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It’s easy to think that living stuff must be inherently different from non-living stuff, but is that really the case? Some of our greatest thinkers have explored the question, and the more we learn, the harder it is to conclude there’s anything special or distinct about ‘life’. What is Life? Is Death Real? is a clever animation that explores how viruses, artificial intelligence and the nature of DNA make drawing a line between the living and the non-living so difficult, and why we’re not likely to resolve the big questions about life any time soon.
Video by Kurzgesagt
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History of science
How we came to know the size of the Universe – and what mysteries remain
26 minutes
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Knowledge
Why David Deutsch believes good explanations are the antidote to bad philosophy
10 minutes
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Art
Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus
8 minutes
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History of science
Meet the Quaker pacifist who shattered British science’s highest glass ceilings
14 minutes
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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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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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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes