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Native to central and southern Europe, the amphibious alpine newt breeds in shallow water, where its larvae are born, hatch and feed on plankton, before sprouting legs and moving to land. This timelapse video from the Dutch director Jan van IJken tracks the development of a single-celled zygote into the hatched larva of an alpine newt. Captured in stunning detail at microscopic scales, Becoming is a remarkable look at the process of cell division and differentiation, whence all animals – from newts to humans – come. For more awe-inspiring biology from van IJken, watch The Art of Flying.
Filmmaker, producer and editor: Jan van IJken
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Religion
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Ecology and environmental sciences
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Music
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Art
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Computing and artificial intelligence
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Thinkers and theories
Henri Bergson on why the existence of things precedes their possibility
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Ageing and death
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Future of technology
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Metaphysics
Why mathematical truths exist with or without minds to consider them
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