Horizon takes viewers on a journey into the human memory – how it emerges in childhood, develops through the teenage years into adulthood, and begins to fade in middle age.

Throughout childhood, the ability to recall the past improves, but this isn’t the case for John Forbes. The “hardware” for his memory was damaged at birth and he is unable to do simple tasks such as catch a bus or cook a meal because he constantly forgets what he is doing.

John’s memory deficit brings another, more surprising, problem – he cannot plan for the future. In most children, this ability develops around the age of five. MRI scanning has shown that some areas of the brain used to process memories also produce our ideas about the future. So, without a past, John is also unable to imagine his own future. Read more & comment »

How much is your body worth? Rather a lot, it turns out. Horizon explores the revolutions in medicine that have fuelled the demand for human tissue and have caused the potential value of a human cadaver to rise to as much as
$250,000 over the past 20 years.

Society undoubtedly benefits from the medical advances made through the use of human tissue, but in some parts of the world – notably the United States – it has led to a grisly black-market trade in body parts.

In 2004, veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke died in his New York apartment. Eighteen months later, it emerged that his bones had been sold for $11,000. A body-brokering ring led by former dentist Michael Mastromarino had stolen body parts from over 1,000 bodies at funeral homes, making nearly £5m. When the crime was uncovered, it lifted the lid on the illegal trade in human tissue. Read more & comment »

Last year, Professor Lesley Regan caused waves across the beauty industry with her BBC Horizon exposé. Now she returns to scour supermarket shelves and reveal the truths behind the labels.

Can “superfoods” prevent cancer? What does pro-biotic mean? Is organic really healthier? Every year, millions of pounds are spent by consumers because impressive claims appear to be backed-up by science. But which products have the evidence to back up their claims?

From pro-biotics and organic food to anti-bacterial sprays, washing powders and superfoods, Horizon cuts through the complex science and the confusing marketing speak to answer one simple question: “Should I buy this, or not?” Read more & comment »

Forget the Atkins Diet, or the latest Hollywood fad, this week Horizon travels to the far corners of the globe to find out the real secret to a long and healthy life.

During the course of the show we will meet 92 year old Ellen Wareham who is performing open heart surgery, and Marge Jetton is celebrating her 103rd birthday with a six-mile bike ride. It makes you wonder what we are doing wrong.

In Okinawa, Japan, over 900 centenarians enjoy healthy lifestyles with daily doses of fruit, vegetables and exercise. But Dr Bradley Wilcox has also found evidence that Okinawans share a hormonal pattern, which means they age slower than almost anyone else. If they could bottle these hormones they would make a fortune. Who amongst us wouldn’t be lining up top buy it? Read more & comment »

Humans are bad at making decisions. According to some scientists, most decisions are based on oversimplification, laziness and prejudice.

Horizon presents a guide to better decision-making, revealing how choices can be confounded by temperature, warped by post-rationalisation and even manipulated by the future.

Mathematician Garth Sundem is convinced that conclusions can best be reached using simple maths and a pencil. So, he experiments with a group of single computer enthusiasts to see if maths can help them find love. Read more & comment »

Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo takes viewers into the darkest reaches of science and attempts to discover a method of executing criminals that is fundamentally humane, in How To Kill A Human Being, the first programme in a new series of Horizon.

Across the world, capital punishment is in crisis. In Vietnam, shaky marksmen have brought into question the reliability of firing squads, whilst in Iraq, Saddam’s half-brother was hanged and decapitated by mistake. And in the United States – arguably the most technologically advanced nation in the world – the use of their primary method of execution, the lethal injection, has ground to a halt as the Supreme Court examines whether prisoners are actually dying in unnecessary pain. Read more & comment »