In the heart of southern France, the Mandrin Cave has drawn archaeologists for over three decades, its soils preserving an extraordinary archive of human life stretching back tens of thousands of years. Within its layers lie traces of fire, tools, and bones that tell the story of survival in a harsh prehistoric world. In 2015, the remarkable discovery of a Neanderthal individual—nicknamed Thorin—revealed that these ancient humans once lived side by side with the first Homo sapiens to arrive in the region. Following an international team of scientists, the investigation uncovers fragile relics of the Palaeolithic era that are rewriting our understanding of how two human species encountered one another. With every excavation, new details emerge about resilience, adaptation, and coexistence, offering a powerful re-examination of what it meant to be human 50,000 years ago. This is not only the story of the Neanderthals’ fate, but also of the deep roots of our own identity.
This episode explores the palaeogeography of Earth over millions of years, and its impact on the development of life on the planet. Tyson starts by explaining that the lignin-rich trees evolved in the Carboniferous era about 300 million ago, then explains on the nature of plate tectonics that would shape the landmasses of the world and the asteroid impact that initiated the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, leaving small mammals as the dominate species on earth. Earth's landmasses are expected to change in the future and postulates what may be the next great extinction event.
The film explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is catching up to us in ways once thought to be uniquely human: empathy, emotional intelligence and creativity. AI has the potential to reshape every aspect of our world – but most of us are unaware of what looms on the horizon. This documentary shows viewers what they need to know about a field that is advancing at a dizzying pace, often away from the public eye. Have AI the power to disconnect us from fellow humans? What does it mean when AI makes art? Can really AI interpret and understand human emotions? How is it possible that AI creates sophisticated neural networks that mimic the human brain? The documentary includes interviews with global leaders, commentators and innovators from the AI field, including Geoff Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, Ray Kurzweil and Douglas Coupland, who highlight some of the innovative and cutting-edge AI technologies that are changing our world.
Professor Richard Fortey delves into the fascinating and normally-hidden kingdom of fungi. From their spectacular birth, through their secretive underground life to their final explosive death, Richard reveals a remarkable world that few of us understand or even realise exists - yet all life on Earth depends on it. In a specially-built mushroom lab, with the help of mycologist Dr Patrick Hickey and some state-of-the-art technology, Richard brings to life the secret world of mushrooms as never seen before and reveals the spectacular abilities of fungi to break down waste and sustain new plant life, keeping our planet alive. Beyond the lab, Richard travels across Britain and beyond to show us the biggest, fastest and most deadly organisms on the planet - all of them fungi. He reveals their almost magical powers that have world-changing potential - opening up new frontiers in science, medicine and technology.
This documentary treats film fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Jurassic Park, one of the 90's biggest hits and a milestone in special effects development. Narrated by James Earl Jones, it includes footage of the filming process, as well as interviews with director Steven Spielberg, and other members of the cast and crew, who give their insights into what it was like working together on this project and the efforts it took to bring the film to completion.
In Canada, maple syrup is worth more than oil. When $20 million of syrup goes missing, the trail leads back to an epic battle between cartels and the little guy.
Following an international team of scientists, the investigation uncovers fragile relics of the Palaeolithic era that are rewriting our understanding of how two human species encountered one another. With every excavation, new details emerge about resilience, adaptation, and coexistence, offering a powerful re-examination of what it meant to be human 50,000 years ago. This is not only the story of the Neanderthals’ fate, but also of the deep roots of our own identity.