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Rosetta Spacecraft Landing

Scientists have chosen where they aim to land the Philae space probe on comet 67P. Are additives such as saccharin really raising blood sugar levels and contributing to diabetes?

Rosetta Spacecraft Landing
Scientists have chosen the place they believe to be the safest for their spacecraft to attempt the first landing on a comet.
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is more than 400m km from Earth and is moving toward the sun at around 55,000km per hour.
The rocky terrain makes it very difficult to land and success is not guaranteed.

Artificial Sweeteners and Diabetes
A controversial study out this week in the journal Nature suggests that artificial sweeteners may be contributing to the number of people with diabetes. It suggests additives such as saccharin could increase the problem they are meant to tackle. But the leap from the study in mice to human consequences is not what it seems.

Graphene Plaster
Since it was discovered 10 years ago, the wonder material graphene has taken the world by storm. What's not to like about it? A sheet of carbon one-atom thick, it was the first two-dimensional material discovered. It's stronger than steel, conducts electricity better than copper. We are told it will be used in touch screens of the future. It may be the secret to miniaturising electronics when current chip technology runs out of steam. But at the other end of the technology market a team at Surrey University has found it useful to blend graphene with rubber bands to make cheap effective bio-sensors.

Penguins
In a new citizen science project, 'penguinologists' are asking the public to classify images of penguin colonies in Antarctica, to help the team monitor their health. Thousands of images taken by remote cameras monitoring over 30 colonies around the Southern Ocean are being posted online. We hear why penguins are at risk from habitat and climate change and what the public can do to help.

Non-surgical Circumcision
The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ’s Prudent Nsengiyumva reports from Rwanda about a non-surgical method of circumcising men in a bid to curb the spread of HIV.

Power Transmission
Gaia Vince looks at the future of power transmission. As power generation becomes increasingly mixed and demand increases, what does the grid of the future look like?

50 minutes

Last on

Sun 21 Sep 2014 13:05GMT

Chapters

  • Rosetta spacecraft landing

    Europe's Rosetta mission has identified the ‘safest’ landing site.

    Duration: 10:46

  • Saccharin and diabetes

    Link between Saccharin and Diabetes might not be real in humans.

    Duration: 04:43

  • Penguin health

    'Penguinologists' to classify penguin colonies in Antarctica, to help monitor health.

    Duration: 06:58

  • Graphene bio-sensors

    Combining graphene with rubber bands to make cheap effective bio-sensors.

    Duration: 05:17

  • Power Transmission

    Gaia Vince looks at the future of power transmission

    Duration: 12:25

  • Non-surgical circumcision in Rwanda

    Non-surgical circumcision in Rwanda is helping curb the spread of HIV

    Duration: 08:46

Broadcast

  • Sun 21 Sep 2014 13:05GMT

Podcast