A Year to Save My Life: George McGavin and Melanoma • 2019

45:49

On the front lines of the hunt for killer viruses, a shocking discovery is made: viruses, once thought to be a menace to humankind, may in fact be the ultimate creators. Since the beginning of time, they have played a critical role in evolution, shaping us and perhaps even creating us. How could that be? How can an entity seemingly programmed for destruction lead to genetic diversity and new species? To many people, viruses are simply agents for disease, but to Dr. Luis Villarreal, Director of the Center for Virus Research at the University of California Irvine, they may possess far greater power than originally thought. He guides us through evidence that viruses gave rise to the first complex cells, played a role in the diversification of life, changed how our young are born, drove evolution, and perhaps gave us emotions. One expert even suggests that an ancient virus could have entered our genes and rewired us for monogamy. National Geographic investigates a provocative new theory that suggests that all life - including humans - is descended from viruses. Taking us through African jungles in search for new strains, this episode of Explorer presents a startling new view of viruses - toward what may be a remarkable evolutionary moment: the rise of a new human species.

2008 • Health

59:01

Geneticist Spencer Wells presents a broad view of the DNA Testing industry from its beginnings to its broader acceptance by the general public. Now an individual can, for the first time in history, read his own genetic blueprints.

S1E5 • Curiosity Retreats: 2016 Lectures • 2016 • Health

59:11

Psychopaths have long captured the public imagination. Painted as charismatic, violent predators lacking in all empathy, they provide intrigue and horror in equal measure. But what precisely is a psychopath? What is it that drives them to cause harm, even kill? And can they ever be cured? Presented by psychologist professor Uta Frith, this is an in-depth exploration of the psychopathic mind including one of the most notorious of all, Moors murderer Ian Brady. Through an ongoing correspondence between the Horizon team and Brady, the film features some of the very last letters he wrote. The film also features a series of candid interviews with prison inmates who not only describe their crimes but why they think they committed them. Horizon explores not only how each individual's crimes were shaped by their own life experiences, but also gives an insight into how these people think and behave. Working with the world's experts in the field, the film sheds light on the biological, psychological and environmental influences that shape a psychopath. And it looks to the future, with groundbreaking research that suggests a lifetime of incarceration is not the only option to manage violent and dangerous psychopaths.

Horizon • 2017 • Health

57:57

Insomniac Michael Mosley finds out what happens if we don't get enough sleep and looks at surprising solutions to help us get more.

2017 • Health

52:01

In the summer of 1950 fear gripped the residents of Wytheville, Virginia. Movie theaters shut down, baseball games were cancelled and panicky parents kept their children indoors — anything to keep them safe from an invisible invader. Outsiders sped through town with their windows rolled up and bandanas covering their faces. The ones who couldn't escape the perpetrator were left paralyzed, and some died in the wake of the devastating and contagious virus. Polio had struck in Wytheville. The town was in the midst of a full-blown epidemic. That year alone, more than 33,000 Americans fell victim — half of them under the age of ten.

2009 • Health

52:30

Dive into the world of an ice climber, a bus driver, a woman in labor and a senior dance club to show how the human heart and the circulatory system power our physical and emotional lives and create the pulsing rhythm of our world.

S1E2 • Human: The World Within • 2021 • Health