The Nature of Things
Season 52
The Nature of Things is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on November 6, 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that humans have on it. The program was one of the first to explore environmental issues, such as clear-cut logging.
The series is named after an epic poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius: "Dē Rērum Nātūrā" — On the Nature of Things.
The series is named after an epic poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius: "Dē Rērum Nātūrā" — On the Nature of Things.
Where to Watch Season 52
16 Episodes
- The Buffalo Wolves
E1The Buffalo WolvesWolves and Buffalo follows the fortunes of one pack of wolves, the Delta Pack. Will the pups survive their first year? Will the packs alpha animals retain their pack position to breed again next year? As they try to bring down the buffalo to keep themselves and their new pups alive what will the future hold for these ancient warriors? - Nuts About SquirrelsE3
Nuts About SquirrelsThere are those of us who see squirrels as cute and fascinating, but there is also a large contingent who regard them as “tree rats” - little pests that never tire of wreaking havoc in our attics, gardens, and just about anything else that catches their fleeting fancy. So who’s right? Nuts about Squirrels reveals the secret world of the ubiquitous urban grey squirrel with squirrel robots, micro-chipped acorns and an army of citizen scientists. - Planet Hunters
E4Planet HuntersAre we alone in the universe? We may be very close to finding out. The Holy Grail of space science is the discovery of a planet just like ours: the right size, the right orbit around its sun, not too hot, not too cold – in the area dubbed the Goldilocks Zone. For millennia humans studying the stars had no idea if there were any other planets outside our solar system, let alone ones similar enough to ours to sustain life. The first extra-solar planet – or exoplanet – was only discovered in 1995. Now, a new space-based telescope has discovered thousands more, and some of them may be just like Earth. - The Norse: An Arctic Mystery
E5The Norse: An Arctic MysteryAre we alone in the universe? We may be very close to finding out. For millennia humans studying the stars had no idea if there were any other planets in the universe, let alone ones similar enough to ours to sustain life. Now, scientists may be close to discovering Earth-like planets, using a new space telescope and a technique pioneered by two Canadian astronomers. - David Suzuki's Andean Adventure
E7David Suzuki's Andean AdventureIn unexpected places, David Suzuki finds radical new ideas about energy, the environment, and doing things differently. Will they catch on? UPDATE: Unfortunately in August 2013, Ecuador cancelled the pioneering conservation plan that attempted to raise funds from the international community instead of drilling for oil in a pristine corner of the Yasuni national park. Drilling is set to commence in 2016. - The Fruit Hunters (1): Evolution of Desire
E11The Fruit Hunters (1): Evolution of DesireA journey through nature, commerce and adventure, The Fruit Hunters takes us from the dawn of humanity to the cutting of edge of modern agriculture — a series that will change not just the way we look at what we eat, but what it means to be human. The Fruit Hunters' first episode, "The Evolution of Desire," explores the origins of fruit's diversity and tells the story of humanity and fruit's intimate co-evolution. Every variety of fruit has a story, the story of the person who cultivated an individual plant, and then shared something wonderful with the world. To preserve this diversity is to retain this living memory. A passionate few, the fruit hunters, fight to preserve this diversity in a world increasingly dominated by economically driven monoculture. Richard Campbell and Noris Ledesma, the "Indiana Joneses of fruit," travel around the world searching for exotic fruit at their source: the local's market. We follow them on a mission to Bali, in search of the elusive white-fleshed mangoes, which they hope to preserve before it is erased by industrialization and urbanization. Meanwhile, in the picturesque hills of Umbria, Italy, Isabella Dalla Ragione, an arboreal archaeologist, searches for heirloom varieties of fruit by investigating Renaissance paintings for clues. We also discover the underground network of the Rare Fruit Council International and meet Ken Love, Hawaii's fruit guru. Fruit hunting with Ken Love in Hawaii is like getting a tour of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. In this episode, we'll meet the people who have dedicated their lives to preserving fruit's vital genetic diversity for coming generations. - The Fruit Hunters (2): Defenders of Diversity
E12The Fruit Hunters (2): Defenders of DiversityA journey through nature, commerce and adventure, The Fruit Hunters takes us from the dawn of humanity to the cutting of edge of modern agriculture — a series that will change not just the way we look at what we eat, but what it means to be human. Supermarkets are stocked with fruit year round in a global permanent summertime, but despite its accessibility, have we lost the diversity that makes it so special? The second episode of The Fruit Hunters will look at what happens when we abandon the Garden of Eden for an industrialized monoculture. In lush jungles of Borneo, Bala Tingang, an elder of one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes, lives of the wild fruits that are the key to his tribe's survival. And yet, all around the world, natural diversity is being replaced with monocultures, plantations of only one variety, bred for long shelf life and transportability rather than their taste or health properties. Not only is this lost of diversity impoverishing our taste buds, but it has catastrophic implications for our food security. In the vast uniform banana fields of Honduras, Juan Aguilar, a banana scientist, frantically tries to breed a banana resistant to a deadly fungus. The common export banana now has so little genetic variety that it is extremely susceptible to disease. Yet with the help of fruit hunters around the world, perhaps we can reintroduce some of that diversity in a world increasingly dominated by economics. Searchers and explores such as Richard Campbell and Noris Ledesma scour the globe for rare exotic fruit with the hopes of broadening our selection at home. We also meet creators and inventors such as Floyd Zaiger and Bob Bors who use traditional breeding techniques to patiently create wondrous new fruits. Though their methods may vary, all of the fruit hunters share one thing — an obsession and love of fruit, and diversity.
