Seasons & episodes

Is the hobbit a new human species or nothing more than a modern human with a crippling deformity?

At the Xishan Hospital, near Beijing, a remarkable medical pilgrimage is taking place. The sick and the dying are travelling here for a treatment pioneered by Dr Huang Hongyun. He claims he can restore functions that Western doctors said were lost forever. Horizon investigates his methods but are they too much too soon.

Scientists once got sacked for suggesting oily fish was good for you. Now all and sundry are hailing it as a panacea.

Time is running out for the rainforest, but a team of scientists have come up with a unique strategy to help save it: a giant inflatable raft.

Over a billion kilometres away, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, holds tantalising clues to how life began here on Earth. Horizon tells the story of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, the most ambitious and expensive interplanetary space mission of all time.

On 7 July 2005 Britain experienced its first ever suicide attack. Four bombs exploded in central London, killing 52 people and injuring over 700. When Scotland Yard launched one of the biggest investigations in its history, another first was quickly uncovered: the suicide bombers were home-grown, they were young British men, attacking their own country. Horizon explores what makes someone want to blow themselves – and others - up?

The controversial science of epigenetics suggests you may inherit a lot more than you imagine from your forebears. The scientists who believe your genes are shaped in part by your ancestors' life experiences.

Is a space tourism revolution just around the corner?

The story of three women as they attempt to overcome the odds and give birth to a baby.

Horizon explores a new theory of evolution.

The coastline that protects the city of New Orleans is sinking into the ocean. Horizon explores what can be done to save the city if it is worth saving at all.

Only 4% of our universe is made from stuff we understand. Horizon explores the 96% that is made up of the elusive substance 'Dark Matter'.

An investigation into the scientific approach to sporting success, as demonstrated by the former East Germany and latterly Australia. British children are already in training for the London Olympics and the programme looks at what it takes to produce a successful modern Olympian.

The amazing story of Dr Temple Grandin's ability to read the animal mind, which has made her the most famous autistic woman on the planet.

The curious tale of an American millionaire optometrist and his dream to save humanity.

Is Pluto really a planet? Is it just an asteroid? Horizon investigates.

The science series explores varying attitudes to smoking around the world. Filmed in a single day, the documentary meets the people whose lives are defined by the cigarette. Contributors include Allen Carr, who claims he may get viewers to quit by the end of the programme, the inventor of the nicotine patch Dr Jed Rose and Dr Chris Proctor, the chief scientist at British American Tobacco who has the tricky task of making a safer cigarette.

Horizon explores the topical scientific issues investigates, the truth behind our fear of radioactivity and asks whether our nuclear nightmares really are based on reality. From Hiroshima to Chernobyl scientists have been studying the impact of exposure to radiation for over 60 years and have always assumed that any level of radiation is bad. But now some scientists are questioning the power of radiation to cause cancer and finding evidence to suggest that it may have beneficial health effects.

A team of scientists set out to solve the mystery of chunks of ancient glass scattered in a remote part of the Sahara Desert. Their quest takes them on a perilous journey into the Great Sand Sea, the wastes of Siberia and the test site of the world's first atomic bomb in New Mexico. What their search uncovers is a devastating new natural phenomenon.

Over 90% of plane crashes have survivors. Horizon investigate what you can do to increase your chances.

Danny Wallace is on a mission to convince the world that chimps are people are to. If they are should they have the same rights as people?

In 2005, Isabelle Dinoire become the first person 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. In the UK, a team led by Peter Butler struggles to get approval to perform the first full face transplant. Do the risks outweigh the benefits? Are face transplants really in the best interest of the patient? Horizon investigates.

It has been predicted that by 2029 computers will be powerful enough to rival that of the human brain. Will be able to download ourselves into a computer and live forever? Or will a race of super intelligent destructive machines rise. The only thing we know for sure is the moment is coming and whatever it brings is inevitable.

20 robotic cars, with no drivers and no remote controls, race across the Nevada desert. Horizon follows 3 teams and their cars as they develop their vehicles.