Show Notes
Ella Al-Shamahi says the iconic picture of human evolution is all wrong. She joins Hakeem to take apart the conventional image of the straight-line march of evolution from ape to modern human. The fossil and DNA record tells a far more complex story. As recently as 50,000 years ago, our ancestors shared the planet with at least seven other human species. From the small-statured Hobbits of Indonesia to the mysterious Denisovans of East Asia, the world was very different, and new research suggests that roughly 20% of our genome may trace back to an unknown “ghost lineage” of human species. Human evolution wasn't a straight line, it was a sprawling, interconnected web. Learn more about NOVA and visit our YouTube channel. -------------------------- Guest Bio: Ella Al-Shamahi is a paleoanthropologist, explorer, and presenter based in London. She specializes in human evolution and has conducted fieldwork in some of the world's most dangerous and remote regions in search of fossil evidence of our earliest ancestors. She is a TED speaker and has appeared in numerous science documentaries, including hosting NOVA and BBC’s five-part series HUMAN, available on the PBS App and NOVA’s website.
More from NOVA Presents
Earthquakes can be more powerful than atomic bombs. Luckily, Harvard geophysicist John Shaw has ideas on how to beat them. What really causes earthquakes? How can cities and buildings be engineered to survive them? John and Hakeem trace the science of shaking ground from ancient myth to cutting-edge machine learning, and reveal just how much is still left to discover deep beneath the surface. Learn more about NOVA and visit our YouTube channel. -------------------------- Guest Bio: John Shaw is the Harry C. Dudley Professor of Structural and Economic Geology at Harvard University, where he also serves as Vice Provost for Research. A structural geologist and applied geophysicist, he studies the faults deep beneath our feet, with research spanning earthquake hazards, energy systems, and carbon storage.
We can cause earthquakes. Geophysicist John Shaw joins Hakeem to reveal how humans have been triggering earthquakes for decades, and in some cases, it’s on purpose. John explains how an experiment 50 years ago turned earthquakes on and off and clarifies all the confusion around the process of fracking. It's a surprising look at how understanding human-triggered quakes might be the key to predicting natural ones. Learn more about NOVA and visit our YouTube channel. -------------------------- Guest Bio: John Shaw is the Harry C. Dudley Professor of Structural and Economic Geology at Harvard University, where he also serves as Vice Provost for Research. A structural geologist and applied geophysicist, he studies the faults deep beneath our feet, with research spanning earthquake hazards, energy systems, and carbon storage.
We can’t predict earthquakes, but we can beat them. Geophysicist breaks down what actually keeps people alive when the ground starts shaking. From flexible buildings to early warning systems, John walks Hakeem through what separates cities that survive major earthquakes from cities devastated by them, and why the difference often comes down to policy not physics.
Big earthquakes can change the Earth’s rotation. And Harvard geophysicist John Shaw says these giant events can teach us a lot. He traces our understanding from ancient myths to modern studies and unpacks what;s really going on beneath the surface. John reveals why a magnitude 7 earthquake releases 30 times the energy of a WWII-era atomic bomb, how the largest quakes make the Earth ring like a bell for days, and why the deadliest earthquake in history wasn't even the biggest one.
There is a near-limitless energy source to power our world, and it may be almost here. Dennis Whyte shares with Hakeem that we're closer than ever to bottling the power of the sun. He would know. He’s now the CEO of the United Kingdom’s Atomic Energy Authority and a nuclear scientist at MIT. What happens when we finally unlock nuclear fusion, the same energy source that powers the sun? What even is fusion? How does it work, and why are scientists now so close to building commercially viable fusion systems that could put power on the grid? From fusion fundamentals, to the future of energy, to interstellar space travel, Dennis and Hakeem deliver a big conversation on an innovation that could change everything.