Contact Us FAQ Français
Home / NOVA scienceNOW: What Makes Us Human?

NOVA scienceNOW: What Makes Us Human?

Maple Leaf This item is only available for Canadian orders.

Catalogue Number:  041586
Producer:  PBS Video
Subject:  Science
Language:  English
Grade Level:  9 - 12, Post Secondary
Country Of Origin:  United States
Copyright Year:  2012
Running Time:  60


Request Preview Access

Scientists have struggled for centuries to pinpoint the qualities that distinguish humans from the millions of other animal species with which we share the vast majority of our DNA. Now, we explore those traits once thought to be uniquely human to discover their evolutionary roots. Neanderthals 'R' Us - Is there a Neanderthal in your family tree? Recently, geneticists shocked the scientific community when they announced they'd found evidence suggesting that ancient humans may have interbred with Neanderthals. Watch as David Pogue delves into his own genetic makeup. Stone Age Language Mystery - Could two of our species' defining achievements--tool use and language--be intimately connected? Anthropologists are studying what happens in the brain when people make stone tools; their results suggest that language and tool use might go hand in hand. Evolution of Laughter - Humans may be the only species that appreciates jokes, but we're not the only one that laughs. We'll meet researchers who are tickling baby chimps, bonobos, and orangutans to record their giggling and uncover the evolutionary roots of laughter.


Related Titles

Journey of Man

PBS Video 040009

How did the human race populate the world? A group of geneticists have worked on the question for a...

Becoming Human Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors: NOVA

PBS Video 041167

Nothing is more fascinating to us than, well, us. NOVA's groundbreaking investigation explores how...

NOVA: Decoding Neanderthals

PBS Video 041620

Over 60,000 years ago, the first modern humans - people physically identical to us today, left...


Browse Our Collection By Subject

View All Subjects