What’s on (6–12 Oct 2012)

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

Sun 7 October

Planet Earth Live: a Meerkat's Tale
BBC1, 5.30-6.30pm

Swift is a five-week-old meerkat pup, born in one of the most extreme environments on Earth: the Kalahari Desert. Drought has hit the region and it’s estimated that only half of the pups will reach two months old. Will Swift be one of the lucky ones?

Built in Britain
BBC2, 8.00-9.00pm

Evan Davis dons a hard hat to explore some of Britain’s epic engineering projects. This episode takes him from the top of Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to a tunnel deep beneath the streets of London – the site of a future railway.

Mon 8 October

The Digital Human
BBC Radio 4, 4.30-5.00pm

This week, Aleks Krotoski ponders how the digital world has changed the way we shape and voice our opinions.

Tues 9 October

The Life Scientific
BBC Radio 4, 9.00-9.30am

Jim Al-Khalili chats to Hugh Montgomery, an intensive care physician and researcher at University College Hospital in London. By studying oxygen uptake in high altitude environments such as the Himalayas, Montgomery hopes to improve the treatment of patients in intensive care.

Saving Species
BBC Radio 4, 11.00-11.30am

At this time of year it’s all change in the skies as bird migrants move to warmer climes. Joanna Pinnock visits a swallow roost in southern England, where the birds are gathering together ready to head south. Meanwhile, other birds are arriving into our country from chilly Scandinavia. But do our hedgerows provide enough food for these visitors?

Costing the Earth
BBC Radio 4, 3.30-4.00pm

Since the Japanese tsunami last year, over one million tonnes of debris has been drifting across the Pacific Ocean towards the West Coast of the USA. Tom Heap finds out how the debris is being tracked and cleaned up, and how, in some cases, belongings are being returned to their original owners back in Japan.

Dinosaurs, Myths and Monsters
BBC4, 9.00-10.00pm

For as long as we’ve been on Earth, humans have been discovering the remains of extinct creatures and trying to picture the beasts they belonged to. Historian Tom Holland presents a fascinating account of how our understanding of fossils has changed over the centuries. First broadcast in 2011.

Thurs 11 October

Material World
BBC Radio 4, 4.30-5.00pm

Quentin Cooper discusses the latest scientific developments and topical issues.

The Plane Crash
Channel 4, 9.00-10.35pm

It’s time to adopt the brace position as Channel 4 crashes a plane. Yes, that’s right, a plane. And it’s a Boeing 727 as well. The reason? By studying this once-in-a-generation, high-speed crash, scientists hope to understand more about the behaviour of aircraft during emergency landings.