What’s on (25 – 31 August 2012)

Fancy watching (or listening to) something new? Here’s our pick of the week’s science on TV and radio…

Sat 25 August

Your Starter for Ten: 50 Years of University Challenge
BBC Radio 4, 8.00-9.00pm

Mark Damazer celebrates 50 years of the University Challenge quiz show, meeting former contestants and interviewing the show's current host, Jeremy Paxman.

Mon 27 August

Horizon: How Big is the Universe?
BBC2, 9.00-10.00pm

Scientists discuss a new project in the world of cosmology: the creation of a map of everything in existence, which is turning out to be stranger than anyone had imagined.

James May’s Things You Need to Know
BBC2, 10.00-10.30pm

The Top Gear presenter explores Charles Darwin's world-changing theory of natural selection, explaining why we're all mutants and why cabbage is a long lost relative. 

Tues 28 August

The Life Scientific
BBC Radio 4, 9.00-9.30am

Jim Al-Khalili meets University of Cambridge engineer and pilot Dame Ann Dowling, whose team proved that it's possible to built a completely silent aircraft. Their design could improve the quality of life for millions of people living near airports.

Survivors: Nature’s Indestructible Creatures
BBC4, 9.00-10.00pm

Richard Fortey goes back over 2.5 million years to the ice age. This chilly period, caused by changes in the Earth’s orbit and ocean currents, had a major impact on the natural world, but a few specialist species managed to adapt to life in the cold...

Mars: A Horizon Guide
BBC4, 10.00-11.00pm

Dr Kevin Fong looks back at 45 years' worth of Horizon's archived space exploration footage, highlighting the effort through the years to reach the planet Mars.

Thurs 30 August

Iceland Erupts: A Volcano Live Special
BBC2, 9.00-10.00pm

Kate Humble visits Iceland to look at what’s happened since the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in 2010 and caused travel pandemonium across Europe. How do scientists monitor Iceland's dangerous volcanoes? And what can be done to prepare for future eruptions?

How the Universe Works
Discovery Channel, 9.00-10.00pm

The series moves on to asteroids this week, examining their role in both creating and destroying life on Earth.

Fri 31 August

Last Day of the Dinosaurs
Discovery Channel, 7.00-8.30pm

This British/Canadian co-production uses eye-popping CGI imagery to reconstruct the series of events responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.