Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

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).

The Internet is an uncontrollable labyrinth of content and imagery that operates under loose laws and partial anonymity - a new frontier where people can do anything and see anything, whether they should or not. In this lawless landscape, who's in control? The protectors? The abusers? In this episode meet the content moderators who watch the worst of the Internet so you don't have to; a convicted hacker whose punishment was the virtual prison of the unplugged; plus, a blackhat hacker who encrypts and holds computer files hostage.

This episode discusses the human exploration of Antarctica, in particular the mission led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, whose team died on the way back from the South Pole. It shows the scientific work in the modern human bases in Antarctica, especially Mawson Base and its observation of Adelie Penguins (partially through tracking devices). The second half of the episode describes how the series was made. Most crucial was of course the camera work. To get access to the wildlife of the sea, for example, boats, divers, suspended capsules and remotely controlled cameras mounted on inflatables were used. Particularly dangerous to divers were Leopard Seals and other predators. The film concludes that although working in Antarctica is now much easier than during the early days of exploration, human footsteps on the continent are still exceedingly rare in part because of international treaties prohibiting industrial exploitation.

We all project images of ourselves online - a curated identity that defines how we want to be perceived. But what temptations exist to embellish and what are the dark implications? In this episode, enter the world of Cyberbanging, where inner city youth are using social media to brag, conspire and incite violence; two African-American women bloggers who have turned the table on the trolls who threaten them; and the creator of Abdullah X, an online character who's trying to keep Muslim kids from falling under the spell of Islamic extremists.

In space travel there is a saying that the first 50 miles and the last 50 miles are the most dangerous. Explore the controlled explosion of launch, the fiery crucible of re-entry and everything in between. See how a single spark inside a spacecraft or a micrometeoroid less than an inch wide hitting a space station can turn a routine mission into a lethal nightmare. As the missions become longer, venturing to Mars and beyond, the potential disasters will only become bigger. What would happen if a spacecraft ventured too close to a black hole or was hit by a gamma ray burst?

'Crude Awakening'- To combat the worst environmental disaster in American history, BP and the Coast Guard dumped nearly 2 million gallons of a chemical dispersant called Corexit into the Gulf. But instead of helping clean up the spill, Corexit made things worse. Shane Smith heads to Louisiana to report on the lasting effects of the BP oil spill. 'The Enemy of My Enemy' - Yemen, the fractured state in the Arabian peninsula, is at the top of the worry list for President Obama's national security team, and the rise of Al Qaeda there is only half the reason why. The real trouble is a current threat posed by the little-known Houthi rebel movement in the north of the country - a grassroots army, allegedly funded by Iran, that has never granted access to any other Western film crew before. Ben Anderson goes deep into Houthi-controlled territory to learn about the group that's fighting, and beating, Al Qaeda in the east, Saudi Arabia in the north, and Yemen's central government in the south.