Truth Will out, Series ( 6 Parts)

Synopsis

A series covering six hotly debated issues.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2003

Year of production

2001

Notes

Broadcast on BBC 2 weekly from 10/4/2005

Subjects

Biology; Environmental science; Medical sciences; Philosophy

Distribution Formats

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Price

£75.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

14 minutes each part

Year

2005

Sections

Title

Truth will out: Global Warming is Caused by Human Activity

Synopsis

In 1998 NASA scientists said that they were 99% certain that human activity was changing our climate; global warming was born. In 2000 Britain had one of the wettest winters on record with floods, torrents and very few hours of sunshine. The finger of blame was pointed at global warming as the cause of these extreme weather events - and then moved swiftly on to us - drivers of cars, belchers of smoke and polluters of planets. It seems obvious that the two things must be linked, but are they?

Duration

14 mins

Distributors ref

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Title

Truth will out: There’s Intelligent Life elsewhere in the Universe

Synopsis

The human race is curious about the universe, we want to know whether we are special - are we the only intelligent life in the universe? SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) was set-up in the 1960s but so far has failed to make contact or identify any other intelligent life forms in this or any other galaxy. So is the silent galaxy telling us something, or do we have to be more patient?

Duration

14 mins

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Title

Truth will out: Natural Limit of our Lives

Synopsis

In Britain the average life span is 75 years and rising, so can we all expect to reach 100? Since the 1950s our average life span has been stretching by about 2 years every decade. This is mainly due to better diets, increased exercise, better sanitation and the fact that we are fighting the big killers, such as heart disease, on several fronts.

Duration

14 mins

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XS007/04V

Title

Truth will out: CJD is caused by BSE

Synopsis

The only way to prove that variant CJD is caused by BSE is to inject infected material from a cow into a human and sit back and wait to see whether, in ten, twenty or even forty years time, that person develops vCJD. Curiously, there is a conspicuous shortage of volunteers for this crucial experiment! But without it, there is still no direct proof that vCJD is caused by BSE. But what causes BSE? Metals, organophosphates, tiny viruses called virions have all at one time been implicated - the current front runner is rogue prions. But are these elaborately folded proteins found in all species of animals the real cause?

Duration

14 mins

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XS007/05V

Title

Truth will out: Human Evolution has stopped

Synopsis

Asks what chapter humans have reached in evolutionary story? In the 500,000 or so years we’ve been strolling the Earth, Homo Sapiens have been continually feeling the force of natural selection. After being almost decimated by an ice age whole civilisations disappeared beneath floodwaters or volcanic ash or were wiped out by horrific diseases. Only those with good genes and good fortune survived to reproductive age and passed those genes on. Now almost everyone in the developed world lives past reproductive age and improving healthcare and infrastructure in the developing world should mean that poorer countries will enjoy the same luxury. As people aren’t dying until after they reproduce, bad genes and harmful mutations are passed on to the next generation. This surely flies in the face of natural selection - the survival of the fittest - meaning human evolution has come grinding to a halt?

Duration

14 mins

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Title

Truth will out: Mapping the Human Genome will transform Medicine

Synopsis

Using specially shot interviews with scientists and archive footage, the programme investigates the likely impact of the mapping of the human genome on future medicine and disease treatment.

Duration

16 mins

Distributors ref

XS007/03V

Distributor

Name

Open University Worldwide

Web

http://www.ouw.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 1908 274066

Address

Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

Notes

NB. As of May 2016 Open University Worldwide are no longer distributing DVDs. They have posted this message on their website: ‘Unfortunately Open University Worldwide Limited has decided that product sales are no longer viable given the reduced funding to Higher Education institutions and diminishing demand for the products we have traditionally stocked. At present the Open University Students Association (OUSA) will continue to sell the "Good Study Guide", and we are in discussion with other possible distributors to continue to make The Open University’s products available for purchase. As soon as we have any information on other channels of distribution we will update this notice’. Some products are still available via second hand dealers on Amazon.co.uk