Power of the Rainbow - Go Wild

[Music] [Music] the red hues of a morning Sky just one of a great gamut of colors that can bring pleasure and wonder to anyone watching but where do colors come from and why is the world full of so many different [Music] hues as the Sun appears above the dark Horizon it brings the energy behind color on Earth the power of the rainbow [Music] [Music] all things living strive towards color gut wrote and color owes its existence entirely to the Rays of the Sun plants glow in the light of the Sun and through Evolution Nature has created the most incredible range of [Music] colors [Music] the there is one color however which is so prevalent that it has come to describe our world set against the pitch black expanse of space our Blue Planet Sparkles like a jewel [Music] in stark contrast the grey moon is hostile to life there is no atmosphere to paint the sky blue no water to reflect a sapphire colored glint from the sun's [Music] rays [Music] sunlight shows its true character only on Earth the Rays of the sun are electromagnetic waves composed of many wavelengths we see different colors depending on the wavelength of light reaching our eyes to see all the colors of sunlight side by side requires one of Nature's Optical tricks when the angle of arriving sunlight and the drop's density and shape on the flower just right the droplet splits light into its components there is another natural phenomenon that makes the sun show off its full spectrum of colors the process begins when somber Gray Shades are mixed in in the sky and minute water drops are heaped up into cloud [Applause] formations if even in the gray Gloom the sun momentarily pierces the clouds then the secret of sunlight is revealed minute water drops reflect and refract the sun's Rays Fanning them into various wavelengths the shortwave range appears blue the longwave Rays red at the visible spectrum Center light takes on a green [Music] Hue when reassembled Violet green and yellow Rays once again produce the color white solid pigments of the kind used by artists work in exactly the opposite manner Canan yellow and purple paint blend into black substances appearing black absorb all light whilst white reflects all colors these extremes are spanned by the millions of possible shades with you can perceive amongst the innumerable colors produced by Nature two have a basic significance to life without the red of blood we could not exist a substance called hemoglobin gives the blood its color it is responsible for the absorption and transport of [Music] [Music] oxygen there is an iron atom at the hemoglobin molecule CER Center if it was swapped for a magnesium atom then a new substance would be created this new molecule is responsible for life's second essential color the green of chlorophyll chlorophyll absorbs red light it is a reflected green light that produces the color of leaves the combination of chlorophyll and the energy of the sun enables plants to produce food oxygen is released as a byproduct no animal including ourselves could exist without green plants and their waste gas in Mar contrast to their functional green the colored Splendor of Autumn Leaves reveals that the precious chlorophyll has been [Music] removed Dead Leaves create a basis for New Life they can be overgrown by slime molds that form bizarre shapes as they move [Music] it's only when the slime mold reproduces that its true beauty becomes [Music] apparent for the II produced spor fores of wonderful [Music] [Music] Hues they made Delight The Observer but the spor for's colors have no known function other living organisms use their color for a purpose viewed from above this toad is inconspicuous at least until approached by something novel a ground beetle for example in its defense posture the toad flashes its Underside the brightly patterned belly is designed to shock and create fear and it seems to work brightly colored markings carry a distinct message take care poison though the ladyb bird's pretty dots Inspire affection from humans in reality their wing pattern issues a clear warning any animal foolish enough to try and eat the ladyb bird gets a mouthful of foul tasting poisonous liquid even as ly the ladyb bird's conspicuous colors indicate that they are distasteful those who survive trying to eat this disgusting morsel will be reminded by their bright color passion not to try again again lady birs acquire their poison from their food and they'll continue consuming aphids even while they're mating there are just a few select molecules that give life its colored Splendor The Uninvited visitor to this vegetable plot is after the most important of them the humble carrot has given cartine its name through its many chemical variants katene produces a wide variety of colors of nature every year nature produces 1 million tons of carotenoids the chemical variations on the carotene theme pheasants display their use of carotenoids the eyes of this bird contain the amount of carotene equivalent to that found in 10,000 Kats but kerene does more than bring color the pigment is sensitive to light and aided by certain albumin compounds it can turn light into the microelectrical impulses essential to seeing [Music] animals that use Kines as a color have gained the pigment second hand flamingos extract their pink from primitive algae that are full of carotene the tiny algae is sifted out by means of the flamingo special beak the birds pump water through a sort of Si where kattin rich micro organisms are trapped when the algae run out their pink plumage quickly turns pale that's why zoos used to feed them red peppers rich in the pigment as a rule though flamingos only only suffer a lack of color in captivity in the wild they remain in the [Music] pink it's thought that the Curious marching ritual supports the group's sense of belonging but it may also signal the bird's need to move even underwater carotenoids bring a splash of color katene can take on almost any Hue depending only on the albumin compound it's a part [Music] of a carotenoid makes the shell of this crayfish blue the crayfish's relative the lobster ranges in color from Blue to Brown when the poor animal is immersed in boiling water the carotene albumin bond is broken and the lobster turns bright red pigments not only differ in color but also in the way they're used melanin for instance combines with the hormones that control the emotions chameleons have turned this combination into an art form they literally change color as the mood takes them no matter whether it's aggression happiness or sexual desire these lizards have a color pattern these two males inform each other by displays of color that there's only room for one of them on this branch what are these spotted comedians trying to tell one another their pigments fail this time to resolve their dispute and instead the lizards rely on brute strength even the chameleon's mating ritual is controlled by colors the female encourages her chosen male by enticing pattern of [Music] pigments immediately after pairing the female changes color to signal to all other males that she no longer wishes to mate different species of chameleons use different color patterns despite her bright yellow stripes this female finds it hard to get a message across to the larger male and in the end a bite says it all the menine in the chameleon skin functions like any other pigment it absorbs most of the Sun's light just a small part of the spectrum is reflected and appears as a visible color but there are other ways to create colors despite the dazzling appearance the peacock's plumage has no real colors it is the fine structure within the feathers that gives the bird its colorful metallic Sheen the cells of the feathers contain tiny bubbles that split and reflect sunlight so that only certain wavelength lengths of light escape to reach the Observer it's similar to how a soap bubble produces the colors of the rainbow in this manner an object can appear colorful without pigment of its [Music] own irrespective of how light is reflected the resulting color has a common function throughout the natural world in Spring there's a flush of New Life throughout the Dan's riverine forests brought on by the increasing warmth and day length this is the time to breed and on their return from Africa several pairs of Reed warblers have built nests and laid their [Music] eggs there are plenty of insects to feed the chicks but these Reed wobblers are feeding not their own young but are [Music] cuckoo the color of the chick gape demands food it is the stimulus that triggers the parents feeding reflexes the bigger and brighter the gape the stronger the signal for food the cuckoo takes advantage of this simple rule the Reed wobblers see only the throats intense orange color and never noticed their [Music] mistake the power of color is so strong that even the young cuckoo's obvious size difference doesn't make the adult birds suspicious in fact foster parents work harder than birds with their own young nesting birds like wobblers are driven by the signals their chicks send out they are slaves to color normally The Nest provides enough space for a brooding adult with a monstrous lodger however space is scarce but the foster parent still attempts to brood whether it's in the woods along the danu or a tropical rainforest Evolution has found uses for the power of color whilst flowers can be garishly bright many far forest dwellers blend into the shadowy greens of the rainforest they put their trust in the strategies of camouflage and disguise those wearing a conspicuous garb have a very good reason to do so this tree Frog's extravagant pattern proclaims its poisonous nature the colors may even evoke bitter memories of the taste for the watching monkeys flamboyant C colors often signal unpalatable flesh as the tree frogs demonstrate but this bright yellow frog from Colombia doesn't just taste bad it's lethal when in danger its skin exudes one of Nature's most potent poisons the toxic secretions of a single frog can kill 10 people the Indios prepare their darts with the Frog's poison the briefest contact turns a wooden Dart into a deadly chemical weapon the sloth is spared it is taboo for the Indios to hunt them but there are no such restrictions for monkeys the Frog's poison kills the monkey instantaneously for the frogs communication by Color Works they are rarely attacked thanks to their bright appearance but for colors to be effective they have to be recognized by other animals sometimes the communication system breaks down sety flies are notorious for their persistent attacks on large mammals including humans to a setti fly trapped in the Museum of Natural History the world might look a little like this set homing on their victim by smell but they'll only land if they can see a large patch of uniform color the mosquitoes don't recognize the zebra as a suitable landing area the zebrra stripes save it from the FES painful bite but a buffalo looks like an ideal prey to the [Music] setti apart from the occasional misunderstanding Evolution ensures that the animals that see them understand the color signals take a typical Spring Meadow in Europe there are colors Galore the plants advertise their nectar and butterflies their terrible taste many plants use color to lure passing insects to perform the crucial Act of pollination the insect's reward is nectar the plants compete with each other for pollinators colorful signals are their means of attracting flying pollen carriers from an insect's perspective FL is a signpost that direct the visitor straight to the sticky pollen some flowers have honey guides that act as an invitation to the insects but they do more they draw the insect to the pollen the guides are often rows of lines that all lead to the stamens this flower has taken the principle a stage further first the staman with its pollen Rises the colorful honey guides draw the bee towards the center of the flower the upright stamms ensure pollen is caught on the insect's hair having spread its pollen in this way the flower lowers the stamms to reveal the pistols the female sex organs if a bee with pollen and its body now arrives the colorful honey guides will Usher it around the pistol and so ensure pollination the garden herb sage has an equally refined mechanism for pollination as the bee reaches in to drink nectar its weight causes a long stamman to stamp pollen onto its back [Music] colors Aid insects in their rle as pollinators in the case of the chestnut tree there is even a proper traffic system Chestnut blossoms that have already been pollinated turned pink this tells the bees that they have no more nectar to give a yellow patch however signals an [Music] invitation by means of these traffic lights the chestnut directs the bees to its new flowers that require pollination color signals aren't always that obvious a flower's a color may not be what it first appears many a shade of yellow contains information meant only for the eyes of bees some blossoms sew their honey guides within the ultraviolet band of Light which unlike us bees can perceive from a bee's perspective white turns into a blue violet and bright red into black the ultraviolet signals make the flowers attractive to the bees red blossoms are designed to be pollinated by moths or birds like the hermit hummingbird they perceive what bees don't the color red the bull sees the same color during a bull fight or does [Music] it why else would a todor wave a red cloth before a bull's [Music] nose the truth is it's the spikes in it back and the cloth's movement that provoke the bull the cuted cloth might as well be gray Bulls are completely blind to the color red many of our farm animals and pets are like the bull they have a limited color perception most mammals can distinguish between green and red the full richness of color however is beyond their vision [Music] sheep seem to have little sense of color they see the warning orange of the fence as dull [Music] gray to a horse's eye bright red poppies are not a color signal as if to compensate for their poor color vision many mammals have a highly developed sense of smell it is the smell of fresh meat that attracts mammals not its [Music] color the dog sees its meal and The Cheeky thief in the same Shades of Gray a cat can't distinguish between all colors either to a playful kitten the color of wool is irrelevant the world appears dull underwater even for animals with eyes like ours that can see colors at a depth of 15 M the underwater world is a monotonous blue [Music] gray these monochrome surroundings come alive only in the sunlit shallows or when artificial light is taken to the [Music] [Music] depths by using a pair of color scales it's easy to see how the sea absorbs color the deeper one Dives first red disappears then yellow and eventually green loses its intensity only short waved blue light can penetrate greater [Music] depths the beam of a spotlight shows how colorful this Dark World could be the biological reason for the Sumptuous colors of the deep remains a mystery [Music] Predators such as mors rely on other senses than Vision the water is full of odors chemical signals and the fish here depend on them more than the weak blue light that filters down from the distant [Music] surface [Music] it is a strange Paradox that some of the planet's most colorful creatures live underwater where all colors are subdued the meaning of color under the sea remains a [Music] secret do these abstract experiments with colors have any meaning sadly the artist can't explain them Small Wonder as they are the work of the orangutang called Nona from the shamb Bron zoo in [Music] vien NAA has been experimenting with color for several years by now she has become a proficient artist and her paintings fetch high prices at auctions [Music] for NAA it's the handling of the paints that's important sometimes she finds them good enough to [Music] eat we humans have an intense relationship with colors like na our color vision is highly developed [Music] for children color can sometimes be as much about the sense of touch as a [Music] vision science has yet to fully understand how we perceive color though we do know how the light sensitive cells of the retina work it's still an enigma how the impression of color enters our consciousness [Music] colors have a powerful effect on our minds they can influence our moods soothe or excite Express happiness or aggression we may perceive colors by other Roots than our eyes our bodies might be directly influenced by colored light if a blind man is exposed to Blue Light his body temperature may drop in green light the temperature rises again reaching its highest point in orange red the human brain reacts differently to different colors green for example comes from middle of the spectrum and some claim that's why soft green Shades have a soothing [Music] effect considering the importance colors have for us we all look rather plain perhaps that's why clothes and makeup are so important [Music] pigments extracted from animals or plants help make the world a more colorful Place each human culture uses body painting and Tattoos to make a visual statement [Music] it's not just skin that we use for effect for thousands of years we've been making and wearing colorful clothes colored tissues and stones have been discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs South and Central American cultures produce textiles whose color was derived from the cotal bug and in Europe the purple from a snail became a symbol of [Music] power the District of D in the Moroccan town of Fez looks like a huge paint box even today materials are dyed here according to traditional methods each man is a specialist in just one color and holds a secret of how to create his shade the spectrum of colors we can ring from nature is limited that's why to satisfy our desire for new colors we have turned to synthetic dyes [Music] just like chameleons or birds of paradise we not only use colors as a means of adornment but also for communication whilst animals May communicate in the same way for millions of years our color language changes more quickly sometimes within a matter of months [Music] people from other cultures have maintained a more traditional relationship with colors in Utah's Monument Valley there are still people who know about the old bond with [Music] nature the Navajo Indians have cultivated a language of shapes and colors to pay homage to [Music] Nature [Music] h Billy yellow is a 98-year-old medicine man he is continuing the ancient tradition of sand painting the pictures depict legends from the Navajo cultures folklore and represent natural phenomena with symbols the colored Earth tells of encounters with eagles prairie dogs or snakes and with mythical creatures such as the Spider-Man the Buffalo man or the rainbow [Music] goddess [Music] these intricate works of art have a religious significance and play a part in [Music] ceremonies [Music] as the origin of all colors the sun holds a prominent place in Navajo religion old Indian legends even tell of Journeys to the Sun but it is the sun's rays that journey to us bringing warmth and light to our planet on occasion a solar wind composed of charged atomic particles is drawn to the magnetic poles as these particles enter our atmosphere they collide with air molecules the millions of impacts produce the flickering dancing light named after the Greek goddess of dawn Aurora [Music] even messages from the ancient Universe are colorcoded the light spectrum of distant galaxies becomes redder as the clusters of stars move away from [Music] us when big stars expire after billions of years they shrink and concentrate their Mass into a tiny Point there's no escape from that black hole not even for light it's only where the force of gravity becomes unlimited that the power of the rainbow ends h

Channel: Go Wild

Views: 140,640

Keywords: orf universum, documentary, blue chip, natural history, secrets of nature, planet earth, natura, naturaleza, documentales, wildlife, power of the rainbow, colours, animals, spectrum

Id: bGZAeHbg3XI

Length: 49min 32sec (2972 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 11 2014