Order and chaos

The difference between order and chaos can depend on your
perspective. The systems and processes that drive the natural
world might seem random in close-up, whether it’s an ant
wandering around near its nest, or a wildebeest charging through
the water. But if you zoom out, you can see how these small
activities combine to form part of a bigger picture.


The Darwin Tree Of Life project is an attempt to bring order to
nature by sequencing the DNA of every living thing in the UK, a
staggering 70,000 species. The research team explains how they’ll
keep on target by doing a little light sequencing before their
morning coffee.


We fly high with one of nature’s most stunning visual displays of
order, murmuration, learning from Professor Mario Pesendorfer how
this magical movement comes together, and how birds move in
perfect sync with no leader.


And wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson – who has helped to
create some of the BBC’s best-loved nature documentaries – takes
us on a trip to Maasai Mara, where the annual rains bring a
natural order to the migration patterns of wildebeest.


Credits:


The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and
Rutendo Shackleton.


This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh.


The researcher was Seb Masters.


The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production
Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton.


Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing
and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews.


The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive
Producer is Deborah Dudgeon.


Special thanks to:


Caroline Howard, Liam Crowley and Mark Blaxter for the feature on
the Darwin Tree of Life Project.


Mario Pesendorfer for sharing his insights into murmurations.


Chris Watson for providing the wildebeest soundscape.


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