LibGuides: Biology: DVD, Websites, etc.

DVD

Attenborough's life stories by David Attenborough Renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough has a remarkable treasure trove of stories following his 60-year career with the BBC. This 3-part series will bring to life some of his most memorable. Also includes: The Ark, David Attenborough chooses ten of the most important, and lesser known, animals he would most like to save from extinction.
Call Number: DVD PN1992.8.N38A88 2013
Publication Date: 2013
Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors by Graham Townsley Where did we come from? What makes us human? NOVA's...investigation explores how new discoveries are transforming views of our earliest ancestors. Featuring interviews with world-renowned scientists, footage shot "in the trenches" as fossils were unearthed, and...computer-generated animation, [these programs] bring early hominids to life, examining how we became the creative and adaptable modern humans of today...In the first episode...encounter..."Selam," the amazingly complete remains of a 3 million year-old child, packed with clues to why we split from the apes, came down from the trees, and started walking upright...[T]he second episode investigates the riddle of "Turkana Boy" -- a tantalizing fossil of Homo erectus, the first ancestor to leave Africa and colonize the globe...[T]he final episode...explores the origins of "us" -- where modern humans and our capacities for art, invention, and survival came from, and what happened when we encountered the mysterious Neanderthals...
Call Number: DVD GN282.B43 2010
ISBN: 9781608831012
Publication Date: 2010
Darwin: the voyage that shook the world by Fathom Media In 1831 a young amateur scientist, Charles Darwin, boarded the HMS Beagle on an epic five-year voyage of discovery that would shake the world. In this expansive documentary the HMS Beagle once again sets sail as it retraces Charles Darwin's voyage in lavish detail, examining his findings and remarkable conclusions--and their implications--in the light of modern knowledge. Filmed in South America, United Kingdom, North America, Australia and Europe, Darwin: The Voyage That Shook The World features dramatic period recreations and stunning cinematography, all interwoven with scholars, scientists and Darwin experts who share differing perspectives on the man and the controversy he stirred.
Call Number: DVD QH31.D2D34 2009
Publication Date: 2009
Dinotasia by Erik Nelson The dinosaur gets a makeover and then some in this fantastically groundbreaking documentary. Based on cutting-edge paleontology and the latest fossil records, Dinotasia presents a series of vignettes about dinosaurs, both familiar faces and some we have only found out about in the past ten years. The film uses CGI to bring the stories to life, but draws on animation's birth in silent film and early Disney to create proper, traditional visual storytelling. Werner Herzog narrates.
Call Number: DVD QE861.4.D5663 2012
Publication Date: 2012
Life by David Attenborough Four years in the making, and filmed over 3000 days across every continent and in every habitat, see 130 incredible stories from frontiers of the natural world. Discover the glorious variety of life on Earth and the spectacular and extraordinary tactics animals and plants have developed to stay alive. This is evolution in action: individual creatures under extreme pressure to overcome challenges from adversaries and their environment.
Call Number: DVD QH501.L54 2010 (4 discs)
ISBN: 1419888579
Publication Date: 2010
Life in Cold Blood by David Attenborough Amphibians and reptiles ruled the world for nearly 200 million years, and today there are well over 14,000 species. Ranging from some of the largest, most deadly creatures on Earth to the smallest and strangest, these are some of the most fascinating and dramatic animals on the planet...With breathtaking footage and amazing action photography that proves the cold-blooded world is as passionate, dramatic and bizarre as any on Earth, this definitive series reveals the secrets of the most successful creatures ever to walk - or crawl - on land
Call Number: DVD QL641.L54 2008 (2 discs)
Publication Date: 2008
Miracle Planet by National Film Board of Canada The planet Earth was born out of chaos and disaster - and completely by chance. Episode 1 transports us to this breathtaking genesis, the violent past that created the fragile conditions for life itself. The last ice age ended only a few thousand years ago, but there were earlier periods when the entire world was frozen, periods known as Snowball Earth. For billions of years, life existed only in the Earth's oceans. But about 350 million years ago, some of those earliest life forms began to explore New Frontiers on land. There was a moment in Earth's history, about 250 million years ago, when all life nearly disappeared from the planet. Scientists now believe the cause was an eruption of the Earth's molten core that triggered global climate change. The resulting drop in oxygen levels allowed dinosaurs to rise to supremacy because of their respiratory systems. But in the Earth's continuing cycle of Extinction and Rebirth, they too would suffer a catastrophic end some 150 million years later. Episode 5 walks us down the incredible pathway that has brought humans to their dominant position on the planet and openly questions our role in the future development of life on Earth.
Call Number: DVD QE501.M57 2005 (5 discs)
Publication Date: 2005
Nature's Most Amazing Events by BBC Earth Each season, as the ever-thinning Arctic ice recedes, polar bears face a daunting challenge; Grizzly bears in British Columbia must use ingenuity and fancy footwork to collect their catch; The annual rains of the Serengeti draw in the greatest concentration of large animals on Earth; Each year, billions of sardines flood South Africa's east coast creating an action-packed feeding frenzy; Thousands of animals make the long trek toward the life saving annual flood of Botswana's Okavango Delta; The annual plankton boom of Alaska's coastal waters attracts humpback whales and sea lions, who must avoid predatory killer whales.
Call Number: DVD QL751.N38 2009 (2 discs)
Publication Date: 2009
Planet Earth by David Attenborough Five years in production, over 2000 days in the field 200 locations, this blockbuster 11-part television series takes the viewer on an unforgettable journey with our planet's best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures from the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, through the challenging seasons and the daily struggle for survival in Earth's most extreme habitats. Disc 1. From pole to pole (introduction): Looks at our planet as a whole and considers key factors that have shaped its natural history. -- Mountains: A tour of Earth's mightiest mountain ranges, starting with the birth of a mountain. Includes some of the most reclusive creatures on the planet and the secrets of their survival. -- Fresh water: Follows the descent of rivers from their mountain sources to the sea and showcases the unique and dramatic wildlife found within Earth's unexplored waters. Disc 2. Caves: Discover astonishing crystals, cave angel fish, the five million bats of Deer Cave (Borneo), and weird troglodytes. -- Deserts: Deserts make up a staggering 30 percent of the land's surface may seem empty and lifeless, yet they are the most varied of earth's ecosystems. -- Ice worlds: The advance and retreat of polar ice is the real challenge to life from Antarctica to the Arctic. Disc 3. Great Plains: From the baking savannahs of Africa to the frozen tundra of the Arctic, discover the greatest gatherings of wildlife on Earth. -- Jungles: Jungles are the most productive places on Earth, but surviving in the jungle is far from easy. -- Shallow seas: Follow a humpback whale mother and calf on an epic journey from tropical coral paradises, where the new-born calf takes his first faltering breaths, to the storm-ravaged icy polar seas, the whales' great feeding grounds. Disc 4. Seasonal forests: From the evergreen forests of the frozen North to the deciduous dry forests of the tropics, these woodlands illustrate the intense seasonality of the Earth and are home to a fascinating range of wildlife. -- Ocean deep: From rapier-billed predator sailfish to the exquisitely shelled Nautilus and the threatened blue whale, this journey into the most unexplored part of the planet reveals the extraordinary survivors of this immense and barren realm. Disc 5. Saving species: Looks at the reasons behind declining numbers of particular animals, and questions whether we face an extinction crisis, as well as how we choose which species we want to conserve. -- Into the wilderness: Why uninhabited expanses such as the Bialowieza forest, the Gobi desert and the Arctic tundra are important for human survival as well as that of all creatures on the planet. -- Living Together: The history of conservation and how conservation can fit into a world driven by economics and development. Looks at the challenges facing conservation in the 21st Century, as well as the role of religion in promoting a moral and ethical approach to the world we live in.
Call Number: DVD QH75.P57 2007 (5 discs)
Publication Date: 2007

Websites

About Bioscience Teachers and students of biology and other biosciences will find first-rate resources on this well-endowed and attractive site. Readers may like to start with the Bioscience Topics tab, where they will find sections dedicated to Animal Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Biodiversity, Bioethics, and a host of other related topics. Each subheading contains an explanatory article, links to resources around the web, and information about sub disciplines. For instance, the Cell Biology page features links to a Virtual Library of Biochemistry & Molecular Cell Biology, among others. Also of interest, the About Bioscience page boasts an entire tab dedicated to Bioscience careers, including job descriptions, salary ranges, educational requirements, and links to more specified sites. Of the many careers covered here, readers will find information about the working lives of Mammalogists, Genetic Counselors, Immunologists, and Entomologists.
Action Bioscience
from the American Institute of Biological Sciences
Alfred Russel Wallace Page
Ask a Biologist From Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences comes Ask A Biologist, which offers a plethora of resources for teaching and learning biology. The Scout Report initially featured this resource in 2004 when this website offered students and teachers the opportunity to submit a biology-related question for volunteer scientists to answer. Thirteen years later, Ask A Biologist still offers this service, but has also greatly expanded its collection of educational resources for K-12 classrooms and out-of-school learning spaces. These resources include interactive activities such as the Bird Finder (which allows users to enter details about a particular bird in order to identify it) and a number of online games. The Stories section features kid-friendly readings (in various languages) about a number of topics as well as guides to help young scientists learn how to read scientific articles. These guides include the PLOSable Biology series that provides guides to help students better understand recently published PLOS stories, including background information and key vocabulary. Educators may want to start exploring this resources by checking out the Teacher Toolkit, which curates some of the site's most popular resources for instructors, including readings, flashcards, and hands-on experiments.
Barcode of Life Data System In recent years, DNA barcoding has emerged as a new way for scientists to identify unique species and protect the Earth's biodiversity. Readers interested in this field of research may want to check out the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD). Launched in 2005 and currently in its fourth iteration, BOLD describes itself as "an online workbench and database that supports the assembly and use of DNA barcode data [..., as well as] a collaborative hub for the scientific community and a public resource for citizens at large." Visitors can search its public data portal by scientific name, geography, name of the depository holding the specimen, and other fields. For example, a search for "Wisconsin" reveals that over 2,500 specimens representing 800 species have been collected in the state and sequenced. As of this write-up, BOLD contains more than 7.1 million barcodes from roughly 300,000 species. Instructors interested in using BOLD in the classroom should visit the Education Portal, available from the main page. BOLD is led by Paul Hebert, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph and the director of the Center for Biodiversity Genomics (CBG); and by Sujeevan Ratnasingham, CBG's associate director of informatics.
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Catalogue of Life For researchers and students interested in global biodiversity, the Catalogue of Life is an index consisting of 1.6 million species from around the globe. The catalogue collects this information from over 200 taxonomic databases, which are peer-reviewed by a team of experts. Visitors will find a link to the most recent edition of the catalogue, updated monthly, from the site's homepage. Users can search the catalogue by keyword or browse by taxonomic tree (e.g. Animalia, bacteria, viruses) or by taxonomic classification (e.g. phylum, genus, species). The catalogue is available in twelve languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian. Those interested in using the Catalogue of Life may want to start by taking a look at the resources page, which includes a user's guide and frequently asked questions about the index.
DNA Learning Center
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Genomic Science Program (US Dept. of Energy)
U.S. Dept of Energy genetics site, Human Genome Project information
Earth Portal Community
Ecosystems
U. S. Geological Survey
Encyclopedia of Life: Learning + Education Science teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels may appreciate this collection of learning and education resources from the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). This project offers a variety of resources geared toward learning about wildlife, plants, and biodiversity. For example, biodiversity cards offer visitors "a fun way to share and learn about the traits or characteristics of organisms," and EOL provides pre-made cards as well as tutorials and tools to make your own as a classroom project. Biodiversity cards can also be incorporated into EOL's numerous lesson plans, which are aligned with NGSS standards and organized by grade level for students from grades 2-12. These lessons are built around themes such as classification, science skills, and energy flow. Teachers may also be interested in EOL's educational podcasts, each episode of which is about five minutes long and features an interview with a scientist about one species. Finally, to help situate biodiversity in its geographical context, EOL also provides several Google Earth video tours (accompanied by downloadable KMZ files) on topics such as Arctic tern migrations and invasive marine algae
HHMI Biointeractive BioInteractive, an innovative educational resource from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), features a plethora of award-winning multimedia resources related to science education, from short films to virtual labs to holiday lectures.
Interviews with Invertebrates The webcomic interviews with invertebrates is the brainchild of Sasha Seroy, a doctoral student studying the effects of environmental changes on predator-prey interactions in marine invertebrates at the University of Washington's School of Oceanography. Here, readers will find fifty (as of this writing) entertaining and educational comics primarily featuring marine invertebrates, such as pyrosomes (also known as sea pickles) and horseshoe crabs, but also terrestrial invertebrates, such as snails and hermit crabs. Launched just under a year ago, Seroy publishes a new comic every Wednesday. Each comic offers viewers imaginative drawings with witty dialogue that complements a scientific factoid in the comic's caption. Visitors to interviews with invertebrates will also find the occasional short blog post where Seroy shares links to relevant information about that week's invertebrate, and they can subscribe to be notified of new comics via email.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Learn.Genetics: Genetic Science Learning Center
from University of Utah
Linnaeus NG
Map of Life Map of Life, a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by Yale University and the University of Florida, allows visitors to explore data about the relationships between biodiversity and geography through a series of highly-engaging and informative interactive maps. Headed by Yale University ecology and evolutionary biology professor Walter Jetz, the Map of Life is the work of a large team of scientists and software engineers from Yale, the University of Florida, and other educational institutions. The project utilizes biodiversity data from a variety of sources, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Users can explore this data in four different ways. In the map species section, visitors can view maps that outline where they can expect to find a specific species around the world. The species by location section allows visitors to explore species data by country. Finally, the indicators section (as of this write-up, in beta) allow visitors to examine current coverage (and gaps in coverage) of biodiversity data and to compare species diversity around the world. Researchers who are interested in viewing the original datasets may do so via the datasets section. Map of Life also recently launched a mobile app, which visitors can learn more about on this website.
Movebank Population biologists, wildlife ecologists, and readers interested in animal tracking may appreciate Movebank, "a free online infrastructure created to help researchers manage, share, analyze and archive animal movement data." Begun in 2007, Movebank is intended as a global repository for wildlife tracking data and it can also serve as a free backup option for researchers to store and share their data either publicly or privately. In addition to archiving data, the project's main goals are to enable collaborations and compilations of multiple datasets, to promote open access to animal movement data, and to allow the public to explore these data via Movebank's Tracking Data Map. New users may want to check out the many resources under the help tab, particularly the getting started section and the user manual. Movebank is hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and has long-term funding through the Max Planck Society and the University of Konstanz.
National Geographic: Photo Ark The National Geographic Photo Ark offers readers a stunning collection of animal portrait photography featuring thousands of species from around the world. The Photo Ark is a project founded in 2005 by veteran National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore. It aims to "document every species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries," many of which are threatened or endangered in the wild, with the ultimate goal of inspiring people to help protect these species and their habitats. Visitors can explore this ongoing project's more than 30,000 photographs of more than 9,000 species (as of this write-up), with each species including multiple beautiful photos with simple black or white backgrounds, its common and scientific name, its population status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List, and other information. Readers can search this vast trove of photos by species name and filter by class (e.g. birds, reptiles, cephalopods, etc.), IUCN Red List status, and where the photo was taken. Teachers may want to check out the Photo Ark's education section, where they will find several classroom activities and other teaching resources.
more...less...
See the book Birds of the Photo Ark.
Call number: TR729.B5 S27 2018
National Human Genome Research Institute: Fact Sheets
Nature Works Everywhere From The Nature Conservancy comes Nature Works Everywhere, an educational website launched in 2012 to give "teachers, students and families everything they need to start exploring and understanding nature around the globe." Visitors will find over seventy resources for grades 3-12, ranging from interactive lesson plans to gardening guides, to virtual field trips with accompanying teacher's guides and student handouts. These resources can be filtered by fields such as grade level, Common Core standards, and theme. Readers will also find upcoming live online events, like virtual career fairs, as well as an interactive map showing the locations and statistics of more than 1,000 school gardens that are part of the Nature Works Everywhere community. Those interested in starting a school garden (or one at home) will want to check out the "design" feature, where users can create a plan for their garden and see an estimate of its environmental impact. Nature Works Everywhere also awards grants to K-12 public and charter schools "to support projects that implement green infrastructure to address local environmental challenges."
Nature's Notebook Nature's Notebook is a fun and educational citizen science project focused on phenology throughout the United States. Here, nature lovers of all ages can contribute to science by observing the seasonal life-cycles of plants and wildlife. Visitors to Nature's Notebook will find educational resources for all grade levels (including lesson plans, activities, and archived presentations), help for local phenology groups (including how to start one), links to multimedia (including podcasts, videos, and webinars), and most importantly, opportunities and instructions (also available in Spanish) for participating in one of their many nature observation campaigns. After creating a free account, participants can enter data of their observations for as many species as they would like and they will also have access to a dashboard showing visualizations of their entered data. Nature's Notebook provides numerous resources for learning how to do phenological observations and they also have mobile apps available for Android and iOS devices. This long-running program was launched in 2009 by the USA National Phenology Network, "a national-scale science and monitoring initiative" formed in partnership between multiple government agencies, resource managers, and volunteers (among many others)."
On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research
Pacific Salmon Explorer This tool presents biological data for all 55 distinct salmon populations found in the Skeena River watershed, as well as maps of current human and environmental pressures on freshwater and estuarine salmon habitats.
Palaeocast
Palaeos: History of Life on Earth
PLoS Collections: Meta-Research Research about research, in biology
Science Daily
Science.gov: Biology and Nature
Tree of Life Web Project
Taxonomic classification from the University of Arizona
Understanding Evolution
from UC Berkeley
Understanding Science: Image Library
From UC Berkeley
WeDigBio Natural history collections hold enormous scientific and cultural value, but their true significance may not be fully realized until decades after the specimens land in a museum's archives. WeDigBio (short for Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections) is an initiative that aims to mitigate this problem. Describing itself as "a global data campaign, virtual science festival, and local outreach opportunity, all rolled into one," WeDigBio holds a four-day event each October that "mobilizes participants to create digital data about biodiversity specimens." Visitors to their website will find ample information on getting involved, including how to find ways to participate both online and in-person. Under the resources tab, educators will find links to classroom exercises, and those interested in hosting an event will find a number of games and event planning tips. First launched in 2015, WeDigBio was started by representatives from Florida State University, the University of Florida, and the Smithsonian Institution, among other organizations
Wildlife Thailand Skip the plane ticket: Exploring Thailand's beautiful landscapes and diverse flora and fauna is now just a click away with Wildlife Thailand. This resource serves as "a community website for sharing information, photographs, and experiences on Thailand's wildlife, nature and protected areas in order to help everyone have the opportunity to explore Thailand's outstanding wildlife and National Parks." On the Forum page, readers can browse posts on topics such as "Wildlife Sanctuaries in Thailand" and "Birds and Birding," and those interested in contributing can create a free account to do so. Topical posts can also be found under the Articles tab. Selecting the All Categories sub-section, users will see a full list of the subjects available. If you find yourself wondering how a yellow throated marten behaves in the wild, or want to watch Thailand's arthropods spar and spawn, look no further than the website's video gallery (found under the Galleries tab). The Galleries section also links to photography collections from the Thailand Wildlife Collective, "a personal conservation photography endeavor by four Thailand based photographers to assist in facilitating communication and public awareness in Thailand through wildlife imagery."

Streaming Videos

The Age of Nature: Understanding A new understanding of the way Nature works is helping us find some ways of fixing it. As our understanding deepens, we realize that everything is connected, and by helping to restore Nature we all benefit, humans and animals alike. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Ape to Man
Biomes of the Earth: Core Concepts Video Clip Library
The Book of Life: Genetics and Evolution
The Brain Scoop The Brain Scoop YouTube channel is directed and hosted by Emily Graslie - she launched Brain Scoop in 2012 and currently serves as the Chief Curiosity Correspondent at the Field Museum. Brain Scoop videos explore a variety of life science topics ranging from fossils to millipedes to biomechanics. Graslie often visits with science researchers in these episodes, providing viewers with a variety of expert perspectives. In other episodes, Graslie answers questions from viewers or chats about different aspects of the scientific research process. As Graslie warns her viewers, Brain Scoop is not always for the squeamish: some episodes (such as those featuring decisions) are accompanied by a "grossometer" that cautions viewers about their contents. Some previous Brain Scoop episodes are organized into playlists, enabling educators and others to locate episodes of interest with ease.
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life Marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, this program shows how Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution and explores its ramifications in today’s scientific community. Renowned natural history interpreter David Attenborough travels the globe, examining fresh evidence for Darwinian thought and illustrating why it is more relevant than ever. Viewers encounter findings from a wide range of disciplines, including paleontology, biogeography, anatomy, and embryology, as well as early controversies surrounding the study of plate tectonics. Spectacular wildlife footage reveals fascinating animal behavior and helps depict the theory that changed the world’s thinking. A BBC/Open University Coproduction. (52 minutes)
The Chemistry of Life: Milestones in Genetics
Darwin: The Life and Legacy, Part 1
Darwin: The Life and Legacy, Part 2
DNA Tube website
The Egg: Life's Perfect Invention The egg is perhaps nature’s most perfect life support system. Step by step as the egg hatches, host David Attenborough reveals the wonder behind these incredible miracles of nature. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Europe's New Wild (4 parts)
Evolve: Communication
Evolve: Eyes
Evolve: Flight
Evolve: Shape
Evolve: Speed
Evolve: Venom
Follow the Leader
General Biotechnology Animations Sumanas, Inc. was founded in 1994 with the express purpose of developing accurate high-impact interactive products for higher education. This section of biotechnology animations showcases some of their most developed work. Here readers will find freely accessible animations on such topics as "In Vitro Fertilization," "How a Pregnancy Test Works," and "What are Human Embryonic Stem Cells?" Each of the animations can be viewed with or without narration. For anyone who would like to better understand basic biotechnological tidbits, or for teachers looking for animations to illustrate particular points in their lessons, this site's animations may come as a welcome helping hand.
The Hidden Kingdom: Early Discoveries in Cell Science
How Did We Get Here? A History of Evolutionary Science
Modern Biological Classification This program presents the visual representations of modern biological classification and examines how fossil records allow scientists to create new evolutionary timelines.
Multicelluar Organisms and Their Nervous Systems
Shape of Life: The Story of the Animal Kingdom From PBS Learning Media comes the Shape of Life, a "series of free, short classroom videos that beautifully explore the evolution of the animal kingdom on planet Earth." These short documentary films (approximately fifteen minutes in length) are aimed at middle-school level learners and feature gorgeous images, helpful animations, and commentary from science experts. Shape of Life also features lesson plans, supplemental resources (including additional readings and short videos), and blog posts aimed at science educators. To explore this rich collection, visitors can view the complete library of Shape of Life videos via the Downloads tab, where videos are organized by five categories (Phyla, Behavior, Animation, Scientist, and Other Topics). Here, videos are accompanied by related lesson plans and resources. Visitors may also browse videos and resources by subject tag, or explore resources by Lesson Plans or by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Vets on the Wild Side (12 parts)
Type these words in the search box: "vets on the wild side"
Weird Wonders: Fossil Wonderlands Professor Richard Fortey journeys high in the Rocky Mountains to explore a 520-million-year-old fossilized seabed containing bizarre lifeforms that revolutionized our understanding about the beginnings of complex life. His discoveries include: marine creatures with five eyes and a proboscis; filter-feeders shaped like tulips; worm-like scavengers covered in spikes but with no identifiable head or anus; and a meter-long predator resembling a giant shrimp.
Why Do Scientists Classify Organisms? This program determines how scientists use taxonomy to classify organisms, and introduces such key terms as domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. It also looks at how classification can be used to observe evolutionary patterns and interactions.

Podcasts

The Biology of Superheroes Podcast "Where does the science meet the fiction?" Find out by tuning in to The Biology of Superheroes Podcast, a fun listen for superhero or fantasy fans of any age. On the show, Shane Campbell-Staton (evolutionary biologist and National Science Foundation fellow) sits down with "fellow geek" and co-host Arien Darby (marketing manager at Warner Brothers Entertainment Group) to discuss the familiar monsters and superhuman archetypes that make up science fiction, explore why these figures have captured popular consciousness, and decipher if there is any scientific reality to their stories. Each episode welcomes other scientific experts to join in the conversation, making superheroes a gateway to learning about a vast range of topics. The first two episodes featuring Marvel Comics' Spiderman, for example, turn into a deep dive on the behavior and biomechanics of web building in spiders and the engineering potential of silk. Despite the name, the hosts don't limit the conversation to superheroes; for example, an episode from May 2019 took on the biology of dragons at the same time audiences across the globe were captivated by the final season of the fantasy television series Game of Thrones.

Biology: DVD, Websites, etc.

DVD, Web, Streaming

DVD

Websites

Streaming Videos

Podcasts