PhilosophySciencePsychologySocietyCulture
EssaysVideos

Popular

About
DONATENEWSLETTER
Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletterSIGN IN
Email
Post
Share

The beached carcass of a blue whale is a terrible, wondrous sight

When a giant blue whale washes up on a beach in California, people begin to flock from all over to take in the sight. As they pose for photos beside the enormous carcass, and question the creature’s origins, the filmmaker Tijana Petrović watches them watching. Her short documentary Back to Land meditates on our fascination with the spectacle of nature, and observes the limitations of human knowledge against the breadth of our curiosity.

Director: Tijana Petrović

9 May 2014
Email
Post
Share
3D colour spectrum graph with X, Y, Z axes and a colourful curved surface on a black background, digital rendering.

videoMathematics

After centuries of trying, we’ve yet to arrive at a perfect way to map colour

20 minutes

A painting of a mythical forest scene with centaurs, satyrs and wild animals in a chaotic setting.

videoNature and landscape

‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden

5 minutes

Photo of a wicker basket with two kittens and a squirrel inside against a decorative blue and white tiled wall.

videoAnimals and humans

One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough

14 minutes

Microscopic image showing a close-up view of a butterfly’s proboscis covered with vibrant pink and orange structures.

videoBiology

Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes

4 minutes

A person in a hard hat and coveralls surrounded by thick white smoke, obscuring most of the view.

videoFairness and equality

There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa

10 minutes

Microscope photo of a flea’s head showing detailed orange and black features against a black background.

videoBiology

‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one

11 minutes

Black and white close-up photo of a lizard with its tongue extended, about to catch a worm. The background is dark and blurred.

videoEvolution

The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo

6 minutes

Photo of a gibbon mother holding her baby in a lush green forest setting.

videoAnimals and humans

Villagers struggle to keep their beloved, endangered ape population afloat

19 minutes

Black and white photograph of a cloudy sky with swirling lines resembling bird flight patterns.

videoBiology

Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short

3 minutes