Thor Hanson

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TV & Film
  • The UnBelievable
  • WIRED Biology Support
  • WIRED Currents
  • PBS NATURE Shorts
  • PBS American Spring Live
  • A Day Without Seeds
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Contact

Thor Hanson

Thor HansonThor HansonThor Hanson
Home
About
Books
  • Close to Home
  • Hurricane Lizards
  • Buzz
  • The Triumph of Seeds
  • Feathers
  • The Impenetrable Forest
Children's Books
  • The Escape Artist
  • Star and the Maestro
  • Bartholomew Quill
TV & Film
  • The UnBelievable
  • WIRED Biology Support
  • WIRED Currents
  • PBS NATURE Shorts
  • PBS American Spring Live
  • A Day Without Seeds
Events
Research
Contact
More
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Close to Home
    • Hurricane Lizards
    • Buzz
    • The Triumph of Seeds
    • Feathers
    • The Impenetrable Forest
  • Children's Books
    • The Escape Artist
    • Star and the Maestro
    • Bartholomew Quill
  • TV & Film
    • The UnBelievable
    • WIRED Biology Support
    • WIRED Currents
    • PBS NATURE Shorts
    • PBS American Spring Live
    • A Day Without Seeds
  • Events
  • Research
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Close to Home
    • Hurricane Lizards
    • Buzz
    • The Triumph of Seeds
    • Feathers
    • The Impenetrable Forest
  • Children's Books
    • The Escape Artist
    • Star and the Maestro
    • Bartholomew Quill
  • TV & Film
    • The UnBelievable
    • WIRED Biology Support
    • WIRED Currents
    • PBS NATURE Shorts
    • PBS American Spring Live
    • A Day Without Seeds
  • Events
  • Research
  • Contact

PBS NATURE Short Films

Thor writes and hosts an ongoing series of ultra-short (<1 minute) videos for PBS Nature to share with their large social media following.  Each episode unfolds like a natural history haiku, a tiny lesson on some fascinating aspect of biology that viewers can look for in their own outdoor rambles.  Click the images below for links to episodes on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

How Do Ducks Stay Dry?

Thor Hanson's short film for PBS Nature explains how birds stay dray with  waterproof feathers

What is Amber?

Thor Hanson's short video for PBS Nature on how amber forms from tree resin

Amber (Part 2)

Thor Hanson's short video for PBS nature explaining the formation of amber as a fossil tree resin

Zombie Stump

Oxygen for Fish

Thor Hanson's short film for PBS nature about root grafting in trees.

Beetle Tracks

Oxygen for Fish

Oxygen for Fish

Thor Hanson's PBS Nature video of beetle tracks in wood featuring golden jewel beetle

Oxygen for Fish

Oxygen for Fish

Oxygen for Fish

Not a Bumblebee!

Why Caterpillars Fear Flies

How do Cicadas Sing?

Thor Hanson's short video  for PBS Nature of bumblebee mimic Eristalis flavipes, a syrphid fly

How do Cicadas Sing?

Why Caterpillars Fear Flies

How do Cicadas Sing?

Thor Hanson's short video  for PBS Nature of how male cicadas use tymbals to sing at 100 decibels.

Why Caterpillars Fear Flies

Why Caterpillars Fear Flies

Why Caterpillars Fear Flies

Thor Hanson's video for PBS Nature about tent caterpillars and parasitic tachinid flies.

How Do Duckbills Work?

How to Hide a Bird's Nest

Why Caterpillars Fear Flies

Thor Hanson's video for PBS Nature about how dabbling duck bills filter food from water and mud.

How to Hide a Bird's Nest

How to Hide a Bird's Nest

How to Hide a Bird's Nest

Thor Hanson's PBS Nature video about Hutton's vireo nests camouflaged with lichens

Animals Use Tools?

How to Hide a Bird's Nest

How to Hide a Bird's Nest

Thor Hanson's PBS Nature video about tool use in chimpanzees, elephants, sea otters, and people

What is a Potter Wasp?

Thor Hanson film for PBS Nature of potter wasp Odynerus with Hypera beetle larva

Why do Leopards Hide Food?

Thor Hanson explains leopard habit of caching and hiding kills in trees for PBS Nature

The Afterlife of Trees

The Afterlife of Trees

Thor Hanson explains the life in dead trees, including beetles, termites, racocons, for PBS Nature

Acid Ants

Why do Hummingbirds Shimmer?

The Afterlife of Trees

Thor Hanson explains how Formica thatch ants and wood ants produce formic acid for PBS Nature

The Pollinator Challenge!

Why do Hummingbirds Shimmer?

Why do Hummingbirds Shimmer?

Thor Hanson identifies bumblebees, mining bees, sweat bees, and wasps on goldenrod for PBS Nature

Why do Hummingbirds Shimmer?

Why do Hummingbirds Shimmer?

Why do Hummingbirds Shimmer?

Thor Hanson describes pigments and structural colors in hummingbird feathers for PBS Nature

Male Bees Can't Sting

Thor Hanson catches a bumblebee and describes how stingers evolved female ovipositor for PBS Nature

How Wasps Make Paper

Slug Slime

Woolly Bears!

Pacific banana slug in Thor Hanson video for PBS Nature about slug slime and biomimicry medical glue

Woolly Bears!

Yellowjackets in Winter

Woolly Bears!

Woolly bear caterpillar tiger moth larvae stripes can't predict weather

Sweet Kale?

Yellowjackets in Winter

Yellowjackets in Winter

Thor Hanson video for PBS nature about frost resistance in plants.

Yellowjackets in Winter

Yellowjackets in Winter

Yellowjackets in Winter

Giant Ichneumon Wasp!

Giant Ichneumon Wasp!

Giant Ichneumon Wasp!

Thor Hanson film for PBS Nature of giant ichneumon wasp in the genus Megarhyssa

Tricky Dandelions

Giant Ichneumon Wasp!

Giant Ichneumon Wasp!

Thor Hanson explains the composit flowers of a Dandelion blossom.

Supercooled Water!

Giant Ichneumon Wasp!

Hibernating Paper Wasps

Thor Hanson explains of super cooled water and the use of a seed crystal to freeze water instantly

Hibernating Paper Wasps

Mining Bees & Cuckoo Bees

Hibernating Paper Wasps

Polistes dominula paper wasps hibernating in a bird house

Mining Bees & Cuckoo Bees

Mining Bees & Cuckoo Bees

Mining Bees & Cuckoo Bees

How Bumblebees Get Warm

Mining Bees & Cuckoo Bees

Mining Bees & Cuckoo Bees

Amazing Bushtit Nest

Amazing Bushtit Nest

Amazing Bushtit Nest

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