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One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue

   1980    Science
Sagan discusses the story of the Heike crab and artificial selection of crabs resembling samurai warriors, as an opening into a larger discussion of evolution through natural selection (and the pitfalls of intelligent design). Among the topics are the development of life on the Cosmic Calendar and the Cambrian explosion; the function of DNA in growth; genetic replication, repairs, and mutation; the common biochemistry of terrestrial organisms; the creation of the molecules of life in the Miller-Urey experiment; and speculation on alien life (such as life in Jupiter's clouds). In the Cosmos Update ten years later, Sagan remarks on RNA also controlling chemical reactions and reproducing itself and the different roles of comets (potentially carrying organic molecules or causing the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event).
Series: Cosmos

Citizenfour

   2014    History
Citizenfour received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Oscars. The film was directed by Laura Poitras concerning Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal." In January 2013, Laura Poitras received an encrypted e-mail from a stranger who called himself Citizen Four. In it, he offered her inside information about illegal wiretapping practices of the NSA and other intelligence agencies. Poitras had already been working for several years on a film about monitoring programs in the US, the result of the September 11 attacks. In June 2013, accompanied by investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian intelligence reporter Ewen MacAskill, she went to Hong Kong with her camera for the first meeting with the stranger, who identified himself as Edward Snowden. Several other meetings followed. The recordings gained from the meetings form the basis of the film.

Stephen Hawking: A Brief History of Mine

   2013    History
This new feature-length biographical film tells the extraordinary and dramatic story of the planet's most famous living scientist, told for the first time in his own words and by those closest to him. Made with unique access to his private life, this is an intimate and moving journey into Stephen Hawking's past and present. Interviewees include Stephen Hawking's sister Mary, his ex-wife Jane, carers and students, as well as colleagues such as Roger Penrose, plus Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jim Carrey, and Sir Richard Branson This inspirational portrait of an iconic figure relates Hawking's incredible personal journey from boyhood underachiever to scientific genius and multi-million-selling author. And it charts how he overcame being diagnosed with motor neurone disease - and being given just two years to live - to make amazing scientific discoveries and become a symbol of triumph over adversity. Born exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo, Hawking grew up in a family some regarded as eccentric. Always asking questions, he was nicknamed 'Einstein' at school. Hawking blossomed at Oxford, although he only spent an hour a day studying. He noticed that he was becoming clumsy and fell over for no apparent reason. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, but nevertheless started a family and embarked on his academic career, finding himself at the heart of a searing scientific debate about the origins of the universe. And as he lost the use of his body, Hawking had to find new ways to think. He went on to write the huge bestseller A Brief History of Time, and the film reveals the high and lows of his resulting fame and fortune.

World Richest Terror Army

   2015    Culture
The inside story of how a small band of fanatical jihadi fighters became the world's richest terror army ever. Featuring the first major TV interview with an imprisoned senior leader of the self-proclamed Islamic State, Peter Taylor looks behind its medieval savagery and investigates how it became so fabulously rich and resilient.

Dawg Fight

   2015    Culture
West Perrine, Florida is a suburban ghetto in Southwest Miami. Over 63% of its residents are African-American and the unemployment rate is three times higher than the national rate. Violent crimes occur on a daily basis in this neighborhood of less than two square miles, where much of its adult male population winds up dead or in prison before their 30th birthday. But there is hope in the hood... Dhafir 'Dada 5000' Harris has built a ring in his momma's backyard and transforms himself into the Don King of illegal backyard fights in Perrine". Dada 5000 (6'3", 270lbs., bench presses 670lbs) grew up blocks away from Perrine's MMA sensation, Kimbo Slice, and spent a year traveling the world as Kimbo's bodyguard. When Kimbo's manager buried video of Dada's spectacular backyard fight debut, for fear of Dada overshadowing his rising superstar, Dada leaves Kimbo's crew and makes a life-changing decisión. In his ring there is no doctors, no ambulance. Just two men in a 12'x12' ring battling in a savage bare-knuckle fight to the finish. Dada's gladiators give everything in the the backyard to feed their families and to try to fight their way out of hood. Meanwhile Dada returns to the ring, is discovered by professional scouts and gets his shot at turning pro in the octagon at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Deep Sea

   2006    Nature    3D
An astonishing close encounter with some of the most exotic creatures inhabiting the hidden depths. In the realm of the giant octopus, the rainbow nudibranch (sea slug), and the Scorpion fish, viewers become a fearless undersea explorers, discovering the strange and unusual partnerships these 'star wars' creatures forge to ensure their survival, and learning how this cooperation allows life in this enchanting world to flourish. Filmmaker Howard Hall guides an astonishing adventure. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet narrate as Green Sea Turtles gather so Surgeonfish can strip harmful algae from their shells. A Humboldt Squid changes color four times per second like a flashing strobe light. A Mantis Shrimp’s claws have the speed of a bullet in battling a hungry octopus. Brace yourself to be submerged in a wondrous new dimension.