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Tiny molecular machines, cellular recycling, and the strange behaviour of exotic materials – subjects honoured by the Nobel Prizes this week. Science writer Philip Ball joins Roland Pease in the studio to explain and dissect the choices made by the Swedish Academies.

CRISPR Patent Pending
The prize that was not made, but everyone was expecting, was for CRISPR, the revolutionary new gene editing technique. Adam Rutherford hears about the patent battle that may have alarmed those choosing this year’s laureates.

Warning Over Skin-Lightening Injections
Skin lightening is a global industry, with people buying creams, cement and even battery acid to put on their skin to lighten it. A new trend has emerged from the Philippines - intravenous infusions of an untested chemical called glutathione. Concerns have been raised in the British Medical Journal by consultant dermatologist Ophelia Dadzie, who says that the use of these injections is on the rise, despite potential health risks.

The Whale Menopause
Killer whales and humans are almost unique in the animal kingdom. The females of both species go through the menopause in their 40s or 50s, and then live for decades without producing any more offspring themselves. It is an extremely rare phenomenon. No other mammal does this, including other apes, monkeys and elephants, with the exception of another species of toothed whale. There are good grounds for thinking the menopause evolved for a reason, but why?

Can Apes Read Minds?
Humans have the ability to put ourselves in other peoples’ shoes and know what they are thinking. Now experiments done by Dr Christopher Krupenye and Dr Fumihiro Kano, in which they tracked the eye movements of apes as they watched videos, have shown that apes too have this theory of mind.

(Photo caption: A portrait of Swedish inventor and scholar Alfred Nobel can be seen on the speaker's desk at the Nobel Forum in Stockholm © Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)

The Science Hour was presented by Roland Pease

Editor: Deborah Cohen