The Nature of Things - Season 48

First aired: 10/16/2008 17 episodes
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Episodes

1. The Hobbit Enigma

Aired: 10/16/2008

One of the greatest controversies in science today: just what did scientists really find when they uncovered the tiny, human-like skeleton of a strange creature on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003? Since the discovery was made public a bitter dispute has split the world of anthropology.

2. Rodney's Robot Revolution

Aired: 10/23/2008

Has the time come to meet an artificially intelligent robot? Engineer and inventor Rodney Brooks thinks so. Forget about all those shiny robotic home-helpers of the past-Brooks is out to design a robot that can think for itself!

3. The Adventurers: The Last Nomads

Aired: 10/30/2008

Linguist Ian Mackenzie has tracked the last true nomadic hunting and gathering people on earth - the Penan of Borneo. Their way of life is quickly disappearing as aggressive logging interests swallow up their forest habitat.

4. The Adventurers: The Everlasting Oasis

Aired: 11/6/2008

University of Toronto archaeologist Tony Mills travels to the eastern desert of Egypt where he and other archaeologists have unearthed an untouched marvel: a site of over 500,000 years of uninterrupted human habitation.

5. The Adventurers: A Story Told in Stone

Aired: 11/13/2008

Archeologist Edmundo Edwards pulls back the vines and trees of the jungle to find huge stone cities that sprawled across the interiors of Tahiti, Raivavae and the Marquesas Islands.

6. The Suzuki Diaries: Europe

Aired: 11/16/2008

David Suzuki and his daughter Sarika head out on a road trip across Europe to see sustainability in action and meet the people who are working towards restoring the equilibrium between human needs and planetary limits.

7. The Adventurers: The Lost People of Baja

Aired: 11/20/2008

Canadian paleo-pathologist Eldon Molto is leading the search for clues of the mysterious Pericu people of Baja California, Mexico - a fierce, primitive tribe that disappeared over a century ago, after being exposed to European disease. They left virtually nothing behind but their bones.

8. The Brain that Changes Itself

Aired: 11/27/2008

Based on the best-selling book by Toronto psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Norman Doidge, a look at how we view the human mind.

9. Gone Sideways

Aired: 1/8/2009

A light-hearted look at serendipity in science, from life-saving cancer cures to the x-ray machine and the discovery of North America.

10. Black Wave: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez

Aired: 1/15/2009

A saga about what happens when ordinary people struggle for justice against a huge corporation that has destroyed both their environment and their livelihoods.

11. Supercar: Building the Car of the Future

Aired: 1/29/2009

Engineering professor Brian Fleck on a quest to meet the engineers, designers and even students who are trying to build the car of the future.

12. Living City: A Critical Guide

Aired: 2/5/2009

What's wrong with Canada's cities? What's right? Award-winning urban affairs columnist Christopher Hume takes a cross-country journey to explore the sustainability, viability and liveability of Canada's population centres.

13. Inuit Odyssey

Aired: 2/12/2009

Canadian Arctic anthropologist Niobe Thompson takes us on a visually stunning journey across the North, tracing the origins of the modern Inuit.

14. American Savannah

Aired: 2/19/2009

Our lawns are one of our simplest pleasures. Grass is a luxury that represents relaxation, freedom, time off and of course, time away from the world of tarmac and concrete. A wild and quirky ride into the world of one of America's longest-standing obsessions, the perfect lawn.

15. Arctic Meltdown: A Changing World

Aired: 6/20/2009

From new companies rushing to claim the Arctic's plentiful resources to the effect climate change has had on animals as well as plant life. As the Arctic meltdown continues at an ever accelerating pace, who will protect it?

16. Arctic Meltdown: The Arctic Passages

Aired: 6/27/2009

Until recently, only a few ships braved travel through these ice-strewn waters. More and more ships cross these seas each year and with more traffic come higher risks.

17. Arctic Meltdown: Adapting to Change

Aired: 7/4/2009

A look at two different Arctics - one that is the storybook land of ice, snow and polar bears and the other that is covered with petroleum plants and pipelines carrying fossil fuels.