What is life? Are viruses alive? • 2014 • This Place

Category: Nature | Download:

What is it that makes things alive? What if we made robots that could sustain themselves? What if they could mine metals or recycle old robots, reprogram and remake themselves? There's nothing there we would traditional call alive, but they would have at least have the essence of this perpetual rube Goldberg machine.

Make a donation

Buy a brother a hot coffee? Or a cold beer?

Hope you're finding these documentaries fascinating and eye-opening. It's just me, working hard behind the scenes to bring you this enriching content.

Running and maintaining a website like this takes time and resources. That's why I'm reaching out to you. If you appreciate what I do and would like to support my efforts, would you consider "buying me a coffee"?

Donation addresses

BTC: bc1q8ldskxh4x9qnddhcrgcun8rtvddeldm2a07r2v

ETH: 0x5CCAAA1afc5c5D814129d99277dDb5A979672116

With your donation through , you can show your appreciation and help me keep this project going. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant impact. It goes directly towards covering server costs.

This Place • 2014 - 2015 • 4 episodes •

What is life? Are viruses alive?

What is life? Are viruses alive?

What is it that makes things alive? What if we made robots that could sustain themselves? What if they could mine metals or recycle old robots, reprogram and remake themselves? There's nothing there we would traditional call alive, but they would have at least have the essence of this perpetual rube Goldberg machine.

2014 • Nature

Tragedy of the Commons or The Problem with Open Access

Tragedy of the Commons or The Problem with Open Access

The semantics of the model I'm working from use common goods/common property/ common pool resources (resources used by multiple people) and common property regimes (the institutions or social arrangements between people, the property rights regarding common pool resources).

2015 • Environment

How does do science?

How does do science?

How do we learn properly so we can be right all the time? How can we know that we know, when we don't know what we don't know?

2015 • Science

What do brains do?

What do brains do?

Brains and nervous systems do a lot of things, but overall their purpose seems to be to allow cells to communicate and behave together. But because gene's generally code for things that help reproduction, you can start to see harsh patterns in behavior.

2014 • Brain

You might also like

Islands

On a small island, a monumental display takes place as the giant Hatzegopteryx reveals his gentler side to woo a mate

S2E1 • Prehistoric Planet • 2023 • Nature

Wild Extremes

The most extreme and wild parts of New Zealand are in the South Island, which lie towards Antarctica, in the path of the tempestuous 'roaring forties'. This is home to some of the most rapidly rising mountains in the world, the Southern Alps. From hyper-intelligent parrots to sinister snails with teeth and magical constellations of glow-worms, this is the story of New Zealand's wildest places and its most resilient pioneers, all of whom must embrace radical solutions to survive.

Part 2 • New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands • 2016 • Nature

Human Worlds

Two out of five wild plants are threatened with extinction. Today people are finding remarkable ways to help them, and so make our world a little greener and a little wilder.

S1E5 • The Green Planet • 2022 • Nature

Return to the Mara

Return to the Mara

The annual Serengeti wildebeest migration is a journey so fraught with peril, it's a wonder they set off at all. For wildlife expert Jean du Plessis, it's a unique chance to see how a new generation of calves, born just months ago, will fare among the predatorial lions and crocodiles that await them.

S1E2 • Nomads of the Serengeti • 2018 • Nature

Part IV

The team has come to the very deepest part of the jungle, where streams contain the richest life, as well as danger, from four-metre caiman and the electric eel - a fish with a 600 volt shock.

S1E4 • Amazon Abyss • 2005 • Nature

Seeing in Colour

Seeing in Colour

Using the latest camera technology, David Attenborough reveals the extraordinary ways in which animals use colour: to win a mate, to fight off rivals and to warn enemies.

S1E1 • Attenborough's Life in Colour • 2021 • Nature