With a pack of impatient dogs barking that they’re ready to go, travel through Greenland on a dog sled, a mode of transport that is thousands of years old.

Premier Automne, a short film by French studio Je Regarde, is beautiful and emotional journey that explores nature’s balance: life, death, and the seasons.

Abel and his skeleton puppies live in an eternal winter. Apolline and her summer puppies frolic in the green. Keepers of their own seasons, they first encounter each other with curiosity before they both realize how different their worlds are, and how their worlds respond to each other. 

This story sparked a lot of discussion in our house, and the simple last scene has become an instant favorite. If you want to see how the animation was made, there is also a Premier Automne: Making Of video that shows some beautiful detail.

More nature, more seasons, and more animation in the archives.

via UFunk.net.

And now it’s time for 3+ minutes of jazz and tiny hailstones. From Aatish Bhatia at Empirical Zeal, “The Universal laws behind growth patterns, or what Tetris can teach us about coffee stains.”

As I watched this miniature world self-assemble on my windshield like an alien landscape, I wondered about the physics behind these patterns. I learned later that these patterns of ice are related to a rich and very active current area of research in math and physics known as universality. The key mathematical principles that belie these intricate patterns lead us to some unexpected places…

Observe this quiet, growing collection of ice particles on its own, or read on for a much deeper discussion of universality that includes diagrams, videos, and animated gifs.

Related quiet particle observation: Dust particles dance to a Radiohead cover. 

Two South African filmmakers and ecologists travel to South Georgia Island and Antarctica to film the animals that live on the seventh continent. In this episode from EarthTouch.tv, meet the trusting seals and penguins they find in this beautiful place that has no major land predators. 

You can watch Earth Touch’s entire Antarctica series here. There’s also more Antarctica in the archives.

via Climate Adaptation.

Bottle by Kirsten Lepore, a 2010 stop-motion animated story about a transoceanic, message-in-a-bottle conversation and the emotions that come with it.

We’ve featured Lepore’s work previously. You can also watch how she made Bottle in this behind the scenes vid.