Over the past 18 months, we've brought you guests from around the world of science and technology. We've spoken to everyone from Nobel prize winners to air guitar champions; from flirting experts to astronauts. Whilst they've all done amazing things, none of them can lay claim to having climbed mount Everest - and performing scientific experiments whilst they were there. At least not til now.
On the latest Science Weekly, we welcome Hugh Montgomery to the pod. Hugh's a genetics researcher, intensive care doctor, skydiver and occasional mountaineer. Earlier in the year he helped organise the Xtreme Everest project, where, amongst other things, the team investigated the impact of altitude and oxygen depravation on the human body. We've stretched the show to 40 minutes to include all of his stories from the world's highest peak. Hugh will be headlining this year's Royal Institution Christmas lectures with a series of talks called 'the science of survival' - he gives us a sneak preview of some of his topics.
Also in the programme, we hear from Philip Ball, one of Britain's most prolific and creative science writers, about 'social physics' - applying techniques from maths and physics to explain human group behaviour.
