It’s one of the greatest stories ever told. The legend of Helen of Troy has enchanted audiences for the last three thousand years. In May this year a Hollywood film staring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom will be launched in Britain. But is there any reality to the myth? Horizon has unprecedented access to the scientist with the answers.Since 1988 Professor Manfred Korfmann has been excavating the
Google or Wikipedia? Those of us who search online - and who doesn't? - are getting referred more and more to Wikipedia. For the past two years, this free online "encyclopedia of the people" has been topping the lists of the world's most popular websites. But do we really know what we're using? Backlight plunges into the story behind Wikipedia and explores the wonderful world of Web 2.0. Is it a r
Walk into any chemist shop and you will be bombarded by an array of pills and potions in bright shinny packages that claim to be able to treat almost any imaginable ailment from runny noses to spots, from coughs to aching muscles. These remedies however don't come cheap, we now spend two and a half billion pounds a year on a whole range of products, from pain killers to multivitamins and so on but
Vitamins without doubt are vital to our health. And it remains possible that high dose vitamin supplements will one day be proven to protect against illnesses like heart disease and cancer. But so far, definitive evidence for these claims remains largely elusive. And as we discover more about some vitamins, it is increasingly clear that in large doses they can have unexpected, and sometimes danger
Fiona Phillips, a journalist best known for her role in presenting the popular British morning show, GMTV, is embarking on a mission to seek out the truth behind our newly found enemy, sugar. She discovers why some of us happen to have more of a craving towards sugar than others and which types of sugar are better for us, considering the amount that goes into foods we would consider to be savoury.
2008 has seen a staggering number of teenage gang and knife attacks on Britain's streets with a death toll comparable to that of our troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.Dr Tunje Lasoye, Head of Accident and Emergency in London's Kings College Hospital, believes this surge in extreme violence is nothing short of a health emergency. In his hospital he has seen the number of young people comi
Louise Redknapp discovers first hand the dangers of the current obsession with being stick thin when she undertakes an extreme crash diet and exercise regime in an attempt to drop to a US dress size zero in just 30 days.In The Truth about Size Zero, Louise undergoes a punishing plan to dramatically lose weight and attempt to drop two dress sizes. The documentary film highlights the risks of su
Michael Mosley explores the latest science about how our personalities are created and whether they can be changed.Despite appearances, Mosley is a pessimist who constantly frets about the future. He wants to worry less and become more of an optimist. He tries out two techniques to change this aspect of his personality - with surprising results.He travels to the frontiers of genetics and n
Miquita Oliver used to be a famous television presenter and radio personality in the UK until she filed for bankruptcy in 2011. As someone who is very familiar with the burdens of having huge debts looming over her head, she hosts this documentary on payday loans.With teenagers and young adults facing rocketing unemployment rates and limited resources, many have turned to payday loans as an ea