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Journey Into The Sun – KQED QUEST (2010)

August 22, 2016 at 11:08 pm / Global Patterns, Video

The Sun is the most influential celestial object for life as we know it. Understanding and predicting its behavior is essential for our existence. Plants are green because our Sun is a red star. However in the early days of life this relationship was quite different. The young Earth was spinning much faster and the days were 8 hours long. The Sun was less bright and cooler. The early photosynthesizing organisms were purple to maximize light harvesting in liquid environment. […]

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PETM – Unearthing Ancient Climate Change – Science Bulletins – AMNH

July 31, 2016 at 9:05 pm / Evolution, Global Patterns, Video

Scientists have a few hypotheses but no theory has yet emerged about a significant bio-geological event that happened fifty-five million years ago. What we know for sure was that there was a sudden, enormous influx of carbon that has dissolved in the ocean and atmosphere. As atmospheric CO2 content increased, the average global surface temperature rose 5°C to 9°C (9°F to 16°F). This global warming event is called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and lasted for 170,000 years. Events triggered […]

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What’s Really Warming Up Our Planet? NASA – SVS (2015)

April 1, 2016 at 2:09 pm / Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) produced yet another visual to show how industrial and natural factors have been contributing to the global warming. These factors are wobbling of Earth’s axis, solar activity, volcanoes, land use, ozone pollution, aerosol pollution, greenhouse gases and their combined effects. The case is rather clear. Combined effects of man made factors follow the trajectory of warming closely. Since 1880 our planet warmed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit and continues to increase. The atmospheric carbon concentration has passed […]

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The Day The Mesozoic Died HHMI – Sean B. Carroll (2012)

March 30, 2016 at 3:09 pm / Evolution, Global Patterns, Video

This is one of the four educational video series by Sean B. Carroll produced for communicating evolution to public with the support of HHMI. Today we know the cause of the disappearance of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. This knowledge was produced by the meticulous coordinated work of many scientists. The Day The Mesozoic Died focuses on how scientists do the detective work using the scientific method. The discovery that an asteroid struck the Earth 66 […]

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Evolution Timeline (John Kyrk)

January 5, 2016 at 10:58 am / Evolution, Global Patterns, Video

[This video has no sound] Timelines organize information in a linear sequence and help us learn detailed linked events and processes. The interactive cosmological and geological timeline provides a gateway to understand one of the most progressive concepts in recent human history: Evolution. This screen capture video makes a quick introductory summary of cosmological, geological and biological evolution. Significant events since the very beginning of our universe are demonstrated in a chronological order. Evolutionary timeline by John Kyrk is a […]

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Rosetta Mission to Comet 67/P – Exploratorium (2015)

December 26, 2015 at 8:23 pm / Global Patterns, Video

Paul Doherty of the Exploratorium explains phases of the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission to the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in exquisite detail. Comets are extremely interesting celestial objects. They may have even played role in jump starting life on our planet. When and how chemistry became biology is a burning question for everyone. There has been a period way in the past during the early times of the Earth when meteorites and comets bombarded its surface. This period is known as […]

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Global Aerosol and Dust Dynamics – NASA SVS

December 13, 2015 at 10:43 pm / Global Patterns, NatureDocumentaries.org, Video

The main video featured above consists of three interrelated parts produced separately by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) which has been producing highly engaging visualizations based on actual and simulated data about global processes running our planet. First narrated visualization shows transport of dust from the Africa to South America between 2007-2013 where the Sahara desert is the source and the tropical Amazon basin is the sink. The scale of interaction between the driest and the wettest places on earth […]

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Aerosols and Cloud Formation – NASA/SVS

December 13, 2015 at 10:42 pm / Global Patterns, NatureDocumentaries.org, Video

When and where clouds form are important for climate science. Long-term observations have shown that at any given time less than 10 percent of the Earth’s skies are clear with no clouds. We most certainly want to know what is going on in the major 90 percent fraction covered with clouds of some type. Some clouds reflect the sun’s radiation while others trap outgoing heat that would otherwise be emitted to space. Tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the […]

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What Caused the Cambrian Explosion? – The Economist (2015)

September 3, 2015 at 4:33 pm / Evolution, Global Patterns

It was a big curiosity for early geologists. For roughly 90% of the Earth’s history it appeared as if there was no life. After this long static period at about 542 million years from present life forms as we know of today began to appear bursting over a relatively short time (over 20 million years). Colloquially, this time period is called “Cambrian Explosion”. All of these life forms were of course aquatic: Annelids, arthropods, brachiopods, echinoderms, molluscs and ancestors of […]

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Chasing El Niño – Carol L. Fleisher – PBS NOVA (1998)

August 13, 2015 at 9:42 am / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Nova Documentaries, PBS Nature, Video

Can we predict El Niño? Moreover can we calculate it’s severity and effects on different parts of the world? On board the research ship Ka’imimoana scientists carry out measurements and then build computer models to understand the climate cycle that produces El Niño. The documentary “Chasing El Niño” was released by the aftermath of an intense El Niño event observed during 1997/1998 measured. In March 2015 climatologists have started to detect early signs of another one beginning to develop. They […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 4: The Final Countdown (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:31 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

“In the wake of Beagle” series brings back the adventure/science mix documentary programs reminiscent of those of Cousteau. Expeditions carried out on a ship and underwater filming was a signature in Cousteau’s filmmaking. This episode prepares the audience for the next episode filmed in the Galapagos Islands. Darwin developed his insight towards evolving species in that volcanic archipelago. Galapagos islands are largely affected by long-term seasonal fluctuations that known as El Nino/La Nina cycle. A few events Darwin witnessed in […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 5: The Paradise of Competition (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:27 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Natural history, Video

The Galapagos islands has been a pivotal single location where everything came together in Darwin’s mind. The geology of the archipelago and almost every species (Tortoises, iguanas, finches) he observed on each island showed significant variation. The Galapagos Islands, which are part of Ecuador are about 1000 km (620 miles) west of South America. As the three craters on the largest island (Isabela Island) suggest, the archipelago was created by volcanic eruptions. Each year roughly 60,000 tourists visit these islands. […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 6: Toolbox of Survival (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:12 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

In Australia the arrival of Europeans profoundly effected the biology of the continent through introduction of non-native species that are reproducing and invading at an unprecedented rate. Australian biologists call it “extinction calamity” since the continent has lost one in ten of its native mammals species in the past 200 years. The effects of climate change is also evident with severe droughts and wild fires. A large fraction of Australian vegetation is serotinous that is adapted to disperse their seeds […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 8: The Ruins of Progress (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:07 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

In this last episode of the series the crew of Stad Amsterdam visits Mauritius island before making a final stop in South Africa where the journey of modern Human ancestors began 200 thousand years ago. San culture in South Africa is the most ancestral Human population finding Like many island ecosystems Mauritius has been impacted by introduced species such as macaques. Species evolved on island systems are more prone to extinction. The flightless bird the Dodo is the icon of […]

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Robin L. Chazdon – Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) interview (2014)

February 5, 2015 at 9:10 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Video

Robin L. Chazdon is a professor of tropical ecology in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Connecticut. She has been studying natural regeneration in second-growth tropical forest using long term monitoring plots within the landscape matrix surrounding La Selva Biological Field Station in Heredia province of Northeast Costa Rica. She is a palm specialist and has investigated many aspects of this important plant group including physiology and genetics within the context of forest regeneration. The Bosques Project […]

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