大象传媒

In this special edition of the programme, Roland Pease bids farewell to the Cassini-Huygens mission after 20 years in space. As we record The Science Hour, engineers are plunging the probe into the toxic clouds of Saturn, where it will burn up in the atmosphere. 大象传媒 Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos reports on its progress from JPL鈥檚 mission control in California and Professor Lucie Green discuss why the demise is bitter-sweet. We delve into the archives to see what Cassini-Huygens has discovered and ask whether its moons could harbour life.

Plus, could Hurricanes Harvey and Irma be linked to global warming? Looking at data collected over the last decade, the number of hurricanes each season may not change, but it is possible that strong storms will get even stronger. And are you in danger of becoming addicted to television? Gareth Mitchell speaks to one of the makers of 大象传媒 iPlayer to ask whether making TV moreish is a good thing. Finally, Claudia Hammond examines two books shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize.

(Image caption: An undated handout photo made available by Nasa shows an illustration of Nasa's Cassini spacecraft during its final plunge into Saturn鈥檚 atmosphere 漏 EPA/Nasa/JPL-Caltech)

The Science Hour was presented by Roland Pease with comments from Professor Lucie Green, UCL

Producer: Graihagh Jackson