The Material World

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.
"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

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