"Cool" behaviour filmed for Elephants Nomads of the Namib

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk 'Cool' elephants caught on film A BBC crew filmed the tusked beasts spraying themselves with water that they had stored in a reservoir in their throats several hours earlier. Although this skill for storing water was first documented 100 years ago, the team believes this is the first time it has been filmed. It forms part of Natural World's Elephant Nomads of the Namib Desert programme. Cameraman Martyn Colbeck, who has spent the last two decades filming elephants, said: "Elephants normally drink every day, but the desert elephant has adapted to go up to five days without drinking. "Just behind the tongue they have this little pouch called the pharyngeal pouch. This is an area that is used partly in communication - it allows the elephants to have all of the deep calls, but they can also store several litres of water in it.

360 Virtual Reality puts you on location

Check this out for a great use 360 Virtual Reality images for the "World on the Move" radio series. This one was sent back from my colleague Stephen Lyle who is in Tobago filming red-billed tropicbirds for the series 'Life'. Play the accompanying audio and it really brings the location to live, even better than linear video could.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/reports/ocean-currents-and-migration/

Checking out Spinvox: Voice to Text, Phone to Blog...

http://www.spinvox.com/

SpinVox is a service that automatically converts incoming voicemails to text messages and delivers them to your handset. It's an interesting Web service that I've spent the evening testing. It's not very transparent about the payment plan for the different elements of the service (so keep an eye on your phone bill) but at least the first week is a free trial and certainly worth a go.

After a signing-up process that will leave some people confused, you select which of the different services you would like to use. In addition to the voicemail to sms text service, you can also opt to phone your blog, update your facebook status or twitter over the phone. You receive a unique phone number for each of these services which you can store and access as easy as calling Mum.

It worked pretty well in my trial, I called over a dozen times and spoke in various accents (it only recognises English, but not Yorkshirish) and I even mumbled at times. I'd give it 8 out of 10 for voice recognition (particulary when you consider that it is over a phone line) compared with 9 out of 10 for the Dragon Naturally Speaking desktop software which is also lots of fun to use - in a Trekkie sort of way!

For the most part Spinvox recognised the general gist of what I was saying, although missing out the odd verb can completely change the meaning of your message so be careful when calling the girlfriend... "Of course your bum did _ look big in that dress last night"
- Paul Williams

The Wild Film History Project

Anyone with a passion for Natural History Television will find the WildFilmHistory website totally enchanting. Watch films from those first pioneering days of Wildlife TV and hear from the people who made it happen.


From the early days of clockwork cameras to the latest in HD technologies, Wild Film History is a fascinating online guide to the pioneering people and landmark productions behind one hundred years of wildlife filmmaking.

Uncover ground-breaking films, 'behind the scenes' photographs, essential production information, and specially crafted learning resources, as well as a unique collection of personal memoirs from key industry players.

http://www.wildfilmhistory.org/

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Have you played Fishticuffs? Get fish-slapping on Messenger

Three reasons why geek can be Sexy and Cool.

These girls are witty, intelligent, sexy and fun. They are, or were, the presenters of www.Rocketboom.com, my favorite video blog. It was the quirkiness of Amanda Congden which first got me hooked back in 2005, and since Joanne Colan became Anchor in 2006 she has really made it her own. The occasional appearance from Elspeth Rountree, who produces the show, adds greatly to the already eclectic range and style of the daily videos. You just can't appreciate Rocketboom until you've watched for at least two weeks. It might feel strange at first, a little weird, but then you're hooked, and you can't wait until the next episode.

Visit SexyGeeks for more sexy geeks.

clipped from reddit.wired.com Ellie Rountree by Anonymous Co-producer, resident blogger, and occasional host of Rocketboom. Super hot and highly knowledgeable of internets. Amanda Congdon by Travis Hardiman From her blog: "Amanda Congdon is the President of Oxmour Entertainment. She is a videoblogger, writer, actress and producer. You can watch and participate in her videoblogs on StarringAmandaCongdon.com... Amanda graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northwestern University with an undergraduate degree in Organizational Communications and later received her graduate degree in videoblogging at Rocketboom.com..." Joanne Colan by Travis Hardiman Wikipedia: "With an eye for irony and a comedic slant, she began hosting Rocketboom on July 12, 2006.[1]. She offers amusing and/or informative video clips and web links from a desk in the Rocketboom studio, and has delivered many Rocketboom field reports from the Lincoln Center, Coney Island and other New York locations."

Life in Cold Blood: Armoured Giants more valued than any other programme on TV

Monday 3rd March, 21.00, BBC1
6.1M Viewers, 26% Audience Share
(Average for Monday 21.00 = 5.62M, 23%)

This programme recieved an AI (Audience appreciation Index) of 93 - which is a BBC record.

This shows, out of a hundred, how much the audience valued the programme, and is considered more important than the number of viewers.

Radio Times: Armoured Giants
In tonight's final dispatch from the world of the reptiles one scene stands out. We see a male marine turtle in the throes of what David Attenborough likes to call "making love" or "union" with a female. The mating couple are enjoying an undersea embrace that looks tender and beautiful - until a rival male turns up and starts trying to get in on the act, biting the first male's flippers, swatting him in the head and so on. Then more interlopers arrive and they all try to butt in. The tussle that ensues is astounding - a mixture of brutal and touching. For that matter, so is the moment when an alligator lunges at Sir D, and not forgetting the postscript about the world's loneliest creature, the Pinta Island tortoise, who is about the same age as Attenborough and, perhaps also like him, one of a kind.

Skin eating Caecilians: behind the scenes with the Scientists

The image below is a close-up of the tooth of a Caecilian, specially adapted for peeling the mother's skin, discovered by Natural History Museum scientists in 2006, and filmed for Life in Cold Blood. Watch the original scientific footage on the Natural History Museums website.

clipped from www.nhm.ac.uk Close up of grappling hook teeth of young amphibian caecilian that they use to eat their mother's skin. © The Natural History Museum/Alexander Kupfer A remarkable form of parental care, where young amphibians feed on their mother's skin, is revealed today in the journal Nature. The species is called Boulengerula taitanus. The females transform their outer skin into a thick, nutrient-rich meal for their babies. The young crawl over their mother and peel and eat the skin with their specialised teeth. This highly unusual method of parental care is called dermatotropy and was previously unknown in animals. 'That this amazing behaviour has never been seen before shows how much we still have to learn about the diversity of these animals,' said Mark Wilkinson, zoologist at the Museum. Caecilians are snake-like amphibians related to frogs and newts. They mostly burrow in tropical soil and their underground behaviour is rarely seen. B. taitanus is from Kenya and can grow up to 30cm long.

6.1 million watch last episode of "Life in Cold Blood"

The last ever appearance of David Attenborough in a major natural history series attracted just over 6 million viewers to BBC1 last night, March 3.

Attenborough's Life in Cold Blood concluded with 6.1 million viewers and a 26% share on BBC1 in the 9pm hour last night - up 500,000 viewers and two share points on last week's outing, according to unofficial overnights.

The audience for the fifth and final episode of Life in Cold Blood increased throughout the hour, peaking at 6.4 million and a 28% share in the final quarter hour between 9.45pm and 10pm. The series launched with 6.7 million viewers and a 28% share in early February.

Life in Cold Blood will be Attenborough's last major full-scale natural history series - the 82-year-old has vowed to film one-off programmes from now on, including one on evolution.
Attenborough's examination of the reptilian world continued to easily win its slot against the final episode of ITV1's drama series about a fictional British royal family.
Source

Crocodile feeding frenzy filmed for Life in Cold Blood

In Australia, David reveals newly-discovered behaviour. On a flooded road by a small river, over 40 huge saltwater crocodiles gather and work together to feast on migrating fish. Just like bears feeding on salmon, they gather together especially for this event and dramatically pick off fish as they leap through the air. This is remarkable behaviour, since these crocodiles are highly territorial and have to suppress their aggression when they are massed together.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk A BBC crew managed to film over 40 of the huge beasts gathering and working together to feast on fish migrating up the Mary River in Australia. This cooperative feeding behaviour has only recently been discovered - saltwater crocodiles are usually highly territorial creatures. The animals were filmed with the help of infrared cameras because the spectacle took place during the night. Mullet migrate in spring; they wait for the high-tide so they can swim up-river to breed. The crocodiles knew when to gather at the river. The BBC crew filmed them picking the mullet off one by one as the fish swam past. The footage was recorded for BBC One's Life in Cold Blood. Life In Cold Blood is on BBC One on Monday, 3 March at 2100 GMT.