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December 28th, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: Human Spark = Spite?
Scientist Keith Jensen plays the Ultimatum Game with Alan Alda and shows him the differences between how humans and chimps react to various offers.
December 24th, 2009
Program One: Becoming Us: Video Excerpt: Stone-Age Throwing Spears
Alan Alda joins John Shea for a lesson on Primitive Technology. Alan makes hand axes like a Neanderthal, but throws a pretty mean spear at an unsuspecting doe.
December 23rd, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: Less Spark, More Smolder?
Alan Alda travels to a French cave called Roc de Marsal, where archaeologists are becoming experts on Neanderthal life.
December 22nd, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: The Human Spark and Man’s Best Friend
Alan Alda meets with scientist Juliane Kaminski and a very smart dog named C.J. Dogs have some talents that even chimpanzees don't.
December 19th, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: A Conversation with Alan Alda and the Producers
Alan Alda, Series Producer Graham Chedd, and Executve Producer Jared Lipworth participated in a live webcast this week, hosted by the National Science Foundation.
December 18th, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: How to Groom Relationships
If you’re a chimp, making friends is straightforward – put in some time grooming your buddy and hopefully you’ll stay on his good side. Not so for humans.
December 17th, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: Running = Big Brains?
Which came first – the running or the brain? Running could be the reason humans were able to hunt large game and consume the protein needed for a big brain.
December 16th, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: Social Mimicry and Positive Feelings
Duke University psychologist Tanya Chartrand enlists Alan as a participant in her research, and shows that subtle mimicry can lead to positive emotions.
December 14th, 2009
Web-Exclusive Video: Monkeys and Magic Fruit
In this video, Laurie Santos pulls a switcheroo on her monkey research subjects. Will they notice when a fruit that starts rolling down a plank as a kiwi reaches the bottom as a lime?
November 20th, 2009
Spark Blog: Video – Making Stone Tools Is Sooo Millions of Years Ago
John Shea at Stony Brook University is keeping alive the stone toolmaking technologies used by our most ancient ancestors.
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WHAT IS THE HUMAN SPARK?
What is the nature of human uniqueness?
In a three-part series originally brodcast on PBS in January 2010, Alan Alda takes this question personally, visiting with dozens of scientists on three continents -- even undergoing an examination of his own brain.
» Learn More
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Neuroscience
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Program Two: So Human, So Chimp: Video: Full Episode
Program One: Becoming Us: Video: Full Episode
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Web-Exclusive Video: Human Spark = Spite?
Web-Exclusive Video: The Human Spark and Man’s Best Friend
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