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The idea that living organisms are born to reproduce and ultimately die is one of the most common and widely accepted ideas about life across cultures. But is it true? Using whimsical animation, The Animal That Wouldn’t Die explores the strange case of the hydra – a creature that seems to play by a different set of rules than anything else in nature. Following the work of two scientists separated by many generations, this documentary investigates the surprising regenerative power of the small fresh water animal, and how the concept of the ‘circle of life’ might not be as universal as we once thought.
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Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
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Design and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
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Music
As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time
5 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Jeremy Bentham was consumed by creating a perfect prison. Here’s the result
4 minutes
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Quantum theory
Why aren’t our everyday lives as ‘spooky’ as the quantum world?
7 minutes
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Space exploration
Burning ice, metal clouds, gemstone rain – tour the strangest known exoplanets
31 minutes
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Logic and probability
Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out
6 minutes
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Architecture
The radically impractical 18th-century architect whose ideas on beauty endure
19 minutes
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Biology
The idea that life on Earth originated elsewhere is not as far out as it seems
6 minutes