Cloning the First Human

Doctors Panayiotis Zavos and Severino Antinori claim they are ready to embark on the greatest human experiment of our age. They say they will attempt to clone a human being. Most people think the objections to this are ethical – human cloning would create many moral dilemmas.

There is another question that few ever ask: is the science actually ready yet for cloning healthy humans? Horizon follows the latest research, which has led many scientists to believe that Zavos and Antinori’s plans to clone the first human could end in tragedy. The program also meets couples who think cloning offers them the only way to raise a child who is truly their own.

For decades, cloning remained within the realms of science fiction. The idea that instead of combining a sperm and an egg, a new human could be made from a single cell taken from an adult, seemed completely absurd. But that all changed in February 1997 when Dolly the sheep became the first animal cloned from an adult.

Ever since Dolly, scientists have been continuing to experiment with cloning animals. So far, they have succeeded with a lot of side effects in cloning sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and mice, fueling the belief that humans could be next. 

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 48 minutes)

Is Seeing Believing?

Horizon explores the strange and wonderful world of illusions – and reveals the tricks they play on our senses and why they fool us.

We show how easy it is to trick your sense of taste by changing the colors of food and drink, explain how what you see can change what you hear, and see just how unreliable our sense of color can be.

But all this trickery has a serious purpose. It’s helping scientists to create a new understanding of how our senses work – not as individual senses, but connected together.

It holds the intriguing possibility that one sense could be mapped into another. This is what happened to Daniel Kish, who lost his sight as a child.

He is now able to create a vision of the world by clicking his tongue which allows him toecholocate like a bat.

And in a series of MRI scans, scientists are now looking to find out if Daniel’s brain may have actually rewired itself enabling him to use sound to create a visual image of the world.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 58 minutes)

Nine stories, from nine amazing storytellers

John Hodgman has perfected a way of stating pure invention as though it were well-understood and accepted fact. But he uses this talent to highlight, not obscure, a remarkable tale of falling in love.

Often a story takes us, not in straight lines, but in circles, ending up where we began. And on returning, like Becky Blanton, we’re surprised to find that the journey has changed us so profoundly that the old place is completely new.

The form of a story often transcends the content. Dan Barber relates a traditional tale finding true love after the heartbreak of youthful infatuation — only it’s with fish. For his restaurant. To cook.

A good story will have a surprise — a twist. And if it’s done well, as in this excerpt from Patsy Rodenburg, the twist will have the audience gasping, not just with astonishment, but with a realization of a newfound insight into human nature.

In a good narrative the hero is far from perfect, and it’s these imperfections that make the story engaging and relatable. Mike Rowe talks about the strength he gained by being completely and utterly wrong.

While there is strength in learning from stories, the danger, as eloquently expressed byChimamanda Adichie, is that we will confuse a person with a single story that happens to look like them.

We don’t normally think of the supposedly cold and detached world of science as a fertile realm for stories. Yet, at it’s heart science is about humans, and it turns out the stories are everywhere. In this spectacular example, Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist, watches her own mind fail as she suffers a stroke.

Sometimes the power of a story is not in the magnitude of what happens, but in how it’s told.Carmen Agra Deedy is a master of the craft; here she uses every technique available to paint a beautiful, touching, and witty portrait of her mother through a simple trip to the shopping mall.

And sometimes all thoughts of the form and craft of a story fade to nothing in the face of the story itself. Emmanuel Jal uses story, poetry, and song to tell of his life, and rescue, as a child soldier.

The Secret You

With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Jennifer Aniston and a general anaesthetic, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science’s greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are?

While the thoughts that make us feel as though we know ourselves are easy to experience, they are notoriously difficult to explain. So, in order to find out where they come from, Marcus subjects himself to a series of probing experiments.

He learns at what age our self-awareness emerges and whether other species share this trait. Next, he has his mind scrambled by a cutting-edge experiment in anesthesia.

Having survived that ordeal, Marcus is given an out-of-body experience in a bid to locate his true self. And in Hollywood, he learns how celebrities are helping scientists understand the microscopic activities of our brain.

Finally, he takes part in a mind-reading experiment that both helps explain and radically alters his understanding of who he is.

Fix Me

Horizon follows the emotional journey of three young people with currently untreatable conditions to see if within their lifetime, they can be cured.

Sophie is desperate to discover if there’s a medical breakthrough which will get her walking again – a car crash after celebrating her A level results left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Anthony’s leg was amputated after a rugby accident on the eve of his eighteenth birthday. Will he ever be able to regrow his leg? Father of four Dean is desperate for a cure for his damaged heart to avoid an early death.

They’ve all read the headlines about the astonishing potential of stem cells to heal the body. Now they’ve been given access to the pioneering scientists who could transform their lives.

With so much at stake, each meeting is highly emotional as our three young people find out if science can fix them.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 58 minutes)

Kiran Bedi: A police chief with a difference

Kiran Bedi has a surprising resume. Before becoming Director General of the Indian Police Service, she managed one of the country's toughest prisons -- and used a new focus on prevention and education to turn it into a center of learning and meditation. She shares her thoughts on visionary leadership at TEDWomen.

TOP 10 Videos: Cutest, Funniest & Most Remarkable -1

Collection of cutest, funniest and most remarkable videos, NJOY: 

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Cee Lo Green - FUCK YOU