Digestion
This program provides a thorough introduction to the structure and functions of the digestive tract. Using modern body-imaging techniques, the program explores where fat is located and how its distribution within the body differs from person to pers...
Muscles
In this program, the diverse nature of muscle tissue is examined, from its gross structure to its detailed microstructure, where chemical energy is harnessed to produce movement. As muscle forms the basis for much of a person's body shape, we explor...
Red Dawn
This program shows the logic of the events that led from the failure of czarist leadership—from repression, economic unrest, massive war casualties, and seemingly uncaring behavior by the government—to the success of the Bolsheviks and the insta...
Homeostasis
In order to understand homeostasis in a natural setting, this program observes what happens to the body during a marathon race. By monitoring the various physiological responses of one of the runners, we show the many changes and adjustments being m...
Ionization and Excitation Potential
The energy transfer between accelerated electrons of different energies and atoms when they collide is presented in this program and related to the quantum theory of atomic structure. First, the ionization potential of three inert gases is measured....
Brother, can you spare a dime?
This program shows the events of the Great Depression and explains how they prepared the way for the rise of Nazism, Japanese expansionism, and the altered role of government in the U.S. It covers the Bonus March in July 1932; the Boom of the 1920s ...
The senses
This program examines the role that our senses play in providing us with information about the world around us. Our brain depends upon the information from all our senses being integrated so that the brain is provided with consistent data that it ca...
Bones and joints
The topic of bones and joints is explored in this program with Dr. Lyle Micheli at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Micheli runs the world's leading orthopedic clinic for young athletes, where the most common types of sports injuries, such as acute i...
Blood
Blood and circulation are explained in this program through the story of a sickle cell sufferer. By looking at the ways in which sickle cell affects the body, the program explains how the blood circulatory system operates and also how technology is ...
Skin
The topic of skin is introduced by viewing a typical collection of bodies on a sun-drenched beach. We are familiar with the sight of skin exposed to the sun, but do we know what is actually happening to the skin surface? Using scanning electron micr...