Programme series
1 of 5 - Machines
Monday 17 October 2011 at 8pm
In tonight's episode Machines, the team showcase breakthroughs in technology and engineering that are creating a new generation of machines.
Mark Evans fuses his brain with a computer in Switzerland to test a new breed of machine. Kathy Sykes hits the streets of San Francisco to have the ride of her life as she experiences the future of transport in a driverless car.
In Italy Jim Al -Khalili comes face to face with a remarkable baby-like robot called iCub that learns like a child.
Joy Reidenberg discovers the extraordinary exoskeleton that can make the paralysed walk and give one man the strength of three and in the Canary islands Maggie Aderin-Pocock visits one of the world's biggest telescopes where they're searching for new planets in the furthest reaches of the universe that we could one day colonise.
Presenters:
Professor Stephen Hawking
Dr Maggie Aderin- Pocock
Mark Evans
Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Professor Kathy Sykes
Professor Joy Reidenberg
Programme 2 of 5 - Health
Monday 24 October 2011 at 8pm
In the second programme in the series our experts will examine how scientists are fighting for our survival by battling the world's big killer diseases.
Biologist Aarathi Prasad joins virus hunters in the jungles of Africa, Robert Winston sees first hand how the surgeons of the future could be robots, capable of operating round the clock, and Richard Dawkins investigates the way brain disorders might one day be treated using laser light and genetically modified brain cells.
Anatomist Joy Reidenberg discovers two possible solutions to the killer disease malaria and - most extraordinarily of all - Aarathi Prasad meets a woman whose life has been saved by a revolutionary new cancer treatment, in which every patient gets an individually tailored cocktail of drugs.
From the jungles of Cameroon to the quads of Oxford, the programme will celebrate the work of scientists striving to extend and save our lives.
Presenters:
Professor Stephen Hawking
Dr Aarathi Prasad
Professor Robert Winston
Professor Joy Reidenberg
Professor Richard Dawkins
Programme 3 of 5 - Technology
Monday 31 October 2011 at 8pm
In the third programme our experts explore how 21st Century Technology is shaping our future by changing the way we live, the way we communicate and our perception of the Universe.
Physicist Kathy Sykes explores how our mobile phones can give experts access to our every habit and action - a brave new world in which it's hard to keep a secret but where urban planners can build cities around our needs. Designer Max Lamb witnesses the dawn of a new era in manufacturing where lasers are printing objects in 3D and Stephen Hawking charts the rise of the former internet entrepreneur who is transforming space exploration.
Environmental scientist Tara Shine visits an experimental new city in the desert where the citizens get about by unmanned pod car and Kathy Sykes descends 2 kilometres underground to explore how scientists are using technology to study the most mysterious particles in the universe.
From spaceship factories in California to one of the world's largest subterranean laboratories in northern Canada, the programme uncovers the technology that is shaping our future.
Presenters:
Professor Stephen Hawking
Professor Kathy Sykes
Max Lamb
Tara Shine
Programme 4 of 5 - Environment
Monday 7 November 2011 at 8pm
In the penultimate programme in the series science turns super-hero as it battles to save the planet and preserve the human race.
In California, physicist Jim Al-Khalili sees how the power of the world's largest laser could create a fuel to answer all our needs, while at Longleat Sir David Attenborough helps collect the DNA of an elephant for the Frozen Ark - a project to save all the world's species from extinction. Mark Evans discovers a scientist in Holland who is growing pork in a petri dish - a way to feed the world and free up land from grazing animals.
Jim Al-Khalili also meets the scientist in Louisianna who thinks he has found a microbe which can help clean up oil spills and Maggie Aderin Pocock gazes into the face of the sun at NASA's solar laboratory where they are learning how to predict solar storms.
From the DNA banks at the Natural History Museum to the bayous of Louisiana the programme celebrates the extraordinary efforts of scientists to preserve our future.
Presenters:
Professor Stephen Hawking
Sir David Attenborough
Mark Evans
Dr Maggie Aderin- Pocock
Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Programme 5 of 5 - Biology
Monday 14 November 2011 at 8pm
In the final programme our experts unearth the amazing breakthroughs that are transforming the resilience and strength of the human body.
Mark Evans joins the bio-prospectors in Central America who are exploring the untapped reserves of the oceans for life changing drugs, Aarathi Prasad meets the remarkable old people who could hold the secret to a long and healthy life and Robert Winston explores how our behaviour and environment may be influencing the genes of future generations in ways we once thought impossible.
Astronaut and neurologist Roberta Bondar explores the new science of heart regeneration - scientists in Dallas have discovered that baby mice can repair their own hearts. The question is - could this work for humans too? And Richard Dawkins and Aarathi Prasad celebrate the achievements of synthetic biology and the work of one man who has learnt how get ecoli to produce oil
From the shores of the Pacific to the ice storms of Canada, the programme explores how scientists are using the secrets of our cells to change life as we know it.
Presenters:
Professor Stephen Hawking
Dr Aarathi Prasad
Professor Robert Winston
Mark Evans
Professor Joy Reidenberg
Dr Roberta Bondar