[ExI] nature videos, was: RE: bees again

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of BillK
....
>
>>... I want to learn what equipment is needed to make video of this 
> quality, but have no clue on how to Google that without getting just a 
> bunch of ads and misleading sales lit.  Perhaps there is an internet 
> group for those who want to make cm-scale nature videos.
>

>...I remembered that when watching this TV series that they often explained at the end of an episode how they did the filming. The BBC has the explanations here:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4F5WBv20LWmFNV9pXXptX0f/how-we-made-it-the-making-of-life-story>
That may give you the info you want.

BillK

Cool!  Thanks BillK.  Here's the good stuff:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2MfpK0zsdBdpMGNqJh3gHFQ/how-we-made-it-weaver-ants-natural-architects

We already know a lot about how meter-scale beasts behave, for we watch them nearly every day (I do.)  But beasts on the cm scale are far harder to observe, so we have a loooootta lotta cool stuff to learn.  

For instance, we know how cat and dogs fight, ja?  We have all seen that.  Do you know how ants fight?  Wouldn't that be cool to see that in super high-rez super slo-mo?

For another instance: I have ants farming aphids in my back yard.  The ant does something to the aphid, strokes it or something, the aphid barfs up a glob of nectar or something which the ant takes away.  I take a fine hair that should act like an ant antenna, stroke that aphid the same way the ant did: no nectar.  So how is that ant able to stroke the aphid to orgasm but I can't? 

I think if we had a bunch of these videos, we could learn a lot about bugs and how they behave.  We could perhaps automate the process somehow, farm trillions of aphids rather than the ant's paltry farm with millions of them devouring my citrus trees, collect gallons of that nectar, use it to make nectar tea or some silly thing, market it as nature's own natural organic sweetner, make buttloads of money.

spike