Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
By journeying to the depths of the ocean to study bioluminescent sea creatures, Edie Widder, president of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Florida, has witnessed firsthand the strange, vibrant colours of deep-sea life. In a stroke of inventive inspiration, Widder has taken her work with bioluminescent life and applied it to the ongoing problem of invisible pollution, which is putting the world’s oceans and waterways in peril. A short documentary by the Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney, Speaking With Light is a meditation on hidden problems, inventive solutions and beautifully simple science.
Director: Alex Gibney
Producer: Alexis Bloom
video
Meaning and the good life
Why strive? Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave’s letter on the threat of computed creativity
5 minutes
video
Physics
Find the building blocks of nature within a single, humble snowflake
4 minutes
video
Physics
Why the golden age of total solar eclipses is already behind us
5 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
An augmented-reality filter reveals the hidden movements all around us
7 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
Stop-motion origami unfurls in a playful exploration of how senses overlap
3 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
The ancient Hawaiian myth that sparked a modern ecological breakthrough
10 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
A scientist’s poor eyesight helped fuel a revolution in computer ‘vision’
9 minutes
video
Ageing and death
Demystifying death – a palliative care specialist’s practical guide to life’s end
4 minutes
video
Future of technology
Is this the future of space travel? Take a luxury ‘cruise’ across the solar system
6 minutes