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When to Switch Off from Work

When to Switch Off from Work

Is the "always on" culture of work emails and messaging destroying our health? Should we have a legal right to switch off, like in France?

Manuela Saragosa explores the world of office Whatsapp groups and the blurring work-life balance, with Professor Mark Cropley of Surrey University, occupational health psychologist Gail Kinman of Bedfordshire University, and Ellen Temperton of solicitors Lewis Silkin. Plus entrepreneur Mitul Thobhani explains why at his tech company Baytree Labs he doesn't impose any division between work and home life at all.

(Photo: Woman rubbing eyes in bed while using smartphone. Credit: PRImageFactory/Getty Images)

Will Flying Taxis Take Off?

Will Flying Taxis Take Off?

Could drone technology solve our urban transport needs? Ed Butler explores the new generation of flying cars developers hope will be ferrying commuters around major cities in the next few years. Steven Tibbitts, chief executive of Zeva Aero, and Eric Bartsch of start-up VerdeGo Aero, give the sales pitch. Steve Wright, associate professor in aerospace engineering at the University of the West of England in the UK, gives the reality check.

(Photo: Prototype drone taxi on display in Dubai in 2017, Credit: Getty Images)

The Confusing Curve

The Confusing Curve

When governments need to raise money, they promise a reward in return for your investment. But how much - or how little - they're promising says a lot about the country, and if investors perceive it as risky to invest in or not. But why are analysts so obsessed over something called the bond yield curve? Pippa Malmgren, policy analyst, says at the moment there's nothing to be afraid of from what the curve tells us. Russ Mould from AJ Bell on the other hand says we should be careful. We try to make sense of this confusing curve.

(Image: A man stares at a confusing illustration of graphs on a blackboard. Credit: francescoch/ Getty Creative)

Is the Internet Fit for Purpose?

Is the Internet Fit for Purpose?

Overrun by bots and identity thieves, does the worldwide web need a fundamental overhaul?

Ed Butler reports from the Future in Review tech conference in Utah, where he speaks to two entrepreneurs offering partial solutions. Denise Hayman-Loa's firm Carii offers corporations safe spaces for secure online collaboration, while Steve Shillingford's Anonyome Labs helps citizens keep their personal data secret when active online.

But do such solutions go far enough, or does the internet a complete redesign? Ed speaks to one of its original architects, Larry Smarr of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, as well as Berit Anderson, founder of the future tech media company Scout.

(Picture: Tangled network cables on white background; Credit: joxxxxjo/Getty Images)

Trump's Tax Scandal - Who Cares?

Trump's Tax Scandal - Who Cares?

Why has there been so little political fall-out from allegations by the New York Times that the US President and his family dodged hundreds of millions of dollars in tax, in some cases through outright fraud?

Manuela Saragosa speaks to Susanne Craig - one of the journalists making the claims after 18 months of painstaking research. Yet the US public remains unmoved. Bloomberg editor John Authers fears for what that says about the breakdown in trust in modern Western society.

Plus Pippa Malmgren, a former advisor to President George W Bush, explains why she thinks the tax investigation may represent a bigger threat to Donald Trump than the much-reported Mueller investigation.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Donald Trump; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Holidays in Space

Holidays in Space

The private sector is muscling in on space exploration, and the biggest commercial opportunity could be tourism.

Ed Butler meets the star-gazers at the Future in Review conference of tech entrepreneurs in Utah. Ariel Ekblaw, who founded the Space Exploration Initiative at MIT, discusses the logic of self-assembling space hotels. Nasa chief scientist Dennis Bushnell talks cosmic beach combing.

And Chris Lewicki, head of space mining start-up Planetary Resources, explains why he thinks it makes more sense to mine water on asteroids than bring it with us from Earth.

(Picture: Fictional space station with astronauts and space ships; Credit: ZargonDesign/Getty Images)

Lab-grown Meat on your Table

Lab-grown Meat on your Table

Are new forms of 'artificial' meat about to change the food industry? Regan Morris goes to California to taste a chicken nugget its makers hope will be on restaurant menus by the end of this year. Josh Tetrick is the boss of Just - the company behind it. She also hears from Mark Post, the maker of the first lab-grown burger, and Tom Mastrobuoni from Tyson Ventures, the meat processing company that wants to be the world's largest 'protein' company. That's fine but just don't call it "meat" says Lia Biondo from the US Cattlemen's Association.

(Photo: Chicken nuggets made from meat, Credit: Getty Images)

Sexist Science

Sexist Science

Does STEM still have a problem with women? Manuela Saragosa speaks to Dr Jess Wade, a physicist at Imperial College in London, and soil microbial ecologist Kelly Ramirez, co-founder of 500 Women Scientists. Rebekah Higgitt, a lecturer in history of science at the University of Kent in the UK, explains the marginalisation of women in science.

(Photo: Female scientist, Credit: Getty Images)

Italy Goes Rogue

Italy Goes Rogue

Rome and Brussels look set to clash over the Italian government's spending plans. What's at stake for the rest of the EU? Manuela Saragosa speaks to Claudio Borghi, economic spokesman of the Lega party, the right wing party now part of Italy's coalition government, and Jeremy Cliffe, columnist at The Economist.

(Photo: A 'debt clock' screen displays Italy's public debt at the Rome's Termini central station, Credit: Getty Images)

Indonesia's Disasters - Natural and Man-Made

Indonesia's Disasters - Natural and Man-Made

Tsunamis, earthquakes and a sinking capital - not all of Indonesia's problems are down to Mother Nature.

Jonathan Bithrey reports from this blighted archipelago on the Pacific ring of fire. 14 years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, why was the country so ill-prepared for the tidal wave that hit Palu this week? And what is being done to stop Jakarta slowly sinking into the sea under the weight of poor planning and overdevelopment?

(Picture: A woman looks for salvageable items among the debris in following the earthquake in Sulawesi; Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Has Elon Musk Already Won?

Has Elon Musk Already Won?

Whatever the fate of the heavily indebted Tesla Motors, is the electric vehicle revolution now set to sweep the world? And despite his Twitter antics and legal problems, has the company's chief executive earned the right to be brash?

Justin Rowlatt speaks to Gene Munster of tech investors Loup Ventures and to the author and tech prophet Tony Seba. Plus what is the future for fossil fuel companies in an electrified world? We ask Shell's vice president for new fuels, Matthew Tipper.

Producer: Laurence Knight

Image: Elon Musk (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The #FoodPorn Business

The #FoodPorn Business

Instagram and social media are transforming the food industry, but is the fixation on visual aesthetics destroying the dining experience?

Elizabeth Hotson explores the nexus between our stomachs and our smartphone screens, with help from sandwich blogger Xander Fletcher, cake decorator Georgia Green, online food and drink reviewer Rebecca Milford, food writer Natalie Seldon and restaurateur Cokey Sulkin, among others. Producer: Elizabeth Hotson

(Picture: Cake decorated by Georgia Green; Credit: Elizabeth Hotson)

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