Professor Andrew Plummer, Director of the Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control, discusses recreating earthquakes in a laboratory to test how buildings perform under extreme conditions.

How vulnerable are our historic buildings to earthquakes and how can we preserve them from seismic tremors? Dr Dina D'Ayala from the University's Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering discusses the development of methods to protect and preserve historic buildings from seismic damage.

Michael Lemonick, a freelance science journalist from Princeton University, looks at the discoveries of William and Caroline Herschel.

Dr Glen Patrick. of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxford, talks about how it's possible to probe the hidden universe and what particle physics can tell us about its secrets.

Professor Richard Whitman from the Department of European Studies & Modern Languages discusses Muscles from Brussels: a 21st Century Superpower. Where does the EU fit in global politics? How do we explain the role that the EU currently plays within international politics and what is the impact of a developing international role for the EU on its member states' foreign security and defence policies?

Professor John Wells from the Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Science Research Department at University College London discusses whether we are wasting time on irregular spellings and holding our children back with spelling tests.

Professor Peter Walker discusses research into new ways of using traditional building materials such as earth, hemp and straw as a greener choice for modern construction. Professor Walker is Director of the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials at the University.

Richard Jones, professor of Physics at the University of Sheffield, looks at how we can manipulate matter at the level of individual atoms and molecules and the possible impact this will have on advances of medicine, energy and information technology.

Writer and journalist Nicholas Fogg, sheds light on the historical conundrums of Shakespeare's sonnets. The sonnets represent one of the great literary enigmas and have given rise to endless speculation and debate.

Stuart Roberts, research fellow at the University of Reading, discusses the decline of bees and its effect on the environment. Evidence is presented on the state and trends of bees, the likely drivers of change and the possible long term effects.