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‘It’s not often that you get to see something that has disappeared forever.’
First taxonomised by Europeans exploring the seas between New Zealand and Australia in 1885, the Lord Howe Island stick insect (also known as the ‘tree lobster’) was presumed extinct around 1920 after predatory rats were introduced to the only small island it was known to inhabit. Slow, wingless and up to six inches in length, it was easy prey for the new invasive species. However, some 80 years later in 2001, a team of scientists made a startling discovery when they found several of the insects living in a single bush during an excursion at Ball’s Pyramid – a largely barren sea stack roughly 14 miles from Lord Howe Island. Marvellously recounted using rotoscope animation, Sticky is the story of this amazing discovery and the successful captive breeding programme that followed at Melbourne Zoo. While enchanting and uplifting, the Australian animator Jillie Rose’s film is also a mournful reflection on the vast number of extinctions that humans have caused over the past few hundred years.
Director: Jilli Rose
Producer: Katrina Mazurek
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Chemistry
Why do the building blocks of life possess a mysterious symmetry?
12 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
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Cosmology
Tiny, entangled universes that form or fizzle out – a theory of the quantum multiverse
11 minutes
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Astronomy
The history of astronomy is a history of conjuring intelligent life where it isn’t
34 minutes
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Politics and government
How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power
33 minutes
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Metaphysics
Simple entities in universal harmony – Leibniz’s evocative perspective on reality
4 minutes
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Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
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The ancient world
The six priestesses who kept the flame of ancient Rome alight at risk of death
5 minutes
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes