The Shape of Life. This relatively obscure series (2002) is a real find. 7 hour long episodes tell the story of primarily invertebrates of the sea (sponges, anemones, flatworms, molluscs, arthropods, jellyfish, sea stars, etc...) over the course of time and how we relate and in some cases depend on these seemingly lowly creatures. Amazing video footage and computer graphics clearly explain everything. The scope of the video is worldwide. This is documentary film-making at its best. It's a shame it's not more widely known because it is easily as good as (better than, IMHO) PBS/BBC documentaries on the same subject.
It covers the evolution of life on earth by explaining the gradual changes in anatomy (invertebrates to vertebrates, etc). Fascinating information, first-class photography and graphics, and some of the weirdest-looking creatures you have ever seen! After seeing this, you will probably have a renewed and more profound understanding of what the animal kingdom represents. Earth 2100: The Final Century of Civilization? Interesting propaganda from ABC. Planet at Risk: Experts Warn Population Growth, Resource Depletion, Climate Change Could Bring Catastrophe in Next Century. It's an idea that most of us would rather not face - that within the next century, life as we know it could come to an end. Our civilization could crumble, leaving only traces of modern human existence behind. It seems outlandish, extreme - even impossible. But according to cutting edge scientific research, it is a very real possibility.
And unless we make drastic changes now, it could very well happen. In order to plan for the worst, we must anticipate it. By 2015, there are expected to be hopeful signs. But will it be enough? The Death of the Oceans. One gets the feeling that the decision to frame the title The Death of the Oceans? As a question may have been taken at the last minute in order to discourage immediate despair on the part of the viewer.
If the programme itself communicated anything, however, it's that dead oceans are a much stronger possibility than that question mark implies. The threat, in fact, appears to be immediate and all but irreversible. One scientist said: We risk losing species before we've even been introduced to them. The living ocean is very fragile, said another. Don't for a minute believe that we can't screw it up much worse than it is today. With the sound turned down, this looked like another lush and lavish documentary about sea creatures fronted by David Attenborough, complete with weird-looking squid and humpback whales glinting in the sun.
Before we can take the most basic steps to save our oceans, we need something we've never come close to having: a baseline survey of what's in the sea already. Nice Guys Finish First. Nice Guys Finish First is a 1986 documentary by Richard Dawkins which discusses selfishness and cooperation, arguing that evolution often favors co-operative behavior, and focusing especially on the tit for tat strategy of the prisoner's dilemma game.
In the opening scene, Richard Dawkins responds very precisely to what he views as a misrepresentation of his first book The Selfish Gene. In particular the response of the right wing for using it as justification for social Darwinism and laissez-faire economics (free-market capitalism). Richard Dawkins has examined this issue throughout his whole career and focused much of the recent documentary, The Genius of Charles Darwin on this very issue. The concept of reciprocal altruism is a central theme of this documentary. Dawkins also examines the tragedy of the commons and the dilemma that it presents. In a second trial, this time of over sixty applicants tit for tat won again. Watch the full documentary now. Miracle Planet.
Earth was born as a result of repeated asteroid collisions, the moon created by a single giant impact event. Then, Earth's size attracted huge meteorites, which slammed into it, causing super-high-temperature rock vapor to cover the entire surface and evaporate all ocean water. The earliest life-forms survived such infernal events by escaping deep into the ground, miraculously emerging again and again.
The Earth has gone through innumerable catastrophic events, and life has survived by acquiring new abilities to live through each crisis. Humans are part of the grand history of life's evolution, which has been closely intertwined with repeated cataclysmic events. Why was Earth able to evolve into a livable planet, but not Mars, which failed to hold its atmosphere and oceans? Miracle Planet is a 5-video series co-produced by the NFB, NHK Japan, the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel.
Oceans. What lies below the frozen Arctic ice-sheets? Or in the black holes under the Caribbean Sea? The oceans are Earth's single most important feature. They shape our climate, our culture, our future. Yet we know more about the surface of Mars than we do about Earth's watery depths. Explorer Paul Rose leads a team of ocean experts in a series of global science expeditions. Filmed in High Definition in some of the most beautiful, diverse and threatened seas on our planet, the team travels across the world to dive the depths of the world's seas and oceans.
This documentary series contains 8 episodes, each around 1 hour long: Sea of Cortez, The Southern Ocean, The Red Sea, The Atlantic, The Indian Ocean, The Indian Ocean Coastal Waters, The Mediterranean Sea and The Arctic Ocean. This documentary is available for preview only. Inside Nature’s Giants. Nature’s Great Events. What Really Killed the Dinosaurs? For more than 150 million years, dinosaurs dominated Earth.
They were so successful that other animal groups - mammals included - had little chance of playing anything more than secondary roles. Then, 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs vanished from the world forever. Did they meet a quick and catastrophic end, or did they fade away gradually? In the search for answers to what killed the dinosaurs, scientists have looked beyond fossils. Geological evidence also holds clues and has contributed to many hypotheses, working explanations of how dinosaurs may have become extinct. The extinction mystery is far from a simple "whodunit.
" The same piece of evidence is sometimes subject to multiple interpretations. Scientific evidence and observation are the building blocks of hypotheses. A dinosaur extinction hypothesis is a testable statement describing factors that may have contributed to the dinosaurs' demise and how long the process may have taken. Watch the full documentary now - Watch "[Rus] The Human Sexes. Part 6. The Gender Wars (Russian)" Video at Vidiac. Did Cooking Make Us Human? We are the only species on earth that cooks its food - and we are also the cleverest species on the planet.
The question is: do we cook because we're clever and imaginative, or are we clever and imaginative because our ancestors discovered cooking? Horizon examines the evidence that our ancestors' changing diet and their mastery of fire prompted anatomical and neurological changes that resulted in taking us out of the trees and into the kitchen. Homo habilis was about a metre tall with long, swinging arms – not much to look at, apparently, but clever. Habilis had a bigger brain (50% bigger) than his forebear, Australopithecus.
Was this down to his diet? In Did Cooking Make Us Human? Professor Peter Ungar has a contraption he calls the Bitemaster 2, a mechanical chewing machine he has fitted out with genuine Australopithecine gnashers. For the first time in three million years they were set to work on a carrot, with remarkable success, considering. Watch the full documentary now - Sharkwater. In The Womb. The Song of the Earth. Some birds make sounds that are musical to our ears. Consider the skylark, whose melodious sounds we label as song. So it’s quite natural to wonder whether there is a connection between animal sounds and the music that humans create. The deepest mystery of all: What purpose does music serve? Famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough examines various exotic members of the animal kingdom for clues to this fascinating puzzle.
After laying out for the audience the complex structures that transform sound into music — musical phrases, melodies, themes, and variations — Sir David introduces us to the animal acknowledged to produce the most complicated and longest song yet discovered — the humpback whale. From the Caribbean, the documentary hopscotches to various points on the globe to show viewers a diverse array of animals that make music: to Australia, for the lyre bird; Sumatra, for the Siamang gibbon; and Sweden, for the great weed warbler.
You can listen to the music here.