Discovery

BBC World Service•www.bbc.co.uk

Science

Explorations in the world of science.

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Episodes

19/12/2011 GMT

The Higgs particle is the final cornerstone of scientists’ model of the material universe. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN was built so researchers could discover it. Last week, they announced a partial sighting – the ghost of a Higgs particle hoving into view in their plethora of data. But it could be just a phantom, and may start to fade with more data next year. Roland Pease meets the scientists who are chasing this legendary particle, and gets exclusive access to the preparations for next ...

Dec 19, 2011•18 min

Antivirals

An increasing understanding of genetics has uncovered new targets for antiviral drug treatments. Although still in the very early stages, scientists say they may be able to develop drug treatments which can be used against a range of viruses. At present antiviral drugs are very specific, usually attacking just one virus. However the research which Kevin Fong examines in this edition of Discovery suggests 'broad spectrum antivirals', drugs capable of curing all viral infections from the common co...

Dec 12, 2011•18 min

05/12/2011 GMT

When leptin failed to be a wonder solution to obesity, this hormone produced by fat cells, disappeared from the headlines. Twenty years on scientists now believe leptin is critical to how the body works, regulating appetite, the immune response, inflammation and depression. Vivienne Parry investigates.

Dec 05, 2011•18 min

Antarctic subglacial lake exploration

One hundred years since humans first ventured to the South Pole, we are on the verge of a new era in Antarctic exploration. In Discovery, Andrew Luck-Baker talks to scientists who'll soon be entering the last untouched realms on the planet. They are poised to drill into ancient lakes trapped beneath thousands of metres of polar ice. British, Russian and United states scientists all have ambitious projects underway to do this. Among other quests, they will search for unique forms of life in these...

Nov 28, 2011•18 min

Neutrinos

For six months, CERN scientists guarded the best kept secret in science - that they'd seen tiny subatomic particles called neutrinos breaking the universal speed limit. The measurements were at the boundaries of scientific techniques - the discrepancy was just 10s of nanoseconds; parts of their apparatus barely ran at that speed. For six months they checked and then re- checked again every step of their analysis. And still the result held up. When the results were finally released at the end of ...

Nov 21, 2011•18 min

14/11/2011 GMT

In the second of a two-part Discovery series, Robots that Care, Jon Stewart visits research institutes in the USA and UK to explore the brave new ideas about how robots may be able to help humans on a one-to-one basis. He talks to key roboticists in Japan, Europe and the USA, their collaborators and volunteers about the practicalities and ethics of using robots to help people. A number of studies have been done and more are underway in the use of robots for people wanting to lose weight and for ...

Nov 14, 2011•18 min

Robots that Care

In the first of a two-part series, Jon Stewart charts the advances in robotics that are increasingly leading to direct one-to-one contact between humans and robots. Jon visits robotocists and their collaborators in the US and UK and asks how the robots will be used in the future. He examines the way cinema has shaped our ideas of robots and investigates the gulf between our expectations of what robots can do and the reality. A fundamental question that scientists are posing is how we should cons...

Nov 07, 2011•18 min

India's e-governance project

Angela Saini reports from India on the country’s vast e-governance project aimed at driving out corruption, reducing bureaucracy and getting the nation’s 1.2 billion people online. Everything from a country-wide unique ID scheme (based on the iris system – Biometrics), to a roll out of service kiosks where everything from a parking fine to a death certificate can be issued. One of the main drivers behind this is immense task reducing both corruption and bureaucracy by going electronic - that's t...

Oct 31, 2011•18 min

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Discovery

Episodes

19/12/2011 GMT

Antivirals

05/12/2011 GMT

Antarctic subglacial lake exploration

Neutrinos

14/11/2011 GMT

Robots that Care

India's e-governance project

24/10/2011 GMT

17/10/2011 GMT

10/10/2011 GMT

03/10/2011 GMT

26/09/2011 GMT

19/09/2011 GMT

12/09/2011 GMT

05/09/2011 GMT

29/08/2011 GMT

22/08/2011 GMT

15/08/2011 GMT

08/08/2011 GMT

01/08/2011 GMT

25/07/2011 GMT

18/07/2011 GMT

11/07/2011 GMT

04/07/2011 GMT

27/06/2011 GMT

20/06/2011 GMT

13/06/2011 GMT

06/06/2011 GMT

30/05/2011 GMT