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Bacterial Type 4 Secretion System – Gabriel Waksman (2018)

November 18, 2024 at 9:01 am / Featured, Molecular Nature, Video

Gram negative bacteria Type 4 Secretion System (T4SS) by Dr. Gabriel Waksman of the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London and Birkbeck. Animations by Cellscape. This playlist consists of three videos illustrating the type 4 secretion system (T4SS) assembly, pilus biosynthesis and transfer of DNA segment into a recipient cell. T4SS are bacterial macromolecule secreting structures. These macromolecules include proteins and DNA. Bacterial cell-to-cell exchange of genetic materials such as plasmids or mobile genetic elements is called […]

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Your Inner Fish – Neil Shubin – PBS (2014)

September 24, 2024 at 4:06 pm / Evolution, Nova Documentaries, PBS Nature, Video

Your Inner Fish, is the first installment of a three part PBS series by Neil Shubin. After a quick review of our shared anatomy with the fish and a whirlwind tour along the evolutionary timeline, the program plunges us into the fascinating saga of discovery of the tetrapods that explains how limbs of the terrestrial vertebrates came to be. Watch how the legendary 375 million year old (Devonian) tetrapod fossil Tiktaalik was discovered after a series of adventurous Arctic expeditions. […]

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The Perilous Plight of Rainforest Epiphytes – PNAS (2024)

September 1, 2024 at 2:07 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns

Epiphytes (mosses, ferns, bromeliads and orchids) are a strikingly interesting group of non-parasitic plants prevalent in the tropics that live on the surface of other plants. They are particularly abundant and diverse in mountainous cloud forests. Epiphytes are interesting because they constitute an important part of nutrient cycle in their ecosystems capturing moisture and nutrients from the air. In the tropics they can accumulate a considerable amount of biomass within forest canopies and form a special type of micro environment […]

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Mudskippers of the Tidal Mangrove Mudflats at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore

August 9, 2024 at 10:23 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Habitats along the land-sea interphase provided the setting for evolution of vertebrate adaptations needed to move onto the land. Mangrove mudflats formed within the intertidal zone provide a fantastic array of habitat qualities that enable selection of amphibious traits. These gently sloping habitats can extend hundreds of meters between the land and the sea and are exposed to air on a regular basis following tides. The extensive root systems of the semi-aquatic mangrove trees stabilize the coasts, providing a dependable […]

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Antifreeze Proteins in Virtual Reality – Nanome (2022)

May 9, 2024 at 2:04 pm / Evolution, Molecular Nature, Video

Dr. Mike Kuiper, a biomodeler at CSIRO’s Data61 explains how antifreeze proteins work in a metaverse compatible virtual reality environment enabled by Nanome. These ice structuring proteins, is a basis of survival for organisms evolved to live in very cold environments with temperatures below the freezing point of water. Essentially, these proteins can bind to the surface of ice crystals and create a surface effect leading to freezing-point depression. Bacteria, insects, fishes and many more organisms from different evolutionary backgrounds […]

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A Yellow-throated Warbler Collecting Nesting Material

May 7, 2024 at 6:41 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

In this short observation recorded on May 19th 2012 you can watch a a yellow-throated warbler (Setophaga dominica) collecting plant fibers for nest construction. This bird constructs cup-shaped nests very high up in the canopy of mature forests. As can be seen in this recording, it particularly developed a search image for collecting fibers of specific quality used in a two-layered nest architecture. Nest construction in birds is not all instinctive and has a consirable learning component. Urban birds can […]

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Cornell University Hawk Camera

January 27, 2024 at 10:42 am / Natural history, Video, webcams

Everybody is excited for the 2020 breeding season of the famous Cornell University campus hawks Big Red and her new mate Arthur. Unfortunately Big Red’s partner Ezra reportedly has died. Last year Big Red laid her first egg at about 11:38 ET on March 28th. The breeding season 2015 started with a surprise. Big Red and Ezra moved to their nest to the light pole they used in 2012. There were no longer cameras installed at this nest so some […]

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Albatross Nest Live from New Zealand

January 26, 2024 at 9:57 am / Natural history, Video, webcams

If you see a dark screen, bear in mind that it might be night time in New Zealand. Breeding season 2019 has ended happily. See y’all in 2020! We have previously relayed broadcast from Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) nest from the island of Kauai, geologically the oldest island of the Hawaiian archipelago. The webcam is operated by the Bird Lab of Cornell University. The Laysan Albatross gets its name from its Laysan breeding colony in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where […]

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Decorah Eagle Cam – Nesting Season 2024

January 24, 2024 at 1:23 am / Natural history, Video, webcams

Live feed has begun from the new nest named N2 for Decorah bald eagles. Decorah Eagles 1-28-24 HM perches on the Y, visits N1. The pair known as “Mom” and “Dad” are visiting and maintaining the nest occasionally. Established by the Raptor Resource Project in 2007 this breeding pair of Bald Eagles in Decorah, Iowa has been under intense observation. The pair became famous after the PBS Nature Documentary “American Eagle” in 2008. At one point in 2012 the viewer […]

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Eyed Click Bug (Alaus oculatus) Ovipositing

January 20, 2024 at 10:01 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Molecular Nature, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

On May 26th 2012, this click beetle began laying her eggs on a log along the Orange trail of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, GA. These beetles are quite noticeable due to their large size and distinctive eye patterns on their pronotum. At the beginning of the video (while she is stationary), you can see some very tiny red mites walking across her body. She wondered around on a downed tree and assessed possible egg laying sites. […]

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