
An accomplished molecular biologist moves out of the lab in a quest to make an encyclopedia documenting all the fruit fly species in North America.
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0.0What forms might life take in the Solar System and beyond? In the Academy's newest original planetarium show, see how a deeper understanding of Earth might help us locate other living worlds, light years away.
0.0The female breast has been a motif for as long as there has been art. For centuries, people have been creating works that showcase this intimate and emotionally charged part of the body. Today, female artists are questioning traditional ideals of beauty and countering the male-dominated perspective of the breast with their own.
0.0Explore the sun’s powerful storms, its impact on Earth, and groundbreaking research shaping our understanding of solar activity and its effects on our planet.
5.9Are we becoming Plastic People? Our ground-breaking feature documentary investigates our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health. Almost every bit of plastic ever made ends up ground down into "microplastics". These microscopic particles drift in the air, float in the water and sit in the soil. And now, leading scientists are finding them in our bodies: organs, blood, brain tissue and even the placentas of new mothers. What is the impact of these invisible invaders on our health? Ziya Tong, author and science journalist, makes it personal by visiting leading scientists and undergoing experiments in her home, on her food, and on her body.
7.0The first American space station Skylab is found in pieces scattered in Western Australia. Putting these pieces back together and re-tracing the Skylab program back to its very conception reveals the cornerstone of human space exploration.
0.0In this educational film, laboratory demonstrations show the effects of moisture and temperature on the growth of molds. Photomicrography reveals the structure of molds: hyphae, mycelium, spore balls, spores. Beginning with spores on a rice culture, time-lapse photography shows the formation of a new colony.
6.5With a wealth of fantastic archive footage and a series of revealing interviews with those who had first-hand experience, filmmaker Vicki Lesley tells the turbulent story of the West’s love-hate relationship with a nuclear power over the past seventy years. Capturing both the tantalising promise and the repeated disappointments of this singular technology, the film reveals how the post-war, romantic fantasy of an Atom-powered future developed into the stormy, on-off relationship still playing out today. A tale of scientific passion and political intrigue all wrapped up in the packaging of a sentimental screen melodrama.
0.0Oil is a primary energy source in the world. Global oil consumption reached approximately 95 million barrels per day but oil fields' quality is constantly declining. A team of Russian scientists came up with more accurate, cheaper, and faster technology that can increase the oil production rate. After all, modern civilization is built in the way that 'to live well' means 'consume more oil'
8.0A documentary produced in 1979 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein. Narrated and hosted by Peter Ustinov and written by Nigel Calder.
7.6Before the internet. Before social media. Before breaking news. The victims of Thalidomide had to rely on something even more extraordinary to fight their corner: Investigative journalism. This is the story of how Harold Evans fought and won the battle of his and many other lives.
7.6A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.
7.5Near the cold Pyrenees of Iberia, surrounded by ancient and dark green forests, lies a strange land where the rain is scarce and the wind is always blowing. The soil is poor, there are no trees and the landscape resembles the moon. Is this what the future of desertification will look like? Incredible creatures with surprising behavior live in this strange landscape. The documentary explores a place with very dry skin but a wet hidden heart where even waterfowl or amphibians can live. Living in such conditions is not easy and only the toughest animals will survive.
0.0The 1977 discovery of RNA splicing by Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Kentucky farm boy turned Nobel-prize winning scientist, set the stage for a revolution in molecular biology, enabling research into a new class of medicines predicated on recombinant DNA techniques ranging from the development of synthetic insulin and human growth hormone to the COVID-19 vaccine.
The film discusses the evolution and potential of using light waves, particularly coherent light, for communication. It highlights the development of lasers at Bell Telephone Laboratories, explaining how they produce a highly controlled and intense beam of light that could revolutionize communication. The film emphasizes the vast possibilities of lasers, including applications in telecommunications, surgery, and exploring the universe, suggesting that this technology represents a significant step in humanity's understanding and use of light.
6.0The discovery of neuroplasticity, the fact that thoughts can change the structure and function of our brains, even into old age, is one of the most important breakthroughs in our understanding of the brain in recent times. In The Brain That Changes Itself, Dr Norman Doidge explores the profound implications of the changing brain in a way that will permanently alter the way we look at human possibility and human nature. The documentary examines a blind man who sinks a basketball; a woman with half a brain who leads a normal life; learning disorders, strokes and brain traumas that are improved and cured; and chronic pain that is alleviated. The vast expanse of the brain's possibility is still unrealized.
6.0This 1971 color anti-drug use and abuse film was produced by Concept Films and directed by Brian Kellman for Encyclopedia Britannica. “Weed: The Story of Marijuana” combines time-lapse, montage, illustrations, animation (by Paul Fierlinger and emigre Pavel Vošický) and dramatized, documentary-style interviews to survey the evolving role of cannabis in U.S. society, with emphasis on the legal risks faced by young people. A unique score of experimental synthesizer music is provided by Tony Luisi on an EMS VCS 3 “Putney”
7.4In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science. In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress to become more enlightened and more tolerant.
7.5Before the joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission, humanity only knew what had been learned, decades earlier, with the previous limited, rapid "fly-by" Pioneer and Voyager missions. Cassini-Huygens spent more than 13 years in wildly varied orbits around Saturn, allowing the spacecraft to pass near many of its moons, as well as execute a soft-landing of its Huygens lander on the moon Titan. By mission end, it accumulated a mountain of imagery and scientific data that will continue to be studied for years to come. This film is a testament to the amazing efforts of the scientists who planned and executed the mission. It combines breathtaking images, movies, and a variety of animations to take the viewer into Saturn's complex system of rings and moons, as well as stepping viewers through some of the more exciting scientific discoveries made over the course of the elaborately complex mission.