Did you know you can watch full episodes of NOVA, PBS’s science show, for free on YouTube? Yeah, it was news to me too. There are about twenty episodes up at the moment, including Lord of the Ants, an hour-long documentary about E.O. Wilson, an ant biologist with a surprisingly controversial career.

I found this program totally engrossing, despite the slightly wooden narration by Harrison Ford. It’s great to see Wilson digging around in the dirt, allowing himself to be stung by fire ants…at the ripe old age of 80. He explains ants’ chemical communication, how they work in different ecological niches, what happens inside the colony, and other interesting ant-stuff. Kick off your shoes (check for ants first), and check it out below.

Representative quote: “He is a towering example of a specialist, a world authority. Nobody in the world has ever known as much as Ed Wilson about ants.” -Sir David Attenborough.

Or, watch it a bit bigger at YouTube. If you prefer QuickTime or Windows Media, PBS has the show online as well (but broken into chunks).