Life's Rocky Start

Today on Far Future Horizons we return to the topic of Biogenesis with another exciting episode of the acclaimed PBS documentary series NOVA where we take a look at Life’s Rocky Start.

The Molecule That Made the World

Today on Far Future Horizons we take a molecular odyssey of sorts.  An odyssey that will take us on extraordinary journey through billions of light years of space and billions of years of time. Join us as we follow a single intrepid molecule of oxygen and trace its grand adventure from its creation to till the present day.

What Darwin Didn't Know

Earth teems with a stunning diversity of living things. The source of this profusion of life was a profound mystery until Charles Darwin presented his revolutionary ideas on natural selection in his book “On the Origin of Species” on November 24th, 1859.

Natural selection has given rise to a plethora of living organisms each adapted and specialized to occupy a particular ecological niche and over time this process eventually led to the emergence of new species.

This portrait of Charles Darwin was painted by George Richmond in the late 1830s, around the time Darwin was fleshing out his theory of evolution.

But Darwin's radical insights raised as many questions as they answered. What actually drives evolution and turns one species into another? To what degree do different animals rely on the same genetic toolkit? And how did humans evolve?