When Does Life Begin? • episode "S4E02" Through the Wormhole

Category: Nature

We can all trace our lives back to a beginning. But what defines the beginning? Is it the moment when two cells unite? Or does something have to know it is alive before its life can begin?

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

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

patreon.com

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.

Through the Wormhole • 2017 • 13 episodes •

Will We Become God?

Humanity’s potential seems limitless. But could we become as powerful as God?

Science

Is There a Shadow Universe?

It appears we live in a universe filled with light. But scientists are now certain there is far more matter in the dark portions of our universe.

Physics

Can We Travel Faster than Light?

It's called the speed limit of the universe. Einstein blew all of our minds when he worked out the Theory of Relativity, and showed that space and time were malleable substances. He also theorized that we as humans can never travel faster than the speed of light, which leaves the stars and other galaxies almost impossibly out of our reach. But the dreams of Star Wars and Star Trek are not dead. In fact, there could be ways to travel faster than the speed of light - and some of them are already being tested in labs around the world.

Physics

How to Collapse a Superpower

The dangers of nations being dependent on digital devices and global interactivity are examined.

Technology

Is Luck Real?

Do you make your own luck or does luck make you? We find luck, good and bad, in casinos, basketball courts, genetics labs and the subatomic world. It's a journey that will radically revise your understanding of the laws of nature and the human brain.

Science

How Does the Universe Work?

Quantum theory, the best explanation of how atoms and anything smaller behave, is so weird even scientists who have mastered it find it baffling. But bit by bit scientists are finding maybe it's not so weird as comparable behavior is discovered in our every day world. It's just that no one noticed before.

Astronomy

When Does Life Begin?

We can all trace our lives back to a beginning. But what defines the beginning? Is it the moment when two cells unite? Or does something have to know it is alive before its life can begin?

Nature

Can Our Minds Be Hacked?

Our minds store our entire lives, our memories and our deepest desires. Tell no one, and our thoughts remain our own. But our brains are biological computers. Computer hackers can tamper with our email. Could brain hackers someday be able to rewrite our thoughts?

Brain

Why Do We Lie?

Do you sometimes tell a lie? Why? Is it human nature to lie?

People

Is The Force With us?

New research is beginning to reveal a hidden force in the universe - one that penetrates space with trillions of invisible connections, instantly linking every place in our world and joining our future with our past. Is the Force with us?

2017 • Science

Can We Cheat Death?

Death is life's greatest certainty. But that may be about to change. Scientists have discovered an immortal animal that may hold the secret of endless regeneration. They're on the brink of editing our DNA so that we can cure death like a disease. Or is dying necessary for the survival of our species?

2017 • Science

Can We Hack the Planet?

Humanity is under threat - from storms that seem to get ever fiercer, earthquakes that seem ever more deadly, and killer viruses that are engulfing the globe. Some scientists think it's time for us to fight back. Can we - should we -hack the planet?

2017 • Science

Is gun Crime a Virus?

Every 17 minutes in America, someone is killed with a gun. Politicians can't seem to stop the violence. But epidemiologists, psychologists and big data crunchers are discovering that gun crime spreads like a virus -and science may be able to stop its spread.

2017 • Science

You might also like

Behind Russias Frozen Curtain

Explore the stark landscape, frigid sea, and wild animals in one of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth. National Geographic Pristine Seas Explorer-in-residence Enric Sala leads a group of scientists on the first international scientific expedition to Franz Josef Land. His team works with Russia's most formidable biologists, geomorphologists and ornithologists to understand how climate change is affecting this remote ecosystem. From diving in subzero temperatures to running away from polar bears to avoiding titanic icebergs, the Pristine Seas team faces some of its most dangerous challenges to date.

2015 • Nature

Cauldron of Life

The journey begins on the Galapagos' west side at the youngest and most volcanically active islands in the archipelago, Isabela and Fernandina, which are home to a richly diverse wildlife scene. Here, Liz and the team journey into the clouds above Wolf, the tallest volcano in the Galapagos, where they join a group of biologists hunting for the elusive pink iguana, which teeters on the edge of extinction. But how and why did it come to live on the top of a volcano? Back on the research vessel, Liz boards Alucia's Triton submersible to descend a kilometre into the ocean abyss in search of a new species hiding in the darkness. Liz also travels to one of the most remote locations in the Galapagos, Alcedo Volcano, in search of the largest population of giant tortoises. Plagued by drought in recent months, scientists are keen to find out how this prehistoric species has fared. Finally, Liz helps out with a groundbreaking science experiment to x-ray marine iguanas that have so far stunned the scientific community with a new mutation. As with all life on these remote islands, the key to survival is adaptation.

S1E1Galapagos with Liz Bonnin • 2017 • Nature

The Edge of Existence

Tells the story of human/wildlife conflict in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti, Africa. Human-wildlife conflict is a global issue that has reached crisis levels, threatening the survival of both humans and wild animals. There are communities living alongside wildlife in some of the last remaining wilderness areas on earth. But these wilderness areas have started to disappear due to expanding human development, deforestation and depletion of natural resources, which has left humans and wildlife living in closer proximity than ever before. The situation is dire and if it isn't addressed urgently, it will have a catastrophic effect on the environment and on the communities that live alongside these wild animals. Seen through the eyes of the people who live in the Serengeti, and the daily challenges they face as they struggle to co-exist with Africa's Wildlife.

2020 • Nature

The Great Butterfly Hunt

The Great Butterfly Hunt tells the story of incredible journeys. The first is that of the remarkable Monarch migration, which is the longest insect migration on Earth, is. The second story is that of Fred Urquhart, the determined Canadian scientist who spent 40 years trying to discover exactly where the butterflies mysteriously disappeared when they flew south for the winter. The Great Butterfly Hunt is a beautiful and colourful one-hour program that combines the spectacular visuals from Flight of the Butterflies with the production’s behind-the-scenes look at how such films get made. On Thursday, January 2, when many Canadians will be groaning about the long grey winter ahead, The Great Butterfly Hunt will remind audiences of the promise of spring. And, at a time when the monarch population is in rapid decline, viewers will have an opportunity to watch one of Nature’s most dramatic feats unfold.

S53E10The Nature of Things • 2014 • Nature

Africa

Witness Africa's monkeys and apes and see how they evolved into the world's biggest, strongest, and smartest primates.

S1E2Amazing Monkeys • 2018 • Nature

Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks

Groundbreaking documentary which follows a Japanese-led team of scientists as they attempt to shed light on the mysterious world of deep sea sharks. Only 50 specimens of the newly discovered 'megamouth' have ever been sighted. Over four years, scientists and film crews voyaged in midget submarines into the depths of Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay to film them. Prehistoric 'living fossil' sharks such as bluntnose sixgill sharks, goblin sharks and frilled sharks also lurk in the bay. As part of the investigation, a sperm whale carcass was placed at the bottom of the bay to attract these sharks, which were then studied and observed from the submersible vessels. Revealing in detail the previously unknown behaviour of deep sea sharks, the film unravels another of the intriguing mysteries of our planet's biodiversity. Narrated by David Attenborough.

2015 • Nature