23/02/2012

Available for over a year

Quentin Cooper hears that men may not be heading for extinction after all! The male Y-chromosome is degenerate but, according to a new study, has been stable since we diverged from monkeys 25 million years ago. But the fundamental unit of mass, the kilogram, may not be stable. Attempts to redefine it in terms of fundamental constants are fraught with difficulty. But there is hope on the horizon for mimicking one of nature's greatest secrets, photosynthesis, the ability to turn sunshine into fuel. Producer: Martin Redfern.