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To Fly or Not to Fly

   1998    Nature
The first episode looks at how birds first took to the skies in the wake of the insects. It begins in Mexico, where Sir Attenborough observes bats being outmanoeuvred by a red-tailed hawk. Pterosaurs were the birds' forerunners, some 150 million years after dragonflies developed the means of flight, but eventually went extinct together with the dinosaurs. Birds had by then already evolved from early forms like archaeopteryx, the first creature to possess feathers. Its ancestry can be traced through reptiles, and some current species, such as the flying lizard, possibly show paths this evolution may have taken." One of the biggest birds to have ever existed was the terror bird, which proliferated after dinosaurs vanished and stood up to 2.5 metres tall. By comparison, the ostrich, while not closely related, is the largest and heaviest living bird. It was probably the evasion of predators that drove most birds into the air, so their flightless cousins evolved because they had few enemies. Accordingly, such species are more likely to be found on islands, and Sir Attenborough visits New Zealand to observe its great variety, most especially the kiwi. Also depicted is the moa, another huge creature that is now gone. The takahē is extremely rare, and high in the mountains of New Zealand, Sir Attenborough discovers one from a population of only 40 pairs. Finally, another example on the brink of extinction is the kakapo, which at one point numbered only 61 individuals. A male is heard calling — an immensely amplified deep note that can be heard at great distances from its nest.
Series: The Life of Birds

To Infinity and Beyond

   2010    Science
By our third year, most of us will have learned to count. Once we know how, it seems as if there would be nothing to stop us counting forever. But, while infinity might seem like an perfectly innocent idea, keep counting and you enter a paradoxical world where nothing is as it seems. Mathematicians have discovered there are infinitely many infinities, each one infinitely bigger than the last. And if the universe goes on forever, the consequences are even more bizarre. In an infinite universe, there are infinitely many copies of the Earth and infinitely many copies of you. Older than time, bigger than the universe and stranger than fiction. This is the story of infinity.

Total Trust

   2023    Culture
The digital possibilities of social control in China have led to an unprecedented level of state surveillance. Through self-censorship or spying on neighbors, surveillance covers not only those perceived as a threat by the government, but increasingly and ever more totally the ordinary citizen: whether buying flowers, taking your child to school, or taking out the trash at night. Big Data and digital technologies are already being used as weapons to curtail freedoms. Step by step, the social and political behavior of the Chinese is changing.
The documentary explores, in intimate detail, digital social control in China by following the experiences of two families and a journalist. Film-maker Jialing Zhang gives an exclusive and previously impossible intimate insight into the interior of China and tells a deeply disturbing story of how the state uses technology to control its citizens as well as propaganda to convince its people to trust it. She tells a deeply disturbing story about technology, (self-) censorship and abuse of power.

Towards Singularity

   2021    Technology
From our amazing brain and its inspiring design for artificial neural networks to the hope of artificial general intelligence (AGI), this feature film covers the science of emulating the power of our own brains. Will such technology surpass our own intelligence? Will we reach the Technological Singularity? And what will this mean for humanity?
Toward Singularity takes a look at how neuroscience is inspiring the development of artificial intelligence. Our amazing brain, one of the most complicated systems we know about, is inspiring the development of intelligent machines. Machines that may well surpass our own intelligence and could birth a new species on the planet.

Tractoring

   2021    Nature
Follow Jeremy Clarkson as he attempts to run a farm in the countryside. The series 'Clarkson's Farm' is an intense, backbreaking and frequently hilarious year in the life of Britain's most unlikely farmer. Join Clarkson and his rag-tag band of agricultural associates as they contend with the worst farming weather in decades, disobedient animals, unresponsive crops and an unexpected pandemic.
In the first episode, Jeremy Clarkson embarks on his path towards muddy misery and potential ruin by running his own farm.
Series: Clarkson Farm

Twas the Fight Before Christmas

   2021    Culture
In this true-life twist on a holiday fable, a Christmas-loving lawyer's obsession with bringing Christmas cheer to all sparks a conflict with the local Homeowners' Association, who believe his planned holiday extravaganza violates their neighborhood rules. The dispute of Jeremy Morris with his neighbors lands them all in court.
The film follows the story of a North Idaho neighborhood turned upside down by one man's obsession with bringing Christmas cheer to all, through the biggest community Christmas event America has ever seen. Jeremy Morris' plan hits a snag when the home owners' association informs him that the event violates the rules of the neighborhood. A contentious fight over the festivities erupts and things snowball out of control. As the situation escalates, the film asks the question, who wins when different rights and interests collide? Director Becky Read pieces together the polarized perspectives in this quirky Christmas tale about freedoms, with a message about differences and tolerance at its heart.
Nature Great Events

Nature Great Events

2009  Nature
Dangerous knowledge

Dangerous knowledge

2007  Science
Secrets of the Octopus

Secrets of the Octopus

2024  Nature
Planet Earth III

Planet Earth III

2023  Nature
The Jinx

The Jinx

  History
Wild Isles

Wild Isles

2023  Nature