Flock of Dodos examines the disagreements that proponents of intelligent design have with the scientific consensus position of evolution. The evolutionarily famous dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is a now-extinct bird that lived on the Island of Mauritius, which is approximately 500 miles east of Madagascar. When Portuguese sailors arrived on the island, the possible combination of over-hunting and intro
In January 1976 news broke of a phenomenon. Pictures showed an upright bald ape called Oliver, who appeared to be a cross between a human and a chimpanzee; What scientists refer to as a humanzee.Oliver’s photographs shocked the world, and in the media frenzy that followed he became an international celebrity. In Japan his human-like behavior earned him cult status. In New York some journalists
42,000 Years ago, the only humans in Europe made clothes, educated their young, made tools. But they weren't the same as us. Now the very latest technology can reveal exactly how they lived, the dangers they faced and the communities they made in the Neander valley in Germany.We all know the word "Neanderthal" to be an unflattering qualifier for some of our more uncultured and dim-witted fello
In 2002, the discovery of a beautiful and bizarre fossil astonished scientists and reignited the debate over the origin of flight. With four wings and superbly preserved feathers, the 130 million-year-old creature was like nothing paleontologists had ever seen before. In this program, NOVA travels to the Chinese stone quarry where the fossil was discovered (a famed fossil treasure trove) and teams
Pedigree dogs are suffering from genetic diseases following years of inbreeding, an investigation has found.A BBC documentary says they are suffering acute problems because looks are emphasised over health when breeding dogs for shows.The programme shows spaniels with brains too big for their skulls and boxers suffering from epilepsy.The Kennel Club says it works tirelessly to improve
A comprehensive review of scientific findings, published in prestigious scientific journals, is presented to explain how life from other planets evolved on Earth. These first Earthlings (archae, bacteria, and cyanobacteria) contained the genes and the genetic information for altering the environment, the “evolution” of multicellular eukaryotes, and the metamorphosis of all subsequent species. The
In the ice-ravaged wilds of Europe, circa 25,000 BC, a range war like no other raged between two species of primitive man. In a unique moment in the world’s history, these two species, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon (Homo sapiens), competed for resources and for a permanent spot at the top of the animal kingdom. It was an epic battle of brains versus brawn that determined the course of human history.
Evolution is a term to define only one organism and that’s the self. The self is the universe, the self is the alpha and omega, god, and infinity, and that’s the only thing that evolves because we are all part of the self. Nothing goes through an evolutionary process alone or without direct benefit to the whole. So when you begin to think that there’s this controlling elite, this controlling hand
Understanding of humans' earliest past often comes from studying fossils. They tell us much of what we know about the people who lived before us. There is one thing fossils cannot tell us; at what point did we stop living day-to-day and start to think symbolically, to represent ideas about our environment and how we could change it? At a dig in South Africa the discovery of a small piece of ochre