Can you make the railways greener by powering trains with energy from the sun? We hear about the pioneering train in Australia that’s run entirely on solar power. Plus we visit the solar farm that’s plugged directly into a railway in Britain and hear about Indian Railways’ big plan for converting to renewable power.

Produced and presented by Richard Kenny

Why former criminals are being chosen for jobs at hundreds of companies in a small US city.

One boss even tells us that some violent and sex offenders have become her best employees.

Produced and presented by Jo Mathys

Photo: Getty Images

Audience members praise and pick holes in solutions we’ve covered. Nick Holland and Kat Hawkins hear the best comments and questions and try to get answers.

Among the solutions under review is a story about a man who regrew a rainforest in Ecuador. One listener is worried it’ll just get cut down again when he dies. And eyebrows are raised about nurses in Kenya using motorbikes to rescue snakebite victims.

Producer: Nick Holland

In this inspiring episode, we hear ideas from high school students in Asia, Africa, Europe and America. They’ve created a new form of sound insulation, refined a forensic process to use at crime scenes, won an award for predicting crop yields and made going to the beach a little safer in the age of Covid.

Image: Team Hibla from the Philippines.

The mass stranding of dolphins, orcas and whales is depressingly common. We join a team on the East Coast of the United States who have dramatically improved the survival rates of beached dolphins there. And we are with them as they fight to save a dolphin mother and calf. Plus we look at how Silicon Valley AI tech, and its power to understand dolphin communication, could lead to even more being saved.

What happens when you take a little box containing some of the vast knowledge amassed on the internet, to communities that live offline?

Photo Credit: Getty

Jellyfish blooms can cause havoc, scaring away tourists, clogging up fishing nets, and even getting stuck in power station cooling pipes.

A growing number of police departments in the US are introducing a new concept in their training - teaching officers on the beat how to step in when they see a colleague doing something they don't think is right.

After the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, a programme pioneered by police in New Orleans is being developed for other forces.

Presented and produced by Daniel Gordon.

Picture credit: Getty Images

It’s not just search engines that are powered by artificial intelligence. From the courts to the jobs market, AI is influencing decisions that have a big impact on people’s lives.

Image: Getty Images

We hear how AI lifeguards are helping to spot danger on Israel’s beaches, while on Lake Victoria special forecasts for fishermen are saving hundreds of lives. Meanwhile in Bangladesh, community creches and bamboo swimming stages are reducing deaths among children – the group at highest risk of drowning. It’s estimated that 320,000 people around the world die in the water each year.

Produced and presented by Claire Bates

Photo: Getty Images