Homo digitalis

Homo Digitalis

The Perfect Friend

Will human relationships become obsolete in the future, to be replaced by artificial intelligence and virtual reality? Today, researchers can simulate the presence of a loved one. In this episode, Helen Fares finds herself faced with the hologram of her best friend Josy, and explores the nature of friendship in the digital age.

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Will human relationships become obsolete in the future, to be replaced by artificial intelligence and virtual reality?

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We will be able to upgrade our brains with a microchip, blurring the boundaries between man and machine in a way that we've never seen before. But what will happen to us when our computers become smarter than we are? Helen Fares is on a mission to test the limits of the human brain.

Helen Fares is on a mission to test the limits of the human brain

The Upgraded Brain

Does living in a digitised world divert sexual pleasure away from other people and towards the screen? A recent study confirms the trend in both Japan and Europe. Since the advent of the smartphone, the amount of sex couples have has decreased. At the same time, sex robots are now a reality. Helen Fares meets one of these lovers of the future.

Does living in a digitised world divert sexual pleasures away from other people and towards the screen?

The Digital Orgasm

Eternal life: an impossible dream or our reality in just a few decades? And would you even be willing to modify your DNA to live longer? Is the body is only a computer and DNA the source code? Quite possibly...

Is the body is only a computer and DNA the source code?

Eternal Youth

According to futurist Ian Pearson, the holidays of the future will be virtual. The first wave of immigration into the virtual world has already taken place: you can dance, chat or play board games. Some people have even got married via VR. The possibilities are endless to escape real life, or enrich it.

The possibilities are endless to escape real life, or enrich it

Virtual Fun

Each technical revolution has taken us one step closer to simplifying our daily lives. Now, the old fear is back: machines will take our jobs. But will these robots be able to make us more efficient and happier at work?

Now, the old fear is back: machines will take our jobs

Digital Happiness at Work

Is humanity and technology becoming so meshed together that chips in the brain, 3D printed organs and virtual sex will one day just be considered a normal part of life? And if we were to become no longer totally human, but not totally digital either, would that make us a new species - Homo Digitalis? Are we going to take over evolution and decide for ourselves how we want to change?

Are we going to take over evolution and decide for ourselves how we want to change?

A New Type of Human

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The pole vault is a discipline is based on the transformation of kinetic energy into elastic energy and then into gravitational energy. Athletes must play with energy, optimise it, transform it, and conserve it.

Pole Vaulting: Overcoming Gravity

Athletes must play with energy, optimise it, transform it, and conserve it

The Strongest of Them All

Since antiquity, scientists have tracked down the principles behind the movements of moving things, from planets to athletes. Running champions make sure of basic principles of physics developed by Newton to improve their performance. We take a look at the maths behind the movement. 

Sprinting and Newton's Law

Since antiquity, scientists have tracked down the principles behind the movements of moving things, from planets to athletes

The Mechanics of Strength

If you spin a top, it will continue to rotate on its own for a while. Physicists found the explanation for this phenomenon: inside angular momentum. In sport it is used by trampoliners. They are true masters of the art of turning and can perform up to 50 spins in 20 seconds.

The Trampoline and Kinetic Energy

Trampoliners can spin up to 50 times in the space of just 20 seconds

ARTE loves to innovate and play with new art forms and conventions. 
Life to Come 360° – Through the Eyes of a Premature Baby is the latest innovation. 
A short experimental film shot in 360, it narrates the experience of a young couple
whose child has been born prematurely, from the perspective of the baby.
Join the director for this Making Of as a baby - and a new genre - is born.

Life to Come 360° – Through the Eyes of a Premature Baby

Life to Come 360° – Through the Eyes of a Premature Baby is a short experimental film shot in 360. Witness the birth of a new genre in this Making Of

A 360° Film: The Making Of

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Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated. This documentary looks at how big names of the genre like Sabrina Salerno and duo Righeira conquered the charts.

The Sparkling Sound of the 1980s

Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated

Italo Disco

Israeli choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar present their show Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart at Nuits de Fourvière.

Nuits de Fourvière

The Brutal Journey of the Heart by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar

Martin Ritter is a German organic farmer, with land in both Germany and Ukraine. All of a sudden, his livelihood is located in a war zone. With the help of the municipality of Ostheim, he decides to send aid to Ukraine and to welcome refugees.

Martin Ritter is a German organic farmer, with land in both Germany and Ukraine. When war broke out, everything changed.

Re: Farming in a War Zone

Young Korean musicians have been taking the world of classical music by storm. A new generation are winning the big prizes and pursuing successful careers in Europe and around the world. What makes these Korean classical artists so good? A documentary following the rising stars of K-Classic

The Korean Musical Mystery

Generation K-Classics

Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was the most densely populated area on Earth. 33,000 people settled on 2.5 hectares of land that was disputed between Chinese and British - meaning neither country asserted its authority there. This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

Kowloon: The Lawless Super City

This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community.

Crazy Borders

Founded in 1991, Emperor are considered precursors of the Norwegian black metal scene. Their sound is furious and violent and takes influences from Norwegian folk music and classical music. Recorded live at Belgium’s Alcatraz festival in 2021.

Alcatraz Festival

Founded in 1991, Emperor are considered precursors of the Norwegian black metal scene.

Emperor

How can you misplace 80km2 of territory? In Mexico, the island of Bermeja had been on maps for generations. But when it came to actually finding the island... it seemed as if it had disappeared into thin air. And with the loss of Bermeja, Mexico lost a huge windfall of oil revenue in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

The Lost Island of Bermeja

The sea absorbs our carbon emissions, gives us plentiful food, and regulates our climate. A healthy sea is a healthy planet. But we can't stop stripping the sea of resources. Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Overexploited Oceans

The prisoner of a promise made to Neptune, King Idomeneus is faced with a cruel dilemma... From the Théâtre de l’Archevêché, the most romantic of Mozart’s operas, directed by Satoshi Miyagi and conducted by Raphaël Pichon, with soprano Sabine Devieilhe, promises to be the operatic event of the 2022 Aix festival season.

Aix-en-Provence Festival 2022

The most romantic of Mozart’s operas, conducted by Raphaël Pichon, with soprano Sabine Devieilhe.

Mozart: Idomeneus, King of Crete

Did you know that the Middle Ages is only a few kilometers off the French coast? A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Sark: A Modern Day Feudal Island

A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed.

Planting trees against climate change: Ireland is reforesting its territory by growing spruces. But it's not just about being green, it's about profit. Wood is a big business... much to the displeasure of local environmental activists who want Ireland's forestry policy changed. 

Growing trees to be harvested for wood is big business - but what are the environmental ramifications? 

Re: Money Grows on Trees

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be? For France, of course, the baby would be French. But not for Italy! The quarrel has been going on since 1860, when the divison of territory at the top of the mountain was unclearly defined... leaving each country to interpret the boundary more or less as they saw fit. This really is a case for Crazy Borders!

Mont Blanc: A High Altitude Dispute

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be?

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland. Once German East Prussia, it is now home to 1 million Russian citizens. What is life like in this small territory now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began?

Kaliningrad: Putin's Enclave

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland and is now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began.

ARTE Reportage

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s? It was the war of the stop signs in Llívia, a Spanish town - but in France, in the Pyrenees. This bizarre quirk is due to a treaty signed centuries ago. This really is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Llivia, Between France and Spain

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s?

In the town of Baarle, a body of a woman was discovered in a house... but before police could intervene, first authorities had to call a surveyor. Baarle is crisscrossed over with a winding frontier between the Netherlands and Belgium, and police needed to know which country was responsible for investigating the killing. One half of the house was Dutch, the other half was Belgian. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Baarle, a Town of Two Nations

A city divided between Belgium and the Netherlands, and scene of a murder? Welcome to Baarle.

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory? In the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos women are not allowed in - even tourists - and any woman who enters could be arrested by police. It's a peninsula from another, bygone world and yet benefits from taxpayer funding (including female taxpayers, presumably...).

Mount Athos: Off Limits for Women

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory?

According to the latest calculations by the OECD, South Korean women could live to be over 92 years old on average in 2070, and men over 89. That would be a world record. What's the secret?

South Korea: An Obsession With Health

South Koreans are on track to be the longest-lived people in the world

Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish perform at Hellfest 2022.

Hellfest 2022

Nightwish

Bulgarian DJ and techno producer KiNK is adored for his dynamic and spontaneous sets. Both playful and experimental, his sets brilliantly alternate house, techno and acid, peppered with jazzy improvisations. Electro sounds that evoke the characteristic frenzy of a rave.

Stone Techno 2022

Bulgarian DJ and techno producer KiNK is adored for his dynamic and spontaneous sets.

KiNK live

The former military base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was once lent to Scotland. It was where the two men accused of orchestrating the Lockerbie bombings were put on trial. Libyans saw them as unfair victims. Meanwhile bereaved families demanded justice.

A Scottish Court in the Netherlands

The former military base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was once lent to Scotland for the Lockerbie bombing trial

Homo Digitalis

Homo Digitalis