A report from the 49th The Australian & New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) Congress. Speakers are 1. Dr. John Maunder, climate scientist -- 2 Professor Derek Bryce-Smith, University of Reading. -- 3 Dr Michael Hills, University of Waikato -- 4 Professor Theo Roy, University of Waikato -- 5 Dr Don McAlpine, Massey University -- 6 Dr Keith Sutherland Presidential Address

Professor Susan Greenfield, a leading neuroscientist from Oxford University introduces the human brain in the first of this six part documentary by the BBC.

This episode puts emotions under the microscope. Why do they feel the way they do, and how are they interwoven with our thought processes?

The illusion of vision. It feels as though we open our eyes and just see what's out there, but the more we learn about the brain's visual system, the further it seems this is from the truth. Patients who can't see movement or recognize faces, reveal the tricks and short cuts the brain uses to construct an illusion of reality. Is the brain making up so much of what we think we're seeing that vision is really just dreaming with your eyes open?

How do our brains generate consciousness? This episode tries to explain how the brain creates consciousness.

Prof. Susan Greenfield (Univ. of Oxford) discusses what it is that makes humans different from the rest of the animal world. She focuses on the human ability to work towards long-term goals and observes the results of damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, which seems to be the location of this skill. But planning is not a uniquely human skill - chimpanzees in a study by the University of Georgia demonstrated that they too can do this. Humans, however, have developed language which accounts for the rapid development of our culture; but some scientists argue that chimps, too, are capable of acquiring language. There seems to be a missing link between chimpanzees and humans, indicated by the post-Neanderthal appearance of new kinds of tools indicating a development from modular mental ability to lateral thinking. Among those taking part in the programme are Dr. Adrian Owen (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge) and Prof. Michael Gazzaniga (Dartmouth College, New Hampshire U.S).

This 1993 documentary surveys the world’s southernmost volcano, Mount Erebus. Cameras travel to never before filmed depths, 400 metres below the sea ice. They also go 3500 metres above sea level into the erupting crater. The film charts what is able to survive in the otherworldly environment, from seals to moss.

This final episode explores the way our experiences shape our minds and bodies as we journey from the most helpless to the most sophisticated organism on Earth.

In this episode, Chris and Xand van Tulleken discover the everyday miracles that keep you alive. They explore the extraordinary lengths our bodies go to in order to keep our organs working at every moment of every day.

Earthrise goes to New Zealand and Britain to explore ways in which scientists are racing to stop the collapse of the planet's insect populations.

57-year-old Kamini discovers building muscle will make her stronger and protect against illness. 51-year-old Tim learns that his diet has been stopping him producing hormones. And 50-year-old Alison finds a surprising way to tackle memory loss.

51-year-old Patrick sees for himself how much damage his diet is doing to his heart. 54-year-old Harminder knocks years off her body age by overcoming chronic stress. And 47-year-old Jennifer uses a radical new technique to cure her insomnia.

DNA holds many secrets about who you are. It can trace where you came from, where you've been, and what might happen to you in the future. It's the new crime solving wonder tool, featuring in most high profile crimes pinpointing the identity of murderers and rapists. DNA is a major theme in every TV cop show, but what is DNA and what does it have in store for you?

The lives of some of science's greatest thinkers is explored in this documentary screening in the International Documentary slot, Pakipūmeka o te Ao. The Discovery Channel production follows four of the world's greatest physicists - Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Each man was a rebel in his own way; each conceived a radical new vision of the cosmos. But what were these brilliant men really like? This programme explores their incredible achievements in the context of their tumultuous lives.

A documentary portrait of the physicist Stephen Hawking, who is afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and communicates via a voice synthesiser.

A report on the first trials of an expensive new space-age cancer therapy developed in Japan. The Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator is designed to kill tumours buried deep inside the body by bombarding them with a high-energy beam of carbon atoms. Plus, reports on a revolutionary new helmet fitted with an airbag which could stop American footballers from breaking their necks in crunch tackles; and a device which could help salmon farmers to keep their fish healthy - a trap that lures sea lice to their deaths. http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c85db4069ee84d189cd2f27387def3d6

Dr. Michael Mosley puts our notions of hierarchy to the test. We meet a group of workers from a small company that come to the country house for what they believe is a team building weekend.

In this episode Michael and James explore sensation, taste and flavour.

The Ross Sea, Antarctica is the most pristine stretch of ocean on Earth. A vast, frozen landscape that teems with life – whales, seals and penguins carving out a place on the very edge of existence. Californian ecologist David Ainley has been traveling to the Ross Sea to study this unique ecosystem for more than thirty years. He has written scientific papers describing it as a 'living laboratory'. Largely untouched by humans, it is one of the last places where the delicate balance of nature prevails. But an international fishing fleet has recently found its way to the Ross Sea. It is targeting Antarctic toothfish, sold as Chilean sea bass in up-market restaurants around the world. The catch is so lucrative it is known as white gold. Ainley knows that unless fishing is stopped the natural balance of the Ross Sea will be lost forever. He rallies his fellow scientists and meets up with a Colorado nature photographer and New Zealand filmmaker who also share a deep passion for this remote corner of the world. Together they form 'the Last Ocean' and begin a campaign taking on the commercial fishers and governments in a race to protect Earth's last untouched ocean from our insatiable appetite for fish.

The Ross Sea, Antarctica is the most pristine stretch of ocean on Earth. A vast, frozen landscape that teems with life – whales, seals and penguins carving out a place on the very edge of existence. Californian ecologist David Ainley has been traveling to the Ross Sea to study this unique ecosystem for more than thirty years. He has written scientific papers describing it as a 'living laboratory'. Largely untouched by humans, it is one of the last places where the delicate balance of nature prevails. But an international fishing fleet has recently found its way to the Ross Sea. It is targeting Antarctic toothfish, sold as Chilean sea bass in up-market restaurants around the world. The catch is so lucrative it is known as white gold. Ainley knows that unless fishing is stopped the natural balance of the Ross Sea will be lost forever. He rallies his fellow scientists and meets up with a Colorado nature photographer and New Zealand filmmaker who also share a deep passion for this remote corner of the world. Together they form 'the Last Ocean' and begin a campaign taking on the commercial fishers and governments in a race to protect Earth's last untouched ocean from our insatiable appetite for fish.

Over your lifetime you undergo an extraordinary change - no other creature on Earth goes through such a dramatic metamorphosis. In this episode, Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the latest studies of how we all grow.

In this episode Michael and James investigate how food interacts with the brain.

The country house turns into a haunted house. We take ten fear junkies and see if we can really make them scared on our fright night.

Dr. Michael Mosley uncovers what makes us so competitive, and explores the strategies we use to win.

Sally Boysen's project attempting to teach young chimps graphic symbols in sequence, comparable to human children learning to read letters.

This edition of Horizon does something that no one has done before. We have assembled the first ever complete Neanderthal skeleton, from parts gathered from all over the world, to reveal the most anatomically accurate representation of modern humanity's closest relative. The aim is to use this skeleton to answer two of the great questions of human evolution. Was Neanderthal a thinking, feeling human being like us, or a primitive beast? And why is it that we are here today, and Neanderthal is extinct? To answer these questions, we've brought together a team of leading experts to explore the skeleton for clues, and perform experiments to test out their ideas. Their findings allow us to use drama to bring Neanderthal to life with unrivalled accuracy. They reveal how Neanderthal hunted, thought - even spoke. What emerges is a very different beast to the brute of legend. It seems Neanderthal was in many ways our equal and in some ways our superior. And the story of his extinction owed less to modern humans' superiority than sheer luck.

A small piece of stone, unearthed in an African cave, may rewrite human history. If the message it contains is true, then one of the great sagas of human evolution - how our ancestors stopped being mere animals and became modern thinking human beings has all been based on a mistake.The history books say that some 37,000 years ago, our ancestors arrived in Europe for the first time. Suddenly, cave paintings appeared - clear evidence of sophisticated thought. It seemed there had been "Human Revolution".That revolution was so profound that it allowed us to triumph over even our nearest relatives, the Neanderthals. They were wiped out within years of our arrival in Europe. It seemed the sudden dawning of thought has led to us dominating the planet like no other creature. But now a small piece of ochre in a South African cave has changed everything. It appears to be a work of abstract art, an example of advanced thought - and yet it is twice as old as the human revolution. Evidence has also emerged suggesting that the Neanderthals were developing complex thinking too. Together these facts are forcing a huge rethink about our origins and what makes us human.

It all began 50 years ago in a muddy field in Northamptonshire with three scientists, an RAF bomber and a borrowed BBC short-wave transmitter. The experiment was to lead to the radar which won the Battle of Britain and defeated the U-boats in the Atlantic. Today civil airlines could not operate without it, neither could the space programme. Radar also forms NATO's first line of defence in the cold war; it has come a long way from that muddy field. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/47db43107ad3475c9c7f1faed0f1c753 A BBC Q.E.D programme

Dan Corbett travels the country to discover how New Zealand's combination of water, wind and sun make us ideally placed to harness the power of weather. Made in partnership with Meridian Energy.

Evolutionary biologist Dr Ben Garrod and electronics engineer Professor Danielle George explore whether machines built to enhance our lives could one day become our greatest rivals. (Part 1 of 2)

Evolutionary biologist Dr Ben Garrod and electronics engineer Professor Danielle George explore whether machines built to enhance our lives could one day become our greatest rivals. (Part 2 of 2)

Dr Kirk Huffman, talking about (Australian) kava ban. Filmed off-the-cuff by Canberra-based film producer Kris Kerehona in August 2011 in the Hedley-Bull Building (home to the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs) at ANU, Canberra, during a break in the first International Kava Conference organised by the Pacific-Islander group The World Kava Movement.

Dr. Michael Mosley immerses his guests in youthful memories of their past to test if it can actually improve their health, and explores how reliable our memories actually are.

In this episode Michael and James explore the chemistry of food, and how it fuels and builds our bodies.

In today's world, looks count - especially with the popularity of social media. In this episode, Dr. Michael Mosley invites ten singletons to the country house, on a dating weekend with a difference.

A researcher experiments on himself, and the girls face their three-month and six-month weigh-ins. What will be the outcome of the experiment?

Saskia and Alofa struggle with healthy eating, the Gut Bugs team faces an unlikely obstacle while sending poo in the post, and it's the six week weigh-in.

Four overweight teenagers agree to swallow capsules filled with healthy people's faeces in the hope of losing weight, but a lack of suitable poo donors threatens the experiment.

Join Nigel Latta to explore the apparently very simple question: What is your brain? It's something humans have struggled to understand for millennia, and science for several decades.

Nigel Latta questions the belief that human beings are selfish. Modern neuroscience has blown that myth apart, showing human connection to be an incredibly important function of the brain.

45-year-old Tina discovers the damage her diet is doing to her skin, 49-year-old ex-policeman Rich scores the worst body age seen so far, and 68-year-old Isabella learns how to reverse her brain's decline.

For most of human history our brains dealt with pretty straightforward problems. But that brain is the exact same one we now use to grapple with the modern world.

New Zealand brain development educator Nathan Wallis presents compelling science to answer a very big life question: are male and female brains different?

Nigel Latta finds out why we remember certain things and forget others. He also looks at what happens to the brain when it gets damaged.

Animal Planet Special about researching Chimpanzee's ability to learn our language that follows two chimps, 'Emma' and 'Harper'.

Believe it or not, our eating habits express a lot about our identity as a species, and reveal our unique evolutionary history. Join zoologist Desmond Morris in this second part of The Human Animal documentary series as he traces back our ancestry from arboreal gatherers to bipedal hunters. Learn how so many of the habits we take for granted as simply aesthetic and non-functional, even those seemingly separate from feeding, reveal many of the instincts that our ancestors acquired long ago due to powerful evolutionary selection pressures, and the implications of many of those adaptations in our modern world.

BBC ProductionsIn the first episode, Dr Alice Roberts looks at how our skeleton reveals our incredible evolutionary journey. Trekking through the forests of our ancient ancestors, she goes to meet the apes who still live there today - chimpanzees. In six million years we have become very different, and what kick-started this can be found in an extraordinary fossil - Sahelanthropus. A single hole where the spine was attached suggests that our ancestors started the journey to being human by standing upright. We take it for granted, but standing up and walking is surprisingly complex - each step involves the co-ordination of over 200 muscles. Charting the major advances from Australopithecus to Homo erectus and beyond, Alice tells the epic story of human evolution through our body today. New research has uncovered clues in our ankles, waists and necks that show how our ancestors were forced to survive on the open plain - by walking and running for their lives. From the neck down we have inherited the body of our ancestor Homo erectus, who lived on the plains of Africa nearly two million years ago. Finally Alice looks at probably the most important advance in our evolutionary story. A fortuitous by-product of standing up was freeing up our hands. With pressure-sensitive gloves, she demonstrates how the tiniest of anatomical tweaks to our thumbs and little fingers transformed hands that evolved to grasp branches into ones that could use tools. And with our dexterous hands, our species, Homo sapiens, would change the world.

In this second episode Dr Alice Roberts charts how our ancestors' hunt for food has driven the way we look and behave today - from the shape of our face, to the way we see and even the way we attract the opposite sex. Clues to our ancestors' diet can be found in some surprising places. Alice goes in search of a lion kill to find out how the tape worms in lions' food reveal our ancestors were eating the same diet of big game 1.7 million years ago. She puts her teeth to the test to reveal that our teeth have evolved to shear through meat. But by comparing her saliva with that of chimpanzees, she demonstrates that our body is as much designed to eat starch as it is to eat meat. And visiting a tribe of hunter gatherers in Tanzania, who still gather food in a similar way to our ancestors, Alice discovers that starchy tubers are crucial to survival when meat is scarce. The latest research suggests that the way the different sexes found food throughout our evolution has shaped the way we relate to each other today. The way the Hadza tribe share food and form long-term couples is thought to be the origin of love and marriage in all of us. And a fun experiment with Britain's best skateboarders shows they take more risks when women are present - it seems men are designed to show off to attract a mate.

Dr Alice Roberts explores how our species, Homo sapiens, developed its large brain and asks why humans are the only ape of its kind left on the planet today. The evolution of the human mind is one of the greatest mysteries. It is the basis of religion, philosophy and science. We are special because of our extraordinary brain, and to understand why we think and act the way we do, we need to look at where and why our brains evolved. The Rift Valley in Kenya is thought to be the crucible of human evolution, and here Alice examines the fossils in our family tree which reveal our brains have more than quadrupled in size since our ancestors split from chimpanzees. Research investigating sediments and rocks laid down during the period of greatest brain growth suggests a fluctuating environment may have played a part. Drawing on research on social politics in chimpanzees, the cognitive development of children and the tools that have been found littered across the Rift Valley, Alice explores how and why our ancestors brains became so big. Successive species of increasingly large-brained humans migrated around the world - from Homo erectus to heidelbergensis, the Neanderthals to us. It has always been assumed the reason that Homo sapiens succeeded where others failed is to do with our large brains. Comparing skulls it's clear Neanderthals had just as big a brain as us, so why is there only us left? Alice goes to meet Svante Paabo, who is decoding the Neanderthal and human genome, and Clive Finlayson, who is unearthing the Neanderthals' final settlement, to try to find out.