Mean and Lowly Things. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, ?To understand the world, we must understand mean and lowly things.? And that's exactly what Canadian scientist Kate Jackson has set out to do. In her case, the mean and lowly things are snakes. While most of us run from these creepy creatures, Dr. Jackson pursues them around the globe. And now she has chronicled her pursuits in a new book called, "Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science and Survival in The Congo". It's a gripping adventure story of her challenging work in one of the world's most inhospitable environments - the flooded rainforests of Central Africa. We'll hear her story and find out how she handles a 2-metre-long venomous viper. Plus - a picture perfect planet.

In Search of Time. If you have some spare time, you might want to make time to listen to our feature this week on the concept of time. After all, it's about time we did it, since time waits for no one. And after all this time, you'd think that scientists would have a pretty good idea of what time actually is. But in fact, scientists and philosophers have been struggling for centuries to understand the true nature of time. We'll speak with a Canadian science writer who has taken the time to explore those ideas in a new book, called In Search of Time. Plus - the electrifying secret life of scotch tape.

Hubble and Trouble In the next few months NASA will be launching the fifth and final Space Shuttle mission to service and refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope. This will mark the beginning of the end for one of the most successful space missions ever. The Hubble produced stunning pictures and spectacular science that amazed astronomers and the public. But surprisingly the Hubble telescope's tremendous success was in spite of its long and troubled history, and it looks as if one of the most important lessons we've learned from Hubble is what not to do in the future. Plus - "And the winners are..." - this week's Nobel prizes.

The Skinny on Skin.

Here's something that will just make your skin crawl: there are approximately one million micro-organisms living on every square centimeter of your skin. In fact, there are about 10 times more bacteria living on your body than there are human cells. That's right, you're mostly bacteria. These are the findings of the first complete census of the critters that live on the surface of our skin. Now, if this makes you want to take a shower and swallow vast amounts of antibiotics, you might want to hold off. According to the author of the study, the vast carpet of bacteria we each wear actually helps maintain healthy skin.

Plus - Stars that eat planets.

Einstein's Telescope - Searching for the missing Universe.

One of the most important discoveries in astronomy of the last 20 years is the fact that we don't know much about most of the Universe. Stars, galaxies, black holes, and supernovae - that stuff's easy. But most of the Universe, astronomers tell us, is made up of dark matter and dark energy - and we're still fumbling around in the, well, in the dark, when it comes to understanding those strange phenomena. This week, we'll speak to an astronomer whose new book explains how we're going to shed light on all that dark stuff.

Plus - the Colorado camels; and chimps who stockpile stones.

A Climate Control Idea That Really Sucks.

Ever wonder why we can't just build big machines to suck the troublesome climate-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere? Excellent question. In fact, several groups of scientists are looking at ways to do just that. It's a difficult proposition, since any kind of carbon dioxide capture is a tough proposition. Nevertheless, we'll meet two Canadian researchers who have already built prototype machines that literally vacuum the CO2 out of the air.

Plus - bees get a buzz from cocaine; and polar bears get crackin' on breakfast.

It's Alive! 4 billion years ago, the world was a grim and lifeless place of unbreathable air, toxic water and bleak rock. But somewhere, somehow, a few simple molecules came together, and began to make copies of themselves. Life was born, and those first simple chemicals eventually transformed into the almost unimaginable complexity of our living world. In this week's feature documentary, we look at how life began on Earth - as scientists explore and begin to understand the first steps that transformed simple minerals, gases and water into teeming life. Plus - resurrecting the woolly mammoth.