Program Description 　　In this two-hour special, NOVA examines how a simple instrument, the telescope, has fundamentally changed our understanding of our place in the universe. What began as a curiosity—two spectacle lenses held a foot apart—ultimately revolutionized human thought across science, philosophy, and religion. "Hunting the Edge of Space" takes viewers on a global adventure of discovery, dramatizing the innovations in technology and the achievements in science that have marked the rich history of the telescope. 　　(source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/hunting-edge-space.html)

很多科学家曾经认为，当人类将自身与奇妙的自然隔离开来的时候，进化的历程也随之停止了。但随着人类基因图谱的绘制，科学家们得以详细地了解人类的整个进化史。他们发现了一个令人吃惊的事实：在近5万年内，人类不仅在继续进化，其速度还比历史上任何时期都要快。爱丽丝?罗伯茨博士将带我们探索人类在未来将如何进化，并提出一个疑问：如果我们能控制动植物的进化过程，那么我们可以掌控自身的进化之路吗？

首部国产科普大片，中科院院士担当“工作人员”，每秒钟千元的大制作，赶超国际水平的三维动画效果，多项国际、国内大奖荣誉，能让国外大片低头的科普作品。 　　这部电影描述了宇宙与人类的起源、发展进化及二者间的相互关系，阐释了宇宙诞生、生命出现、恐龙灭绝、核聚变、宇宙大爆炸等困扰人们的疑问。

如何才能战胜最凶猛的野兽；如何学会驾驭火；如何制造工具；如何躲避天灾人祸；并最终从一种猿猴似的生物、演变成了地球的主宰？想要揭开我们祖先的秘密，只有回顾发生在几百万年前所经历的生存之战，才能为我们解开谜底。 　　为了揭开人类进化的谜底，科学家来到了南非。非洲的独特之处就在于到处都是化石，人类进化史上的每一个重大事件都源自这块大陆。 　　在约翰内斯堡西面的格拉迪斯维尔洞穴内，科学家发现了数百具动物骨骼化石，其中有三具是人类家族中的早期成员。其中之一是我们的直系祖先，也就是大约20万年前、生活在非洲平原上的早期智人。 　　不过，早期智人并不是第一个具备人类特征的生物。在非洲，考古学家还发现过另外两种有着人类特征的动物遗骸——阿法南猿和直立人。然而毕竟，我们的祖先只有一个，只有一种生物能够存活、并演化成为现代人。 　　经科学家对三种生物的研究发现，促使人类发展突飞猛进，以至在短短的7万5千年里，我们从原始的穴居人变成了地球上最强大的物种的原因之一，可能是某种灾难的降临，迫使那些最有能力、最聪明、最有想象力的人类祖先学会了适应花茎，存活下来。灾难的降临原本意味着人类会灭绝，但实际上，却可能造就了现代人类。 　　就这样，一场原本可能让人类灭绝的灾难、或许恰恰造就了今天的我们。它促使人类的创造力全面爆发、加快了漫长的人类进化历程，也使得人类与其它动物有了本质的区别。

这是关于人类的故事，通过提出我们有史以来最大疑问的方式娓娓道来。我们位于宇宙的哪里？我们和我们所在星球的命运如何？人类大脑是如何产生的呢，为何会有意识？我们寻找外星生命的尝试是否会成功，抑或我们是唯一的存在？一切答案尽在这部具有里程碑意义的系列片中，它将提供关于人类生命的全新视角。采用高超的专业摄影技术在全球各个方位所获取图像并结合创新性的计算机成像技术，我们将探索宇宙的终极奇迹——人类。

Where did we come from? What makes us human? An explosion of recent discoveries sheds light on these questions, and NOVA's comprehensive, three-part special, "Becoming Human," examines what the latest scientific research reveals about our hominid relatives. 　　Part 1, "First Steps," examines the factors that caused us to split from the other great apes. The program explores the fossil of "Selam," also known as "Lucy's Child." Paleoanthropologist Zeray Alemseged spent five years carefully excavating the sandstone-embedded fossil. NOVA's cameras are there to capture the unveiling of the face, spine, and shoulder blades of this 3.3 million-year-old fossil child. And NOVA takes viewers "inside the skull" to show how our ancestors' brains had begun to change from those of the apes. 　　Why did leaps in human evolution take place? "First Steps" explores a provocative "big idea" that sharp swings of climate were a key factor.

In "Last Human Standing," the final program of the three-part series "Becoming Human," NOVA examines the fate of the Neanderthals, our European cousins who died out as modern humans spread from Africa into Europe during the Ice Age. Did modern humans interbreed with Neanderthals or exterminate them? The program explores crucial evidence from the recent decoding of the Neanderthal genome. 　　How did modern humans take over the world? New evidence suggests that they left Africa and colonized the rest of the globe far earlier, and for different reasons, than previously thought. As for Homo sapiens, we have planet Earth to ourselves today, but that's a very recent and unusual situation. For millions of years, many kinds of hominids co-existed. At one time Homo sapiens shared the planet with Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and the mysterious "Hobbits"–three-foot-high humans who thrived on the Indonesian island of Flores until as recently as 12,000 years ago. 　　"Last Human Standing" examines why "we" survived while those other ancestral cousins died out. And it explores the provocative question: In what ways are we still evolving today?

In "Birth of Humanity," the second part of the three-part series "Becoming Human," NOVA investigates the first skeleton that really looks like us–"Turkana Boy"–an astonishingly complete specimen of Homo erectus found by the famous Leakey team in Kenya. These early humans are thought to have developed key innovations that helped them thrive, including hunting large prey, the use of fire, and extensive social bonds. 　　The program examines an intriguing theory that long-distance running–our ability to jog–was crucial for the survival of these early hominids. Not only did running help them escape from vicious predators roaming the grasslands, but it also gave them a unique hunting strategy: chasing down prey animals such as deer and antelope to the point of exhaustion. "Birth of Humanity" also probes how, why, and when humans' uniquely long period of childhood and parenting began.

在远古的时代，宇宙中存在着分别代表光明与黑暗的两个文明，正如光与影永远是相互矛盾的，两个文明也长年处于战争之中，代表黑暗的文明为了取得胜利，就制造了一种高科技的战舰，这种战舰拥有超强的作战能力及穿越时空的能力，而且，还拥有自己的思想。然而，这种战舰却会把驾驶者作为自己的食粮，以此来增强自己的力量。这种黑色的战舰就像魔鬼一样，会把敌人彻底毁灭，但同时也会吞噬驾驶员的生命。而在同一时间，为了对抗敌人的黑色战舰，代表光明的文明也创造了一艘白色战舰与黑色战舰抗衡。后来，两个文明都原因不明地消失了，而那些战舰却依然存在在宇宙的某个角落里，新时代的人为他们起了个名字——遗失战舰（LostShips） 　　由于将精神力变换为能量的[精神物理学]的发达，产生了超越光速技术的遥远未来。主人公阿ken（肯恩·布鲁利勃/kane）在这个世界里解决着发生的各种各样的事故，这种工作称之为「TROUBLE CONTRACTOR」(麻烦终结者简称T.C）。

在远古的时代，宇宙中存在着分别代表光明与黑暗的两个文明，正如光与影永远是相互矛盾的，两个文明也长年处于战争之中，代表黑暗的文明为了取得胜利，就制造了一种高科技的战舰，这种战舰拥有超强的作战能力及穿越时空的能力，而且，还拥有自己的思想。然而，这种战舰却会把驾驶者作为自己的食粮，以此来增强自己的力量。这种黑色的战舰就像魔鬼一样，会把敌人彻底毁灭，但同时也会吞噬驾驶员的生命。而在同一时间，为了对抗敌人的黑色战舰，代表光明的文明也创造了一艘白色战舰与黑色战舰抗衡。后来，两个文明都原因不明地消失了，而那些战舰却依然存在在宇宙的某个角落里，新时代的人为他们起了个名字——遗失战舰（LostShips） 　　由于将精神力变换为能量的[精神物理学]的发达，产生了超越光速技术的遥远未来。主人公阿ken（肯恩·布鲁利勃/kane）在这个世界里解决着发生的各种各样的事故，这种工作称之为「TROUBLE CONTRACTOR」(麻烦终结者简称T.C）。