Summary: This Science Screen Report describes the anatomy and functions of facial features, and the evolutionary development of the human face. It explains how the mouth and nose work together to identify food, the process of chewing and swallowing, and the varying functions of the taste buds, saliva, teeth, tongue, and jaws. Combining principles in anatomy, anthropology, psychology, and zoology, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: What's the worst sound in the entire world? It's a question that's certain to produce more than one opinion. To get as many answers as possible, acoustic engineer Trevor Cox created an Internet experiment that generated millions of responses to the query. Cox also developed a system of compiling, organizing, and interpreting the results, and he describes his investigation in this fascinating...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The topic of skin is introduced by viewing a typical collection of bodies on a sun-drenched beach. We are familiar with the sight of skin exposed to the sun, but do we know what is actually happening to the skin surface? Using scanning electron microscopy, we get a bug's-eye view of the living barrier between our body and the outside world. The detailed internal structure of the skin is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Synesthesia may be a brain disorder, but those afflicted rarely complain about the symptoms. This program examines the unusual condition, outlines its appearances in medical history, and describes new theories and speculation surrounding it. Identifying well-known artists, writers, and musicians who may have experienced "crossed signals" in their sensory perceptions-including Wassily Kandinsky...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Sensing the thoughts and feelings of others may be a natural talent for most people, but how do we do it? Rebecca Saxe studies the way we think about the inner lives of our fellow humans. In her laboratory at MIT, she uses fMRI scans to identify what happens in our brains when we consider the motives, passions, and beliefs of others. In this TEDTalk, Saxe shares some of her fascinating findings...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Daniel Tammet has linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia - meaning that his perception of words, numbers, and colors are woven together into a new way of perceiving and understanding the world. In this TEDTalk, the linguist, writer, and educator shares his art, his passion for languages, and a glimpse into his unique way of perceiving the world. Tammet is the author of Born on a Blue Day,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: Charles Limb performs cochlear implantation, a surgical procedure that treats hearing loss and can restore the ability to perceive speech. But Limb is a musician as well as a surgeon, and in this TEDTalk he discusses a major limitation of the implants: they don't allow users to fully experience music. Making the case that humans rely on their senses to perceive beauty and not just environmental...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Why are humans so responsive to touch? This program calculates the different sensitivities of the body's most receptive parts. The density of touch sensors in the skin explains why some parts of the body seem to have a much lower pain threshold-a microscopic splinter in a finger can be extremely painful, while a cut on your leg may not hurt as much. University College London professor Tony...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This Science Screen Report examines the sense of touch not only as a means of physical sensation, but also as the most basic way of communicating and interacting with one's environment. The program highlights the human body's methods for detecting and evaluating external stimuli, and outlines scientific approaches to helping people with an impaired tactile sense. Presenting human touch as a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Some people suffer chronic pain long after an injury has healed, while others can jump from a two-story building and not feel a thing. This film reveals the physiological foundations of both scenarios as it examines the mechanics of pain perception. Viewers meet a family whose unique genetic code has lent insight into the sensation of pain, while a man who cut off his own arm to save his life...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program explores the biological reasons why humans have the most amazing sense of taste on the planet. Persuading a family raised on Chinese food to try ripe Stilton cheese and a group of gourmet cheese lovers to try a Chinese delicacy of fermented raw duck eggs, host Nigel Marven assesses how we end up with such extraordinary tastes that vary across different cultures. Yale University...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Psychologist Philip Zimbardo led the notorious Stanford Prison Experiment, served as an expert witness in the court martial of an Abu Ghraib guard, and explored the nature of evil in his book The Lucifer Effect. Now his research focuses on the nature of heroism. In this TEDTalk, Zimbardo says happiness and success are rooted in a trait most of us disregard: the way we perceive time. He suggests...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Evelyn Glennie's music challenges the listener to ask where music comes from: is it more than simply a translation from score to instrument to audience? In this soaring TEDTalk demonstration, the Grammy Award-winning percussionist and composer - almost completely deaf since the age of 12 - illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: From the noise of our urban landscape to the musical cocoons created by high-tech devices, sound may be our most lively and versatile interface with the world. This program takes viewers on a sonic odyssey that assesses the frequently overlooked impact of what we hear. Defining the concept of sound, the documentary takes a mind-blowing CGI tour through the human ear and its vibration-decoding...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This edition of Science Screen Report explains the complex system of human vision and how that system can deteriorate. Outlining the basic concepts of visual perception, the program describes the functions of the lens, cornea, retina, and optic nerve, and identifies conditions that interfere with eyesight, such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. Also included are discussions of medical...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Can perception be explained in terms of sensation? In this program, the senses, including proprioception, are described; the structuralist, gestalt, constructivist, and direct perception theories are critically analyzed, focusing on both their strengths and weaknesses; and perceptual models such as those of Ulric Neisser and David Marr are presented. Many examples of the perceptual theories are...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program examines the role that our senses play in providing us with information about the world around us. Our brain depends upon the information from all our senses being integrated so that the brain is provided with consistent data that it can use to direct our actions. The program demonstrates how the senses of sight and balance operate as well as how they interact with each other. The...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Pawan Sinha researches how our brains interpret what our eyes see - and, equipped with that knowledge, he gives blind children the gift of sight. In this TEDTalk, he details his groundbreaking investigation into the neurology of the human visual system, as well as his insights into engineering, autism, and other subjects. Sinha explains how his vision-restoring treatment can help us better...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program argues that the human visual system is skillful at some things, but that we miss an amazing amount of what is going on right in front of our eyes. Whether spotting attractive people in a crowd, gauging depth and distance, or even predicting where things end up, the eyes are at their most perceptive. But clever experiments conducted at a nightclub by scientists from Sussex...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Packing the trunk, finding the right road, parking in a tight spot-are these masculine tasks, best accomplished with a man's mechanical aptitude and spatial reasoning? This program resists broadly brushed stereotypes, but does identify disparities in the ways men and women operate machines, manipulate tools, focus on tasks, and navigate. Accompanying two teams as they race to organize and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The brain-the "Enchanted Loom," as Sir Charles Sherrington, one of the founders of modern brain research, called it-is the most intricate, almost unfathomably complex product of evolution. It is a tapestry woven of a hundred billion threads-the fibers of all its nerve cells. Computers have large memories and prodigious abilities to calculate, but are slow at interpreting visual images that the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program deconstructs the emotional effects evoked by music and other sounds. Experiments by Dr. Mark Blagrove at the Sleep Laboratory in Swansea show that our sense of hearing is constantly alert, even while asleep, and Dr. Sarah Collins, from Nottingham University, explains why deep voices are so attractive to the opposite sex. Scientists assert that we have certain automatic responses to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: As many non-Western cultures have always known, music affects human development from the womb to the grave-in fact, it may even have specific health benefits. This documentary examines the role music plays in shaping our brains and improving our well-being. Starting with the effect of musical vibrations on premature infants in neonatal intensive care, the film moves on to study the role of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The nation's children are everybody's future, and what happens in those first three years, before school, really, really matters to that future, says child development expert Penelope Leach. In this program, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer reports on the neurological connections that form in a child's brain during pregnancy and early childhood and the long-term effects of sensory stimulation and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009