Human Senses 2. Hearing and Balance (1 of 19)

Human Senses

Are your eyes being tricked by your brain? Do you know what a supertaster is? Or how to avoid travel sickness?

Programme 2 - Hearing and Balance
Sound can have a very powerful effect on how we feel about the world and Nigel Marven is on a quest to track down the sounds which have the most powerful emotional effects on us.Balance is our true sixth sense - it enables us to sense how our bodies are moving around in the world and keep us upright. There are only two kinds of animal that spend their whole lives performing the tricky balancing act of walking on two legs – humans and some flightless birds, like ostriches.

In this episode of the human senses we're looking at the strange things that go on inside our ears.
And how the tiny system of bony tubes in the inner ear evolved to carry out 2 separate senses, hearing and balance.

We'll see what happens when you push your sense of balance right too the edge.
We'll discover why acrobats fall down when the lights go out.
And how astronauts learn to find their feet in a weight less world.
And in the Florida swamps we'll be finding out about the origins of our sense of hearing.
We'll uncover the sounds, which have the most powerful effects on us.
Prepare yourself for an auditory assault course.
And you'll discover why a loud rock concert can really blow your mind.