Explore.
Watch, listen, debate & discover with our experts

RSS Icon

OU on the BBC: Charles Darwin And The Tree of Life

OU on the BBC: Charles Darwin And The Tree of Life Copyrighted imageCredit: Production team
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 19 Apr 2013
David Attenborough takes a passionate, personal journey through Darwin's discoveries.

How did teeth evolve?

How did teeth evolve? Creative commons imageCredit: lincolnblues under CC-BY-NC-ND licence
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 24 Feb 2011
My dear, what big teeth you have... but how did you (or, indeed, fish) come to have them?

Milk: The secrets of the dairy

Milk: The secrets of the dairy Copyrighted imageCredit: Dvkorn | Dreamstime.com
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 07 Dec 2010
Never mind pots of gold - it should be udders of gold. Vicky Taylor salutes the dairy cow, and reveals why some scientists think mammals...

Look evolution in the eye: Join the debate

Look evolution in the eye: Join the debate Copyrighted imageCredit: Oleg2910 | Dreamstime
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 27 Sep 2010
Proof of evolution? From the first light sensitive cells, to highly developed organs - patterns in the increasing complexity of the eye can be discerned...

ET, life and the universe

ET, life and the universe Copyrighted imageCredit: Production team
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 25 Feb 2010
Is there intelligent life out there? Professor Russell Stannard examines various possibilities, and our chances of ever finding out about them.

Consciousness and the limits of science

Consciousness and the limits of science Copyrighted imageCredit: Production team
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 25 Feb 2010
Professor Russell Stannard asks how can we ever understand the relationship between consciousness and the physical brain.

Darwin Now pod 9: Living legacy

Featuring: Audio
Darwin Now pod 9: Living legacy Creative commons imageCredit: celerrimus via Flickr
Introductory Level Duration 15 mins Updated 08 Dec 2009
Find out how Darwin’s scientific legacy is being carried forward in this year of the bicentenary of his birth.

Origin Day Lecture: Audience Question Two

Featuring: Video
Origin Day Lecture: Audience Question Two Copyrighted imageCredit: British Council
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 24 Nov 2009
If Darwin were alive today, what area of evolutionary science would he be working in, and why?

Tour of John Murray Publishers

Featuring: Video
Tour of John Murray Publishers Copyrighted imageCredit: John Murray
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 24 Nov 2009
John Murray, descendent of Darwin's original publishers, gives us a tour of the offices where biology - and literary - history were made.

Darwin, 'The Origin' and the future of biology

Featuring: Video
Darwin, 'The Origin' and the future of biology Copyrighted imageCredit: British Council
Introductory Level Duration 15 mins Updated 24 Nov 2009
On the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, Professor E O Wilson, considered by many as Darwin’s natural...

Try.
Free extracts from OU course materials

RSS Icon

Obesity: Balanced diets and treatment

Free Course
Obesity: Balanced diets and treatment Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Intermediate Level Duration 15 hours Updated 21 May 2013
The incidence of obesity is on the increase in affluent societies, and the phenomenon commands increasing attention from health professionals, legislators and the media. This...

Studying mammals: Meat eaters

Free Course
Studying mammals: Meat eaters Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
The powerful and majestic carnivores are the focus of many television documentaries. In this unit we will delve into the lives of these fearsome hunters...

Studying mammals: Chisellers

Free Course
Studying mammals: Chisellers Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
Ever wondered why rats, mice and squirrels seem to reproduce at such an alarming rate? Rodents are among the most successful of all the mammal...

Studying mammals: A winning design

Free Course
Studying mammals: A winning design Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
The term mammal encompasses a huge variety of animals, including humans. But what makes a mammal a mammal? This unit explores some of the features,...

Studying mammals: Plant predators

Free Course
Studying mammals: Plant predators Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
From the mouse-deer to the elephant, plant eaters come in all shapes and sizes. But how do they manage to flourish on a salad diet?...

Evolution through natural selection

Free Course
Evolution through natural selection Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 4 hours Updated 21 May 2013
In this unit, we describe the theory of evolution by natural selection as proposed by Charles Darwin in his book, first published in 1859, On...

Studying mammals: Food for thought

Free Course
Studying mammals: Food for thought Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
Who were our ancestors? How are apes and humans related? And where does the extinct Homo erectus fit into the puzzle? In this unit we...

Studying mammals: The insect hunters

Free Course
Studying mammals: The insect hunters Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
From pygmy shrews to armadillos, a wide range of mammals survive on a diet made up largely of insects. Many of these have fascinating adaptations...

Studying mammals: The opportunists

Free Course
Studying mammals: The opportunists Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 10 hours Updated 21 May 2013
Many mammals are food specialists, with complex adaptations that gear them toward a particular food source. So how do the omnivores survive and prosper without...

The science of evolution

Free Course
The science of evolution Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 5 hours Updated 21 May 2013
This unit debates the issues surrounding the science of evolution and religion.