Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
An insect native to the Oaxaca region of Mexico, the cochineal spends most of its life feeding on cacti nutrients. While, from a human point of view, these parasitic insects may have somewhat unremarkable lives, they’ve long captured our attention for the unmatched brilliance of the crimson hue produced by their hemolymph – the arthropod equivalent to blood, which in most insects is clear. Captured in stunning 4K resolution, this video from the science documentary series Deep Look captures the fascinating biology of these small creatures, as well as how female cochineal have been cultivated for centuries, and can still be used in food colourings today.
Video by KQED Science
Producer: Rosa Amanda Tuirán
Writer: Laura Klivans
Cinematographer: Josh Cassidy
video
Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes
video
Engineering
Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?
15 minutes
video
Virtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes
video
History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes
video
Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
video
Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
video
Stories and literature
Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling
14 minutes
video
Technology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes