Horizon

“June 2000, astronomers made an extraordinary discovery. One that promises to solve one of the biggest problems in cosmology – how and why galaxies are created. Incredibly, the answer involves the most weird, destructive and terrifying objects in the Universe – supermassive black holes. Scientists are beginning to believe that these forces of pure destruction actually help trigger the birth of galaxies and therefore are at the heart of the creation of stars, planets and all life.”

Documentary on the commercial airline pilots, and the factors causing human errors in flying. Can the ‘human element’ ever be taken out of flying or is it true that when people work with sophisticated technology, accidents will always happen. This BBC Horizon video looks at work being done by psychologists to analyse and prevent catastrophes.

In November 2005, 37 year old, mother of two, Isabelle Dinoire became the first person in the world to receive a new face. The decision made by French surgeons to perform the operation went against the findings of almost every other ethical committee in the world and has since sparked a fierce debate over the ethics of the operation.

Description: BBC2 documentary which takes an in-depth look at the life and bizarre death of the British mathematician, logician and cryptanalyst, Alan Mathison Turing (1912 – 1954). Turing’s life was also memorably dramatised in the 1996 series “Breaking The Code” starring Derek Jacobi. During the Second World War, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking centre, and played an important role in the British attempts to crack the German Enigma codes. He is also considered by many to be the father of modern computer science.

When a fire gets out of control in a skyscraper it tests fire fighters to their limits. Predicting how a fire is behaving high up in a building is almost impossible. The fire fighters who entered the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001 could only guess at what was happening almost 1000 feet above them. That fateful day brought about the death of 343 New York fire fighters.

Professor Lesley Regan, one of the UK’s most well-respected (and glamorous) medical experts, turns her scientific eye on the world of cosmetics. She’s just turned 50, and is out to create an experimentally proven beauty cabinet.

When veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke died in 2004 few suspected that he was yet to uncover his greatest story. What happened to his body as it lay in a funeral home would reveal a story of modern day grave robbery and helped smash a body-snatching ring that had made millions of dollars by chopping up and selling-off over 1000 bodies. Dead bodies have become big business.

Former Conservative MP, Michael Portillo pushes his body to the brink of death in an investigation into the science of execution. As the American Supreme Court examines whether the lethal injection is causing prisoners to die in unnecessary pain Michael sets out to find a solution which is fundamentally humane. To do so he examines the key methods of execution available today: he discovers why convicts can catch on fire in the electric chair, learns how easy it is to botch a hanging and inhales a noxious gas to experience first hand the terror of the gas chamber.

*ATTENTION* this file is from the programme as repackaged for broadcast abroad. Except for the new narration voiceover, at around 55 minutes, it is probably essentially as complete as when seen in Britain.The programme explores the theory of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ which attempts to explain the fact that the fossil evidences shows species that survived unchanged for years, most eventually becoming extinct, but some suddenly becoming new creatures.