BBC Inside Science

This year is set to be the world’s hottest on record, likely shattering the aspiration to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

So where does this leave COP29, the upcoming UN climate conference in Azerbaijan?

This week Inside Science is asking, are climate summits really working? What is the point of them - and are they doing enough?

Joining Marnie Chesterton to discuss this are:

- Joanna Depledge, expert on international climate negotiations at the University of Cambridge

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton

If you want to test your climate change knowledge, follow the links on this page to The Open University to take a quiz.

It’s our Halloween special from a rain-soaked Jodrell Bank in Cheshire.

We find out what you can see in a dark, dark Halloween night sky with space-watcher and Professor of astrophysics Tim O’Brien.

Also this week, we meet some blood-sucking leeches, the horrors of pumpkin waste and could zombies ever be real?

Presenter: Victoria Gill

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Twenty years ago this week two physicists at the University of Manchester published a ground-breaking paper describing the extraordinary qualities of graphene.

The thinnest and strongest material known to exist – and better at carrying electricity than any metal – its discovery was hailed as revolutionary.

But two decades on, it doesn’t seem to have changed the world, or if it has, it is doing so very quietly.

So, what happened?

We go on the trail of graphene, meeting Nobel Prize winner and Godfather of Graphene Andrew Geim, and learning what it has – and hasn’t – done and what might be next...

Also this week, how to kill an asteroid and we talk the “other” COP with chief scientific adviser to the government, Dame Angela McLean.

Presenter: Victoria Gill

BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University.

The Earth’s natural carbon sinks absorb half of our pollution. But now, they appear to be collapsing. Why is this happening – and will we be able to reach our climate goals without them?

Also this week, why a psychologist won the Nobel Prize in Physics, the culprit behind the second biggest mass extinction event, and does playing video games make you smarter?

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton

A woolly mammoth by 2028.

That’s the bold claim from US company Colossal Biosciences, who say research is under way that will make this possible.

But even if we have the technology to bring back a long dead species, should we? We hear the arguments for and against de-extinction.

Also this week, what will Europa Clipper find when it heads to one of Jupiter’s icy moons and how to win a Nobel Prize.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton

BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University.

“That’s the end of coal in the UK for electricity.”

The UK’s last coal-fired power station has closed, ending Britain's 142-year reliance on coal.

But what difference will the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar make – and could it mark a new dawn for clean energy?

After 20 years of research into microplastics and headline upon headline on their potential harms, how much do we really know about these tiny particles?

Also this week, Marnie turns lab rat for a navigation experiment, and why are we all so obsessed with Moo Deng?

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton

BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University.

If you want to test your climate change knowledge, head to bbc.co.uk - search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to the Open University.

The images beamed back to Earth of the first civilian spacewalk have prompted a very pertinent question from one Inside Science listener:

What effect is space travel having on our climate?

We're used to delving into the carbon footprint of Earth-bound travel – so this week we’re going to explore the impact of the rapidly growing space industry on our climate.

How does a rocket launch compare to a flight taking off? Do we even know the true cost yet – and if it’s significant, what might the solution be?

Also on the programme, a personal perspective from a remote island on worrying seabird declines, the results of a project to refreeze Arctic sea ice, and why new evidence unearthed about the Falkland Islands suggests it may once have looked very different...

Presenter: Vic Gill

BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University.

If you want to test your climate change knowledge, head to bbc.co.uk - search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to the Open University.

Lab-grown meat, cultivated meat, cultured meat, in-vitro meat - whatever you call it, the industry claims it could be a game changer. Not just economically, but for feeding the planet in a sustainable way.

But is it too good to be true? And will people even eat it?

In this special episode of Inside Science, we take a deep-dive into lab-grown meat; visiting a production facility to see how it's made, hearing about the nuanced perspectives of British farmers, asking if this new industry can learn from the failings of GM foods, and trying to figure out what the true environmental costs of entirely new way of producing food really is.

Presenter: Victoria Gill

Today incredible images were beamed around the world of civilians walking in space – for the very first time.

All eyes were on businessman Jared Isaacman and engineer Sarah Gillis as they ventured outside a Space X capsule.

But is this an historic space exploration milestone - or just a very exciting holiday for a billionaire? We'll find out more from the BBC’s own expert space-watcher Jonathan Amos.

Also this week, we visit Sellafield which processes and stores more radioactive material per square metre than any other site in Europe. But it is getting full.

So where is our nuclear waste going to go in future? As the UK searches for a new potential site, we look at the science of what we do with nuclear waste and why.

We’ll also delve into the fascinating world of nuclear semiotics. How can we communicate the dangers of nuclear waste to people living 100,000 years from now?

Presenter: Vic Gill

As the long-awaited final report into Grenfell Tower is made public, we look at the cladding that has been at the centre of the story for seven years.

We ask Richard Hull, an expert in chemistry and fire science who’s been following the story, why it was used in the first place and what made it so dangerous.

Also this week, the neuroscience of the Oasis queue, the technology powering Paralympic athletes and strange sounds from space...

Presenter: Victoria Gill