Video Collections

This video highlights our education programs.

Take a peek into the Academy's Center for Comparative Genomics with the lab's director, Brian Simison. Learn how cutting-edge technology is changing the way our scientists work.

Debbie Miller, naturalist and author of Midnight Wilderness:  Journeys in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, shared her experiences hiking and canoeing in the wildlife-rich western Arctic.  

Don’t miss Earthquake, a major new exhibit and planetarium show, opening May 26, 2012. Take a kinetic journey toward understanding these super seismic phenomena and how they fit into the larger story of our ever-changing Earth. Our planetarium show, Evidence of a Restless Planet, will launch you on a breathtaking tour through space and time. Fly over the San Andreas fault before diving into the planet’s interior, travel back in time to witness both the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the break-up of Pangaea 200 million years ago, and much more.

Learn how scientists at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center are engineering safer buildings, bridges and roads to stand tall in the next big jolt.

Pacific leatherback sea turtles are in trouble. A recent designation of protected areas is a good start to helping them.

Dr. Peter Fritsch, Curator, Department of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences, describes how over the period of 10 years he and colleagues discovered the first carnivorous plant species known to trap and digest worms underground using adhesive leaves. This species, Philcoxia minensis, is part of the family Plantaginaceae, which is not believed to be otherwise carnivorous at all. Collaborators included Caio Pereira, Daniela Almenara, Carlos Winter, Hans Lambers, Rafael Oliveira, Frank Almeda, Angela Martins, Gary Williams, and Fabeinne Audebert.

After 62 years, Academy researcher Dave Blackburn and his colleagues have rediscovered the Bururi Long-Fingered Frog. A closely-related species to frogs Dave studies in Cameroon, this species, found 1,500 miles away in Burundi, may shed light on Africa’s historical climate conditions.

Researchers from Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and California Academy of Sciences chat, answer questions and discuss the Farallones and many species of marine plants and animals that make these areas their home.

Studying the evolutionary history of viruses Shannon Bennet is facinated by the life histrory of parasitism.  Where do these Viruses occur in nature, how many of them are there, and how do they switch into new hosts?

Found on an obscure island, the tiny, small-brained, big-footed, "Homo florensiencsis," or "the hobbit," is unlike any other discovery. Where did this being come from, and who are its ancestors? In this light-hearted debate, two eminent biological anthropologists, attempt to lift a corner of the veil obscuring one of paleoanthropology's most intriguing mysteries. This program is jointly sponsored by the Leakey Foundation and the California Academy of Sciences. 

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In many tissues, they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. San Francisco’s Gladstone Institutes is a leading force in stem cell research. In this presentation, Gladstone Investigator Dr. Bruce Conklin explains the surprising past, present, and future of stem cells. 

Dr. Luiz Rocha. Dr. Rocha's research interests center on the evolution, biogeography, and ecology of coral reef fishes. His overarching goal is to understand what drives the extremely high biodiversity found in tropical reefs.

Colorful minerals are often cut for fashioning into jewelry, but they also have a more practical side too.  We use some of them every day.

Excerpted from Land of Enchantment and Steve Yellowhorse, Navajo Silversmith.  Native American flute music by Ron Perry.