Films with: Holt, Sarah

Cracking the Maya code

The ancient Maya civilization of Central America left behind an intricate and mysterious hieroglyphic script carved on monuments and painted on pottery and bark books. This program highlights the ingenious breakthroughs that cracked the code, unleashing a flood of dramatic new insights about the ancient civilization.

DVD 7106

Ghost in your genes

While the discovery of DNA appeared to supplant much, or possibly all, of the nature vs. nurture question, this documentary highlights how life choices , stress, nutrition, may in fact impact or even change DNA processes. The filmmakers explore newer evidence that suggests DNA replication may not be as automatic as had been thought, and is shaped and affected by a second "epigenetic" chemical code that reacts with environmental changes, activating or deactivating various genes, all with potentially dramatic and even permanent results. As such, the nature vs. nurture question gains new prominence and new import, with the implication that people's choices with their own lives and the lives of their children have far-reaching consequences.

DVD 7162

Shackleton's voyage of endurance

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance with a team of seamen and scientists, determined to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But when the pack ice closed in and crushed their frail wooden ship, they became stranded.

DVD 3589

World in the balance

In Japan, Europe and Russia, birth rates are shrinking and the population is aging. In parts of India and Africa, more than half of the still growing population is under 25. The world population is now careening in two dramatically different directions.

DVD 3594