[November 21, 2009]

Science fare for Nov. 21, 2009 [The Santa Fe New Mexican]

(Santa Fe New Mexican, The (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 21--Upcoming Science, Nature and technology programs on KNME Public Television "Okie Noodling II" 7 p.m. today For hundreds of years, thrill-seeking fishermen in the South have been diving into murky creeks, rivers and lakes in search of bank-dwelling catfish. In 2002, filmmaker Bradley Beesley brought the strange subculture of bare-handed catfishing to public television audiences in the award-winning film, Okie Noodling. In the sequel, Beesley returns to his home state of Oklahoma to chronicle the sport's evolution over the last decade. He revisits the colorful, original cast and meets some new and eccentric fishermen en route to the largest noodling tournament in the United States. This latest installment also explores the legalization issues and commercialization of this once backwoods practice.

Wild!: "Return of the Prime Predators" 9 a.m. Sunday A look at one of the most daring conservation projects of all time as an experimental wildlife preserve is situated among the wine estates and sheep farms of South Africa.

Nature: "Fellowship of the Whales" Ch. 5.1 -- 10 a.m. Sunday Ch. 9.1 -- 8 p.m. Saturday The story of the first year of a humpback whale's life as she learns the lessons of humpback life from her mother. Together, they make the long journey from her birthplace in the suptropical waters in Hawaii to summer feeding grounds in the cold seas off Alaska's southeast coast. The youngster will meet dangerous orcas and sharks, and playful dolphins and seals. She will learn to use her flippers and tail to announce herself and to communicate with other whales. By the time they return to Hawaii for the winter, she will be ready to set out on her own and find her own place in her community of whales.

NOVA: "Becoming Human -- Part 3" Ch. 5.1 -- 11 a.m. Sunday Ch. 9.1 -- 7 p.m. Saturday NOVA presents a definitive three-part special that investigates explosive new discoveries that are transforming the picture of how we became human. In the final program, NOVA probes a wave of dramatic new evidence, based partly on cutting-edge DNA analysis, that reveals new insights into how we became the creative and "behaviorally modern" humans of today, and what really happened to the enigmatic Neanderthals who faded into extinction. Shot "in the trenches" as discoveries were unearthed throughout Africa and Europe, each hour of "Becoming Human" unfolds with a forensic investigation into the life and death of a specific hominid ancestor. Dry bones spring back to vivid life with stunning animation, the product of a unique NOVA collaboration between top anthropologists and a talented team of movie animators.

"Secrets of Shangri-La" 1 p.m. Sunday In the legendary kingdom of Mustang, a remote corner of the Himalaya previously off-limits to outsiders, a team of explorers and scientists climbs for the first time into human-carved caves thousands of years old. They find priceless 14th-century wall paintings, ancient human remains and a centuries-old hidden library of sacred texts that may reveal some secrets about Shangri-la.

"Lost Cave Temples" 2 p.m. Sunday In a remote corner of the Himalayas, in the forbidden kingdom of Mustang, a team of climbers scale cliffs to climb into mysterious caves for the first time and discover ancient cave temples lost to the modern world.

Nature: "The Cheetah Orphans" 7 p.m. Sunday Veteran filmmaker Simon King takes on the role of mother to two cheetah cubs, Toki and Sambu, orphaned when their mother was killed by a lion. It's a two-year rollercoaster, from terrifying stand-offs with rhinos and leopards to some of the most intimate moments of cheetah "Seabiscuit: American Experience" 9 p.m. Monday He was boxy, with stumpy legs that wouldn't completely straighten, a short straggly tail and an ungainly gait, but though he didn't look the part, Seabiscuit was one of the most remarkable thoroughbred racehorses in history. In the 1930s, when Americans longed to escape the grim realities of Depression-era life, four men turned Seabiscuit into a national hero.

NOVA: "Why Do We Dream?" 8 p.m. Tuesday and again 9 p.m. Thursday What are dreams and why do we have them? Are they a window into a hidden realm within us? Science is only just beginning to understand. NOVA joins the leading dream researchers and witnesses the extraordinary experiments they use to investigate the world of sleep. From human narcoleptics to sleepwalking cats, from recurrent nightmares to those who can't dream, each sequence contains a vital clue to the question these scientists are pursuing: why do we dream? Wild!: "The Nature of Aggression" 7 p.m. Thursday Fighting seems to be a part of human nature, but what about in the rest of the animal kingdom. Understanding aggressive behavior in wildlife may help us understand our own inclination toward conflict.

Nature: "The Desert Lions" 8 p.m. Thursday The world's most extraordinary population of lions lives in the Namib Desert of Africa's wild and forbidding Skeleton Coast. Philip Stander, a Namibian carnivore specialist, first spotted these desert lions in the mid-1980s, watching in disbelief as a lioness killed a fur seal in the waves and dragged it five miles inland to feed her cubs. Before he had a chance to study them further, they disappeared, and Stander became obsessed with their fate and their story. Twenty years later, the lions reappeared, giving him a second chance to unravel their secrets.

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