Oceans • 2023 • episode "S2E4" • Prehistoric Planet

53:17

Meet slime molds: the brainless blobs that can learn, make decisions, and navigate mazes. Who says you need brains to be smart? Extremely primitive life-forms called slime molds can navigate mazes, choose between foods, and create efficient networks—no brain required. New research on these organisms, which are neither plant nor animal, could help reveal the fundamental rules underlying all decision making.

2020 • Nature

23:15

Lions, hyenas, cheetahs, and the highly intelligent African painted dog all have different, but brutally efficient, hunting instincts. Meet these intimidating rulers of the African plains and learn the secrets of their secure reign at the top of the natural food chain.

S1E1 • Attack and Defend • 2016 • Nature

58:04

From flower meadows to the rich open landscapes of our mountains some extraordinary and dramatic wildlife stories are revealed. Featuring bees that lay their eggs in empty snail shells, brown hares performing spring boxing courtship routines, and how large blue butterflies have come back from the brink of extinction.

S1E3 • Wild Isles • 2023 • Nature

53:32

Watch as birds solve puzzles and challenge our basic notions of intelligence. Call somebody a “bird brain,” and you’re not delivering them a compliment. But as NOVA shows, birds turn out to have advanced problem-solving skills that we usually assume are unique to humans. Watch astonishing tests of avian aptitude: parrots that can plan for the future, jackdaws that can “read” human faces, and crows that can solve multi-step puzzles with tools like pebbles, sticks, and hooks. Could these just be clever tricks based on instinct or triggered by subtle cues from their human handlers? To rule out any doubts, NOVA puts feathered Einsteins through their paces and reveals skills that even three- or four-year-old children have a hard time mastering—such as putting off one reward now to get a bigger one later. From this revolution in thinking about our feathered friends, the conclusion seems irresistible that bird brains see the world in ways that aren’t so different from our own.

NOVA PBS • 2021 • Nature

54:10

Surrounded by the Ring of Fire, the Pacific Ocean is the epicenter of natural mayhem. Violence is part of life in the Pacific and creatures that live here must choose whether to avoid conflict or rise to meet it.

S1E2 • Big Pacific • 2017 • Nature

57:51

The opening episode sets the stage—animal parents navigate joy and danger as they embark on the greatest adventure: raising the next generation in the wild

S1E1 • Parenthood • 2025 • Nature