Decades of mathematical progress in a single day

The programme explores breakthroughs including the Margulis-Platonov conjecture, the Gaussian propeller conjecture and Banach’s simple Lebesgue spectrum problem. Work that could represent decades of mathematical progress—and a PhD-sized job—was completed in just a few hours.

The latest Nobel Prize science

This week also saw the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Prize in Physics and the Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Science journalists Kit Chapman and Caroline Steele explain the discoveries, from mice that emit blue light in their brains to giant ice cubes that emit blue light underground.

Remembering Apollo programmer Margaret Hamilton

In 2016, President Obama reflected on the moon landing and the delicate, dangerous mission of sending humans to the Moon. When awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the former MIT programmer, he said:

“Our astronauts didn’t have much time…but thankfully we had Margaret Hamilton.”

Margaret Hamilton led the programming team for the Apollo programme and was a pioneer in every sense of the word until her death this week.

Zavodovsky Island’s remarkable penguin population

Between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope lies a volcano that is home to chinstrap penguins. Few people visit Zavodovsky Island, but if you had been there in 2011, you would have been outnumbered 600,000 to one.

Nearly 500,000 people are currently missing. Professor Norman Ratcliffe from the British Antarctic Survey explains what is going on.

Programme credits

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producers: Ben Mitchell, Claire Salisbury, Katie Thomsett
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holdsworth