Tech companies have developed drones to drop pollen on orchards or shoot it at crops through pipes from tractors.

They’re responding to a crisis in insect pollination as studies suggest numbers of both wild pollinators and farmed bees are declining. This could have a serious knock-on effect on how we grow our fruit and veg. But some experts argue high-tech alternatives are a short-term solution to a much bigger and long-term problem.

Presented and produced by Claire Bates

New technology is helping in the fight against wildlife poaching. Computer scientists have created a programme that uses artificial intelligence to predict where poachers are going to strike; a new generation of smart cameras is catching the criminals red-handed; and the latest police forensic techniques are being adapted to investigate these crimes.

A short online test that reveals attitudes, opinions and thought processes is being used to help decide whether to give people loans.

This week we look at four brilliant inventions by children: a phone app to stop drivers missing road signs; a robot that is activated when a vulnerable person falls over; a tool to help fire departments predict the likelihood of wildfires, and a way to make your fish tank double as a vegetable patch for microgreens.

The future engineers and scientists behind these innovations are aged between 12 and 16 and were all entrants in the UK’s Big Bang Competition. Head judge Helena Dodd joins William Kremer to discuss what makes a winning design, and what grown-ups everywhere can do to unleash the problem-solving power of the next generation.

Reported and produced by William Kremer.

Picture: Freddie with Fallbot

Can companies operate better without managers? We hear from people who’ve got rid of managers and say it has helped them do a better job, made them happier and saved money.

But there are pitfalls, too. Co-ordination and hiring talent for what are usually considered top management jobs can be a challenge when there’s no traditional hierarchy.

Produced and presented by Dina Newman.

Picture credit: Getty Images

Old ships, powered by the wind, are sailing small amounts of cargo around the world again to help cut pollution. Some of them were built more than 100 years ago.

Nick Holland speaks to sailors and brokers who, for the sake of the environment, are breathing new life into these vintage vessels.

Scientists in Italy have discovered that trees generate an electrical charge every time the wind blows strongly enough to make their leaves touch one another.

The researchers, from the Italian Institute of Technology, have managed to harvest enough energy this way to power 150 LED lights from a single leaf.

We meet them, and others, who are trying to make use of untapped, natural sources energy.

We hear from a project trying to produce electricity from the interaction of fresh and salt water where rivers meet the sea.

And we talk to a geologist in Iceland, who’s helped dig nearly 5km beneath the surface of the Earth. At that depth, the temperature can be about 600C - the idea is to mine the heat and turn it into energy.

A clever invention is saving the lives of hundreds of children.

Picture credit: Peter Casamento

We all know that sport is great for our health - and if you’re talented it can bring you great riches. But this week we look at how sport is changing lives and giving hope to young people leading the toughest lives.

There’s a technology on the block which has the power to change all kinds of things for the better.