainfall, and Dr. Brian Gardiner, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) describes how he and 2 colleagues first discovered the ozone hole in the mid 1980's, why it forms in Antarctica, and how CFCs contribute to ozone-depletion. Also, Rosemary joins us to talk about the benefits of Aloe Vera, and space scientist Dr. Julian Osbourne drops in to tell us about the launch of Swift, a satellite intended to look for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

In today's show we will be talking about origins. Prof. Charles Cockell will be discussing how asteroid impact craters can tell us how life evolved on early Earth, Dr Armand Leroi explains how comparing the genomes of chimps and humans can teach us about man's evolution, Dr Dana Mackenzie talks about the origin of the moon, and Dr Mike Hobson explains how our solar system formed in the first place.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

We talk to Helen Czerski about blowing things up John Emsley talks about chemistry in general and Ron Lancaster explains how he makes fireworks. Plus why reading poetry is good for your health and why you should only eat one magnet at a time.

Chris Smith

Catherine Hawkins

Paranormal investigator and vice-president of Society for Psychical Research, Tony Cornell, describes his life spent hunting for hauntings and tackling your spooky experiences during a live Halloween phone-in, and Simon Singh joins us to talk about his latest book - Big Bang - which probes the origins of the universe.

Chris Smith

Helen Scales

We look at the upcoming mission to Saturn's moon Titan with John Zarnecki, and we are also talking to Corrine Duhig about how to reconstruct a face from a long dead skull.

Chris Smith

Adel Fattah

On today's show dream expert and psychologist Dr. Mark Blagrove, from the University of Swansea, joins us to discuss why we dream, and how what you read about or do during the day can affect your dreams. Also joining us is body-clock scientist Dr. Mick Hastings, from the Cambridge MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, to talk about the nuts and bolts of the body clock and the sleep / wake cycle (also known as the circadian rhythm).