Break the Barrier (5/6) - Richard Dawkins

Fifth (of six) part of the 1996 documentary from the Channel-4 series. In this video Richard Dawkins meets people who have experienced the wonders of science first-hand.

We meet the astronomer who first discovered pulsars, the geneticist who invented DNA fingerprinting, a scientist who discovered a protein that causes cancer, and others.

With so many expressing paranormal beliefs and ignorance of science, Dawkins encourages viewers to contrast these ancient superstitions with the power and beauty of our scientific achievements and understanding.

Dawkins interviews famous admirers of science such as Douglas Adams and David Attenborough, and asks them why science means so much to them. We also see how dangerous ignorance of science can be in classrooms, courts, and beyond.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Dinosaur
• Oxford
• Skeletons
• Fossiles
• Philosophy
• Darwin
• Evolution
• Attenborough
• Birds
• Flies
• Space
• Universe
• Astronomy
• Sun
• Planets
• Cambridge
• Cancer
• Mutation
• Eureka
• Science
• Genes
• Biology
• Disease
• Cures

[bdf2718]

Sarah Fucktard Palin, go fuck yourself.

Drosophila melanogaster has been important in genetic research for many decades. Short gestation time is one reason. But, until genetic amplification came alone, polytene chromosomes were the major reason.

And hey, they just gave us a major clue about cancer. But Palin wants to stop research using them.

As Dawkins says, we need to understand science as a society in order to make informed decisions.

[akaei0]

They spent three years isolating 1 protein receptor that is probably important. Sounds boring?

But our professional athletes, actors and musicians spend years on tedious development. We wouldn't be able to stand monitoring every moment of of their development. But when it's show time we line up to indulge ourselves in their efforts.

Some excitement may be lost during periods of peer review and reproducing results. But when we discover those important answers we should rejoice as a people.

[Casshyr]

@PrincessTS01 you can easily do that nowadays, many companies offer to sequence your whole genome for just under $1000, although the quality may not be decent, usually it is around ~$3000 to $40000. The problem, afterwards, is the interpretation, cuz even if you decipher mutations within ur genome, that doesn't mean u'll get a disease or any form of reliable disease prediction. Ex: does knowing u'll have 1% to get disease X help u in any way?? Interpretation is the rate-limiting step.

[PrincessTS01]

i wanna know what my dna code looks like

[indi600]

Those experiments on those fruit flies was exactly what I did in class today! We had to use an etherising tube just like that one haha

[shcnoozlebop]

quote russell howard: you see the type of people who support her on the tv "i wanna LOOK like herr!!" how can you take her seriously?

[shcnoozlebop]

@hipp6y legendary!!!!

[AmericanAtheist1038]

@jshowa2 He meant "spiritual" as in "numinous", not as in "supernatural". He frequently uses words like them in a more sophisticated sense, and people mistake him for being literal.

[Leyjoes]

Dr. Freeman!!??