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From tools to language to brainpower, there’s no shortage of theories positing why humans went from the savannah to megacities, while, despite very similar DNA, other hominins have more or less stayed put. This video from NPR details an emerging theory of how human societies evolved. According to new research, our ancestors shared parenting within families, which might have led to an increased capacity for cooperation, ultimately opening the way towards the rest of the skills we love to praise in ourselves. Read more about the theory at NPR’s website.
Writer and Director: John Poole
Animators: Henry Richardson, Reece Wykes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
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History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes
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Wellbeing
Children of the Rwandan genocide face a unique stigma 30 years later
20 minutes
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Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
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War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
22 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
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Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes