Horizon
Season 52

s52e01 / The Truth About Meteors: A Horizon Special

3rd Mar '13 - 9:00pm
The Truth About Meteors: A Horizon Special Summary

On a bright, cold morning on 15th February 2013, a meteorite ripped across the skies above the Ural mountains in Russia, distintegrating into three pieces and exploding with the force of 20 Hiroshimas. It was a stark reminder that the Earth's journey through space is fraught with danger. A day later another much larger 14,3000 tonne asteroid, passed within just 17,000 miles of the Earth.

Presented by Professor Iain Stewart, this film explores what meteorites and asteroids are, where they come from, the danger they pose, and the role they have played in Earth's history.

223 have watched this episode

s52e02 / The Creative Brain: How Insight Works

14th Mar '13 - 9:00pm
The Creative Brain: How Insight Works Summary

Scientists are using some strange techniques in an effort to work out how moments of creativity come into the human brain. They have come up with a series of puzzles and brainteasers to draw out our creative behaviour, while the very latest neuroimaging technology means rthey can actually look inside our brains and witness the creative spark as it happens.

213 have watched this episode

s52e03 / How to Avoid Mistakes in Surgery

21st Mar '13 - 9:00pm
How to Avoid Mistakes in Surgery Summary

A&E doctor Kevin Fong finds out how doctors can avoid making mistakes in the high-pressure, high-stakes world of the operating theatre.

He sets out to learn how other professionals make life and passing decisions under pressure, from airline pilots facing emergencies, to the Fire Service dealing with lethal blazes, to the world of Formula One pit crews. Kevin discovers how all these fields are helping to make surgery safer.

203 have watched this episode

s52e04 / The Truth About Taste

28th Mar '13 - 9:00pm
The Truth About Taste Summary

Taste is our most indulgent sense but it is only in recent years that we have started to understand why we really love the foods we do - and it is a lot more surprising than you might think.

There may a way to make food taste sweeter without adding any extra sugar and it is all down to a trick that happens in your brain. Horizon meets the scientist who has grown the perfect tomato, that is sweeter and juicier than anything you are likely to find on a shelf, as well as the men and women hoping to become elite, professional tasters.

227 have watched this episode

s52e05 / Mend Me: A Horizon Guide to Transplants

27th Mar '13 - 9:00pm
Mend Me: A Horizon Guide to Transplants Summary

Transplant surgery has now reached incredible heights, from achieving full face transplants to growing organs in the lab. This Horizon Guide looks back at the extraordinary odds doctors and patients have had to overcome to achieve these amazing breakthroughs.

What we now take for granted has been a hard won struggle, both for the patients who were willing to gamble their lives and the doctors who faced ethical and medical dilemmas in the name of progress. Michael Mosley looks through the Horizon archive, identifying the key turning points for transplant surgery to explore how far science can go in its bid to prolong life.

212 have watched this episode

s52e06 / The Age of Big Data

4th Apr '13 - 9:00pm
The Age of Big Data Summary

The show talks to some of the people at the forefront of the data revolution and takes a look at the possibilities and the promise of the age of big data.

193 have watched this episode

s52e07 / Tomorrow's World

11th Apr '13 - 9:00pm
Tomorrow's World Summary

Liz Bonnin takes a look at the world of invention as she reveals some of the people and technologies set to transform all our lives in the years to come.

193 have watched this episode

s52e08 / The Secret Life of the Cat

13th Jun '13 - 9:00pm
The Secret Life of the Cat Summary

Fifty cats in Surrey are fitted with GPS collars to track their every movement, and cat-cams record their unique view of the world.

228 have watched this episode

s52e09 / Little Cat Diaries

14th Jun '13 - 9:00pm
Little Cat Diaries Summary

Fifty cats are fitted with GPS collars to track their every movement, and cat-cams record their unique view of the world.

213 have watched this episode

s52e10 / Fracking

19th Jun '13 - 9:00pm
Fracking Summary

Iain Stewart takes a look at a new and controversial energy rush for the natural gas found deep underground. To get it out of the ground it involves hydraulic fracturing also known as fracking.

212 have watched this episode

s52e11 / Swallowed by a Black Hole

26th Jun '13 - 9:00pm
Swallowed by a Black Hole Summary

The black hole in the middle of the Milky Way is getting ready to feast during the middle of the summer. A gas cloud three times the size of Earth has strayed within the gravitational reach of our nearest black hole.

205 have watched this episode

s52e12 / What Makes Us Human?

3rd Jul '13 - 9:00pm
What Makes Us Human? Summary

Alice Roberts, who is currently pregnant with her second child, wants to discover what makes a human. Humans share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees and yet from the moment of birth, our lives are very different.

200 have watched this episode

s52e13 / The Truth About Personality

10th Jul '13 - 9:00pm
The Truth About Personality Summary

Michael Mosley takes a look at the latest theories on how our personalities are created and whether it is possibe that they can be changed.

199 have watched this episode

s52e14 / What's Killing Our Bees

2nd Aug '13 - 9:00pm
What's Killing Our Bees Summary

The show attempts to find out the reasons why there are fewer bees around than there used to be.

206 have watched this episode

s52e15 / Monitor Me

12th Aug '13 - 9:00pm
Monitor Me Summary

Kevin Fong takes a look at the current increase in apps and gadgets designed to help people monitor their health.

210 have watched this episode

s52e16 / Defeating the Hackers

19th Aug '13 - 9:00pm
Defeating the Hackers Summary

The show takes a look at the fast-paced world of people using computers to steal money and identities, as well as causing havoc with users online lives.

209 have watched this episode

s52e17 / Dinosaurs

26th Aug '13 - 9:00pm
Dinosaurs Summary

The series takes a look at the research carried out by Dr Mary Schweitzer, who found soft tissue and red blood cells in the fossilised bones of a 68-million-year-old T-rex, a breakthrough that wouldn't have looked out of place in the film Jurassic Park.

201 have watched this episode

s52e18 / Comet of the Century

23rd Nov '13 - 9:00pm
Comet of the Century Summary

Comet Ison wuill soon make its closest approach to the sun and will be visible in both the evening and morning skies during December if it survives its close encounter with the star.

210 have watched this episode
Premium Upgrade
Share Visit
Share Visit