15/09/2005

Available for over a year

Buildings To coincide with the opening of a new exhibition at London's Science Museum entitled 'Building to the Limits', the programme features some unconventional science that's now impacting on how we think about building. We look at fluid flow dynamics, for example, how understanding liquid movements help us build better and what the techniques of constructing racing car bodies can add to the houses of the future. Two of the advisors to the Science Museum exhibition are taking part in the programme: Fluid Flow specialist Professor Andrew Woods, head of the BP institute at Cambridge University, and Malcolm Parish, a composite engineer with construction company Ambiente Housing. Birdsong Whether it's a rude awakening by the dawn chorus, or the accompaniment to a gentle stroll through the countryside, nature's music - birdsong - is all around us. But why do they do it? Is song the avian equivalent of human language? This week Quentin Cooper is joined by Dr Rob Thomas from Cardiff University Biosciences department and Peter Slater, Professor of Natural History at the University of St Andrews. They'll be letting us into the secrets of the bird's world, from virtuoso performances in Central America, to the dawn chorus tactics of the robins in our gardens.