Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Sophie Scott: The Language of Life
Sophie Scott takes us on a journey through one of the fundamentals of human and animal life - the unstoppable urge to communicate, in the 2017 CHRISTMAS LECTURES.
Where to Watch Sophie Scott: The Language of Life
3 Episodes
- Say It With Sound
E1Say It With SoundFrom musical mosquitoes to rumbling elephants, Say It with Sound explores how humans and other animals use noises to communicate. Sophie Scott, a professor of neuroscience at University College London, is joined in the theatre by a chorus of chirping crickets, hissing cockroaches and groaning deer to reveal the very different ways that animals have adapted their bodies to send audible messages that are vital to their species. She also explores how and why the human voice evolved to become the most versatile sound producer in the natural world. In a dramatic experiment Professor Scott reveals how our vocal cords can open and close more than a thousand times a second and how we can use our throats for breathing, eating and communicating. - The Word
E3The WordOne skill in particular seems to give humans an advantage over all other animals - our superior talent for language. We have the power to express exactly what's on our minds through speech and writing. This final lecture asks where our incredible linguistic ability comes from and whether any other animals use language in any form at all.
