* Astronomy

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RE: Frontiers

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Crossrail Tunnelling

Wed, 10 Jul 13

Duration: 29 mins

Tracey Logan goes underground to find out how Crossrail is using the latest engineering techniques to create 26 miles of tunnels below London's tube network.

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Plate Tectonics and Life

Wed, 3 Jul 13

Duration: 29 mins

Earthquakes are feared for their destructive, deadly force. But they are part of a geological process, plate tectonics, that some scientists say is vital for existence of life itself.

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Biofuels

Wed, 26 Jun 13

Duration: 29 mins

Gaia Vince asks if we can ever run our vehicles on biofuels derived from algae or bacteria? She takes to the water of Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland to see an experiment in growing algae that can be turned into fuel, and talks to the researchers who are manipulating bacteria to make petrol.

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Quorum Sensing

Wed, 19 Jun 13

Duration: 29 mins

Bacteria need to talk to each other to cause disease. Geoff Watts explores whether we can stop their virulent communications and prevent the looming antibiotic resistance crisis.

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Build me a Brain

Fri, 14 Jun 13

Duration: 29 mins

Roland Pease delves into the wetter side of computing and asks what brain cells in a dish can teach us about thinking. And are these organic computers cleverer than Deep Blue?

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Forensic Phonetics

Wed, 12 Dec 12

Duration: 28 mins

Rebecca Morelle looks at some of the new research in this growing area of forensics, including the credibility of ear witness accounts and whether it's possible to distinguish hoax 999 calls from genuine ones.

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Human Genome

Thu, 6 Dec 12

Duration: 29 mins

A decade ago, the Human Genome Project revealed that only 1% of our DNA codes for the proteins that make our bodies. The rest of the genome, it was said, was junk, in other words with no function. But in September another massive international project, called ENCODE, announced that the junk DNA is useful after all. Adam Rutherford reports on the significance of this major discovery.

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Anthropocene

Wed, 21 Nov 12

Duration: 29 mins

Gaia Vince explores the idea that humans have begun a new phase in our planet's history,that our global influence on the Earth has launched a new geological period, which scientists are now calling the Anthropocene.

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Why do women live longer than men?

Wed, 14 Nov 12

Duration: 29 mins

In the UK today, male life expectancy is 78 years old, whereas women will on average live four years longer. Evolutionary biologist Dr Yan Wong looks at the latest evidence suggesting that where ageing is concerned, men seem to be at a genetic disadvantage. From research on ancient Korean eunuchs to laboratory fruit flies, new studies seek the answer to why males across the animal kingdom live faster and die younger. So, is the gender gap here to stay

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