A Tale of Gentle Giants • 2017 • episode "6/6" • Wildlife

59:07

Isolated since the time of the dinosaurs, New Zealand's wildlife has been left to its own devices, with surprising consequences. Its ancient forests are still stalked by predators from the Jurassic era. It's also one of the most geologically active countries on earth. From Kiwis with their giant eggs, to forest-dwelling penguins and helicopter-riding sheep dogs, meet the astonishing creatures and resilient people who must rise to the challenges of their beautiful, dramatic and demanding home.

2016 • New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands • Nature

50:51

Giant insects once dominated the earth before the dinosaurs. Thanks to new technologies combining genetics, ethology, geology and even particle physics, paleontologists can now recreate the missing branches of the tree of life. Assumptions have been shattered and all the rules are changing.

2018 • Ancient Earth: Series 2 • Nature

5:56

So what is the difference between you and a rock? This seems like an easy, even stupid question. But even the smartest people on earth have no idea where to draw the line between living and dead things.

Nature

5:23

Issues of genetics and DNA are constantly cropping up in the news from food production and health, to legal cases and ethics. We hear about DNA in movies like Jurassic Park and X-men, we learn bits and pieces about it from TV shows like Dexter and and CSI, but what exactly is DNA, and how does it work?

Stated Clearly • Nature

49:27

Homo sapiens are the only creatures on earth privileged with high intelligence that allows us to be civilized. What evolutionary odyssey did we take to be granted this intelligence? The latest DNA research has discovered a key ancient incident that could solve this million-dollar mystery. It was an unparalleled event that caused our ancestors' brains to increase in size and advance in intelligence. Cutting-edge CG backed by the latest research results will take you on an extraordinary journey through time, back to the primeval event.

2016 • Leaps in Evolution • Nature

58:54

Sophie looks at one skill in particular that seems to give humans an advantage over all other animals - our superior talent for language. She explores what language really is, and how close other animals come to having it. She considers the world of primates and the theory that some apes may communicate through sign language, and reveals how, even in the womb, humans start to practise making the mouth movements needed for speech. But language isn't just a power to combine words. Professor Scott explores how we convey information through the tone of voice, our accents and the pace and pitch of our speech. But in a world when we regularly talk to computers, she also shows why scientists need to develop machines that can understand the subtleties of our speech. Finally, she looks at language in this digital age and explores the role that emojis play.

2017 • Royal Institution Christmas Lectures: The Language of Life • Nature