Following the well-received Horizon Tim Peake Special: How To Be An Astronaut in December 2015, BBC Two’s flagship science strand returns, first this spring and then again in the summer, with an exciting new series of films exploring science, technology and culture.
Adam Barker, Channel Editor, BBC Two, says: “BBC Two is delighted to welcome back the UK’s flagship blue chip science strand with an intriguing collection of new films. Horizon has an unequalled track-record for bringing cutting edge science to a broad audience and the new series is more exciting than ever.”Steve Crabtree, Editor of Horizon, says: “Horizon is now over 50 years old, with over 50 series and nearly 1,200 editions. This forthcoming line up is a thought-provoking, provocative and groundbreaking series of films. The films continue Horizon’s tradition of bringing science to a mainstream audience in an entertaining and informative way. Science has never been more exciting and inspiring on the BBC.”
Programmes in the first part of the series in March and April are:
The Immortalist
This is the gripping story of how one Russian internet multi-millionaire is turning to cutting-edge science to try to unlock the secret of living forever. Horizon enters the seemingly sci-fi world of Dmitry Itskov, who recently brought together some of the world’s leading neuroscientists, robot builders and consciousness researchers to try to devise a system to upload the human mind to a computer.In Japan we meet the maker of one of the most human-like robots in the world who tells us the destiny of humans is to become machines. We see how a quadriplegic Californian man is already controlling a robot arm with his thoughts, and explore the groundbreaking work of the scientist behind the world’s largest neuroscience project – the $6 billion US Brain Initiative – who tells us it could be a step towards mind uploading. Horizon asks, is it so crazy to think Dmitry Itskov could succeed in his goal of bringing about immortality for all of us within 30 years?
Project Greenglow: The Quest For Gravity Control
For centuries, the precise workings of gravity have confounded the greatest scientific minds and the idea of controlling gravity has been seen as little more than a fanciful dream. Yet in the mid-1990s, UK defence manufacturer, BAE Systems began a ground-breaking project code-named Greenglow, which set about turning science fiction into reality – while NASA was simultaneously running its own Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project.Looking into the past and projecting into the future, Horizon explores recent breakthroughs in the search for loopholes in conventional physics and examines how the groundwork carried out by Project Greenglow has helped change our understanding of the universe. Gravity Control may sound like science fiction, but the research that began with Project Greenglow is very much on-going, and the dream of flying cars and journeys to the stars no longer seems quite so distant.
The Mystery Of Dark Energy
Horizon meets the scientists on the hunt for Dark Energy, and questions whether Einstein was right or wrong. Dark Energy is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate at an astonishing rate. When Einstein first conceived his theory of gravity the universe he predicted was constant, not expanding or contracting, but now that concept is a thing of the past. In the future, everything we can see in the sky at the moment will expand so far away from us that we will be unable to see it. The challenge for scientists now is to work out why.Is Dark Energy a new force? Is it the result of quantum fluctuations or the first evidence that Einstein really was wrong – that gravity isn’t an attractive force, but on cosmic scales is repulsive. And the scientist who solves the Dark Energy problem may well take Einstein’s crown as the greatest genius in history.
Oceans Of The Solar System
Is the story of water also the story of life? How do the discoveries of water all over the Solar System affect our theories on the origins of life on Earth? Could the ingredients for life have been delivered to earth billions of years ago from the depths of space? Or has water been here since the Earth was first formed, as much an inherent part of being a planet as rock and dust and gas? Horizon explores the icy wastes and the vast oceans of the Solar System to find some answers and reveals NASA’s most ambitious project yet: to send a robot submarine to swim in the oceans of another world.The End Of The Solar System
This is the story of how our solar system will be transformed by the ageing sun, before coming to a spectacular end in about eight billion years. Astronomers can peer into the far future to predict how it will happen by analysing distant galaxies, stars, and even planets in their final moments.In this film, Horizon brings these predictions to life in a peaceful Midwestern town that has a giant scale model of the solar system spread out all over the city. As it ages, the sun will bloat into a red giant star, swallowing planets – as well as half the town. The fate of the Earth itself hangs in the balance. How will the solar system end?
Should We Close Our Zoos?
Liz Bonnin presents a provocative episode of Horizon investigating how new scientific research is raising hard questions about zoos. The film explores how and why zoos keep animals, and ultimately whether they need to change to keep up with modern science, or ultimately be consigned to history. Zoos have tried to rebrand themselves as centres of research, conservation and education, but to what extent do they achieve these aims?With contemporary understanding about the complexity of animal behaviour, and the fact that most of us can see animals up close and in high definition in their natural environment on television, Horizon asks: in the 21st century, can we really justify keeping animals in zoos?
Programmes in the second part of the series in June and July are (dates and running order tbc):
How To Find Love Online
The internet has transformed every part of our lives and is now changing arguably the most important – our love lives. Internet dating is a cultural phenomenon and is now the second most common way that couples meet. But what is the best way to make the online search for love successful? What are the ‘matchmaking’ algorithms that the big companies use? Do they really deliver the goods, is it really clever marketing and actually a giant con – is there really any science?Dr Hannah Fry studies patterns in human behaviour and has been studying the underlying algorithms that power internet dating sites. Dr Xand Van Tulleken is single and looking for love and, with help from Hannah, he experiences the world of online dating, from creating the perfect profile to looking at the biological basis of love.
Curing Alzheimer’s
An astonishing new era of Alzheimer’s research is dawning, offering the promise of treatments that can reverse the disease and possibly even cure it. This programme is an authoritative and scientific investigation into these potential new treatments that could bring hope to millions of sufferers around the world. It follows the stories of five extraordinary people, heroes of Alzheimer’s research in their own way: from Colombia to the USA and the UK, these people are at the centre of this new wave of research. Horizon also hears from the leading scientists who are breaking new ground in treating this life-destroying disease.Ice Station Antarctica (working title)
BBC Weatherman Peter Gibbs returns to the Halley Research Station in Antarctica where, in his 20s, he worked as a meteorologist. To get there he boards the RRS Ernest Shackleton, the British Antarctic Survey’s research vessel, for a two week journey that will take him across some of the roughest seas in the world. Peter will explore the life and work of the BAS at the Halley VI research station. He will reveal how scientists perform cutting-edge science in the brutal and beautiful conditions on this harsh and unforgiving continent.The work at Halley encompasses the impact of solar weather, climate change as well as weather forecasting and space travel. This research, carried out at the edge of the world, has profound implications for the future of this planet.
Why Are We Getting So Fat?
Over 60 per cent of adults in the UK are currently overweight or obese and this figure is set to rise. There is a growing feeling that obese people should be ashamed – it’s their fault, they have no will power and if they could just ‘eat less and exercise more’ the problem would soon be solved. Yet, despite millions of pounds being spent on this simple message, the UK is getting fatter every year.Cambridge geneticist Dr Giles Yeo believes that for many obese people, simply eating less is a lot harder than you might think – and he’s taking a road trip around the UK and America to uncover why. He meets the real people behind some of the more shocking newspaper headlines, and through their stories, reveals surprising truths which dispel commonly held myths about obesity. He gains access to scientists and doctors trialling cutting edge techniques to tackle the crisis – from a ‘miracle’ hormone injection to a transfusion of faecal matter, and even learns a thing or two about his own size and relationship with food.
My Amazing Twin (Working Title)
Adam and Neil Pearson are 31-year-old identical twins. But they share more than just a birthday; they both have Neurofibromatosis, a rare and unpredictable genetic disease which is threatening to destroy their lives. Adam is on the cusp of a successful film and television career, but tumours on his face caused by the disease are growing out of control and he could lose his sight. For years, his brother Neil thought he had escaped symptoms, but today his life is governed by a mysterious short-term memory loss, a problem that suddenly came on during his teens. Determined to save their future, Adam is now travelling the world to find out why they are affected so differently, and to see if there’s anything he can do to stop the disease.E-Cigarettes – Miracle Or Menace (working title)
More and more Britons are becoming regular e-cigarette users or ‘vapers’. These e-cigarettes are being hailed by some as the ultimate aid to quitting smoking, and by others as a new public health danger. Until now, the risks of smoking e-cigarettes are still widely unknown and, with regulations set to change next year, Horizon looks at the evidence out there, putting e-cigarettes to the test.In this Horizon first, we will get the answers everyone has been waiting for. Presented by Michael Mosley he puts volunteers through a vaping experiment to explore the unanswered questions. What are e-cigarettes really doing to your health? Are they really better for you than cigarettes? What is actually in them? Is passive vapour harmful? And can they really stop you from smoking? And, just to see what all the fuss is about, Michael – a lifelong ‘non-smoker’ – even takes up the habit himself.
Horizon is edited by Steve Crabtree, series producers are Zoe Heron and Rob Liddell.
BBC
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