The Evolution Will Be Televised

And may be viewed by those of you fortunate to be subscribed to the National Geographic TV channel via cable/satellite. The above is the tagline NatGeoTV is using to promote their celebration of Darwin's 200th birthday. Click on the image here for the program, which kicks off this Sunday, Feb 8th with a new 3-part series "Morphed".

They will also run a live-blog starting an hour before Morphed, and are already inviting questions in their Evolution forum. Then on the 10th, they're showing Darwin's Secret Notebooks, and Explorer: Monster Fish of the Congo. All of this looks pretty exciting, and I will try to post previews/reviews as time permits over the next couple of weeks. I may even try a bit of live-blogging here if enough of the students are interested (so let me know!). And if you don't have access to NatGeoTV, find someone who does and might tolerate you on their couch for a few hours! Meanwhile, the complete announcement I received in my email, with links to video clips, is below the fold:

Below are brief descriptions of each of our five Darwin-related programs, and attached is the full press release for your information.

MORPHED

Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 8PM – 11PM ET/PT, with Live Blogging Event at 7PM ET/PT

http://natgeotv.com/morphed

Using advanced CGI, forensic examination of the latest fossil evidence and 3-D, biomechanic animation, Morphed brings ancient creatures back to life and recreates the most dramatic forces impacting their evolution — from natural disasters to competitors and brushes with extinction.  Also, during the first hour of Morphed, join a panel of experts in the fields of biology, molecular science, and theology for a Live Blogging Event to discuss the topic of evolution and its significance in today's science community, education, and its relationship to religion and theology. Be sure to submit your questions in advance at http://ngccommunity.nationalgeographic.com/ngcforums/evolution/ and log in on Sunday, February 8 at 7 PM ET/PT! The three back-to-back episode premieres include:

MORPHED: FROM DINOSAUR TO TURKEY digs 230 million years back into the fossil record to witness the emergence of the first dinosaur and follows different dinosaur species as they respond to changes in the earth's environment.

Video "Dinosaur Descendents" – Next Year at Thanksgiving dinner, imagine you're eating a dinosaur. You won't be far from the truth:http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Animals--Nature/All-Videos/Prehistoric-Turkeys.html

MORPHED: WHEN WHALES HAD LEGS examines the environmental pressures that turned a wolflike creature that hunted in shallow waters into a leviathan of the seas.

Video "Ancient Whale Bones" – In the plains of Pakistan, archaeologists discover clues to help solve the mystery of how land mammals became whales:http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Animals--Nature/All-Videos/Archaeologists-Find-the-Missing-Whale-Link.html

MORPHED: BEFORE THEY WERE BEARS travels back 30 million years to watch the bear's doglike ancestor climb down from the trees of central Europe and set out on a journey that spanned the planet.

Video "Giant Historic Bear" – In the struggle for survival, the giant short-faced bear evolved into a towering kiling machine:http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Nat-Geo-Wild/All-Videos/Ancient-Predators-in-Beringia.html

DARWIN'S SECRET NOTEBOOKS

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9 PM ET/PT

http://natgeotv.com/darwin

Using Darwin's own diary and field notes as a travel guide, National Geographic Channel retrace Darwin's expedition beyond the Galapagos to uncover the forgotten evidence that inspired his revolutionary work. We see how fossils in Argentina, seashells in the Andes and fish in the South Pacific helped him cultivate his radical theory of evolution.

Video "Inside Darwin's Mind" – The oddity of flightless birds leads Darwin to question the intentions of the Creator:http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Animals--Nature/All-Videos/Darwin-Ponders-Flightless-Birds.html

EXPLORER: MONSTER FISH OF THE CONGO

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10 PM ET/PT

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3826/Overview

Join a team of adventurers and scientists and travel deep into the heart of Africa's Congo River Basin in search of an elusive man-sized predator known as the tiger fish.  While locals believe this ravenous relative of the piranha is cursed, scientists believe the fearsome fish may hold the key to understanding the evolution of an extraordinary array of bizarre creatures found throughout the Congo.