We are fascinated by dinosaurs. From blockbuster hits to bestselling video games, skeleton exhibitions to cuddly plushies, the creatures that once roamed the planet have fully captured our imagination, giving us a portal to a completely alternative Earth. And it’s likely new species are still out there, waiting to be found...
Dr Nick Longrich is a palaeontologist and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, and he studies the dinosaur bones that many have overlooked. By rummaging through the back rooms of museums, he finds traces of never-before-described dinosaurs and goes on the hunt for other specimens to confirm or deny his hunch. Through these adventures, he’s discovered over a dozen new species, painting a more detailed picture of our prehistoric world.
Nick is also fascinated by rare ‘one in a million year’ events – like asteroid collisions or mega volcanic eruptions – and investigates how the event that wiped out the dinosaurs created the world we live in today. From an Island off the coast of Alaska, Jim Al-Khalili discovers how Nicks early immersion in nature has trained his brain to spot the subtle differences in the world around us that many would overlook.
Produced by Julia Ravey.
Lucie Green on the sun
Tracey Rogers on leopard seals and Antarctica
Jennifer Doudna
Tamsin Mather on what volcanic plumes reveal about our planet
Tim O'Brien on transient stars and science and music festivals
Ottoline Leyser on how plants decide what to do
Fay Dowker on a new theory of space-time
Ann Clarke on The Frozen Ark
Graham MacGregor on tackling the demons in our diet
Liz Sockett on friendly killer bacteria
Nick Fraser on Triassic reptiles
Daniel Dennett on the evolution of the human brain
Alison Woollard on what she has learnt from mutant worms
Alan Winfield on robot ethics
Simon Wessely on unexplained medical syndromes
Sean Carroll on how time and space began
Alison Smith on algae
Sadaf Farooqi on what makes us fat
Jan Zalasiewicz on the Age of Man
Michele Dougherty on Saturn
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