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The missing link in the history of natural selection – an adventure with puppets
Alfred Russel Wallace’s contributions to natural science and his theories provided the groundwork for our contemporary understanding of evolution. Yet, today, Wallace is all but forgotten, overshadowed by his contemporary Charles Darwin. In this director’s cut of The Animated Life of A R Wallace, the great scientist’s story is revived and his legacy restored, as colourful puppets re-enact his adventures. Amusing and informative, the film not only uncovers a missing link in the chain of scientific history, but provides a glimpse into a wild world of 19th-century science, where adventure and inquiry were intertwined.
Directors and producers: Flora Lichtman, Sharon Shattuck
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History of science
Ideas ‘of pure genius’ – how astronomers have measured the Universe across history
29 minutes
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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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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
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Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
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Evolution
The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo
6 minutes
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Biology
Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short
3 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth
15 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes
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Space exploration
The rarely told story of the fruit flies, primates and canines that preceded us in space
12 minutes