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Helen looks at the latest scientific insight into the aurora - dancing lights in the night sky that have fascinated cultures throughout our history. From the networks of cameras now capturing its vast scale, to novel experiments that probe the threat it poses to modern technology, Helen reveals the dramatic transformation in our understanding of the aurora, and the many mysteries that remain to be solved.
Part 4 • Dangerous Earth • 2016 • Nature
From powerful sharks to mysterious fish shoals, the underwater dynamic between predator and prey is a never-ending one. Join these amazing creatures as they employ both offensive and defensive evolutionary adaptations, such as sharp senses and swarm intelligence, in their bid for survival.
Attack and Defend • 2016 • Nature
The first programme of Darwin's Dangerous Idea explores the impact of Darwin’s ideas on religion and morality. Andrew Marr discovers that an important part of the Beagle’s mission was to return three natives to their homeland, Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of Argentina. Years before he reached the Galapagos, they raised questions in his mind about the fragility of civilisation and what it really means to be human. Marr explores how Darwin developed his ideas when he returned to Britain and finally unleashed his theory of evolution by natural selection on the world. Darwin’s ideas are taken up by many of the major thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. We discover that his ideas helped motivate the Kaiser’s army in the First World War and would also help convince the United States government to drop its isolationist policy and enter the conflict. In the 20th century, we discover a growing backlash against Darwin’s ideas among fundamentalists from the world’s major religions. At the same time science has been showing that Darwin’s theory of natural selection holds sway over our behaviour - including our morality - as much as it does over the evolution of our bodies. There is significant scientific evidence that suggests that Darwin has returned humanity to nature, in all its wonder, its glory and its danger.
1/3 • Darwin's Dangerous Idea • 2009 • Nature
How many animals - including zebras, moose and stalk-eyes flies - assess their opponents' fighting prowess before making an attack that risks injury or death.
8/12 • Trials of Life • 1990 • Nature
Known as "the roof of Africa," the Simien Mountains offer a glimpse at some of the rarest creatures on the continent. Among plunging cliffs that give way to lush greenery and foggy skies, learn how native wildlife like the magnificent walia ibex and cunning Simien wolf have adapted to this remote alpine terrain.
3/6 • Extreme Africa • 2017 • Nature
