2006 Series Oct-Dec

Phil Rosenberg

Chris Smith

Cancer biology goes under the microscope this week, as Professor Gerard Evan from the University of California San Francisco talks about the causes of cancer and how cancer spreads around the body. Also on the show, and joining us live from the National Cancer Research Institute Conference, is Professor Fran Balkwill from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, who will be discussing cancer treatments and the development of targeted therapies, and Dr Kat Arney, who will be talking about the latest news in cancer research. We also travel Stateside for a Science Update from Bob and Chelsea, hear from Dr Michael Halpern from the Union of Concerned Scientists about governments interfering with scientific research, and experience the deep freeze with a couple of balloons and some liquid nitrogen in Kitchen Science.

Chris Smith

Phil Rosenberg

Dave Ansell

Answering all your cosmic conundrums this week are Drs. Chris, Dave and Phil who discuss why blood is red, the size of the ozone hole, how to make magnets, the best way to get rid of excess mucus, and sticking with the gooey theme, Professor Adam Summers from the University of California Irvine discusses how some tarantulas keep a firm hold on the ground by producing sticky silk in their feet. Moving much further away from terra firma, New Horizons scientist Dr Hal Weaver from Johns Hopkins University talks about the mission to Pluto, what they hope to find there and why the Kuiper Belt objects are so intriguing, and in Kitchen Science, Derek Thorne and Hugh Hunt carry out their own launch by throwing engineering textbooks high into the air.