Discovery

Are humans still evolving? – Part 3 of 3

Are we still evolving – part 2

Adam Rutherford asks how our ability to talk, travel and develop technology - our unique human culture, affects human genetic evolution.

The world’s first animal with an artificial genetic code. Roland Pease reports

Tracey Logan investigates how Neptune was found, 165 years ago, and what secrets it still holds

Dr Ben Goldacre explores the past, present and future of epidemiology.

Horticultural science has been used to improve the sights and smells of plants for centuries. But what can physics do to improve how a garden sounds?

If you're among the lucky few, you'll live past 90 without suffering years of debilitating illnesses. Your final decline will come swiftly and relatively gently. In this week's Discovery Andrew Luck-Baker looks at whether scientists can extend this kind of final exit to many more of us. Their research centres on structures in our cells known as telomeres. More immediately, this science may also lead to a kind of new cancer therapy.

Is there a test that tells you how long you’ll live? If you read and believed some newspaper headlines in recent months, you might think so. The claim surrounds an area of ageing research known as telomere biology. Telomeres are DNA structures which cap the ends of our chromosomes. They shorten over the course of our lives. Some scientists believe measuring their length reveals how fast we are ageing biologically and are making telomere tests available to the public for the first time. What’s the science behind telomere length and what can it really tell you about your heath and life prospects? Andrew Luck-Baker reports from a meeting of leading telomere researchers in Stockholm.

Dr Marek Kukula tells the story of a meteorite that landed in Egypt a century ago, which is helping astronomers explore Mars today.

The Magnitude 9 earthquake that hit the coast of Japan in March was the most powerful in the country’s recorded history – but what awaits the country in the future? Roland Pease reports.

Around 25,000 died in the tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 this year. The authorities had built defences against possible tsunamis and prepared evacuation plans. But these had not considered the scale of events that actually happened. Roland Pease talks to the experts in Japan about how the science failed the victims. Programme 2 of 3.

Tsunami – Roland Pease joins scientists investigating the effects of the terrible tsunami in Japan last March. Did the extensive preparations save lives?

GM animals, Pigs with bright green noses and glowing chickens on your dinner table soon.

Why bacteria can be a good thing.