Stories by Nature Video

Social insects such as ants and bees often have complex societies, but understanding the genetics behind their social interactions can be difficult due to their complex lifecycles. This lab in New York hopes to investigate the genetics of ant social behavior by focusing on an unusual species: the clonal raider ant.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on February 14, 2019. It is a Nature Video production.

How an animal moves can tell scientists a lot about how it lives. That is how researchers hope to learn more about an ancient crocodilelike creature called Orobates pabsti. Using scans of an Orobates fossil, fossilized footprints, and data from lizards and salamanders, researchers created a dynamic simulation of how Orobates moved, which they brought to life using a robot. 

To start your own investigation into Orobates’s movement, explore the free online tool here.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on January 16, 2019. It is a Nature Video production.

Researchers from MIT have flown a plane with no moving parts for the first time. It is powered by an "ion drive" which uses high powered electrodes to ionise and accelerate air particles, creating an "ionic wind." This wind drove a five-meter-wide craft across a sports hall. Unlike the ion drives which have powered space craft for decades, this new drive uses air as the accelerant. The researchers say it could power silent drones.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on November 21, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

Researchers have created a 'modular' robot which can analyze its environment and reconfigure itself to overcome obstacles and achieve tasks.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on October 31, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

The history of Warfarin is a surprisingly bloody one. Find out how this anticoagulant drug went from cow-killer to life-saver in this Nature Video animation.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on March 13, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

A pop culture icon and ground-breaking physicist, Stephen Hawking is one of the most prominent figures in modern science. Nature Video explores three of the publications that shaped his career and his legacy.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on March 13, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

Teenagers are often thought of as reckless risk-takers. Nature Video asks a neuroscientist and a group of adolescents ​what's really behind risky behaviour.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on February 21, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

This tiny soft robot can tackle impressive obstacles, using magnets to walk, roll, jump and swim. This flexibility could be vital for medical applications.

In the race for survival, predators can achieve impressive strengths and speeds—but research reveals that when it comes to strategy, their prey may have the upper hand.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on January 24, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

Suspended in midair like science fiction holograms, a new technology can create high-resolution 3-D light displays. Nature Video finds out how it works.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on January 24, 2018. It is a Nature Video production.

Axolotls are used to study cancer development and organ regeneration, but their numbers in the wild are dwindling. Conserving wild salamanders could be vital for research—and the future of this special species. 

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on November 24, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Using the CRISPR–Cas9 system, scientists can do much more than gene editing—they can boost gene transcription or use fluorescent proteins to paint and track a chromosome. In this Nature Video animation, several innovative uses for CRISPR are outlined and explained. 

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on October 31, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Glass and metal surfaces temporarily "blind" a bat by bouncing sound waves in the wrong direction, which sometimes results in a collision.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on September 7, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

The rare spectacle of a total solar eclipse has given scientists throughout history fleeting opportunities to delve into everything from the sun’s chemistry to Einsteinian relativity to Earth’s place in the solar system.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on August 16, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Tamed cats spread across the globe beginning almost 10,000 years ago, becoming the rodent-killing helpers of early farmers, mariners and Vikings.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on June 19, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

A thousand years of Venetian records, maps and images could digitally reconstruct this city's deep history, giving researchers insight into urban life, from disease patterns to trade trends. 

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on June 14, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Mastodon bones and shattered stones suggest humans were migrating to the Americas some 100,000 years earlier than currently thought. Nature Video explores this controversial find.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on April 26, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

A new technique lets 3D printers create objects made of glass, which has optical and material advantages over traditional polymer.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on April 19, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Our understanding of how insects fly didn’t explain how mosquitoes managed to stay on the wing. It took eight slow-motion cameras to help researchers reveal how mosquito wing beats shape the air to give the insect extra lift.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on March 29, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Large quantum computers are difficult to build, but they can answer questions too complicated for conventional computation, unlocking new research possibilities in fields like protein modeling and data encryption.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on March 22, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

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Vibrant images of our planet are common now, but it was only 70 years ago when we first caught a glimpse of Earth from a height of more than 100 miles. Watch a history of photographing Earth, from the first captured German rockets to iconic images like Earthrise and the Pale Blue Dot.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on March 16, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

This toy-inspired centrifuge could enable medical testing in remote locations, and costs just 20 cents to make.

These maps show the “threat hotspots” around the world where consumption in the U.S. and Japan impact endangered wildlife.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on January 4, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

In these final days before the 2016 election keep an eye on Maryland, New Hampshire and Missouri, where contested seats may have ramifications for science in the U.S.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on October 29, 2016. It is a Nature Video production.