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Humpback Whale

   2006    Nature
Few sounds are more beautiful or moving than the underwater songs of the humpback whale. Male whales compete with their songs, which often last for 10 minutes at a time, and can be repeated for hours on end. Whales separated by thousands of miles of sea will sing almost identical songs. Researchers have found that the songs change throughout the breeding months, following a mysterious pattern repeated across the waves. Whales also use sound to hunt. To catch herring, humpback whales release a stream of bubbles to form a shimmering, circular fishing net. Emitting a repetitive loud scream, they scare the fish into a tight ball, then lunge out of the water to swallow the shoal whole. Now it seems that the long-held image of the gentle giant must change to one of a ferocious and opportunistic hunter.

Food Water Waste

   2020    Nature
Across the world, rising demands for food, water and materials have pushed resources to the limit. Many parts of the world have major challenges over fresh water. A lot of soils have a lot of residual pesticides and herbicides. At the same time waste is piling higher. All this demands a new wave of innovation. The challenge is to make more of the things we need without the environmental cost.
Series: The Great Acceleration

James Webb: The 10 Billion Space Telescope

   2021    Technology
The James Webb Space Telescope, a flagship observatory developed by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, is the largest space telescope ever built, with a deployable mirror measuring 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter and four scientific instruments to observe the universe in infrared wavelengths. The mission will study the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets. JWST was launched December 25, 2021 on an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.
This is the story of the James Webb Space Telescope, told by the people who have devoted their lives to it. It is the world’s most advanced and most expensive telescope, and building it has been fraught with challenges. But it will all be worth it if the mission is successful.
Series: Secrets of the Universe

More Than Just a Wipeout

   2021    Culture
The day of the Nazaré competition has arrived, and Garrett McNamara decides not to compete but instead support his long-time friend and teammate Andrew 'Cotty' Cotton. The competition does not go smoothly, with a major accident that has secondary effects on Cotty. After the competition, Garrett tries surfing at Nazaré again and realizes that can resume big-wave surfing. The episode concludes with retrospectives from a number of the surfers who appeared on various episodes throughout the season.
Series: 100 Foot Wave

Humans

   2021    Nature
A new force threatens our perfect planet. In the past, five mass extinction events were caused by cataclysmic volcanic eruptions. It was not the lava or ash that wiped out life, but an invisible gas released by volcanoes: carbon dioxide. Almost every part of modern life depends on energy created by burning fossil fuels, and this produces CO2 in huge amounts. Humans are changing our planet so rapidly, it’s affecting earth’s life support systems: our weather, our oceans and the living world. The greatest change to be made is in how we create energy, and the planet is brimming with natural power that can help us do just that. It’s these forces of nature - the wind, the sun, waves and geothermal energy - that hold the key to our future.
Through compelling animal-led stories and expert interviews, we discover how CO2 is destabilising our planet. We meet rescued orphaned elephants in Kenya, victims of ever worsening droughts, and join ocean patrols off the coast of Gabon fighting to save endangered sharks. In the Amazon, we witness wildlife teams saving animals in the shrinking forests, and in San Diego we enter a cryogenic zoo preserving the DNA of endangered species before they become extinct.
Series: A Perfect Planet

Peril and Promise

   2013    History
In the 80s the nature of the Latino Diaspora changes again. From Cuba a second wave of refugees to United States – the Mariel exodus – floods Miami . The same decade sees the sudden arrival of hundreds of thousands of Central Americans (Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans) fleeing death squads and mass murders at home like activist, Carlos Vaquerano. By the early 1990s, a political debate over illegal immigration – has begun. Globalization, empowered by NAFTA, means that as U.S. manufacturers move south, Mexican workers head north in record numbers. A backlash ensues: tightened borders, anti-bilingualism, state laws to declare all illegal immigrants felons. But a sea change is underway: the coalescence of a new phenomenon called Latino American culture-as Latinos spread geographically and make their mark in music, sports, politics, business, and education.
Series: Latino Americans
The Jinx

The Jinx

  History
How to Grow a Planet

How to Grow a Planet

2012  Science
Seven Worlds One Planet

Seven Worlds One Planet

2019  Nature
Rotten

Rotten

2018  Nature
The Story of China

The Story of China

2016  History