Brazil has opened a rainforest reserve to mining. There are conservation concerns but also for the indigenous who live there. Gareth Mitchell has been exploring the dangers of neglecting local beliefs about nature when developing conservation schemes. Flooding in India, Nepal and Bangladesh has claimed 800 lives. Geography and climate are the cause but humans are making it worse. We stay in India, where a dose of “good bacteria” has cut infant deaths from sepsis by 40%. And in Chile, dairy farmers are using copper to reduce rates of udder infections. According to leading robotics experts, it is time to stop the development of ‘killer robots’. In a letter to the UN, they have called for a ban on the use of Artificial Intelligence in managing weaponry. Trees take in carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, but their leaves also attract tiny particles, which can get into our lungs and brains. So how good are they at cleaning our clogged up skies? Musicians often feel nervous before a performance. Talented music students at the Royal College of Music in London have been trying out a digital mock-up of a performance – complete with grim-faced judges on a screen – to overcoming anxiety. (Picture caption: Aerial Shot of Amazon rainforest in Brazil, South America © Getty Images) The Science Hour was presented by Gareth Mitchell with comments from freelance science journalist, Dr Claire Ainsworth Producer: Graihagh Jackson