Wonders of the Solar System (2010–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Empire of the Sun - full transcript

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You have started a journey
into the heart of the animal world,

where many of nature?s
supernatural powers

are waiting to be revealed.

These sensory and physical
powers seem out of this world.

Many can be explained
by the latest scientific discoveries.

The powers of animals
are as extraordinary

as any human mysteries,
such as the Bermuda Triangle.

Although science has solved
many of nature?s mysteries,

they still deserve the
accolade supernatural.

0ur series of dramatic journeys



will investigate different kinds
of animal powers.

0n this journey
we explore animal perception

and show creatures
with senses beyond our own.

(Rapid bleeping)

We confront the limitations
of our senses

when we?re plunged into another world.

Here, the senses of others
are far superior.

Compared to us, sharks have
extrasensory perception.

Extra senses, as well as senses
more enhanced than our own.

They can smell blood
from over a kilometre away.

And hear struggling sounds
pitched below our hearing limits.

They even detect forces
beyond any human sense.

Electrosensors surround its mouth.

These detect the
electricity of life itself.



Body electricity creates a living aura.

Body openings leak more electricity.

A cut bleeds electricity
three metres into the water.

Electrical discharges from metal
in salt water provoke an attack.

Sharks are so sensitive,

they mistake the tiniest
electrical signal for life.

A five billionth of a volt
is enough to merit investigation.

Even unplugged,

enough current flows between
different metals to be perceived.

Sharks are not alone
in sensing the spark of life.

The stingray is tuned
to the body auras of other rays.

The male uses this power
to find females hidden in the sand.

His electric sense is so sophisticated,

he can recognise her distinctive aura.

He feels the electricity
flow between them.

With eyes on the top of his head,
he can?t actually see her.

They are the most electrosensitive
of all animals.

Such attraction may climax
in an orgy of electrical stimulation.

The torpedo ray has found
a stunning use for its electric aura.

Using modified muscles like a battery,

it boosts its body electricity
to lethal levels.

It delivers a shocking
two-kilowatt bolt,

equivalent to dropping
an electric fire into a bath.

Like all living things,

our electric auras
only survive as long as we do.

There are many kinds of extra senses.

Some are enhanced versions
of our own senses.

The vision of birds far surpasses ours.

Like us, they see full colour.

But many perceive an eerie extra hue.

( # 0pera )

This light is so damaging to us,
we protect our eyes from its rays.

To prevent this ultraviolet light
harming our skin,

we anoint ourselves with sun block.

0ur appearance must seem bizarre.

The lotion absorbs UV,
giving us a strange complexion.

0ur hair and fingernails reflect UV,

making them glow.

To courting king parrots,
appearances are everything.

The female eyes up
the male?s ultraviolet plumage

before she makes her choice.

Like us, she tends to be choosy.

UV vision also helps birds find a meal.

Most fruit has a waxy coating
that reflects ultraviolet.

(Squawking)

Like a neon sign,
it shines out to birds in the wild.

Fast food has tempted parrots
to take up city life.

0thers have followed the parrots in.

The grey goshawk.

(Dog barking)

Like sun lotion, urine absorbs UV,

making stains highly visible to birds.

Small mammals
mark their runs with urine,

leaving evidence of their movements.

This can guide predators
to the best hunting grounds.

For parrots, ultraviolet
may even act as a last defence.

UV flashes create confusion
for the hunter.

(Squawking)

The power of this light fantastic
seems almost unlimited.

It may help a lost bird find its way
out of the urban jungle.

(Horn blares )

Birds are now thought to see
the patterns of polarisation

that radiate from the sun.

These are more noticeable in UV
than any other wavelength of light.

Like a map in the sky,
they signpost the sun?s position

and may help guide the birds home.

( # 0pera )

This kind of map reading
was first discovered in insects.

(Buzzing)

Bees, like us, have full colour vision,

but their range is shifted away
from red towards ultraviolet.

Their compound eye
limits the detail they actually see.

In Arizona, even the cotton plants
have extra senses.

They use them to talk to insects.

When attacked by caterpillars,

the leaves send out a chemical S0S.

Carried on the wind, it?s the signal
this wasp has been waiting for.

Soon, others receive
the plant?s rallying call.

A whole squadron of wasps
is summoned by the plant

and the caterpillars are doomed.

These wasps are parasites.

They inject their eggs
with a well-aimed stab.

Each lethal injection
will spawn an alien invasion

that consumes the caterpillar
and saves the plant.

The plant?s chemical scents
also attract pollinators.

These humble insects
use chemical extra senses

in a remarkable way.

Returning bees carry
a chemical identity pass

and are security checked
by guard bees,

the defenders of the colony.

Increasing vibrations
provoke the guards

to release a warning from their sting.

This chemical message alerts
the hive to the growing threat.

The guard investigates.

Vibrations and synthetic smells
all provoke attack.

And these bees are hyper-reactive.

They?re the descendants
of a Brazilian experiment

that crossed honey bees
with African strains.

The killer bee has now invaded
southern USA.

The poisonous sting
pumps out a pheromone.

This goads the swarm
into a stinging frenzy.

With their extra senses enhanced
by human breeding,

they?re a killing machine.

Running is only for the fit.

Killer bees can give
chase up to a mile.

Even here, there?s no escape.

The bees may wait for over an hour,

perseverance derived
from their African ancestors.

Killer bees were the result
of a disastrous human experiment,

but killer plants exist in nature.

They even talk to each other.

Acacias can warn their neighbours
of impending danger.

When eaten by a browsing animal,
the leaves release a gas

that conveys a message
to nearby trees.

When the leaves receive the signal,
they react in a remarkable way.

Toxins spread throughout the leaves.

In just 30 minutes, the leaves
are laced with poisonous tannins.

To avoid poisoning,
giraffes and antelope

only graze for short periods
before they move on.

Many of the secret powers
of plants have just been revealed.

The more we discover,
the more like animals they seem.

Distort our perception of time
and the similarities become clearer.

Even though they lack
specialised nerve cells,

they do have a primitive nervous system

that transmits electrical signals.

Cut the grass and it reacts, nervously.

Electricity fires a warning bolt.

This electrical impulse
tells the grass to grow

and become more toxic.

It responds as though we were
a grazing animal and fights back.

Climbers, like these passion vines,

have tendrils sensitive
to the slightest touch.

The electric message
passes through the plant cells.

The tendrils react by growing
a spring-coiled clasp.

If plants are so sensitive,

how do household plants react
to our attentions?

Deprived of outside stimulation,

a caring touch
actually promotes growth.

Even tiny voice vibrations
may excite a house plant

and trigger stretch-sensitive cells
responsible for growth.

Best of all, the carbon dioxide
from our breath is food.

For plants, it?s good to talk.

Plants are so sensitive, some even
sense the coming of storms.

(Thunderclap)

A bird?s extra senses include hearing.

They detect thunder at a pitch
far below our hearing limits.

These infrasounds
carry hundreds of kilometres

and may warn of bad weather ahead.

Hearing infrasound may give birds
another surprising power.

To migrate successfully,
pelicans must find

the twisting columns of hot air
known as thermals.

These create
a storm of infrasound.

They also hear the infrasound
from office air conditioning, cars,

and even underground gas mains.

Although inaudible to us,
these sounds can make us feel ill.

(Siren wails)

By listening for the rumble
of churning air,

the pelicans can fly
towards the thermal.

(Rumbling)

0nce they reach the base,
they rise in the updraught.

The thermal may spiral them
3,000 metres above the ground.

At the top, they peel off and glide
away to catch their next free ride.

Like this, they float on air
from Europe to Africa.

(Snorting)

Elephants were the first land creatures

known to have the power
to generate infrasound.

(Grunting)

Their secret rumbles
carry ten kilometres or more

and act as a rallying call.

(Rumbling grunts )

The sounds are also used as
greetings and for other social calls.

(Grunting)

Since this landmark discovery,
other animals have been found

that make sounds
beyond our perception.

Hippos are now known
to use infrasound too.

They also have a whole private
repertoire of other calls.

(Grunting and rumbling)

Even though these sounds
lie within our auditory range,

the water surface acts as a barrier,
preventing us ever hearing them.

The male uses these private calls
to communicate with the female.

(Clicking)

Advances that are not always welcome.

(Grunting)

The bellow we hear
is expelled through the nostrils

and contains infrasound.

(Grunting)

The call also radiates underwater
and is picked up by the jaw.

In air, infrasound
carries five kilometres.

It?s picked up by the ear.

Both sounds leave together,

but in water,
sound travels five times faster.

In air, it lags behind.

Hippos are thought
to exploit this time lag

to judge how close a rival may be.

They can hear underwater
infrasound 30 kilometres away.

When they finally meet,
the outcome can be spectacular.

As well as hippos, many other
animals are now known to share

the sonic power that was
first discovered in elephants.

Rhinos warn their offspring of
danger with these infrasounds too.

(Grunting)

(Rumbling)

(Growling)

Another extrasensory power in
elephants has been discovered.

It lies in their feet.

(Trumpeting)

When threatened, they resort
to seismic communication.

These shock waves carry to herds
50 kilometres away,

alerting them to the threat.

The tremors travel up the leg and
are transmitted to the inner ear.

But sometimes
an elephant?s power deserts him.

(Trumpeting)

No animal uses extrasensory
sound more effectively

than the dolphin.

Many of its calls are pitched
far above our hearing range.

Like a ship?s sonar,
it sends out these ultrasounds

and creates a picture
from the returning echoes.

(Clicking)

Its forehead focuses
the sound into a beam.

Used like a sonic
torch, it scans for prey.

To gather more information,
it ups the pulse rate,

penetrating its prey like an X-ray.

There are reports of shipwreck
victims attracting dolphins.

Their sonar penetrates us too,

making our skeletons and lungs visible.

As mammals,
we must appear similar to them.

Dolphins find pregnant woman
particularly fascinating.

Its sonar acts like an ultrasound scan.

(Heart beats )

It even hears the embryo?s heartbeat.

Perhaps they recognise
similarities here, too.

Sharks feature in
another dolphin story.

When people are in trouble,

dolphins are supposed
to ward off sharks.

They repel with high-speed blows.

Stories also tell of them
saving people from drowning,

bringing them to the surface,
as though aware of the danger.

Some believe there?s
a special bond between us.

Science is more rational.

Dolphins support their own injured
at the surface,

for they too can drown.

Perhaps our struggles
trigger this behaviour.

Alternatively, we may simply be
a novel plaything for them.

Whatever the truth,
the known extrasensory powers

of these incredible creatures

are as remarkable
as any myths or legends.

Extra senses are only one kind
of supernatural power.

There are many others.

0ur next supernatural journey

will explore animal powers
at the outer limits of endurance.