Science and Nature

Human: The World Within

Explore the incredible universe inside each and every one of us. An examination of diverse personal stories from around the world reveals how our lives, passions and goals are powered by the amazing systems that define our biology as a species.

React

52m 30s

Through the lens of a boxer, a first responder, a cell tower climber and a man with a bionic limb, go deep into the universe of the most powerful machine on earth: the human brain and the vast nervous system it controls.

Episodes

  • React: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    React

    S1 E6 - 52m 30s

    Through the lens of a boxer, a first responder, a cell tower climber and a man with a bionic limb, go deep into the universe of the most powerful machine on earth: the human brain and the vast nervous system it controls.

  • Sense: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Sense

    S1 E5 - 52m 33s

    Dive into the stories of a pairs figure skating team, a perfumer, a cave explorer and a musician to decipher how different ways of sensing the world all create their own vivid and unique picture.

  • Defend: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Defend

    S1 E4 - 52m 33s

    Look at a nature survivalist, rancher twins, a doctor who survived Ebola and the recipient of a cutting-edge cancer therapy to uncover the wildly advanced biology that keeps us alive against all odds.

  • Fuel: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fuel

    S1 E3 - 52m 33s

    Through the worlds of a religious faster, an ultra-marathon runner, a farmer and a young girl beating allergies, go deep into the world of the human gut, which processes the fuel our bodies need to keep going.

  • Pulse: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Pulse

    S1 E2 - 52m 30s

    Dive into the world of an ice climber, a bus driver, a woman in labor and a senior dance club to show how the human heart and the circulatory system power our physical and emotional lives and create the pulsing rhythm of our world.

  • Birth: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Birth

    S1 E1 - 52m 30s

    Go on a journey with parents who are preparing for babies to see how our bodies create and sustain new life. Through their stories, we learn about what is fundamentally shared and absolutely unique about the experience of birth.

Extras + Features

  • Data Processing in the Brain: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Data Processing in the Brain

    S1 E6 - 2m 43s

    All sight is translated into electrical impulses via the retina to the brain. The eye picks up information in the form of light. This light is instantaneously transformed into electricity, which shoots up to the brain. Once there, the electricity is decoded and formed into a picture. The information is traveling at speeds nearing 300mph, and the stream of data never stops.

  • Episode 6 Preview | React: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 6 Preview | React

    S1 E6 - 30s

    Through the lens of a boxer, a first responder, a cell tower climber and a man with a bionic limb, go deep into the universe of the most powerful machine on earth: the human brain and the vast nervous system it controls.

  • The Human Body's Nervous System: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Human Body's Nervous System

    S1 E6 - 1m 22s

    An introduction to the amazing functions of the human body's nervous system. This extremely advanced part of our biology is always at work interpreting the world we encounter and helping us decide what to do, and how to react. The secrets of our thoughts and decisions are locked into this astonishing network of cells, nerves, and fibers.

  • How Pain is Processed in Our Nerves: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Pain is Processed in Our Nerves

    S1 E6 - 1m 42s

    Pain is a phenomenon that is deeply intertwined with the brain and nervous system. When something is wrong with the body, signals travel to our brain as neural impulses. These impulses are then interpreted by the brain as pain, which is basically the body's signal to us that we need to fix something.

  • An Introduction to the Brain and Neurons: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    An Introduction to the Brain and Neurons

    S1 E6 - 1m 9s

    The brain is mission control of the human body and the nervous system. Its 100 billion cells are processing data an incredible speeds. The brain coordinates not only the major functions of the body, but it also is the hub where information is interpreted and stored, and then turned into action. We have the brain to thank for the unique abilities of our species.

  • Engineering Lost Function Inside the Body: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Engineering Lost Function Inside the Body

    S1 E6 - 2m 45s

    Jason Little lost his hand in a car accident, which he thought meant the end of being able to sense touch in that part of his body forever. Years later, he's now the first user of a new wireless interface that connects to his prosthetic arm and allows him to actually feel things in his phantom limb. His brain is able to interpret new signals in a way they once did.

  • Episode 5 Preview | Sense: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 5 Preview | Sense

    S1 E5 - 30s

    Dive into the stories of a pairs figure skating team, a perfumer, a cave explorer and a musician to decipher how different ways of sensing the world all create their own vivid and unique picture.

  • Our Sense of Smell: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Our Sense of Smell

    S1 E5 - 1m 2s

    The experience of smell starts when air molecules meet tiny little hairs in our nasal cavity. These hairs are called cilia, and they trap the incoming fumes so they can be processed.

  • The Human Body's Five Senses: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Human Body's Five Senses

    S1 E5 - 1m 31s

    An introduction into the amazing functions of the human body's five senses. Our bodies are constantly absorbing different kinds of information from the outside world. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings. Inside the body all of these things are pieced together to create our individual reality.

  • The Adaptive Quality of Our Senses: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Adaptive Quality of Our Senses

    S1 E5 - 2m 53s

    When we lose one of our senses, the loss isn't something the body can't handle. It just means that the brain has to figure out a new way of filling the void left by the information that's no longer there. Our bodies are actually incredibly adaptable when it comes to compensating for missing sensation.

  • Proprioception - The Sixth Sense: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Proprioception - The Sixth Sense

    S1 E5 - 2m 46s

    It doesn't usually make the list of the five most important human senses, but proprioception is fundamental. It's our sense of where our bodies exist in space. We can feel where our hand is or where our feet are without looking at them. And we can move them accordingly because of that innate sense.

  • The Immune System: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Immune System

    S1 E4 - 2m 6s

    An introduction into the amazing functions of the human body's immune system.

Schedule

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