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November 10th, 2009

 
In the News: 2009 Kistler Prize to Dr. Svante Pääbo
Dr. Svante Pääbo, an evolutionary biologist featured in The Human Spark, was recently awarded the 2009 Kistler Prize. Watch video of Dr. Pääbo with Alan Alda.
September 16th, 2009

 
Web-Exclusive Video: Chimp Emotions
Check out this video to learn more about Lisa Parr's studies on chimp emotions and what these studies can tell us about the human spark.
August 20th, 2009

 
In the News: Video – Pyroengineering
Pyroengineering. A big word for what early modern humans learned to do with silcrete at least 72,000 years ago, according to researchers.
August 7th, 2009

 
Spark Blog: Behind the Scenes and Inside the Skulls
We took a look inside Alan's brain using an MRI machine. Apparently he has quite a plump hippocampus.
June 10th, 2009

 
Spark Blog: Video: Filming on a Freezing Footbridge
Producer Graham Chedd thought a chat en plein air would add some visual variation from the two-guys-sitting-on-a-couch-type shot that's always easy to get in a professor’s office.
May 22nd, 2009

 
Spark Blog: Video: Humaniqueness
Harvard's Marc Hauser has coined his own term for what we’ve been calling the Human Spark – humaniqueness.
May 20th, 2009

 
Spark Blog: Video: Ancient Dental Cleaning
Amanda Henry showed us how she very gently scrapes dental plaque from the Skhul 5 skull’s molars to find out what our ancestors may have eaten.
April 9th, 2009

 
Spark Blog: Video – Dr. Steven Pinker: Language Makes Us Human
Language is central to Steven Pinker's conception of what makes us human.
January 16th, 2009

 
Spark Blog: Video: North Carolina Through the Looking Glass
Larry Engel discusses the challenges and joys of filming Alan with the chimps at the North Carolina Zoo.
December 10th, 2008

 
Spark Blog: Video: Scientist Tanya Chartrand on Filming with Alan Alda
Watch Tanya Chartrand describe what it was like for her as a scientist to be involved in a television shoot for "The Human Spark."
WHAT IS THE HUMAN SPARK?
Alan Alda
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
TOPICS
Neuroscience
Primates
Human Evolution
Child Development
Behind the Scenes
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Major funding for The Human Spark is provided by the National Science Foundation, and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Additional funding is provided by the John Templeton Foundation, the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, and The Winston Foundation.
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Produced by THIRTEEN    ©2022 Educational Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.