The Material World
Will plants teach us to replace gasoline with hydrogen? Could the anatomy of a grasshopper be a model for the ultimate off-road vehicle? Exciting new developments in computer technology, chemistry and physics are now enabling us to understand Nature's designs better than ever before. Scientists are not simply trying to copy nature - they are taking hints, extracting principles and applying winning designs of evolution in a new, human context.
Visually, this series is an attractive, fast-paced mix of stunning natural history shots, computer-assisted design and CGI graphics of futuristic inventions, ultra-modern, spacey architecture and high tech as well as scenes of the world's leading designers and engineers at work.
Visually, this series is an attractive, fast-paced mix of stunning natural history shots, computer-assisted design and CGI graphics of futuristic inventions, ultra-modern, spacey architecture and high tech as well as scenes of the world's leading designers and engineers at work.
"The Material World" deals with the amazing chemistry, physics and statics of natural materials and their transfer to buildings, tools and technical appliances of the future.
00.01.20 Dried coral formation
00.01.40 Honey drips underneath a microscope
00.01.52 Blue monarch butterfly flaps its wings
00.02.23 Woman knits in sepia tones
00.02.45 Namibian hornbill lands in tree, female hornbill peeks from behind hole, is fed by mate
00.03.24 Tropical termite cathedral mound
00.03.34 Termite soldiers in nest
00.04.04 Mud houses, mud villages, African people hauling about mud bricks
00.04.20 Massive mud mosque in Djenne, Mali
00.05.02 Yellowjacket wasp climbs up tree stump
00.05.17 More wasps swarm over wood
00.05.36 Wasps spread a mixture of wood pulp and saliva
00.05.59 Forest of deciduous trees in autumn, possibly aspens
00.06.09 Forest of young woody trees, possibly birch or elm
00.06.23 Men sawing down a sequoia (archival footage)
00.06.39 Logging- logs roll down a hill and into a river (archival footage)
00.07.04 A sequoia forest in the Sierra Nevadas
00.07.27 Upward shot at a sequoia
00.08.14 Close-up of sequoia bark
00.08.22 Microscopic shot of wood fibres
00.09.39 Footage of machines cracking pieces of wood in a laboratory environment
00.10.19 Shots of "artificial wood"
00.10.45 Man running through pine forest
00.11.04 Time lapse footage of pine cones opening
00.12.13 Palm fronds in tropical forest
00.12.37 Victoria lilies (giant water lily) on a pond, and close up of their undersides
00.13.15 Baby lying on Victoria lily
00.13.55 Crystal Palace in London
00.14.27 Rotating elk antler
00.14.37 Elk braying, elk herds in a North American forest, elk mating rituals
00.15.44 Microscopic close up of elk antler bone fibres
00.16.08 Human skeleton in art class
00.16.59 The base of the Eiffel Tower, iron girders and beams
00.18.17 Smart car, a Mercedes
00.18.35 The boxfish swimming on a black screen
00.19.11 The same bird skeleton from the beginning, an extinct Moa
00.19.35 Preserved rhinoceros beetle, encased in glass
00.20.21 Male stag beetles fighting
00.20.35 Red locust eating grass
00.21.15 Empty locust exoskeleton
00.21.33 Horseshoe crabs on muddy beach in North America
00.22.03 Closeups of crab legs, factory where crab meat is taken
00.22.29 Refused crab shells being dumped
00.22.42 Crab shells doused in acid to release the chitin
00.23.58 A katydid or bush-cricket, looks like a leaf
00.24.01 A praying mantis climbing upside down, another praying mantis that resembles a grey leaf, and an orchid mantis
00.25.09 Orchid mantis attacking and consuming a butterfly
00.25.33 Microscopic shots of insects' body parts
00.25.40 Namibian desert beetle on a sand dune, collecting water on its back
00.26.46 Refugee tents, impoverished children
00.27.35 Locust moulting
00.28.10 Patterns of crystals
00.29.0 California sea otters playing, diving underwater
00.30.04 Close up of clamshell
00.30.43 Magnified mother-of-pearl structure
00.31.14 Molluscs climbing and swimming underwater
00.33.03 Close up of computer motherboard
00.33.30 Polar bear walking through the arctic, followed by close up of its "fibre optic" fur
00.35.02 Foggy, tropical forest
00.35.50 Lotus leaf deflecting water, quite intricate slow motion detail
00.36.55 Microscopic surface detail of the lotus leaf
00.38.05 Water repellent fabric, paint, and surface coating with qualities similar to that of the lotus leaf, it repels honey and dirt as well
00.40.15 Children in wellies feeding swans and ducks, possibly goosander or goldeneye duck
00.40.53 Close up of brown duck's feathers repelling water- duck is possibly a Gadwall or (less likely) Brazilian teal species
00.41.26 Close up of water spider among South American underwater flora
00.42.30 Spider leg being studied in lab, microscopic detail of bristles on spider leg
00.42.59 Waterproof fabric being submerged
00.43.04 "Sandfish", which is a type of skink lizard, moves quickly through Sahara sand dune
00.43.30 Sandfish is threatened by snake, probably a Peringuey's adder
00.43.59 Sandfish burrowing into sand
00.44.31 Magnification of sandfish's scales
00.45.32 Same children walking through greenhouse or garden
00.45.38 A blue morpho butterfly flaps its wings and takes off
00.46.23 Girl blows soap bubble, magnification of iridescence on soap bubble
00.46.49 Magnification of the morpho's wings
00.47.12 Scientist examining wing of morpho on a computer
00.48.19 Slow motion of morpho, this time devoid of colour
00.48.47 Japanese fabric with similar qualities called morphotex
00.49.30 Preserved butterflies being studied in laboratory
00.49.47 Butterflies on children's hands
00.50.0 Long legged spider crawling along a strand, stubbier spider spinning a web
00.51.0 Repeated shots of a fly a landing in a web
00.51.10 Dried termite's nest
FULL SYNOPSIS