Last Watched

15 Shocking Ancient Secrets

   2021    History
From a 2,400-year-old corpse in remarkable condition to how shrunken heads are made, these 15 ancient secrets will have you completely riveted. The Vesuvius eruption may have been a gradual process. It took a storm to lift the cover on this ancient Roman city. The people of Pompeii often resorted to vigilante justice. How the wealthy of Pompeii protected their valuables? Was this pre-Viking gathering a prelude to a massacre? The valuable commodity behind King Solomon's wealth. This valuable Viking grave is missing something important. Is this where humanity decided to settle down? This mysterious stone structure is older than Stonehenge. This 2,400 year old corpse is in remarkable condition. Here's exactly how shrunken heads are made. DNA analysis reveals troubling news about shrunken heads. This mass grave discovery could alter Roman history. Gladiator teeth reveal signs of infant malnourishment. Evidence suggests Stonehenge was an elite cemetery.

Mystery of Alien Worlds

   2021    Science
Exoplanets, strange worlds outside our solar system. We're discovering the cosmos is full of alien planets. Alien worlds that challenge our understanding of planetary systems. Hellishly hot worlds, violently colliding worlds, worlds getting eaten by their stars. There's much, much more out there than we had ever imagined.
Exoplanets are shaking up our understanding of the universe. The cosmos is a chaotic array of the odd, the weird, and the wonderful. The more we find, the less we know.
Series: How the Universe Works Series 9

The Crime of the Century part 2of2

   2021    Medicine
In the second part and conclusion, a spotlight on the mass marketing of the synthetic opioid fentanyl examines the connections between drug manufacturers and government policy. Video of sales retreats and promotional material reveals a deep cynicism among company employees and a disregard for the widespread, nefarious corporate practices.
Series: The Crime of the Century

Marsupials

   2021    Nature
It's not all about the pouches. These mammalian misfits are full of surprises, from flamboyant kangaroo showdowns to rattling koala mating calls. They might seem a bit bizarre but don't underestimate them. With unexpected superpowers and amazing adaptability, they have conquered a continent.
Series: Animal

The Machine That Feels

   2021    Technology
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.

The Psychedelic Drug Trial

   2021    Medicine
A ground-breaking new trial at Imperial College London sees, for the first time ever under controlled conditions, a psychedelic drug tested head-to-head against a standard antidepressant as a treatment for depression. The film follows a pioneering team of scientists and psychotherapists as they compare the effects of psilocybin (the active ingredient of magic mushrooms) with an antidepressant on a small group of participants with clinical depression.
This is scientific research at its most cutting edge. With over seven million people being prescribed antidepressants each year in England alone, this drug trial is an important milestone in understanding a completely different treatment for depression. How do psychedelic drugs measure up against the industry-standard antidepressants that have been popular since the 1990s? The empirical results of the trial are explored alongside the participants’ powerful lived experience.