Catalyst

In the first of two programmes, host Paul West challenges four families to successfully keep a honeybee hive, bringing these everyday Australians up close to the very latest science about bee brains, communication and behaviour.

In the final part of the competition, host Paul West follows our four families as they race to produce honey. For the country beekeepers getting any honey at all is proving tough as weeks of rain have kept the bees inside the hives. The city dwellers, meanwhile, face different challenges. House moves, and access problems mean major disturbances for the colonies.

With Australia in the grip of an allergy epidemic, we set up a pop-up clinic to understand why so many of us are suffering from these conditions and reveal the latest science about what we can do to treat and prevent them.

Catalyst brings together 15 ordinary Australians to take part in a revealing scientific experiment - to see if practicing mindfulness can help treat conditions like chronic pain, anxiety and stress that affect millions of us.

Professor Tamara Davis meets the scientists on a quest to hunt down black holes, the journey has brought us to the cusp of an unprecedented milestone in scientific achievement - to photograph a black hole for the first time.

Ian Henderson, the recently retired and much loved ABC newsreader, sets out on a quest to find the secret to ageing healthily, and along the way uncovers some amazing new science that could benefit us all.

Dr Sarah McKay uncovers the revolutionary new science that promises to keep your brain healthy into old age and uncovers the drugs that hope to defeat many of the diseases of ageing.

Lily Serna finds out how maths can help us all become smarter with the risks we take in life. And she discovers that far from taking too many risks, many of us are playing it too safe.

Catalyst reveals the extraordinary work of the Australian Craniofacial Unit in Adelaide, with unprecedented access behind the scenes to look at what lies beneath the face, and the surgeons trusted to make it whole again.

Journalist Ruby Jones meets some of the 2.5 million Australians whom body image concerns have become a serious mental health issue. Ruby discovers that far from vanity these disorders are crippling people's lives.