Why don't we build houses from leather or planes from glass? Many of life's problems boil down to putting the right material in the right place - which is what materials science and technology is all about.

A candle is an ingenious chemical factory that converts hydrocarbon molecules into light. Which part is hottest? Which is brightest? Can you burn a candle in space? Do candles make harmful pollution?

Today, a look at the science behind bullets - how do they work and how are they designed to do maximum damage when they hit the target?

It's just over a decade since The New York Times declared 3D TV "an expensive flop". How did it work, why didn't it catch on... and will it make a comeback in future?

Science seems our best hope for making sense of the world - and ourselves - but what makes it a better bet than, say, art or religion. What exactly *is* science, anyway? What makes a scientific theory and how do you prove or disprove one? How did science evolve through the ages and where's it heading next?

From Galileo to Henry Cavendish and Robert Millikan to Ernest Rutherford, here are 10 of the greatest physics experiments - and why they mattered.

Ocean waves contain surprising amounts of energy - which is why surfing is such a cool sport. This week, a quick look at just how much energy there is in waves... and what we can do with it.

How exactly does a hearing aid work? Why is it so much more effective than simply shouting louder? Do the latest digital aids really work better than old-fashioned analog ones?