Superquark Season 28, Episode 4: The volcanoes

The ocean

In this episode, the first of the extraordinary BBC series A Perfect Planet: The Ocean. Alberto Angela will be at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples to tell us who the gladiators were. A brand new knee! A clever blend of nanomaterials and stem cells promises to free us from osteoarthritis. An ecological transition is a huge process of change that contains other changes within it, each of which contains yet more. The energy transition, for example, is part of the ecological transition, but it is itself made up of transitions in energy consumption in transportation, homes, and factories. One strategy for avoiding the use of pesticides is biological control, that is, exploiting the very weapons that Nature provides, and therefore using their natural predators—other insects, aphids, or small worms called nematodes—against parasites.

125 min

The water

In the second episode, the protagonist of the first part of Superquark is water. The BBC's opening documentary, "A Perfect Planet," will demonstrate the fundamental role of water for life and the climate. Water provides not only drink, but also food: without water, plants cannot grow, and the entire food chain is broken. How long can masks be used? And how are they monitored? Paolo Magliocco and Rossella Li Vigni enter the laboratories that are testing the most commonly used devices during the pandemic, and which will be with us for quite some time to come. Plastic is no longer "forever": Giovanni Carrada and Rossella Li Vigni went to see how new technologies work to recycle previously unrecyclable plastic.

122 min

The Sun

The third episode of the BBC nature documentary based on the series "A Perfect Planet" features the sun, the cosmic force behind all life on Earth. The light radiating from our star reaches every corner of the planet, with varying intensity. The Earth revolves around the sun, but its rotation axis is slightly tilted. Precisely for this reason, heat reaches the Earth's surface in varying amounts, thus generating alternating seasons and climates. Barbara Gallavotti, with Daniela Franco, explains what monoclonal antibodies are and how they work: the drugs that could be the most effective weapon against Covid-19. Alberto Angela takes viewers through the ruins of Ostia Antica and describes how its inhabitants lived.

123 min

The world of monkeys

In this episode, a new BBC series exploring primates. The world of monkeys is much larger than you might think. So many species populate the planet, and it's surprising to see how each has developed different abilities, based on the needs of its environment. We'll begin this wonderful journey in Brazil, to see the bearded capuchin, then move to the coast of West Africa, home to the drill monkey, and on to India, where we'll encounter the cunning macaques, before continuing on to Nepal and the Congo.

128 min

The planet of the primates

In this episode, we continue our journey through the world of primates, thanks to beautiful footage captured by the BBC. For the great primate family, group cohesion and mutual support are essential, and the importance of family is the underlying theme throughout this documentary. We'll see for the first time a new species of orangutan living on a remote plateau on the island of Sumatra. We'll also observe gibbons in the trees, performing daring acrobatics with their companions, demonstrating the importance of group play in developing motor skills. We'll also see many other images of fascinating social behaviors, demonstrating that emotional bonds are the foundation of life.

125 min

Discovering Mexico

This season's final trip will take us to Mexico to explore the scorching North, the driest region in the country, dominated by two large deserts where the climate becomes hot, dry, and harsh, and the land is quenched only once a year by a Caribbean monsoon. We'll see how plants and animals, often dependent on each other, cope at these temperatures. This is the case with the giant saguaro, a cactus that stores water, becoming a source of food for insects and birds. We'll encounter boa constrictors, black-tailed prairie dogs, and some vaqueros, Mexican cowboys who, despite everything, manage to survive and raise animals in this harsh terrain.

127 min

Gli ultimi ghiacci

121 min