Like a sea of grass, the savannah, prairie, and meadows are among the most productive habitats on Earth, housing some of the greatest concentrations of big game and the most dramatic interactions of predator and prey.
The FAST radio telescope is the biggest ever built—and can detect signals emitted tens of thousands of light years away. From technological innovations to architectural challenges and first results, follow each step that gave birth to a tool designed to prove we aren’t alone in the universe.
"Thunder Road", a term coined to identify the nighttime route from Harlan, Kentucky, to Knoxville, Tennessee, traveled by illegal whiskey haulers. Tracing its origins to European immigrants who showed up with barely a shirt on their back and a recipe for making hooch.
This talk is given by Steve Brusatte of University of Edinburgh.
All over the world, while many species are under threat of extinction, raccoons are experiencing an unprecedented expansion. Behind their innocent, cute look hides an outstanding survivor's temperament. When it comes to feeding and defending themselves, raccoons are capable of anything.
During the 1930s, communities across Appalachia were in the dark at night because electric lines still had not connected them to the 20th Century. The TVA turned to the watersheds draining the Great Smoky Mountains and built a series of hydroelectric complexes that sparked the South’s economy.
Slime's a funny thing, weird and wonderful. It can help salamanders to wet so they can breathe through their skin, provide a life-support bubble or developing frogs and even get snails from A to B.
Return to President John F. Kennedy’s early years as an adventurous student in the 1930s as he travels across the Atlantic, discovers his love for Europe and searches for his path in life.
During WWII the federal government took over the 60k acres of land known as, Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, turning it into a secret city where workers unknowingly were building the world's 1st atomic bomb. Today it’s known as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where some believe that WWII was won.
Whatever you think of pigs, you’re probably underestimating one of the world’s most amazing animals. A year with wild boars and their relatives reveals a tender and dedicated matriarchal society, playful youngsters, and powerful warriors.
Dangerous since 1896" is the saying that shrouds one of the country's most notorious prisons. Tucked in a remote section of the Cumberland Plateau and surrounded by miles of rough terrain, the prison once housed Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassin, James Earl Ray, where he escaped more than once.
We are a funny bunch with our superstitions, and it's surprising how many of them involved animals. It can be good or bad luck to see a cat, magpies, and pigs are believed to bring good luck and prosperity.
Traveling north across the planet, eventually, you’ll run out of forest, a land too harsh for even trees to take root. This is tundra. But with dramatic seasonal changes, it offers rich rewards for those tough enough to take on the challenge.
In 1925, one of the greatest legal showdowns in history happened in the quaint town of Dayton, TN where Clarence Darrow squared off against William Jennings Bryan about Darwin’s theory of evolution. One man wasn’t prepared to be swept up in a trial that would change American education forever.
It’s a pretty tough decision to pick nature's cutest animal - a koala, a penguin, a big-eyed, wobbly-kneed fawn, a fluffy white seal, playing polar bear cubs. It’s a long line-up but expects a lot of oooh’s and awwws while you try to decide!
Feeling out of shape? You're not alone. The pandemic has totally crushed most exercise routines. But a revolution in "connected fitness" is changing that, bringing hi-tech gear, live instruction and social interaction right into our homes.
We take our features, our noses, eyes, and ears for granted, but they are pretty weird things until you look at the nose of a tapir or desman, the eyes of a cuttlefish or chameleon, or the ears of a seal or elephant. There is an almost endless variety of designs, and some are downright odd!
What started in the 1970s as a gathering of hippies became what is known as the whitewater industry and Steep Creek Kayaking. Where boaters are pulled underwater by rapids, spit out downstream and come back for more.
They might not look as impressive as wolves, but the little dogs of the world are just as complex and endearing. By following dog families from across the world, we’ll see the similarities and differences in how they live, from how they interact and defend themselves to how they find food.
We all know antelopes as the prey of lions. They represent food to many of the predators of the plain and so it’s hardly surprising that they stick together in groups, seeking safety in numbers, with more pairs of eyes to spot danger.
Ask what the most dangerous animal is and most will say a lion or tiger, and true, they have the power to kill, but far more people are killed by hippos or buffalo, even domestic cows, pigs, and especially dogs.
It’s tough out in nature, but many creatures are forced or choose to leave it all behind and seek a new life in the urban jungle. For some, it is life on the breadline, while others find a land of opportunity.
Some creatures play hard and die young. Small bodies are more susceptible to heat loss need a lot of calories to stay warm. With high metabolisms, creatures like shrews, hummingbirds, and porpoises must devote their lives to eating and might perish between meals.
Most visitors to the UK head for London, maybe Stonehenge or ancient cities, but for its tiny size, the UK has surprisingly rich and diverse wild places, and wildlife, hidden from view unless you seek it out.
