Material World - 26/11/2009

Already dubbed 'Climategate', Quentin Cooper finds out what the real scientific impact is of computer hacking, and leaking, of over ten years-worth of climate researchers' emails at the University of East Anglia. Do the benefits outweigh the risks for the scientists drilling into the mega-thrust earthquake zone just off the coast of Japan? Will it give us an earthquake early warning system? 17,650: that's the number of species so far found by the Deep Ocean Survey; how many more can we expect? And with tragic collapse of bridges in Cumbria during the heavy rains of the past few days, how can science help prevent such collapses happening in the future?