Is this something new, or the same old...

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NEXT ON NOVA: "Orchid Hunter"

http://www.pbs.org/nova/orchid

Broadcast: December 9, 2003
(NOVA airs Tuesdays on PBS at 8 p.m. Check your local listings as
dates and times may vary.)

For nine months in 2000, Tom Hart Dyke was a captive of guerrillas
who seized him while he was collecting wild orchids in the Colombian
rain forest. Now Hart Dyke is at it again in the most orchid-rich
and politically unstable part of New Guinea. NOVA investigates an
all-consuming passion that for some people is more precious than life
itself. Ranging from the scientific to the sociological,
"Orchid Hunter" covers research at the forefront of plant biology.
Long of interest to scientists because of their remarkable
evolutionary history, orchids are equally exciting to collectors,
who have made them a multibillion-dollar industry.

Here's what you'll find on the companion Web site:

Slide Show and Article

Orchid Gallery
Sample the surprising diversity of shapes and colors in this
collection of 15 different orchid species.

A Plant With Smarts
In this article and video clip, Susan Orlean, author of The
Orchid Thief, muses about the orchid's "clever and unplantlike
determination to survive."

Overview and Interactive

Great Amateurs in Science
Thomas Jefferson. Arthur C. Clarke. Joseph Priestley. Meet 10
nonscientists who have made extraordinary contributions to
science.

Classifying Life
What do a polar bear and a sea cucumber have in common? More
than you might imagine. Find out in this game.

Resources

A list of related links and books, a teacher's guide, and the
program transcript

http://www.pbs.org/nova/orchid