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Native to South and Southeast Asia, the bird species Ploceus philippinus, better known as the baya weaver, is so named for its unique nests, which often hang from palm trees above bodies of water. To create them, males of the species, identifiable by their bright yellow feathers, stitch together grass, leaves and twigs. Females then take on inspection duties, poking at the structure to find vulnerabilities, and only pairing with the male if his work is up to snuff. This short video condenses roughly 18 days of meticulous work into three-and-a-half minutes as it captures one of the world’s most skilled and clever builders weaving a structure he hopes might impress a mate.
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Evolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
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Physics
The rhythms of a star system inspire a pianist’s transfixing performance
5 minutes
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Art
Watch as Japan’s surplus trees are transformed into forest-tinted crayons
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Biology
A spectacular, close-up look at the starfish with a ‘hands-on’ approach to parenting
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Technology and the self
A filmmaker finds a tactile beauty in the creation of her prosthetic leg
11 minutes
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Knowledge
An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place
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Biology
Beetles take flight at 6,000 frames per second in this perspective-shifting short
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War and peace
A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster
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Physics
What does it look like to hunt for dark matter? Scenes from one frontier in the search
7 minutes