Summary: Although the impact of genetic research on human life is an ever-changing and often theoretical prospect, our current knowledge of the human genome already has direct, real-world applications. This program looks at several ways in which genetic breakthroughs have improved health care technology and enriched the study of human physiology. Case studies focus on DNA screening and its benefits-for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: Likening the beauty and complexity of DNA to an epic poem, this program revolves around the idea that we all carry the story of life on Earth in our genes, and that the similarities between species may play a more significant role in that story than previously thought. A visit to Iceland's hot springs reveals heat-, acid-, and salt-resistant organisms called Archaea-primordial versions of which...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: For a few weeks every year starlings migrate, creating shifting, synchronized formations of nearly a million birds that flow across the sky like a well-choreographed dance. How does each bird anticipate where its neighbor will fly? Studying data from Google allows analysts to predict flu outbreaks-so why can't weather be forecast more than a few days in advance? And if winning a game of Rock,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: What does it mean to die? Is death a form of transition to a higher plane, mere physical dissolution, or something else altogether? In this program, Robert J. Kastenbaum, Professor of Communication at Arizona State University; historian Michel Vovelle, of the Sorbonne; anthropologist Luce Des Aulniers; and clinical psychologist Marie-Frederique Bacque delve into the ways in which science and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: What exactly is love? What are its biological underpinnings, and how have cultural definitions of that word, so heavily endowed with meaning, evolved? Beginning with the Sumerians and other ancient civilizations, this program seeks to understand love's social rituals and its interrelated physiological imperatives. Topics under consideration by anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: One of the most important stories in genetics is the race to understand DNA. This intro-level program guides viewers through that story, focusing on the biological and chemical processes central to the transfer of genetic material. Beginning in the middle of the 19th century, the program describes how competing scientists in Europe and America zeroed in on the DNA molecule and determined its...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Mapping the human genome is one achievement in a long line of scientific milestones. This intro-level program explores discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries that gave birth to the science of genetics. Focusing on the work of Carl Linnaeus, Gregor Mendel, and Josef Kolreuter, the program shows how the basic laws of inheritance were established, highlighting the importance of Linnaean...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Shedding light on today's biotech revolution, this intro-level program examines the controversies surrounding genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, specifically in agriculture. The program explains the process of modification using crown gall disease and Agrobacterium tumefaciens as models to demonstrate how genetic engineering works in plants. Marker genes, DNA constructs, promoters,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: From prehistoric extended families to today's double-income and single-parent families, the family as an institution has undergone dramatic change. This program examines the concept of family as viewed around the world and down through time. Historians Andre Burguiere and Pieter Spierenburg; authors Beatrice Gottlieb and Helene Tremblay; Henri Leridon, of the Institute for Demographic Studies;...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Expanding on the subject of DNA, this intro-level program explores the central processes that govern the continuation of all life. Beginning with a discussion of Watson and Crick's pivotal 1953 paper describing the structure of DNA and its possible role in heredity, the program describes Crick's collaboration with Sydney Brenner in solving the DNA-to-protein puzzle and the role of RNA in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, genetics came into its own as a science. This intro-level program shows how the development of the microscope pushed genetic studies forward, and includes in-depth discussion of early cell theory, particularly the first observations of meiosis and mitosis. Exploring Thomas Morgan Hunt's findings involving Drosophila mutation, the program covers...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the midst of the trauma of the Vietnam War, a U.S. diplomatic strategy evolves that begins the unraveling of the Soviet Empire. This program on the Cold War of the 1970s and 80s, hosted by David Frost and featuring historian Michael Beschloss, focuses on such key events and tactics as detente, the manipulations that sparked Middle East tensions between Soviet-supported Egypt and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Segments of this program include: The Beginnings of War, Saladin’s Rise to Power, The Muslim Army Gathers Momentum, Saladin Marches on Jerusalem, Richard the Lionheart Takes the Cross, and The Battle for Acre.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The end of World War II brought a desolate European landscape with two countries and two ideologies in an epic face-off. Sir David Frost and noted historian Michael Beschloss examine a multitude of essential topics and events of the period, including the roots of the Cold War, the early challenge to Truman, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War and the spread of "red scare" paranoia, the arms race...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: An institution supported by religious and civil authorities, marriage bestows both freedoms and restraints designed to promote social stability. But as divorce rates continue to soar, is marriage getting a bad name? In this program, author Sabine Da Costa and anthropologists Helen Fisher, of Rutgers University, and Peter Lovell, of the University of New Brunswick, track the development of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: From childhood on, biological and social factors combine to shape an individual's sexual identity. In this program, Ruben Gur, Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Pennsylvania; sociologist Rhoda Reddock, of the University of the West Indies; philosopher Elisabeth Badinter; historians Arlette Farge and Jennifer Stoddart; and others evaluate gender-related behavioral models from a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Segments from this program include: The Aftermath of Acre, Richard Stakes His Claim for the Holy Land, An Unlikely Friendship Develops, Saladin Faces a Crisis, The Armies Prepare for Battle, and The Truce.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005