Without us noticing, modern life has been taken over. Algorithms run everything from search engines on the internet to satnavs and credit card data security – they even help us travel the world, find love and save lives.
Posts Tagged ‘BBC’
BBC: Pleasure and Pain (2011)
20/08/2015
Pleasure and Pain
Pleasure is vital for our survival – without it we wouldn’t eat or have sex, and would soon die out as a species. The journalist and presenter examines why pleasure and pain are integral to human survival, submitting himself to some of the most extreme forms of both sensations.
BBC: The End of God?: A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion (2010)
02/03/2015
The End of God?: A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion
Historian Dr Thomas Dixon delves into the BBC’s archive to explore the troubled relationship between religion and science. From the creationists of America to the physicists of the Large Hadron Collider, he traces the expansion of scientific knowledge and asks whether there is still room for God in the modern world.
BBC: Google and the World Brain (2013)
16/10/2013
Google and the World Brain
The story of the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet. In 2002 Google began to scan millions of books in an effort to create a giant global library, containing every book in existence. They had an even greater purpose – to create a higher form of intelligence, something that HG Wells had predicted in his 1937 essay “World Brain”. But over half the books Google scanned were in copyright, and authors across the world launched a campaign to stop Google, which climaxed in a New York courtroom in 2011. A film about the dreams, dilemmas and dangers of the Internet.
BBC: All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011)
14/09/2013
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
A series of films about how humans have been colonized by the machines we have built. Although we don’t realize it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
1. Love and Power
In the first episode, Curtis tracks the effects of Ayn Rand’s ideas on American financial markets, particularly via the influence on Alan Greenspan.
2. The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts
This episode investigates how machine ideas such as cybernetics and systems theory were applied to natural ecosystems, and how this relates to the false idea that there is a balance of nature. Cybernetics has been applied to human beings to attempt to build societies without central control, self organising networks built of people, based on a fantasy view of nature.
3. The Monkey In The Machine and the Machine in the Monkey
This programme looked into the selfish gene theory which holds that humans are machines controlled by genes which was invented by William Hamilton. Adam Curtis also covered the source of ethnic conflict that was created by Belgian colonialism’s artificial creation of a racial divide and the ensuing slaughter that occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is a source of raw material for computers and cell phones.
BBC: Eurovision’s Dirty Secret (2012)
25/05/2012
Eurovision’s Dirty Secret
Reporter Paul Kenyon finds out how the contest has been used as a tool of intimidation: viewers have been interrogated for voting for the nation’s long-term enemy, Armenia; a protest singer has been told to flee before Eurovision or he will be thrown in jail; and dozens have had their homes bulldozed to make way for the Eurovision event itself.
The US embassy in Baku has compared the ruling family to the Mafia. The regime has held onto power through a combination of rigged elections, jailing opponents, and by irregular control of the country’s vast oil wealth. So, why did the organisers of the world’s best-loved music event agree to host it in Azerbaijan?
BBC: Putin, Russia and the West (2012)
01/03/2012
Putin, Russia and the West
Vladimir Putin, after eight years as President of Russia and four more as Prime Minister, is stubbornly holding onto power. He has announced his intention to return as President and declared his United Russia party the winner in parliamentary elections that have widely been seen as fraudulent, causing mass protests in Moscow and elsewhere with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets.
1. Taking Control – Putin gives a prophetic warning about Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Taliban.
2. Democracy Threatens – Leonid Kuchma talks about the election of his successor in 2004 and Putin’s involvement.
3. War – Political figures discuss the conflict between Russia and Georgia in August 2008.
4. New Start – The inside story of Barack Obama’s relationship with the Kremlin.
BBC: The Hunt for Higgs (2012)
20/01/2012
The Hunt for Higgs
The “God particle”, hailed as the holy grail of physics, may have been glimpsed for the first time. The hunt for Higgs is part of a much grander search for how the universe works. It promises to help answer questions like why we exist and is a vital part of a Grand Unified Theory of nature.
BBC: Do You Know What Time It Is? (2008)
28/09/2011
Do You Know What Time It Is?
Particle physicist Professor Brian Cox asks, ‘What time is it?’ It’s a simple question and it sounds like it has a simple answer. But do we really know what it is that we’re asking?
BBC: What Is Reality? (2011)
07/09/2011
What Is Reality?
There is a strange and mysterious world that surrounds us, a world largely hidden from our senses. The quest to explain the nature of reality is one of the great scientific detective stories. Are we part of a cosmic hologram? Do we exist in an infinity of parallel worlds?
BBC: Micro Men (2009)
30/08/2011
Micro Men
Micro Men provides an affectionately comic account of the Eighties race for home computer supremacy and gives an amusing insight into the brilliant but eccentric characters that triggered the beginning of the UK computer revolution.
BBC: Synth Britannia (2009)
16/08/2011
Synth Britannia
Documentary following a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage.
In the late Seventies small pockets of electronic artists such as The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle were inspired by Kraftwerk and J G Ballard to dream of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain.
BBC: The Hawking Paradox (2005)
21/07/2011
The Hawking Paradox
Stephen Hawking is the most famous scientist on the planet. His popular science book ‘A Brief History of Time’ was a publishing sensation, staying at the top of the bestseller lists longer than any other book in recent history. But behind the public face lies an argument that has been raging for almost 30 years.
Hawking shot to fame in the world of physics when he provided a mathematical proof for the “Big Bang” theory.
This theory showed that the entire Universe exploded from a singularity – an infinitely small point with infinite density and infinite gravity. Hawking was able to come to his proof using mathematical techniques that had been developed by Roger Penrose.
BBC: The Big Bang (2008)
10/07/2011
The Big Bang
Professor Jim Al Khalili delves into over 50 years of the BBC science archive to tell the story behind the emergence of one of the greatest theories of modern science, the Big Bang.
BBC: Can We Make a Star on Earth? (2009)
01/07/2011
Can We Make A Star On Earth?
Professor Brian Cox takes a global journey in search of the energy source of the future. Called nuclear fusion, it is the process that fuels the sun and every other star in the universe.
BBC: What on Earth is wrong with gravity? (2008)
28/06/2011
What on Earth is wrong with gravity?
Dr Brian Cox wants to know why the Universe is built the way it is. He believes the answers lie in the force of gravity. But Newton thought gravity was powered by God, and even Einstein failed to completely solve it.
BBC: Wonders of the Universe (2011)
20/06/2011
Wonders of the Universe
Professor Brian Cox reveals how the most fundamental scientific principles and laws explain not only the story of the universe, but the story of us all.
1. “Destiny”
In the first episode, Cox considers the nature of time. He explores the cycles of time that define the lives of humans on the earth, and compares them to the cycles of time on a cosmic scale. Cox also discusses the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and its effect on time, and the Heat Death theory concerning the end of the universe.
2. “Stardust”
In this episode, Cox discusses the elements of which all living things, including humans, are made. He explains how these elements are related to the life cycles of the stars and the recycling of matter in the Universe.
3. “Falling”
This episode documents how gravity has an effect across the Universe, and how the relatively weak force creates an orbit. We also see how a neutron star’s gravity works. Finally, there is a look back at how research on gravity has enabled us to better understand the cosmos.
4. “Messengers”
The final episode shows how the unique properties of light provide an insight into the origins and development of mankind and the Universe. We also see how the speed of light is both a measure of time and distance. This leads on to pinpoint one of the early events in the evolution of life.
BBC: What Happened Before the Big Bang (2010)
16/06/2011
What Happened Before the Big Bang
Ultimate trip into the unknown, to explore a dizzying world of cosmic bounces, rips and multiple universes, and finds out what happened before the big bang.
BBC: Everything and Nothing (2011)
08/06/2011
Everything and Nothing
Two-part documentary which deals with two of the deepest questions there are – what is everything, and what is nothing?
Everything youtube.com
Nothing youtube.com
BBC: A War On Science (2006)
03/02/2011
A War On Science
When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution nearly 150 years ago, he shattered the dominant belief of his day – that humans were the product of divine creation. Through his observations of nature, Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection. This caused uproar. After all, if the story of creation could be doubted, so too could the existence of the creator. Ever since its proposal, this cornerstone of biology has sustained wave after wave of attack. Now some scientists fear it is facing the most formidable challenge yet: a controversial new theory called intelligent design.
BBC: To Infinity and Beyond (2010)
01/02/2011
To Infinity and Beyond
Mathematicians have discovered there are infinitely many infinities, each one infinitely bigger than the last. And if the universe goes on forever, the consequences are even more bizarre. In an infinite universe, there are infinitely many copies of the Earth and infinitely many copies of you. Older than time, bigger than the universe and stranger than fiction. This is the story of infinity.
BBC: The Secret Life of Chaos (2010)
26/01/2011
The Secret Life of Chaos
Chaos theory has a bad name, conjuring up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to Chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand.
BBC: The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom (2007)
02/01/2011
The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom
The series consists of three one-hour programmes which explore the concept and definition of freedom, specifically, “how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today’s idea of freedom.”
1. Fuck You Buddy
2. The Lonely Robot
3. We Will Force You To Be Free
BBC: Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany (2009)
27/12/2010
Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany
Documentary which looks at how a radical generation of musicians created a new German musical identity out of the cultural ruins of war.
Between 1968 and 1977 bands like Neu!, Can, Faust and Kraftwerk would look beyond western rock and roll to create some of the most original and uncompromising music ever heard. They shared one common goal – a forward-looking desire to transcend Germany’s gruesome past – but that didn’t stop the music press in war-obsessed Britain from calling them Krautrock.
BBC: Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong? (2010)
25/12/2010
Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?
There’s something very odd going on in space – something that shouldn’t be possible. It is as though vast swathes of the universe are being hoovered up by a vast and unseen celestial vacuum cleaner.
Sasha Kaslinsky, the scientist who discovered the phenomenon, is understandably nervous: ‘It left us quite unsettled and jittery’ he says, ‘because this is not something we planned to find’. The accidental discovery of what is ominously being called ‘dark flow’ not only has implications for the destinies of large numbers of galaxies – it also means that large numbers of scientists might have to find a new way of understanding the universe.
BBC: Space (2001)
04/02/2010
Space
Episodes:
1. Star Stuff
2. Staying Alive
3. Black Holes
4. Are We Alone
5. New Worlds
6. Boldly Go
BBC: Atom (2008)
27/01/2010
Atom
1. THE CLASH OF THE TITANS
Professor Al-Khalili takes us from the discovery of the atom to the development of quantum mechanics.
2. THE KEY TO THE COSMOS
This episode tackles world-changing discoveries such as radioactivity, the Atom Bomb and the Big Bang, and tries to answer the biggest questions of all – why are we here and how were we made?
3. THE ILLUSION OF REALITY
Al-Khalili discovers that there might be parallel universes in which different versions of us exist, and finds out that empty space isn’t empty at all, but seething with activity.
The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004)
29/12/2009
The Power of Nightmares
The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis.
The films compare the rise of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and claiming similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries—and particularly American Neo-Conservatives—in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies.
Part 1: “Baby It’s Cold Outside”
Part 2: “The Phantom Victory”
Part 3: “The Shadows in the Cave”
BBC: The Death Star (2001)
01/05/2009
BBC: The Death Star
Out in deepest space lurks a force of almost unimaginable power. Explosions of extraordinary violence, are blasting through the Universe every day. If one ever struck our Solar System it would destroy our Sun and all the planets.
For years no one could work out what was causing these awesome explosions. Now scientists think they have identified the culprit. It’s the most extreme object ever found in the Universe; they have christened it a ‘hypernova’.
Arno Skatas 