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Saved by the Seals?

Original Title: Éléphants de mer: des Agents très Spéciaux
Duration: 52’
Producer: Sophie Parrault
Director: Jérôme Bouvier
Company: Bonne Pioche Productions
Scientific field: Environment / Experimental / Wildlife / Nature
Year: 2009
Country: France

Right on the path of the "Roaring Forties", the lost islands of Kerguelen, kingdom of the elephant seals… On one of the beaches swept by the wind, a tiny male is about to have a fantastic fate. He doesn’t know it, but by the end of this adventure, he’s going to supply vital new information about how our planet functions, and about global warming.
Christophe Guinet, a French scientist, is going to catch and equip him with high-tech gear. His idea: To use elephant seals as natural field assistants to collect as much oceanographic data as possible… Goal of this experiment? To study their changes of location and to understand why in the past few decades, populations of this specie have decreased on some of the islands while not on others. But also, to help us discover the mysteries of the austral ocean… This program is part of the SEaOS (southern elephant seals as oceanographic samplers) an international research program involving as well Australian and British scientists.
For the first time, animals are no longer the subjects of these studies; they become actual field helpers, essential intermediaries for the understanding of climatic phenomenon. By comparing the precise data transmitted by the beacons placed on the animals with those received from satellites, scientists will finally be able to understand how is formed, every winter, the ice surrounding the Antarctic, and that is so important for all oceans’ life. ..

Sawfish – Neptuns Forgotten Children

Original Title: Sägefische – Neptuns Vergessene Kinder
Duration: 43’
Producer: Udo A. Zimmermann
Director: Florian Guthknecht
Company: ARTE / ARD
Scientific field: Environment / Wildlife / Nature
Year: 2008
Country: Germany

Despite their impressive length of up to 8 metres and a saw, which ranks among the most spectacular weapons existing in the animal kingdom, we know very little about sawfish. The reason: this predatory fish has almost been exterminated, before scientist started studying its behaviour. The biologists Stirling Peverell and Lyle Squire depart on an exciting journey to capture the last sawfish – in order to rear them and preserve the species. A journey which takes them to the hunting grounds of the over 6 metre long tiger sharks, to rivers full of crocodiles and to encounters with the most poisonous animals on the planet. But only here, at the northern end of Australia, the future of sawfish can be saved.

Science and Islam

Original Title: Science and Islam
Duration: 3x60’
Producer: Southern Star Factual
Director: Tim Usborne
Company: Southern Star Factual
Scientific field: Exact Sciences / History
Year: 2008
Country: UK

The first of three programmes in which physicist, professor Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Its legacy is tangible. Terms like 'algebra', 'algorithm', 'alkali', are all Arabic in origin and are at the very heart of modern science. There would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra. No computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis. For Bagdad-born Jim this is also a personal journey and on his travels he uncovers a diverse and outward looking culture, fascinated by learning, and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician Al-Khwarizmi who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine, whose Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, Jim pieces together a remarkable story of the often overlooked achievements of the early medieval Islamic scientists.
In this episode, Professor Jim Al-Khalili travels to Northern Syria, to the backstreets of Damascus and on to the Nile in Cairo to reveal the astonishing achievements of medieval Islamic scientists. He unearths how their breakthroughs helped shape science as we know it today...

Science Fiction – Science Fact

Original Title: Science Fiction – Science Fact
Duration: 6’23’’
Producer: European Space Agency
Director: Jim Franks
Company: European Space Agency
Scientific field: Exact Sciences / Technologies / Space
Year: 2008
Country: EU

Whether it’s Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, or the iconic space station from 2001: A space Odyssey, Science fiction has always provided inspiration and ideas for the scientists and engineers that design and build real spacecraft.
The video compares factual and fictional space stations, manned spacecrafts and explains how “sci-fi” interplanetary travels could inspire future generation of scientist and engineers.

Science Friction: The Embryo War

Original Title: Science Friction: The Embryo War
Duration: 49’52’’
Producer: Katriona Devereux
Director: Joe Farrell
Company: Stop.watch
Scientific field: Medical
Year: 2008
Country: Ireland

This programme explores the controversial issue of stem cell research and talks to people on both sides of the debate.

Secret Lives of Sleepwalkers, The

Original Title: The Secret Lives of Sleepwalkers
Duration: 55’
Producer: Paul Scott / Chris Hilton
Director: Paul Scott
Company: Essential Media and Entertainment
Scientific field: Medical
Year: 2006
Country: Australia

For the first time on television this documentary delves into the very private lives of sleepwalkers to reveal how sleepwalking can wreck relationships. It follows the plight of several chronic sleepwalkers as they go through diagnosis and treatment. The outcome of each person’s journey is revealed at the end of the show.
Take Rebecca Mackover, a beautiful 33-year old saleswoman from Silicon Valley, California. During the day she and her partner Martin have an idyllic relationship. But at night her behavior is so bizarre that Martin thinks she’s possessed. He’s reached the point where he can’t take it any more and will leave her if she doesn’t get treatment.
Then there’s 34-year old Steve Cavicchiolo from Melbourne, Australia. Steve’s night antics are so weird it’s driving his partner Esther nuts. Steve screams, spits, and roams the house. Steve lost his last girlfriend because he urinated on her bedroom floor while sleepwalking. Unless he seeks help soon, he’ll lose Esther.
But most scary is the rare condition where a sleepwalker ‘acts out’ their dream. Canadian, Leonard Courchesne, has this condition, known as Rapid eye movement sleep Behavior Disorder, or RBD. While dreaming Leonard throws pillows, falls out of bed and hits his wife Bonnie. ..

Secret of Longevity, The

Life Expectancy is at an all-time high. The number of centenarians is also on the rise. However, the challenge isn’t to add years to our life, but to remain disease-free as long as possible. S-called “anti-aging” medicine offers a new approach: how valid is it? What can science tell us about successful aging? What are the secrets of longevity? Through interviews with experts from here and abroad, and a series of case studies, Découverte takes a look at the science- and difficult art- of aging gracefully.

Secrets from Ikka, The: a Little Story of Making a Big Difference

Original Title: The Secrets from Ikka: a little Story of Making a Big Difference
Duration: 48’
Producer: Anders Drud Jordan
Director: Henrik Helsgaun
Company: Nature & Science
Scientific field: Environment
Year: 2008
Country: Denmark

Hundreds of mysterious columns grow out of a seabed deep inside a fjord in southern Greenland. They are formed by one of the rarest minerals in earth, ikkait, which is stable only in cold Arctic water. It is like a cold coral reef in the Arctic, and inside the reef thrive myriads of life never seen before life thrive. But for how long, considering global warming? The majestic columns have started to crumble, and a biological gem is about to be lost from the planet - forever.
The film portrays three scientists' journey into unlocking the biology of the hidden life forms inside the reef. The deeper they search, the more it becomes clear that the secret life here in the Arctic may hold answers to some of humankind's biggest questions. "The Secrets from Ikka: a Little Story of Making a Big Difference" is a story of an incredible ecosystem that was discovered just in time.

Secrets of the Dead: Aztec Massacre

Original Title: Secrets of the Dead: Aztec Massacre
Duration: 56‘46’’
Producer: Jared Lipworth / Karen Kelly / Nina Davies / Sanjay Singhal / Sally Jo Fifer / ITVS
Director: Karen Kelly
Company: A Firefly production for thirteen/wnet New York and itvs international, in association with FIVE, CHANNEL FOUR international and history channel (uk)
Scientific Field: Exact Sciences / History / Archaeology
Year: 2007
Country: USA

Throughout recent times, historians have believed that when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in Aztec territory in the fifteenth century, they were welcomed as returning light-skinned gods by the Aztecs, who put up little resistance to their conquest. But now, a new find outside of Mexico City is turning history on its head. The discovery: More than 550 bodies, many of which show signs of having been mutilated, and even eaten. More importantly, more than 40 of the bodies appear to be European, indicating that the Aztecs not only resisted the invaders, they sacrificed them to their gods, pulling their still-beating hearts from chests, and stringing their heads (along with the heads of their horses) on wooden skull racks for public display. Exploring the archeology of the site, the forensics of the bones, and beautiful but grotesque codices that document the events, Aztec Massacre paints a new picture of the violent relations between the Aztecs and the Conquistadors, and rewrites much of what we thought we knew about the Aztec civilization.

Secrets of the Dead: Doping for Gold

Original Title: Secrets of the Dead: Doping for Gold
Duration: 56‘46’’
Producer: Jared Lipworth / Alison Rooper / Phil Craig / Sally Jo Fifer / ITVS
Director: Alison Rooper
Company: A Brook Lapping production for Thirteen / WNET New York and ITVS Internationa l in association with Five
Scientific Field: Experimental / History / Medical / Sports Science
Year: 2007
Country: USA

In the 1970s, female East German athletes came from nowhere to dominate international sport. But behind their success lay a secret, state-sponsored doping program that distributed untested steroids and male hormones to athletes as young as age 12. Many of these girls had no knowledge that they were being doped, and now, as grown women (and men), their broken bodies and damaged psyches bear witness to the cruelty of a government that pursued international glory and gold at the expense of its most acclaimed citizens. Doping For Gold digs deep into the secretive, Cold War world of East German athletes, examining what drugs were used, how they were distributed, and what horrific damage they did to many of the athletes who were forced to take them. The result creates a timely perspective on today’s many doping scandals, and reveals the truth behind the biggest and most horrifying state-sponsored doping program the world has ever known.

Secrets of the Dead: Executed in error

Original Title: Secrets of the Dead: Executed in Error
Duration: 56‘46’’
Producer: Jared Lipworth / Andy Webb / Roger Graef
Director: Andy Webb
Company: A Films of Record production for Thirteen/WNET New York in association with Five and History UK
Scientific Field: Exact Sciences / Medical / History / Forensics
Year: 2007
Country: USA

One of the most sensational crimes of all time has been re-examined by forensic detectives – with results that are equally sensational. Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen ranks second only to Jack the Ripper in the murderers’ hall of infamy. He was hanged in 1910, convicted of poisoning, then chopping to pieces his wife Cora, before fleeing to America with his young lover. Thanks to new DNA analysis investigators have now proved that the victim was not his wife at all. Crippen was executed for a crime he didn’t commit. Their further DNA work – secret up until now - throws up startling new evidence on what may have really happened. The investigation reveals a historic miscarriage of justice – and poses uncomfortable questions for the 1910 police and prosecutors who claimed to have solved the crime of the century.

Secrets of the Dead: Headless Romans

Original Title: Secrets of the Dead: Headless Romans
Duration: 56‘46’’
Producer: Jared Lipworth / Ian Potts / John Farren / BBC
Director: Ian Potts
Company: A Firefly Production for Thirteen/WNET New York in association with FIVE, National Geographic Channels International and Mentorn
Scientific Field: Exact Sciences / Culture / Anthropology / History / Medical / Archaeology
Year: 2007
Country: USA

The discovery of 30 decapitated Roman bodies in York sparks off an intense archaeological investigation. Who were these men, and what happened to them? Was this a burial rite? Could they be casualties of war, as Roman armies tried to eradicate the tribes of Scotland?. Or is this the site of a mass execution? Headless Romans brings together an expert team of archaeologists, scientists and historians. This is a fantastic detective story that goes right to the heart of the Roman world.

Secrets of the Dead: Herculaneum Uncovered

Original Title: Secrets of the Dead: Herculaneum Uncovered
Duration: 56‘46’’
Producer: Jared Lipworth / Richard Bedser / Ros Franey
Director: Richard Bedser
Company: A Firefly Production for Thirteen/WNET New York in association with FIVE, National Geographic Channels International and Mentorn
Scientific Field: Environment / History / Culture / Anthropology / Archaeology / Nature
Year: 2007
Country: USA

It’s a typical day in Herculaneum—the streets are busy as people go about their lives. Suddenly, the sky grows ominously dark and people begin to run as they see an enormous wave of fire, mud and lava hurtling toward them. As the pyroclastic flows roar through the town, buildings, people, and an entire way of life are perfectly frozen in time. While much of Pompeii has been explored, new archeological digs in Herculaneum are revealing new insights into the events of that day. Herculaneum Uncovered will explore recent finds that are revealing evidence of a people’s head exploding from the heat, villagers gathering along the shoreline in the hopes of rescue, and a surprisingly different scenes from those described at Pompeii.

Secrets of the Dead: Sinking Atlantis

Original Title: Secrets of the Dead: Sinking Atlantis
Duration: 56‘46’’
Producer: Jared Lipworth / Harvey Lilley / Mark Fielder / Helene Coldefy / Ellen Windemuth
Director: Harvey Lilley
Company: A Quickfire Media Wales production for Thirteen/WNET New York in association with BBC and Arte France
Scientific Field: History / Archaeology / Exact Sciences
Year: 2007
Country: USA

5000 years ago the Minoans, Europe’s first great civilization, flourished on the island of Crete. They were the first Europeans to use writing, and their technologically advanced and rich artistic culture became the setting for famous Greek myths about Theseus, Icarus and the Minotaur. Yet in their heyday, the Minoans were wiped from the pages of history. The cause of their downfall has remained one of the foremost mysteries of the ancient world… until now. Sinking Atlantis explores—and discounts—all the usual theories about the disappearance of the Minoans—from a massive volcano that buried them in ash, to Greek invaders who conquered and killed them. Then, the film digs deeper into the soil and the history, following archeologist Sandy MacGillivray as he finds startling evidence of a massive tsunami that struck the island and destroyed all the major Minoan cities. Was this the origin of the myth of Altantis? Drawing from the archaeological records, new revelations about Minoan language and religion, and shocking new geological discoveries, MacGillivray connects fact with fiction, and reveals the truth behind the reign and fall of the great Minoan civilization.

Secrets of the Parthenon

Original Title: Secrets of the Parthenon
Duration: 60’
Producer: Gary Glassman / Paula Apsell / Christine Le Goff / Hélène Coldefy
Director: Gary Glassman
Company: Providence Pictures for NOVA, Studio International, and ARTE France
Scientific Field: History / Engineering
Year: 2008
Country: USA

For 25 centuries the Parthenon has been shot at, set on fire, rocked by earthquakes and explosions, looted for its sculptures, and disfigured by catastrophic renovations. To save it from collapse, the modern restoration team must uncover the secrets of how the ancient Greeks built this icon of western civilization in less than nine years without anything resembling an architectural plan.

Seed Hunter

Original Title: Seed Hunter
Duration: 52’
Producer: Sally Ingleton
Director: Sally Ingleton
Company: 360 Degree Films
Scientific Field: Environment / Nature
Year: 2008
Country: Australia

Our planet is heating up and one of the first casualties will be the crops that supply our food. Scientists are working overtime to find solutions including going back to the ancestral origins of our staple foods.
SEED HUNTER will take you on a remarkable journey from the drought ravaged farms of Australia, to the heart of the Middle East, to the mountains of Tajikistan where charismatic Australian scientist Dr Ken Street – a real life version of Indiana Jones - and his team of ‘gene detectives’ hunt for plant genes that will help our food withstand the impact of 21st century global warming.
Along the way we meet farmers around the world who are struggling to grow crops in a climate that’s gone haywire, as well as scientists working at the front line of gene technology to save tomorrow’s food. At journey’s end, deep in the Arctic Circle, Ken deposits his bounty of seed in the newly constructed seed bank known as the ‘doomsday vault.’

Sex Report 2008 – the Sex Life of Germans

Original Title: Sex Report 2008 – So Lieben die Deutschen
Duration: 5x45’
Producer: Bilderfest Factual Entertainment GmbH
Director: Marcus Uhl / Dietmar Lyssy
Company: Pro Sieben Television
Scientific Field: Culture / Anthropology / Medical / Human Nature / Biology
Year: 2008
Country: Germany

More than 50,000 men and women, up to 200 personal questions about sexuality - it was the biggest sex survey ever done in Germany. And “Sex Report 2008” made it the prime time event in German Television. It illuminates the hidden secrets in German bedrooms: How do we love? How satisfied are we with our sex life? And how can love retain its passion? In five one-hour episodes people talk frankly and openly about their most personal sexual wishes, desires and dreams. Inspired by Oswalt Kolle, the nation’s most influential sexual educator of the Sixties and Seventies, “Sex Report 2008” reveals the most striking changes in our modern sexuality: With biological and behavioural experiments renowned international researchers scientifically examine virtually every aspect of contemporary sex life. For instance: the effect of women’s new sexual confidence, the shifting of men’s role from macho to sensitive lover and the phenomena of ciber sex and Internet-dating. Both innovative and state-of-the art, the show fascinates by giving unexpected answers to all the questions we have always been afraid to ask …

Sirius’ Enigma

Original Title: Enigmes de Sirius
Duration: 42’
Producer: CNRS Images
Director: Jérôme Blumberg / Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud
Company: CNRS Images
Scientific Field: History / Astronomy / Exact Sciences
Year: 2009
Country: France

Sirius est l’étoile la plus brillante du ciel, ce qui rend son image particulièrement difficile à obtenir, même avec les télescopes les plus performants. L’astrophysiciens Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidau, s’appuyant sur des observations de l’astronome grec Ptolémée et sur de textes astronomiques chinois, émet l’hypothèse que Sirius aurait change de couleur au début de notre ère. Ce changement de couleur pourrait s’expliquer par la présence d ; une ou deux "étoiles compagnons"gravitant autour de Sirius. Ses recherches mènent Jean-Marc Bonnet Bidaud dans les plus grands observatoires de la planète, et également chez les Dogon du Mali. Sirius, c’est Sigi Tolo, l’étoile du Sigui, cérémonie dogon la plus importante qui a lieu tous les soixante ans.
Jean-Marc Bonnet –Bidaus, accompagne des ethnologues Jean Rouch et Germaine Dieterlen, a observe e lever conjoint du soleil et de Sirius, tel que les Dogon le décrivent depuis toujours. Il s’est entretenu avec eux du rôle primordial de cette étoile dans la cosmologies dogon, se demandant comment les Dogon ont eu connaissance d’une telle étoile et de son compagnon en l’absence de tout matériel d’observation.

So far. So Close

Original Title: Si Loin. Si Proche
Duration: 25’
Producer: Solarprod Olivier Barbier
Director: Barbier Olivier
Company: Solarprod
Scientific Field: Environment / Nature
Year: 2008
Country: France

Why is it so important to preserve biodiversity. The invertebrate represent 95 % of the living world. Across the example of the spiders and their silk son in amazing ownership, they realize that every day, resolutions that offer us nature to resolve our problems disappear for ever.

Soul of Water, The

Original Title: Vattnets Själ
Duration: 57’20’’
Producer: Kurt Skoog
Director: Kurt Skoog
Company: Kurt Skoog
Scientific Field: Environment / Nature
Year: 2008
Country: Sweden

We live on a water planet and each single drop of water bellies a world of remarkable abilities. Water is a very simple substance but the small water molecule carries properties that seem designed to fit perfectly into the requirements of life. Water never rests, it has an ongoing movement. What we do to water here and now will have consequences there and then.
From a very personal point of view the film deals with water from different perspectives: From the structure of the water molecule to waterways in the landscape, from micro cosmos to macro cosmos, from a scientific perspective to an emotional, poetic perspective.
The film is shot in the mountain and the nearby forest regions in Scandinavia. Magic springs and small brooks, dark tarns and beautiful mountain waters in Sweden together with glaciers and more dramatic sea regions in Norway make the visual content that carries the underlying message of this film; water must be treated with respect and humility. And the principle actors in the film are a small brook in the mountains and a bird, the dipper.

Sous le Feu des Ondes

Original Title: Sous le Feu des Ondes
Duration: 52’
Producer: Jean - Paul Vercoutere
Director: Jean Christophe Ribot
Company: Mosaique Films
Scientific Field: Exact Sciences
Year: 2009
Country: France

Space Transportation: an ATV Perspective

Original Title: Space Transportation: an ATV Perspective
Duration: 32’
Producer: Melanie Cowan - ESA
Director: Massimo Sabbatini
Company: European Space Agency
Scientific Field: Space
Year: 2008
Country: The Netherlands

Although we use space technology on a daily basis and we have permanently inhabited Earth’s orbit for almost a decade, we rarely know how it actually works. The new education DVD from ESA’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight (D/HSF) ‘Space Transportation: an ATV perspective” sheds some light on exactly these topics. The team from the D/ HSF Erasmus Centre, who produced this DVD, picked one of ESA’s latest success stories – the mission of Jules Verne, the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) that was docked to the International Space Station (ISS) for 6 months – to highlight the complex physical laws behind handy space applications and driving current and future human exploration undertakings.

Stijn & the Stars

Original Title: Stijn en de Sterren
Duration: 53’
Producer: Walter De Brouwer
Director: Stijn Meuris
Company: Independent Production
Scientific Field: Space
Year: 2007
Country: Belgium

Stijn and the Stars features the famous Flemish singer Stijn Meuris who takes his audience in an inspiring way through the cosmos. His basic idea is that astronomy is the ‘noblest among sciences’. The format is that of a spoken word performance in front of a live and very interested audience. Stijn Meuris, himself a passionate amateur astronomist, explains the basics of our solar system and explores the outer frontier of the universe. The notions of time and distance play a crucial role. Helped by anecdotes and plenty of footage he reminds us of some basic knowledge that we all should master, but that we often ignore, since astronomy ususally was not a major subject during our education. The programme offers an indepth view on the knowlegde that astronomers currently have as well as an aha-erlebnis, which adds an extra attraction to the miracle of the universe that surrounds us.

Sunday with Darwin, A

Original Title: Un Dimanche avec Darwin
Duration: 44’ 49’’
Producer: Hélène Leroux
Director: Louis Faure
Company: Société Radio-Canada
Scientific Field: Biology
Year: 2009
Country: Canada

To celebrate the 150th anniversary in 2009 of the publication of The Origin of Species, we take a look at Charles Darwin—the great man, his life and his revolutionary thinking—via an introductory tour of the places that marked his life in England. We also provide the basics of the theory of evolution by natural selection as Darwin presented it, gauging its relevance in today’s world of science.

Survival

Original Title: Őverleva
Duration: 50’
Producer: Nature / Vildmarksforum / SVT
Director: Claes Andrén
Company: Nature
Scientific Field: Environment / History / Wildlife / Conservation / Nature
Year: 2008
Country: Sweden

Swissnex – Swiss Science in Asia

Original Title: Swissnex – Scheizer Wissenschaft in Asia
Duration: 28’30’’
Producer: Michael Breu / Reto Vellerti
Director: Michael Breu
Company: Swiss Television / 3sat Nano
Scientific Field: Science / Science Politics
Year: 2008
Country: Switzerland

The South Asian countries actually abound with high growth markets. Many companies expand into Singapore, Japan, Korea or China. So does science. Switzerland promotes global exchange of science by means of its science consulates network “swissnex”. Michael Breu’s film exemplifies the work of science councilors and swissnex representatives and shows state-of-the-art Swiss research in Asia.

Telescopes of the Invisible

Original Title: Les Téléscopes de l’Invisible
Duration: 24’
Producer: CNRS Images
Director: Marcel Dalaise
Company: CNRS
Scientific Field: Astronomy
Year: 2008
Country: France

The acronym Hess stands for High Energy Stereoscopic System, but it also pays homage to the Uastrian physician, Victor Hess who discovered cosmic rays in 1929. Hess designed groups of four telescopes that were installed near to the Gamsberg highlands in Namibia. In detecting light flashes produced by very high energy gama rays when interacting with the earth’s atmosphere (Tcherenkov emissions), Hess brought to light precious information on some of the most violent phenomenon in the Universe. The results exceed all expectations. In 2009, another telescope system, Hess 2, will complete statistics taken with a lower energy threshold/ The project was initially proposed in 1997, by the MAX-Planck-Institute für Kernphysik (MPI-K) in Heidelberg, and was joined by French researchers at the beginning of 1998. Today there are more that 100 scientists from nine different countries working together. In 2006 this very high energy gamma ray observatory H.E.S.S., won the European Descartes Prize.

There is Something about Species

Original Title: Espèces d’ Espèces
Duration: 90’
Producer: Blanche Guichou
Director: Annick Lemonier
Company: EX NIHILO
Scientific Field: Species
Year: 2007
Country: France

Do you know that you are an Amniote like the golden eagle, a tetrapod like the rattlesnake with its four limbs for walking? But hold on - A rattlesnake on four legs? From the point of view of evolution, yes indeed! One fine day, the common ancestor of the snakes discovered the knack of slithering and thus lost its feet. Stranger still, did you know the crocodile is more closely related to the canary than to the viper?…
The objective of the documentary film There is something about species is to peer into the Tree of Life and to demonstrate that the millions of species on our planet, including human beings, all belong to a single huge family.
How should we classify these living species? What characteristics should we use? The number of feet? The presence of wings, of feathers? Not an easy question to answer…
The film also informs us of the state of current knowledge, and corrects some of the misunderstandings about evolution: No, we are not descended from monkeys, we are both descended from a common ancestor. No, we are not more "evolved" than bacteria: we have invented science, stamp-collecting and crêpes suzette; but bacteria are capable of reproducing 14 times per minute at a temperature of 100°C. Just try that!
There is something about species presents us with the Tree of Life, showing us the ways in which we are related to other living species. It shows us clearly the current state of the life sciences in a playful and entertaining way.
Ranging from the study of the evolution of the living world, to the curious inventions of nature, we will come to understand the terms and stakes of the debates which have shaken the scientific world about the origin of life on Earth and its evolution.

Tideline

Original Title: Tideline
Duration: 30’
Producer: Andre Mortimer
Director: Andre Mortimer
Company: Eclipse Design Ltd.
Scientific Field: Environment / Nature / Wildlife / Technologies
Year: 2008
Country: New Zealand

Antarctica: See the Antarctic geographical structure and local fauna including seals, a range of penguin species and Antarctic birds. We visit Antarctic bases and learn about recent explorers and expeditions.
Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers: This is a showcase of two of New Zealand’s top eco-tourism luxury resorts. Kauri Cliff’s set in the far north’s Bay of Islands. Then head south to Cape Kidnappers located in Hawkes Bay amongst the world’s largest Gannet colony.
Gibbs Technologies - Aquada: Aquada – the world’s first high-speed amphibious vehicle to be mass-produced and available to consumers. See the vehicle in operation on land, sea and lake – even towing a water-skier. Visit the Gibbs factory and Research and Development centre in England. Interview the CEO and founder of Gibbs Technologies Alan Gibbs which covers the design and building of the Aquada. Jump aboard with Richard Branson in the record breaking crossing of the English Channel.

Time is Ripe, The

Original Title: Les Temps sont Mûrs
Duration: 27’
Producer: CNRS Images
Director: Jean – François Dars / Anne Papillault
Company: CNRS
Scientific Field: Environment / Genetics / Technologies
Year: 2008
Country: France

In urban transport systems, an ideal answer to chemical and noise pollution issues lies in the deployment of electric vehicles; they can be used in organisations’ car fleets, bus lines, and also in self-service rental systems, those individual means of public transport representing the missing link between urban public transport and long-distance car journeys.

Time Machine, The

Original Title: The Time Machine
Duration: 52’
Producer: Beatrice Barton
Director: Yariv Friedman
Company: BBD Polymedia
Scientific Field:
Year: 2008
Country: Switzerland

On 10.9.2008, CERN successfully injected a first beam of protons into the greatest particle accelerator ever constructed. The culmination of a 17-year long project will allow the recreation of the conditions that existed just after the Big Bang, and which will revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. This experiment was not without controversy, as fears of a black hole resonated throughout the press. The film observes the microcosm that is CERN through sociological and ethnological eyes, while also giving attention to the science behind this ambitious venture.

Traces de Vies

Original Title: Traces de Vies
Duration: 52’
Producer: CNRS Images / L’ Azalai
Director: Catherine Michelet / Jean-Michel Chazine
Company: CNRS
Scientific field: Archaeology
Year: 2009
Country: France

TRACES DE VIES raconte l’enquête menée a Palawan, aux Philippines, par l’ethno-archeologue Jean-Michel Chazine, sur les traces des Austronésiens et sur le mode de vie ancestral des T’auto Batu, leurs descendants directs.
D’où viennent les Austronésiens ? Comment vivaient-ils ? Encore aucune réponse certaine, car ceux qui furent a l’origine du peuplement du Pacifique n’ont guère laisse de traces matérielles distinctes. Mais la chance de l’archéologue est, qu’aux Philippines, les T'aut Batu ont conserve un mode de vie inchangé depuis des millénaires. Leur rencontre a conduit Jean-Michel Chine a associer archéologie et ethnologie pour tenter délucider le mystère du peuplement du Pacifique.

Truth about Liars, The

Original Title: The Truth about Liars
Duration: 52’56’’
Producer: Merit Jensen
Director: Andy Blicq
Company: Merit Motion Pictures
Scientific field: Culture / Anthropology / Technologies / Psychology
Year: 2009
Country: Canada

The truth is… we are all liars.
Scientists say that by the age of four we have all learned to lie. We lie to protect ourselves and others, and to get what we want and need. Most of us fib in one of every four conversations that last more than ten minutes. The Truth About Liars reveals the only “truth” we know about lying… everyone does it, and we can’t easily detect it. Featuring the latest science, psychology, and technology, this entertaining documentary tells us how lying is a part of our everyday lives and is integral to our survival.

Tsunarisk, Understanding a Disaster

Original Title: Tsunarisque, Appréhender une Catastrophe
Duration: 52’
Producer: CNRS Images
Director: Benjamin de Coster / François Flohic / Ch. Gombert
Company: CNRS
Scientific field: Seismology
Year: 2007
Country: France

The most destructive tsunami ever seen hit the coastlines of the Indian Ocean on December the 26th, 2004. Twelve countries were struck; there were more than a quarter of a million casualties. In response to this catastrophe natural disaster, scientist from France and Indonesia joined forces to launch the TSUNARISK research project. They set to work in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, studying its impact in order to improve knowledge of tsunamis and to better anticipate it, a true challenge for Indonesia which counts 12,000 km of exposed coastline. The aim of this project answers the needs and the gaps revealed by this disaster, by crossing scientific, educational and risk management approaches. During eight successive missions, the tsunarisk team tries to reconstitute the tsunami. The scientists collect data throughout the regions thanks to the marks left on the landscape by the tsunami and survivors were interviewed at length. The team were at last able to create numerical models of the impact prevention campaign, intended for inhabitants of the coastline, is also tested in the densily populated island of java. The film reconsiders this disaster through they eyes of the scientists but also of the inhabitants,

Understanding the Book of Life

Original Title: Understanding the Book of Life
Duration: 30’
Producer: Jack Micay
Director: Jack Micay
Company: MediCinema Ltd.
Scientific field: Genetics
Year: 2008
Country: Canada

Reading the Book of Life was just the first step. The ultimate goal is to understand how it works. We are guided towards this new genetic horizon by Francis Collins and Craig Venter, the leaders of the two competing teams that first sequenced the human genome. The initial task is to separate out the genes from the other 98% or so of the genome that doesn’t code for proteins, no easy feat since the genes themselves are split into even smaller bits (exons), which are also surrounded by DNA ‘noise’. Three different gene finding techniques are explained. One method uses an RNA message to ‘tag’ the gene that produced it. Another makes use of the codons that act as start and stop signals for the machinery of transcription. Still another method exploits the striking similarity between many of our genes and those of other creatures. The next task is to work out the function of the proteins produced by these genes. Since many different proteins can be derived from the same gene, this a daunting long term project. Protein function is studied using experimental techniques such as ‘site-directed mutagenesis’, which is explained by its inventor, Canadian Nobel laureate Michael Smith. The ‘holy grail’ of genomics is to program computers to predict the function of a protein from the sequence of its gene - still a distant goal. Another challenge will be to work out which genes act together in networks to produce a ‘complex’ trait. A key tool in uncovering these networks is the gene chip, which is explained in a visual, easy to understand way. Small variations in our DNA play a crucial role in disease. ..

Unsinkable Titanic, The

Original Title: The Unsinkable Titanic
Duration: 74’48’’
Producer: Vicky Matthews
Director: Patrick Reams
Company: Pioneer Productions
Scientific field: History
Year: 2008
Country: UK

Everyone knows that an iceberg sank the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic leaving more than 1,500 people to perish in what is now known to be one of the greatest maritime disasters in history. Much more than the tragic tale of a collision between the liner and an iceberg, this is a story of how an unquestioning faith in technology and a series of small and unrelated errors condemned so many people to death - and how there could have been a very different outcome.
As well as the events leading up to the collision, this film reenacts the public enquiry set up after the event in which the main surviving crew and passengers give evidence of their experiences and what part they had played in the sinking of the Titanic. Featuring interviews with forensic materials scientists, leading historians, and the last remaining survivor, this documentary drama charts the complicated story of a whole chain of events, each one contributing to the demise of a ship thought to be unsinkable.

Utah NOW: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – Body Worlds

Original Title: Utah NOW: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – Body Worlds
Duration: 27’55’’
Producer: Eric Nielsen / Doug Fabrizio / Davic Castleton / Elizabeth Southwell
Director: Erik Nielsen
Company: JUED – Channel 7/ PBS in Utah
Scientific field: Medical
Year: 2008
Country: USA

Utah NOW is Utah’s Public Television station’s weekly public affairs show, where issues are examined both broadly and deeply. This episode profiles the touring science exhibit “Gunther Von Hagens “Body Worlds” as it made its appearance in Utah. The exhibit has attracted two million people worldwide. Utah NOW decided to explain the exhibit in the context of the wonder of the human body. Through a wide variety of viewpoints from historians, anatomists, medical doctors, disabled people, athletes, dancers and religious leaders, the show moves through the wonder of the human experience and the remarkable structure of the human body.

Value of Time, The

Original Title: El Valor del Tiempo
Duration: 17’30’’
Producer: Claudia Lastra
Director: Pablo Rosenblatt / Rodrigo Rivas
Company: Imago Producciones Limitada
Scientific field: Exact Sciences / Culture / Anthropology / Technologies
Year: 2008
Country: Chile

All societies build their image of time in an intangible and concrete manner, to respond to the question of how to live in society”. Should we make our activities more meaningful to make better use of our time? Biological, social and geographical differences lead societies to value and build different time models. Transportation is a key factor in time organization in different cultures; it should help us gain time since its deficiency raises our lives’ cost Experts in various areas such as engineering and sociology analyze the value of time and show us how society can make better use of it, taking Chile as a model.

Vauban, the Soldier who Shaped France

Original Title: Vauban, Lettres Ouvertes
Duration: 52’
Producer: Gabriel Turkieh
Director: Pierre Oscar Lévy
Company: Altomedia
Scientific field: History
Year: 2008
Country: France

In light of the tercentary of the death of Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Louis the Fourteenth’s favorite architect and of the addition of twelve of his works to the UNESCO’s world heritage list, ALTOMEDIA presents a documentary portraying this military engineer.
Founded on parts of his correspondence with the King and his court, the film sets out to meet the creator of the citadels and fortifications of Lille, Strasbourg, Perpignan, Luxembourg, Kehl, and Maastricht.
Vauban, who narrates the story in the first-person as if still living among us, tells us about life, his persona, and his passions, detailing the whims of a monarch for whom war a leisure and game of power. The film is a humorous tribute: although Vauban is at the king’s service, he is no less insubordinate. His fresh and frank thinking is still very much relevant today.
The film, based on three-dimensional digital effects as well as aeral and satellite images, tells us about Vauban’s everyday work through never-before-seen drawings.

Virus Empire, The: Ep. 1 Silent Killers / Ep.2 The Invisible Enemy

Original Title: Das Imperium der Viren: 1. Lautlose Killer / 2. Der Unsichtenbare Feind
Duration: 52’10’’ / 52’15’’
Producer: Petra Höfer / Freddie Röckenhaus / Francesca D’Amicis
Director: Petra Höfer / Freddie Röckenhaus / Francesca D’Amicis
Company: colourFIELD
Scientific field: Medical / History
Year: 2008
Country: Germany / France

„Viruses“, says the american geneticist and Noble Prize winner Joshua Lederberg, „are our only rivals regarding the control of this planet. They are looking for food, and we are their meat.“ A smallpox outbreak starts with infected napkins at a congress: an hypothetical bioterror attack. Yet. But what do we know about viral stockpiles worldwide? And what about „The Envisible Enemy“ that is still hidden in the jungle? Is modern man playing with fire when messing up with ist biggest competitor?
“The Virus Empire - The Invisble Enmy“ uses an exciting mix of dramatized sequences, visually appealing reportage elements, interviews with top experts worldwide and breathtaking 3D animations from inside the body.

Wandering Water, The

Original Title: El Agua Viajera
Duration: 26’
Producer: Juan Antonio Domínguez
Director: Juan Antonio Rodríguez / Ramón Campoamor
Company: CINTV
Scientific field: Nature
Year: 2008
Country: Spain

Life in our planet depends on the hydrological cycle. It flows creating clouds, rains, snow, rivers or seas and in every place creates landscapes and ecosystems where the most varied and surprising beings live.

What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity?

Original Title: What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity?
Duration: 49’ 05’’
Producer: Paul Olding
Director: Paul Olding
Company: BBC
Scientific field: Nature / Exact Sciences
Year: 2008
Country: UK

Particle physicist and ex D:Ream keyboard player Dr Brian Cox wants to know why the Universe is built they way it is. He believes the answers lie in the force of gravity. But Newton thought gravity was powered by God, and even Einstein failed to completely solve it. Heading out with his film crew on a road trip across the USA, Brian fires lasers at the moon in Texas, goes mad in the desert in Arizona, encounters the bending of space and time at a maximum security military base, tries to detect ripples in our reality in the swamps of Louisiana and searches for hidden dimension just outside Chicago.

What’s the Matter at CERN?

Original Title: What’s the Matter at CERN?
Duration: 16’
Producer: Christopher Butcher
Director: Christopher Butcher
Company: Bambu Pictures
Scientific field: Experimental / Exact Sciences / High - Energy Physics
Year: 2009
Country: Canada

A short documentary about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Features interviews with leading physicists and popular science experts.
Topics include the widely-spread rumors that the LHC could produce catastrophic black holes, the multinational contributions to the LHC and its detector experiments, as well as efforts by scientists, past and present, to communicate the LHC and other complex experiments to the public.

White Paradise

Original Title: Paradis Blanc
Duration: 26’
Producer: RTBF – Patrice Goldberg
Director: Benjamin Luypaert / Patrice Goldberg
Company: RTBF – Matière Grise
Scientific field: Environment / Nature / Technologies
Year: 2007
Country: Belgium

Le retour des Belges en Antarctique, plusieurs décennies après la fermeture de la base Roi Baudouin, est bien sûr un événement historique. Mais c’est d’abord et avant tout une formidable aventure, humaine, scientifique et technologique, à travers le continent le plus extrême de la planète. Y construire une base permanente, novatrice, qui soit le futur paradis de la recherche est un gigantesque défi, à la mesure des enjeux qui pèsent sur la planète.

Why is Science Important?

Original Title: Why is Science Important?
Duration: 28’
Producer: Alom Shaha
Director: Alom Shaha
Company: Brook Lapping Education
Scientific field: Science Education / Communication
Year: 2009
Country: UK

Physics teacher and film-maker Alom Shaha sets out to uncover a genuinely satisfying answer to his students' most common question: why is science important? This film tells the story of how Alom created a website to collect responses to this question from scientists, writers and teachers from all over the world and follows him as he meets many of the people who took part in the project. Alom also walks on red hot coals and gets flung round in a giant centrifuge in his quest to prove to his students that science really is important.

Wound ballistics, An Introduction for Health, Forensic, Legal, Military and Law Enforcement Professionals

Original Title: Wound ballistics, An Introduction for Health, Forensic, Legal, Military and Law Enforcement Professionals
Duration: 40’
Producer: Vanja Baumberger
Director: Robin Coupland (ICRC) / Jürg Neuenschwander (Container TV AG)
Company: ICRC – CONTAINER TV AG
Scientific field: Medical / Technologies
Year: 2007
Country: Switzerland

This DVD explores the impact on human tissue of bullets from rifles and handguns, as well as fragments from explosive weapons – an area of study known as wound ballistics. Designed for instructional purposes, the film has been made for a range of specialist audiences.
Health professionals, who treat people wounded by weapons, will benefit from a better understanding of the physical process of wounding.
Lawyers need a good grasp of wound ballistics to promote rules limiting the use of force and prohibiting certain bullets.
Forensic experts require an understanding of wound ballistics when presenting evidence in court about cause of death.
The accompanying brochure is intended to further enhance understanding of the film's content. It includes a useful glossary of terms, additional technical information and a summary of pertinent international legal texts.

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