In "Last Human Standing," the final program of the three-part series "Becoming Human," NOVA examines the fate of the Neanderthals, our European cousins who died out as modern humans spread from Africa into Europe during the Ice Age. Did modern humans interbreed with Neanderthals or exterminate them? The program explores crucial evidence from the recent decoding of the Neanderthal genome.
How did modern humans take over the world? New evidence suggests that they left Africa and colonized the rest of the globe far earlier, and for different reasons, than previously thought. As for Homo sapiens, we have planet Earth to ourselves today, but that's a very recent and unusual situation. For millions of years, many kinds of hominids co-existed. At one time Homo sapiens shared the planet with Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and the mysterious "Hobbits"–three-foot-high humans who thrived on the Indonesian island of Flores until as recently as 12,000 years ago.
"Last Human Standing" examines why "we" survived while those other ancestral cousins died out. And it explores the provocative question: In what ways are we still evolving today?

In "Birth of Humanity," the second part of the three-part series "Becoming Human," NOVA investigates the first skeleton that really looks like us–"Turkana Boy"–an astonishingly complete specimen of Homo erectus found by the famous Leakey team in Kenya. These early humans are thought to have developed key innovations that helped them thrive, including hunting large prey, the use of fire, and extensive social bonds.
The program examines an intriguing theory that long-distance running–our ability to jog–was crucial for the survival of these early hominids. Not only did running help them escape from vicious predators roaming the grasslands, but it also gave them a unique hunting strategy: chasing down prey animals such as deer and antelope to the point of exhaustion. "Birth of Humanity" also probes how, why, and when humans' uniquely long period of childhood and parenting began.

Where did we come from? What makes us human? An explosion of recent discoveries sheds light on these questions, and NOVA's comprehensive, three-part special, "Becoming Human," examines what the latest scientific research reveals about our hominid relatives.
Part 1, "First Steps," examines the factors that caused us to split from the other great apes. The program explores the fossil of "Selam," also known as "Lucy's Child." Paleoanthropologist Zeray Alemseged spent five years carefully excavating the sandstone-embedded fossil. NOVA's cameras are there to capture the unveiling of the face, spine, and shoulder blades of this 3.3 million-year-old fossil child. And NOVA takes viewers "inside the skull" to show how our ancestors' brains had begun to change from those of the apes.
Why did leaps in human evolution take place? "First Steps" explores a provocative "big idea" that sharp swings of climate were a key factor.

在南美有一个巨大的垃圾填卖场，它横跨巴拉圭的冲积平原，然而就是在这样一个肮脏的地方出现了音乐奇迹。一个拾荒者邂逅一位音乐老师，他们开始用这些废物制作乐器，并征集当地儿童组成了一个小乐队。这部影片拍摄历时五年直到这支乐队逐步开始公演。借助视频和社交媒体，这支乐队的粉丝越来越多，他们的偶像Megadeth也包括在内，很快这支环保乐队为整个世界所认识。当这支乐队全球巡演回到家乡的时候，天空漂起了雨，他们意识到这么多年以来一直和家人在最恶劣的条件下生存......

闖入中國高原上的神秘禁地西藏自古以來便是個令人難以捉摸的禁忌之地，深深吸引西方人來此探索那神秘的首府拉薩。鞏固的城牆仰仗著天然地勢的屏障，想要到此必須先通過種種自然的艱難試煉，許多人終其一生仍不得其門而入。為了找到通往拉薩的道路，一位大英帝國的間碟偽裝成僧人悄悄地進入禁區，他以腳步測量的方式繪製了準確的西藏地圖交予英國，其間諜行為至終都未被人察覺。另一位英國的將軍則以武力和血腥打開了西藏的大門，取得英國與西藏間的貿易協定，最後這段經歷卻帶給他不同於以往的人生．．．

Take a risky dive into an underwater cave in Mexico to discover the 13,000-year-old skeleton of a prehistoric teenager. Follow forensic clues that reveal intimate details of her life and death, and how her people first ventured into North America.

A weekly documentary series, each episode providing an in-depth look at a different subject of scientific research. Subjects examined by this show have included the cutting edge of theoretical physics, a return to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, the long-term effects of Amazon deforestation, and the development of life-saving medical techniques.

在南美有一个巨大的垃圾填卖场，它横跨巴拉圭的冲积平原，然而就是在这样一个肮脏的地方出现了音乐奇迹。一个拾荒者邂逅一位音乐老师，他们开始用这些废物制作乐器，并征集当地儿童组成了一个小乐队。这部影片拍摄历时五年直到这支乐队逐步开始公演。借助视频和社交媒体，这支乐队的粉丝越来越多，他们的偶像Megadeth也包括在内，很快这支环保乐队为整个世界所认识。当这支乐队全球巡演回到家乡的时候，天空漂起了雨，他们意识到这么多年以来一直和家人在最恶劣的条件下生存......