The meteoric rise of renewable energy has consequences for our electricity supply. While coal and gas fired power stations can generate electricity whenever you need it, renewables are intermittent by nature. So we need a backup plan for when the wind stops or the sun goes down.
All over the world, engineers and scientists are racing to solve one key problem; how to safely and efficiently store electricity at a huge scale but at a low cost. The quest is producing some truly remarkable ideas and this episode details three of them.

Guernica (1937) was created during Picasso's Surrealist period and captures the horror of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. By the end of World War II, Picasso had become an internationally known artist and celebrity.

Adam Rutherford meets a new creature created by American scientists, the spider-goat. It is part goat, part spider, and its milk can be used to create artificial spider's web. It is part of a new field of research, synthetic biology, with a radical aim: to break down nature into spare parts so that we can rebuild it however we please. This technology is already being used to make bio-diesel to power cars. Other researchers are looking at how we might, one day, control human emotions by sending 'biological machines' into our brains.

Playing with Nuclear Fire' - In March 2011, the Tohoku earthquake in Japan created a tsunami that killed some 16,000 people and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In the aftermath, the government and TEPCO, the plant's operator, withheld information about the extent of the damage. Three years later, citizens and the international community are left wondering if Japan really does have the situation under control, as the government is insisting, or if the danger is far greater than anyone is willing to admit. 'No Man Left Behind' - It's estimated that over a quarter million vets from recent wars have sought treatment for PTSD. Despite these statistics, veterans often face an uphill battle to get treatment, receiving inadequate attention and, most dangerously, overprescribed narcotics and other pharmaceuticals. Ryan Duffy meets veterans struggling with mental illness and addiction.

In a world where the pursuit of health pushes us towards organic aisles and fresh produce, this film uncovers a chilling revelation: the very foods promoted for wellness might be our greatest peril. As we navigate grocery store aisles, seemingly benign items like romaine lettuce, cut fruit, and even infant formula hide tales of contamination and legal battles. This gripping exposé dives deep into the unsettling truth about our food, revealing risks where we least expect them.
With every bite, we make choices about our health. But what if those choices, even the most well-intentioned ones, are not as safe as we believe? Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food challenges our perceptions and urges viewers to question: In the modern food landscape, is anything truly safe? The film is a truly call to action for the officials who have the power to mitigate the danger caused by foodborne pathogens that kill thousands of people every year.

An individual’s life journey interweaves with many others. Those who are successful know when to fight or back down, when to cooperate or to go it alone and how to manipulate and deceive. But power is the ultimate prize: animals will use any means to rise through the ranks and win the game of life.