Friday, October 2, 2015

ZDF TerraX Series "The Magic of Colors" Oct 18 2015 19:30h CET

TerraX has contracted me to supply them with Vis + UV stills and a reflected UV HD video for their forthcoming two-part series "The Magic of Colors" which will air Oct 18 (part I) and Oct 25 (part II), 2015 19:30 hours CET on TV channel ZDF - my work will be shown in part I on Oct 18.

Quote TerraX: "Whether ocher, red, yellow, green or blue: Behind every color shade are hidden stories and amazing facts. Why do they have such a great importance for us people and why has that always been that way? Only those who could recognize whether a fruit is ripe or toxic, could survive. All colors in nature serve a biological purpose and every living being has specialized his perception towards that. But man alone manufactures colors and gives them symbolic power."

That also applies also to animals and flowers, and evlolution found amazing ways of plant-animal interaction, benefitting them both. However not all animals and insects have the very same color perception we humans have, some of them can see what we cannot see, ultraviolet (UV) light for instance, or the very faint UV induced visible fluorescence some flowers emit to attract night active moths, like this four o'clock flower (Mirabilis jalapa) for instance shown in human vision and fluorescence with its glowing pollen:

Here now some examples what pollinating bees are able to see and what we humans see, Brown Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) to start with (1st visible light and 2nd reflected UV)
There will also be a video showing a bee pollinating a Rubbeckia flower in reflected ultraviolet light:  

I'm pretty sure this whole series will be quite exciting to watch as there is so much more in it. Be sure to watch it of you can!

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...