Tales from the Jungle, Carlos Castaneda

The Real Eve

Broadcast (2002) Narrated by Danny Glover, "The Real Eve" reveals that our shared genetic heritage links every living person on earth and traces the expansion of modern humans throughout the world. The discovery of the Eve gene stunned the world. It seems we could all be descended from just one female who lived in Africa. In this telling anthropological video, we access the very latest DNA reconstructions, and for the first time, tell conclusively the story of where, when and how the human race came about and then populated the world. The real Eve refers to Mitochondrial Eve, a name used for the most recent common ancestor of all humans in the matrilineal (mother to daughter) line of descent. Scientists have traced the human race to one female in Africa several million years ago and traced the migration pattern of her descendants as they spread across the earth

In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the matrilineal "MRCA" (most recent common ancestor). In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person. Because all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is generally passed from mother to offspring without recombination, all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in every living person is directly descended from hers by definition. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of Y chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor, although they lived thousands of years apart.

Each ancestor (of people now living) in the line back to the matrilineal MRCA had female contemporaries such as sisters, female cousins, etc. but none of these female contemporaries of the "Mitochondrial Eve" has descendants living now in an unbroken female line. Mitochondrial Eve is generally estimated to have lived around 200,000 years ago, most likely in East Africa, when Homo sapiens sapiens ("anatomically modern humans") were developing as a population distinct from other human sub species. Mitochondrial Eve lived much earlier than the out of Africa migration that is thought to have occurred between 95,000 to 45,000 CE. The dating for 'Eve' was a blow to the multiregional hypothesis, and a boost to the hypothesis that modern humans originated relatively recently in Africa and spread from there, replacing more "archaic" human populations such as Neanderthals. As a result, the latter hypothesis is now the dominant one.

One of the misconceptions of mitochondrial Eve is that since all women alive today descended in a direct unbroken female line from her that she was the only woman alive at the time. Nuclear DNA studies indicate that the size of the ancient human population never dropped below tens of thousands. There may be many other women around at Eve's time with descendants alive today, but sometime in the past, those lines of descent included at least one male, who do not pass on their mother's mitochondrial DNA, thereby breaking the line of descent. By contrast, Eve's lines to each person alive today includes precisely one matrilineal line.

Journey Of Man: Genetic Odyssey

Broadcast (2003) Where did we come from? Spencer Wells, a 33 year old population geneticist, has closed the door on his laboratory and is embarking on the biggest adventure of his life. His mission to retrace the most extraordinary journey of all time, a journey that involves every man, woman and child alive today. He offers his thoughts on this puzzling question, employing the latest in DNA research and technology to track the migration of humanity across the globe.

By collecting blood samples from thousands of men living in isolated tribes around the world and analyzing their DNA, Spencer and his colleagues discovered that all humans alive today can be traced back to a small tribe of hunter-gatherers who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago. Following this genetic trail, Spencer has charted the ancient journey of our ancestors as they populated the planet.

Spencer scours the world for indigenous people with deep roots in one place, asking for samples of DNA to test, in order to piece together our "big family" genetic tree. In Indiana Jones mode, Wells tacks down common ancestors and comes up with some surprising candidates. He shows with DNA results the diverse ways in which people and tribes react to the news of what science says about their arrival and relations. View this as adventure travel or as a painless way to begin your genetic literacy.

Les tribus de l'Omo

Dans la vallée de l'Omo, aux confins de l'Éthiopie et à des siècles de la modernité, vivent de nombreuses tribus d'agriculteurs et d'éleveurs semi-nomades. Pendant six ans, Hans Silvester a photographié ces tribus qui risquent de disparaître. Un projet hydroélectrique, celui de Gilgel Gibe, menace, en effet, la sécurité alimentaire de près d'un demi-million de personnes au Kenya et en Éthiopie. En plus de détruire l'écosystème de la vallée de l'Omo, reconnu internationalement pour sa biodiversité, il aura des effets dévastateurs pour la qualité de vie des populations locales, dont il menace le bien-être et même la survie. Regardez bien ces photos, ce sont peut-être les dernières. Ce montage a été réalisé sur la musique d'Amadou et Mariam (M' bifé balafon en boucle)

Jungle Trip - Ayahuasca

Neanderthal

The Secret of El Dorado

"New evidence that advanced societies flourished in the Amazon Basin before the arrival of Europeans

"It was the most notorious wild-goose chase in history: the Conquistadors’ search for El Dorado, a fabulous kingdom of gold that Indians said lay hidden in the jungles of the Amazon Basin. But now, at last, archaeologists have uncovered the truth behind that myth. They have found evidence of a huge society, as advanced as the Egyptians or the Incas, right in the heart of the rainforest. And this is more than the story of a lost world rediscovered.

"For it seems that the people of the real El Dorado possessed a secret with the power to transform our world and their secret in the soil could be the solution to solving famine in the thrid world and other nations once and for all."

Digging for Truth in Machu Picchu

The Mysterious Origins of Man

"Has humanity existed on our planet for much longer than science has previously thought? This controversial program explores evidence that goes against traditional historical thought and theories surrounding our human origins. Most Archeologists ignore the artifacts and human fossils found in rock millions of years old. Explore the facts that science refuses to acknowledge."

Search For Ancient Technology

Shamans Of The Amazon

"Excellent documentary about the Amazonian Shamans and their use of the sacred Ayahuasca vine to communicate with the Spirits of the Forest. Includes footage of peaceful drug-prohibition protests, an interview with Terence Mckenna, criticism of the so called "war on drugs" (essentially a form of cultural genocide), the corruption within large oil companies and governments, many civil rights issues, etc.

"During the making of this film:

* 16 million acres of Amazon Rainforest was destroyed.
* 150,000 species became extinct.
* In Ecuador, 9 oil spills released millions of gallons of crude oil into the head waters of the Amazon.
* Scientists worldwide agreed that Global Warming and climate change is a major threat facing all life on Earth.
* Natural disasters including volcanic eruptions increased.
* In the Netherlands, the case against the Santo Daime was thrown out of court. The judge found Ayahuasca use was not a risk to public health and their constitutional right to freedom of religion must be respected.
* Spain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Belguim and The Netherlands decriminalised most drugs.
* The USA gave the Taliban in Afghanistan $43 million dollars for the War on Drugs.
* The USA was voted off the United Nations Human Rights Commision.
* Humanity stands at the crossroads..."

TEDTalks, Helen Fisher - Why we love... and why we cheat. The science.

"Anthropologist Helen Fisher explains the bio-chemical foundations of love (and lust), explaining why we commit and why we cheat. She also delivers a grave warning about anti-depressants and the way they tamper with the natural course of love. Fisher is an anthropologist with Rutgers University, specializing in gender differences and the evolution of human emotions. Her most recent book is "Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love." (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 24:13)"

Arundhati Roy - We

"In 1997 Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize for her novel "The God of Small Things". In 2004 she was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize.

"The film examines the widely unregarded worlds of Anthropology and Geopolitics in a very dynamic manner, and is probably stylistically quite unlike any documentary that you have previously seen.

"It covers the world politics of power, war, corporations, deception and exploitation. It is particularly hard hitting when it comes to the United States and western powers in general.

"Its unconventional style has proven to be very successful in engaging younger viewers - many of whom find more traditional content dealing with these subjects quite dry and uninteresting. It is almost in the style of a music video, featuring contemporary music (lush, curve, love & rockets, boards of canada, nine inch nails, dead can dance, amon tobin, massive attack, totoise, telepop, placebo and faith less) overlaid with the words of Arundhati Roy, and images of humanity and the world we live in today."

TEDTalks - Explorer Wade Davis on our amazing "ethnosphere"

"In this stunning talk, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, many of which are disappearing, as ancestral land is lost and languages die. (50 percent of the world's 6000 languages are no longer taught to children.) Against a backdrop of extraordinary photos and stories that ignite the imagination, Davis argues that we should be concerned not only for preserving the biosphere, but also the "ethnosphere," which he describes as "the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness." An anthropologist and botanist by training, Davis has traveled the world, living among indigenous cultures. He's written several books, including The Serpent and the Rainbow and Light at the Edge of the World. (Recorded February 2003 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 22:44)"