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Explores how advanced camera technologies (such as high-speed and time-lapse photography) allow us to see hidden, split-second natural phenomena and movements that are imperceptible to the human eye....
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00:11speed characterizes our times driven by the fear that we might be missing
00:18something we are constantly crossing new boundaries what remains is a year for the magical in the
00:37hustle of everyday life we long to bring time to a standstill and dream as we did when we were
00:49children let us jump into the world of super slow motion let us plunge into a world of wonders that
01:10the naked eye cannot see new camera technology reveals a new dimension of time join us on our
01:30journey through a fantastic parallel universe at the center of which stands the human being
01:53with 64 cameras we can make a moment last forever and show movement from completely new
02:00perspectives the matrix effect scientists unravel the history of a 400,000 year old spear and the
02:11evolution of throwing using slow motion cameras and measuring electrical activity in the brain we see
02:21how music puts us on the same wavelength alpine adventure on the tracks of deadly danger
02:48with high-speed cameras we travel back in time to our very beginnings
03:00the world of the stone age hunter the wooden javelin the decathlete is throwing here is not just any old
03:14spear it's a perfect copy
03:17of the oldest weapon ever discovered
03:23400,000 years ago the hunting implement of homo erectus who lived long before the neanderthals
03:33charles darwin was the first who mentioned that the ability to throw is one of the unique characters of us
03:44humans
03:47he at the time had actually no idea how far that got back now we know that it's very early
03:56in evolutionary history that this starts
04:03the battle in the moment
04:04archaeologists found the spear during a dig in an open-cast mind
04:13shortly afterwards gigantic bucket excavators would have destroyed the sensational find forever
04:25the prehistoric hunters were after wild horses with the help of their technically sophisticated
04:33spears they could take out whole herds they left their weapons lying amid the skeletons of their
04:41prey the owners of these spears must have been excellent throwers able to hit fast-moving animals
04:49and plan hunt strategically an ability hitherto only ascribed to homo sapiens
05:00the wooden projectiles have been restored and saved from disintegration
05:06the spears were originally on the banks of a lake and were damp when found
05:11contact with air would have caused them to shrink irrevocably
05:23time-lapse photography shows how quickly such a process can occur
05:35to save the spears they were taken in light proof boxes from where they were found in schoeningen
05:41to the workshops of the roman german museum in mainz
05:53few restorers possess the knowledge of how to preserve such ancient treasures for posterity
06:06holding the spear in one's hand it's hard to believe that they were modeled so finely from spruce trees
06:14using stone age implements first all the branches were removed then the trunks were tapered towards the
06:22bottom until they fell over the aim of the conservation is to replace the water trapped in the wood with
06:35a
06:35water-soluble synthetic resin and subsequently dry out and harden the spears
06:51Pascal beerenbrookh as our athlete of choice to perform the throwing test which we'll be filming in super slow motion
07:05throwing 70 meters is no problem but not just distance was important for the prehistoric
07:11hunters they also had to react in an instant and hit their target
07:27and now the astonishing proof the first spear in the history of humanity
07:33flies and flutters just like a high-tech javelin made of carbon fiber
07:45it was an amazing feeling to hold this 400 000 year old spear made of wood the first time i
07:51threw it i thought wonder how it'll fly and it flew fantastically it flutters in the air it glides
07:58and now i can imagine how it was used for hunting wild animals
08:06when we are surprised that a high technology carbon fiber javelin
08:14is as good as a wooden javelin 400 000 years old
08:20we have a problem but the problem is our problem we need to accept that people that time ago had
08:29the
08:30same ability and the same technology and the same understanding of how a javelin works as we have
08:37today we are not that better
08:46human beings are the only animals that can perform the complex act of throwing it's an explosive
08:54movement that in the case of athletes lasts no longer than 150 milliseconds the acceleration is so
09:02extreme that the joints would be damaged if the muscles didn't activate an automatic braking mechanism
09:14but what about the widely held opinion that women's bodies aren't suitable for javelin throwing
09:19has evolution created an advantage for men as hunters
09:30well room for improvement
09:36frida too lets go a bit early
09:44the twins meanwhile try out different techniques
09:50look out here comes finn
09:54now that was powerful
09:56is there really a difference between the sexes when throwing
10:12we asked sports scientists to investigate and compare boys and girls
10:2012 year old johannes is our guinea pig
10:24he's festooned with markers that are registered by infrared slow motion cameras
10:30the data are then put together to create a 3d film
10:40johannes flow of movement isn't perfect but the sequence of steps is not bad
10:45and he follows through as the animation clearly shows
10:54in comparison girls often break off the throwing movement prematurely
11:00it's also of course a question of ability not everyone can be a champion thrower
11:05but on average our experiment shows that men throw better than women
11:15remembering our experience of school days we know that boys and girls are very different
11:23in their throwing ability from worldwide studies now we know that this goes back to the early age of three
11:32years
11:32three years or three year old girls and three year old boys
11:37already throw with a different performance
11:40and it's exactly the same difference as it is in adults
11:54in human evolutionary biology throwing is closely linked to the development of walking upright
12:00it is firmly anchored in our genetic program and according to one theory contributed significantly to the triumph of homo
12:10sapiens
12:11across the planet
12:25new camera techniques reveal big secrets about us humans
12:30and open up worlds that have remained close to us for thousands of years
12:40we can look at the universe through the eyes of an astronaut and in time-lapse photography
12:47like these pictures taken by special cameras on the international space station
13:02our insatiable desire to see takes us into invisible worlds
13:07the perfect place to grasp the sheer endlessness of time and space in whose midst we humans stand
13:26our next journey into the realm of the super slow-mo transports us into the colorful world of clowns and
13:34acrobats
13:36for a few seconds we want to make time stand still
13:44we want to marvel once more like children at fascinating phenomena our eyes can barely believe
13:52we want to be a human being
14:03extreme slowness and super fast acrobatics
14:07seduce our senses
14:09our perception of time can be slowed right down
14:13or accelerated to super speed
14:20let us enter a different kind of time one in which the power of gravity seems to have been
14:27suspended our first high-speed stars are the Fedenos Mexican acrobats whose art is
14:46performed too quickly for the human eye to follow only 14 Brian likes to play with the
14:55audience's anxiety that at this breathtaking tempo something could go wrong the four brothers
15:03have to be able to rely on each other absolutely we sometimes argue about the height of the jumps
15:12but when we're in the ring we forget my brothers we become other people and blank out any problems
15:22we concentrate on what we have to do to make sure that the number goes perfectly we forget
15:28the arguments because we can't afford to make a mistake let us ignore the flips for a moment and
15:41try and imagine what the thrower has to achieve and not with his hands but his feet the strength
15:48with which he throws dictates the height and thus the length of time that his partner has to perform
15:55his spins and all at breakneck speed not forgetting a safe landing super slow motion enables us to see
16:07how perfectly parallel the four artists are a phenomenon which still has scientists scratching their heads
16:30precise commands the ability to react with all senses within a fraction of a second absolute bodily control all
16:39these things still don't suffice for an explanation today we can fly to Mars we can analyze the tiniest particles
16:55that's when we go to the circus and watch artists doing acrobatics we soon see that there's a lot about
17:01how human beings move that we don't know
17:09more than 100 years ago the photographer and inventor jules etienne maret used rotating photographic plates in a revolver camera
17:18to try and reveal fast movements
17:22and the self entitled engineer of life wanted to compensate for the inadequacies of our senses and make visible what
17:31was too quick for our eyes
17:54This Maree could only dream of.
17:57A semicircle of 64 SLR cameras.
18:01In this way, movements can be frozen in single pictures and viewed from different angles.
18:13Subsequently, a computer calculates and fills in the gaps between the individual images.
18:20The cameras can be controlled and operated with split-second accuracy.
18:29The result is a virtual camera track in extreme slow motion or even freezing the frame.
18:43The Matrix Effect, named after the Hollywood film in which this time-morph technique was
18:49used for spectacular fight scenes.
18:53A cinematic instrument with which to study movement.
19:07Timing and synchronization are hugely important for acrobats.
19:11You can imagine how difficult it would be to throw a ball up to exactly the same height
19:16over and over again.
19:18It's the height that dictates how long the flight lasts and how synchronous the movements
19:23are.
19:23At the same time, the length of the flight dictates how quickly I have to turn over to make sure
19:28my landing is perfect after the jump.
19:41How is it possible that the artist's movements mesh together like the cogwheels in a Swiss clock?
19:49Scientists suspect that they possess a special sort of perception and experience their partners
19:55as parts of their own body, but how?
20:10How does it function, this harmonization, which also plays a major role when we make music
20:17together?
20:18Using brain activity measurements and slow motion cameras, we're going to try and find out.
20:28with the help of five guitarists from a masterclass in Rostock, we're reconstructing an unusual
20:35experiment.
20:36We want to demonstrate how it is that we often have the feeling of being on the same wavelength
20:43as someone else.
20:55playing the guitar in an ensemble should actually be impossible.
20:59When a string is plucked, a sound is created within microseconds, faster than almost any other
21:07instrument.
21:08Above all, faster than we can react to a received stimulus.
21:22Yet how is it that an ensemble achieves harmony when everyone is playing different things?
21:28What happens inside our heads?
21:39EEG devices, microphones, slow motion cameras.
21:45Setting up takes hours.
21:47To measure their brain activity, the guitarists are fitted with caps, each containing 64 electrodes.
21:55Not to worry, the scientists aren't looking to reprogram anyone.
22:00The syringes are used to inject contact gel under the electrodes.
22:14For the psychologists from the renowned Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin,
22:20it's clear that music has a very special effect on us.
22:28We probably all agree that one reason why music fascinates people and why people like to
22:34make music is the fact that it's a wonderful means to produce something together, to swing
22:42in concert.
22:42And this is why for us as brain scientists, music is especially rewarding because we know
22:49what's going on when people play together.
22:52We know that they are in sync.
22:53And then we can look at whether the brain reflects that synchronization in behavior.
23:00It seems incredible, but it doesn't take long before something extrasensory happens.
23:10The brain activities of the guitarists synchronize themselves, forming a kind of supra-brain network
23:18via which the musicians coordinate themselves and the music.
23:24The scientists are the first in the world to demonstrate that this synchronization takes
23:34place.
23:35But how is such a neuronal network formed?
23:39To unravel the mechanisms, the team use slow motion cameras.
23:44The first clue is that playing as an ensemble only works when the musicians can see each other.
23:52The psychologists suspect that the matching of brain waves is triggered by minute unconscious gestures,
24:00especially when the tempo of the music changes.
24:06Signals lasting just fractions of a second are also hidden in the musicians' facial expressions.
24:13The scientists want to use slow motion to make them visible and put them in the context of the process
24:20of synchronization.
24:23An astonishing result that puts the meaning of movement in a whole new light.
24:45music involves body and soul.
24:49How human beings can use movement to achieve a shared rhythm is shown by the Brazilian martial
24:55art dance capoeira.
24:59It is assumed that the figures the dancers describe were once a sort of secret language.
25:06It served as a form of bonding for the slaves and they could use the combined strength as a defense.
25:13A fascinating mix of synchronization and the ability to stop movement at the decisive moment.
25:28The matrix effect shows the martial art elements reflected in gestures and facial expressions.
25:36As soon as the dancers leave the common rhythm, things get a little dangerous and a virtuoso dance becomes a
25:44martial art.
25:49Those unable to stay in rhythm with the drums will have no chance with these movements.
25:56One of the great challenges of capoeira is that you have to perform the movements, but you also have to
26:02stay in rhythm.
26:02Because if one of you loses the rhythm, it can become dangerous for the other.
26:06It is, after all, a martial art.
26:14Music and dance have played important roles in humanity's cultural evolution and may have paved the way for language.
26:23Science is just beginning to understand the neuropsychological mechanisms.
26:32Music is a kind of action that is accompanied by sound because our actions produce the sound.
26:41But the general theme is clearly action and movement, action anticipation, our ability to predict our movements and to predict
26:49the movements of the other person.
26:50And it's exactly this anticipatory behavior that is necessary in order to synchronize our actions together.
27:01And this happens by virtue of our brain, the organ that regulates behavior.
27:07And it's the synchronizations of the brain waves within each individual brain and across brains that allows us to produce
27:17this kind of coordinated behavior or interpersonal action coordination, as we say.
27:22Music playing
27:31Tania and Chris are on cloud nine, the perfect couple for our next experiment.
27:38It's time to determine the secret of love.
27:43Yeah, so far we have talked about music, about dance, but of course all the varieties of bonding behavior, such
27:52as music,
27:52as between mother and infant, but also between lovers, also has a strong temporal component of give and take.
28:00And we are interested in the fundamental importance of these bonding behaviors for humans and in the mechanisms that support
28:09them.
28:10And therefore it was quite a natural to also look at kissing couples and to see what's going on in
28:15their brains.
28:18For the first time, the scientists from the Max Planck Institute allow us to steal a look at their amazing
28:26kiss experiments.
28:30Kisses are also a form of movement with 34 facial muscles involved.
28:36But what goes on in our heads?
28:42When we kiss, the electrical activities in our brains vibrate in time with each other.
28:49It's no wonder we have the feeling of fusing together.
28:54EEG, lip activity, neuronal networking.
28:58With Tania and Chris, everything's in sync.
29:02Next stop, the altar.
29:14Ensho Kariazov's fascinating act demonstrates the art of ultra-slow handstands.
29:22What sets him apart is his ability to sense the pulse of his audience, which beats differently in different parts
29:30of the world.
29:32Timing is more than 50% than everything.
29:36If you're not in time, at exact time, you're going to lose the effect of the difficulty of the show.
29:46So the timing is really, really important.
29:53The master of perfect timing can change the rhythm of his movements at any moment.
29:59In this way, he can surprise his spectators with the fastest, most spectacular moment of his act.
30:271,000 pictures per second enable us to witness the concentration and bodily control this magical moment.
30:54The former gymnast trained for almost ten years to build up the strength needed for this number, and to model
31:03the contours of his body.
31:05Each performance, he uses up around 3,000 calories.
31:10For the spectator, it is pure magic that makes time seem to stand still.
31:24For the people, I think for them, it is like, bring the time back, be kids again and forget about
31:30everything, and just stop the time and enjoy these two hours.
31:39Watching Katarina and Natalia would make almost anyone feel giddy.
31:44When they first practiced the top spin, which rotates at up to six revolutions per second, they had to take
31:52medicine to stop them feeling sick.
32:02The two acrobats learned their trade at the famous circus school in Kiev.
32:09To look at them, one would never guess the supreme bodily exertions they have to go through.
32:16For short periods of time, the forces working on them surpass even those experienced by fighter pilots.
32:29During the maximum spins, they are subjected to up to 20 G, 20 times the power of gravity and twice
32:38that of a jet performing manoeuvres.
32:52Plants, too, perform fantastic movements.
32:57Just a little too slowly for us to notice.
33:05The flower of an artichoke.
33:08In 3,000 time-lapse photos taken over more than 200 hours, the plant looks as if it has senses.
33:21The movements of plants are subject to exact timing, determined by a different clock than for us humans.
33:29Their rhythm has been created over thousands of years, in harmony with the animals that pollinate them.
33:44Most passion flowers show off their beautiful blooms during the day, but some species flower at night.
33:51Hidden in tropical rainforests, they lure guests equipped with a very special navigation system.
34:14Flower bats, fluttering creatures of the night, that are much too fast for our eyes.
34:26Flower bats, fluttering creatures of the night that are much too fast for our eyes.
34:41The super slow-mo reveals spectacular aerobatics.
34:45Fanny, our favourite bat, tries to catch drops of nectar in mid-air.
34:51No easy task.
34:58To this end, she employs a very clever trick with her very special tongue.
35:14The flying acrobats use the very fine hairs on the tips of their tongues to tease out the nectar.
35:21And, at the same time, transport pollen from one flower to another.
35:30The gourmet's tongue is up to eight centimetres long.
35:34Almost as long as the whole animal.
35:45Oops.
35:46A drop of nectar gets caught in her nose, starts tickling, and causes a sneeze.
36:00But how do these artists, with their agile tongues, find the right flowers in pitch darkness?
36:08Easy.
36:09Many of the blooms are shaped like satellite dishes, and are thus especially effective at receiving and amplifying the bat's
36:18shrill cries.
36:26Magic on ice, brought to life in 1,000 time-lapse photos.
36:33These glittering crystals take up to 24 hours to form, too long for our eyes to notice.
36:40Only a few experts have the ability to create such films, and their methods remain a secret.
36:52The diversity of ice crystals is phenomenal, with more possible shapes than there are atoms in space.
36:59One snowflake contains about 10 to the power of 18 water molecules, which are constantly linking and relinking, and which
37:09can develop enormous strength.
37:13As demonstrated by this monster avalanche, triggered by scientists with controlled explosions, and then filmed from the safety of a
37:22shelter.
37:32Avalanches can reach speeds of up to 300 kilometers an hour.
37:39They are spectacular natural events.
37:43Their origin, however, lies in something tiny.
37:50The microstructure of snow, still a mystery.
37:58In the cold room at the Avalanche Research Center in Davos, Switzerland, artificial snow is being made at a temperature
38:06of minus 20 degrees Celsius.
38:09The scientists are looking to unravel the structure of snow crystals, and how, and under what circumstances, the core of
38:17an avalanche is formed.
38:20To access this microcosm, the lab snow is exposed to X-rays.
38:26The pictures reveal that snow crystals are in constant turmoil, changing their shape and forming a porous structure of air
38:35and ice.
38:36One could almost say snow is alive.
38:44For the experts in Davos, it's very exciting to film an avalanche in super slow motion.
38:51Radar scanners monitor its progress.
38:55Laser guns and thermal imaging cameras study the flow behavior of the snow.
39:00A total of 26 scientists are involved.
39:11From a helicopter, the avalanche is triggered by controlled explosions.
39:16Critical snow formations have built up, and even without the explosions, there's an acute danger of avalanches.
39:28Equipped with time fuses, the first explosives are primed and dropped.
39:38Only under these controlled conditions is it possible to register the path of an avalanche and film it with high
39:45-speed cameras.
39:46The countdown is on.
40:06Rare footage, which can be interpreted by experts as others read tracks in the snow.
40:13Like waves of surf, the avalanches hurtle down the mountainside.
40:19The super slow-mo shows for the first time how snowball-like formations build up and how they move.
40:27They are decisive for the destructive power of an avalanche.
40:33The pictures captured by the thermal imaging camera show a difference of five degrees Celsius between the avalanche and the
40:41surrounding snow.
40:45For the team in Davos, an important clue as to how an avalanche is formed.
40:52Differences in temperature result in rapid changes in the structure of the layers of snow.
40:57They dissolve, increasing the danger of an avalanche.
41:04The scientists put the information on the enormously big and microscopically small together to make a new picture of an
41:13avalanche.
41:14Insights that should make the forecasting of such events easier in future.
41:24The birth of a butterfly.
41:26An apparently lifeless pooper from which a butterfly will hatch.
41:32It takes about an hour before the insect lifts off for the first time.
41:37Our camera shortens the process to a matter of seconds.
41:50In Greek mythology, this form of reincarnation made the colorful insects a synonym for immortality.
42:00The ancient Greeks used the same word for soul and butterfly.
42:05Psyche.
42:09The texture of the wings and their colorful decorations recall a sumptuous fabric.
42:20Before the shimmering beauty of the wings can be revealed,
42:24haemolymph, or insect blood, must be pumped through the wafer-thin veins.
42:34The initially soft wings harden on contact with the air.
42:39Then it's off to the magical world of butterflies.
42:43Capturing this moment on film is a matter of luck.
42:52A rebus from an electron microscope.
42:56We're looking at the scales on a butterfly's wing.
43:03This is invisible to the naked eye.
43:07Yet nature created an incredible diversity of design.
43:13Shapes with surprising characteristics.
43:22When the tropical morpho butterfly opens its wings,
43:26it reveals the most beautiful shade of blue created by nature.
43:31An optical illusion.
43:34The iridescent color isn't caused by pigmentation, but by a trick of the light.
43:46The flying properties of butterflies are phenomenal.
43:50The fastest among them are moths.
43:52They beat their wings up to 80 times a second,
43:56and achieve speeds of 50 kilometers an hour.
44:03Butterflies like this delicate painted lady are long-distance travelers,
44:07covering thousands of kilometers and climbing to heights of 1,000 meters.
44:19Those insects too fast for our eyes can be slowed down by high-speed cameras
44:25that allow us to study these ultralight creatures.
44:29At 2,000 pictures a second, the extent to which their wings deform becomes visible.
44:45Butterflies are so light, they almost float on air.
44:56They can ride an updraft for up to 30 seconds.
44:59That way they can save energy on long journeys.
45:03Hard to imagine that these delicate creatures cross whole continents.
45:23It sounds incredible.
45:26Martin Fikowski is planning to accompany a butterfly across the Alps
45:31on the return journey from its winter quarters.
45:34The director of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology is one of the pioneers looking at animal behavior with completely
45:43new methods.
45:45Thanks to a DF transmitter, he'll be able to watch what he can't see with the naked eye.
45:54A swarm of painted ladies is crossing an alpine valley.
45:58Up until now, almost nothing has been known about the migration of these butterflies.
46:04How often do they stop for a break?
46:07How many survive the journey?
46:11Wonderful.
46:13A butterfly from Italy.
46:16We can fit it with a transmitter.
46:20Very gently, he attaches the transmitter to the butterfly's belly.
46:25At the moment, the miniaturized chips only pass on the animal's coordinates.
46:31Future generations will also deliver physiological data.
46:39The tiny, high-tech rucksack weighs barely 200 milligrams.
46:54Using these transmitters, we can for the first time really see what the animals are doing when they are away,
47:00when we can't see them, when we can't observe them.
47:01And that's really exciting because for the first time we can really have a technical tool that allows us to
47:09see things that we couldn't see before.
47:11It's sort of like a macroscope.
47:13If you have a microscope for microbiologists seeing bacteria,
47:17so for the first time we can now see macroscopically what animals are doing around the globe.
47:24Equipped with highly sensitive aerials which pick up the signals from the mini-transmitters, the plane follows the route of
47:32the butterflies.
47:42Not a sound.
47:44The mission seems to have failed.
47:47When suddenly...
47:50I can hear something.
47:53There are two or three that we fitted with transmitters right at the end.
48:01One, two, three.
48:04They're down here.
48:06They've already flown on some distance.
48:09That's great.
48:09They are two kilometers further on.
48:13The first step of the pilot project is a success.
48:17It's part of a global plan being pursued by Vykelski and an international team of scientists.
48:34So our global aim is to understand the pulse of the living planet, understanding how life is interconnected around the
48:42globe.
48:48Soon, Vykelski wants to start locating animals via satellite.
48:52All over the world, he and his team are fitting birds and insects with transmitters to monitor their migration.
49:01Every deviation is evidence of ecological change.
49:05The aim is to create a map with information about the future of the Earth.
49:14One last look behind the scenes of our perception in the colorful world of the circus.
49:25Our eyes can't get enough.
49:37Four young performers have come up with something very special for our cameras.
49:42A show in super slow motion, long after the last spectator has left the big top.
49:48A show in super slow motion.
49:54For months now, Jamile Martinez has been practicing in the middle of the night with Vivi and Lily, two real
50:01circus princesses.
50:08The young acrobats want to surprise their father, the director of the circus, with a spectacular number.
50:15Brother Adrian is also involved.
50:26His mother used to perform on roller skates, so vivacious acrobatics are in their blood.
50:45It's a dangerous number with the speed, for example, Adrian and Vivi, they do a neck
50:51spin and Adrian has to always be concentrated in this because they're attached by the neck.
50:56So if he was not to be fully concentrated and he goes off the board, you know, you don't
51:02want to fall in that chick.
51:04I've never really hurt you, have I?
51:08We always make sure they land safely.
51:10That's the biggest challenge with this number.
51:12If I was to let go, they could go flying and really injure themselves.
51:22We have permission to attend rehearsals with our high-speed camera.
51:37The performers use centrifugal force to perform the figures.
51:42Everything depends on the right speed.
51:49During the twist routine, Adrian seems to be holding his breath, but he's actually breathing
51:56by his diaphragm and tries with ever shorter breaths to go faster and faster in harmony with
52:03his flying feet.
52:16There's no doubt about it.
52:17Both girls have skater genes.
52:19Their daredevil tricks are passed on from generation to generation.
52:51Let us just once more bring time.
52:54Time to a standstill and allow ourselves to be seduced by the beauty of slow motion.
53:10Thanks for watching.
53:16Thanks for watching.
53:18I'll see you next time.