Blind Spots: Underground Landscape

Series

Series Name: Living Tomorrow

Issue

Issue No.

265

Date Released

1981

Length of issue (in feet)

520

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

COI synopsis: The ability to see, marvellous as it is, sometimes doesn’t go far enough. A farmer can’t see beneath his land, or a fireman through dense smoke, or a sailor beneath his boat. This programme explores how these blind spots can be illuminated. Science, with the aid of powerful microscopes, has discovered a miniature landscape in the soil. It’s full of ready-made holes for plant roots and myriad small animals which keep the soil healthy. Crush the earth with a heavy tractor, and you kill this micro-world - destroy the earth’s fertility. Farmers can now "see", through computer analysis of crushed and uncrushed soils, when he may plough, with what machinery, and in what conditions - ensuring that his fields remain fertile.

Researcher Comments

Story also appears in ‘Living Tomorrow No. 303’

Keywords

Agriculture; Science and technology; Engineering; Computers and computing

Written sources

COI Microfilm Roll 55 [BFI National Archive] Used for synopsis

COI Reference

MI 1458/265

Credits:

Cutter: Allen Bowry
Sponsor: Central Office of Information (COI)
Sponsor: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Cutter: Mike Murray

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name: British Film Institute (BFI)
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Notes: The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
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Record Stats