Supersense

From DocuWiki

[edit] General Information

Nature Documentary narrated by Andrew Sachs and published by BBC in 1988 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Join a goose flying in formation through the air, see through the multi-aspected eye and eavesdrop on a mouse's conversation ...

Supersense introduces the superstars of the sensory world, animals with powers to amaze. This inspiring series challenges the perception of humankind as the most highly evolved lifeform with a wealth of information on how plants and animals interpret the world.

All our five main senses are better developed in most animals - there are eagles with a central magnified view, pidgeons which navigate by smell, and the deep rumbling of elephant communication.

Supersense also looks at the magnetic and electrical senses of animals as well as the remarkable abilities of plants and animals to predict and respond to daily and seasonal cycles. Smell your way across an ocean as a salmon does. See, through the multi-aspected eye of a fly, what a human hand looks like when it is about to strike. Amazing effects reveal the secrets of animal perception in this landmark series.

[edit] Sixth Sense

Animals use senses of which humans are unaware. Sensitivity to the earth’s electromagnetic fields, or to weather pressure, can be used to aid navigation. Some animals can predict earthquakes. Predators put these senses to lethal use: a shark homes in on the body electricity of its prey, vampire bats detect the infra-red radiation of blood, and a rattlesnake sees a ‘heat picture’ of its victim.

[edit] Seeing Sense

A vulture can spot a carcass from a great distance, the four-eyed fish can see above and below water simultaneously, a fly’s multi-faceted eye sees a very different world than a human eye, while other insects can see into ultra-violet light. And lions have an area on the retina which actually empathises with their prey.

[edit] Sound Sense

Human ears have a limited range and are deaf to a low-register elephant conversation or the high-pitched squeaking of mice. Whales use sonar to communicate across hundreds of miles of sea, while spiders
listen out for the wingbeats of prey and the kangaroo rat has hearing so sensitive that it can hear the rattlesnake’s strike – and avoid it. Birds, meanwhile, use sounds to detect changes in the weather and as an aid to navigation.

[edit] Super Scents

Smell is invaluable in hunting, protecting a species, mating… and navigation. Petrels use it to find fish in the open sea, springboks emit an ‘alarm’ odour to warn the herd of a predator, salamanders inject
their females with aphrodisiac, and a salmon’s epic journey across the ocean to spawn and die is achieved through its sense of smell.

[edit] Sense Of Timing

Courting, egg-laying, hibernation… The cycles of the earth, moon and sun are the rhythms which govern all life. Every animal’s perception of time varies, according to its heart rate.A shrew lives 30 times faster than an elephant, so time appears to pass more slowly. Also shown is the rare 17-year eruption of the US cicada.

[edit] Making Sense

The final film shows how each animal has a unique view of the world derived from a combination of different senses.The mind creates mental maps for navigational skills, which can also be affected by genetic programming. Other super-senses have resulted from the need to hunt or avoid becoming a meal.The mind decides what skills it needs to survive.

[edit] Screenshots

[edit] Technical Specs

Video Codec: Divx 6
Video Bitrate: ~1450 kb/s
Video Resolution: 624x464 (1.34:1)
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192 kb/s (96/ch) CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Channels: 2
Runtime Per Part: 30m
Number of Parts: 7
Part Size: 350 mb
Ripped by jvt40

[edit] Links

[edit] Subtitles

English subtitles for this release are available here.

Romanian subtitles for part of this release are available here.

[edit] DVD Cover

A DVD cover for this release is available here.

[edit] Related Publications

Supernature: The Unseen Powers of Animals by John Downer
- Amazon US
- Amazon UK
Mysterious Senses: An Enquiry Into Animal Perception by Vitus Bernwand Droscher
- Amazon UK
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman
- Amazon US