Stay entertained and informed with family-friendly docs from the Nature of Things
Staying indoors can be enriching, here are a few fascinating films now streaming on CBC Gem
We’ve compiled some of our favourite episodes of The Nature of Things to not only entertain, but to inform.
A Bee’s Diary
In a beehive, tens of thousands of tiny individuals work toward a common goal: the survival of the colony. But what if we looked at just one? Scientists are learning that each bee in a hive is an individual with its own personality.
In just seven weeks, a single honeybee will fly 8,000 km, pollinate 50,000 flowers, and make a single teaspoon of honey. Follow the life of a single bee, through her own eyes.
The Science of Magic
Magic is real. At least, in our heads. Sleight-of-hand and impossible tricks are the latest area of research for scientists looking to understand human behaviour and cognition.
With impossible magic, amazing facts, and opportunities for viewers to participate in the tricks, this extraordinary exploration peeks behind the curtain into a fascinating world where ancient magic meets modern science.
Myth or Science: The Secrets of Our Senses
Our senses are crucial to our survival, but we actually know very little about them. Scientists are now conducting unique and sometimes bizarre experiments to trick our brains into revealing the secrets of our senses.
Does what you see affect what you feel? Does the sound of a food change its taste? Can we smell danger? Discover all the secrets!
Dinosaur Cold Case
In Alberta, the accidental discovery of one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever opens the ultimate cold case, 110 million years in the making.
The discovery is a completely intact armoured dinosaur, the fossil of a brand new species to science, and it looks as if it was walking around yesterday before being turned to stone.
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How did it die? And how did it end up at the bottom of an ancient ocean?
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Now, paleontologists are uncovering the incredible clues that reveal the dinosaur's mysterious death.
Nature’s Cleanup Crew
To us, it’s garbage. To them, it’s dinner. There are some busy scavengers who live among us — crafty critters who share our cities and recycle the mountains of food waste our messy society leaves behind.
With the help of passionate scientists who have come to understand and love these creatures, we uncover just what makes scavengers like vultures, opossums, foxes and ants tick.
A Day in the Life of Earth
If you thought the Earth needed millions of years to change, it’s time to think again!
Every single day, we wake up on a completely different planet. Earth makes a mountain of new rock every hour and is not only continually changing shape but is also losing weight.
Check out the latest science that is revealing just how much our planet can change every single day.
The Real T.rex
Uncover the mysteries of the most famous dinosaur super-predator: Tyrannosaurus rex.
Scientists are discovering that the formidable predator with “lethal bananas” for teeth actually had a mane of feathery bristles, sounded much more frightening than thought, and had ginger highlights! The ultimate predator is also thought to have hunted in packs!
Celebrate the incredible T.rex and all the new discoveries about the world's most famous dinosaur.
Turtle Beach
On a single beach in Costa Rica, a magical event takes place every year. Hundreds of thousands of olive ridley sea turtles come ashore to nest, laying millions of eggs in the sand.
It’s known as an “arribada,” Spanish for “arrival,” and filmmaker Hugo Kitching visited the beach to witness the mass nesting event.
After many long nights waiting for them to appear, he was finally able to capture the turtles on camera, and with the help of scientists, even managed to get incredible footage from inside the nest, uncovering secrets of the baby turtles’ communication and cooperation as they escape from the nest and start their life at sea. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sonic Magic: The Wonder and Science of Sound
Sound surrounds us. Whether it's the music we play in our headphones, or sound we'd rather do without, like the noise of the city, we live in a sonic world that we seldom think twice about.
But sound can cure the sick and make the blind see. It can even change the taste of food.
The Wild Canadian Year
Experience all of Canada’s seasons in a single day!
See Canada’s extraordinary wildlife through the lens of its four distinct seasons. From lightning storms and tornadoes whipping across the Canadian prairies, secret worlds buried beneath the snow, polar bears hunting in the open summer waters of Hudson Bay, or frogs that actually freeze solid in the winter, Canadian animals have extraordinary ways to survive every season.
Binge-watch the most amazing and rare natural wonders of Canada.
Watch The Wild Canadian Year on CBC Gem
You can find more educational and entertaining documentaries from The Nature of Things on CBC Gem.