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For most people, the words ‘hermit crab’ likely bring to mind shy, near-motionless crustaceans sitting in a cage in the corner of someone’s bedroom. In their natural habitats, however, hermit crabs are clever, highly social creatures capable of living more than 20 years. This excerpt from the award-winning BBC One nature documentary series Life follows a group of hermit crabs on a small Caribbean island off the coast of Belize. Faced with either finding new shells or baking to death under the intense heat of the sun, the group takes part in a mutually beneficial, oceanside housing swap that truly needs to be seen to be believed.
Director: John Brown
Producers: Ian Gray, Michael Gunton
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
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Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
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Engineering
Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?
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Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
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Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
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Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
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Metaphysics
What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?
55 minutes