Watch This: One of the last great migrations, a head-banging tortoise, and more

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See our producers’ favorite videos of the week.

|     1:48    |     NEWS    | Soaring Over Mountains and Glaciers—in a Powered Paraglider It’s not every day that you get to fly over glaciers in Alaska. But for paramotorists, it’s a hobby. Watch Chris Reynolds soar over an ice-studded lake, skim the Knik Glacier, and sweep over a snow-capped mountain peak. Since a paramotor consists of a frame, engine, and caged propeller, the aircraft can be launched directly from the ground. A regular paraglider can only take off from raised higher altitudes. —Elaina Zachos, online writer WATCH NOW SHARE

|     5:47    |     NEWS    | Watch Thousands of Cranes Take Flight in One of Earth’s Last Great Migrations Filming sandhill cranes during their spring migration stopover in Nebraska was an incredible experience. Thousands of these beautiful birds are visible at once, and the sound of them taking off from the river and flying over our viewing blind at sunrise was stunning. The fact that these cranes have existed for millions of years and have adapted to changing ecosystems is incredibly humbling—but biologists believe it is important to maintain conservation efforts while their numbers are still strong. —Amy Rankin, producer/editor WATCH NOW SHARE

|     1:21    |    NEWS    | Explore This Mesmerizing Microscopic World You might think this video is from an experimental art gallery, but it’s actually the first 3-D footage taken of cells inside living animals. The images of cells we’re used to seeing are taken from glass slides, removed from whatever host creature they were taken from. With this new technique, the cells can be observed and filmed performing their natural duties, in their own mesmerizing, microscopic universe. —Nick Lunn, producer/editor WATCH NOW SHARE

|     0:55    |     NEWS    | Why Is This Gopher Tortoise Head-Banging? This tortoise would fit right in at an AC/DC concert. She is a gopher tortoise named Gertrude, and she is very grumpy. Gertrude is being studied in Florida by scientists interested in the preservation of this threatened species. However, Gertrude doesn’t seem to like being studied. It is likely that her “head-banging” is a type of territorial or defensive behavior. —Richie Hertzberg, producer/editor WATCH NOW SHARE

|     4:20    |    101 VIDEOS    | Pangolins: The Most Trafficked Mammal You’ve Never Heard Of While living in Namibia in 2012, I encountered the strangest creature I’ve ever seen: a pangolin. This scaly mammal was curled up into a ball as a defense mechanism. Little did I know at the time how much danger the pangolin is in. All eight species, found only in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia, are at risk of extinction. Targeted primarily for their scales, pangolins are being poached at an alarming rate, about one every five minutes, or the time it takes you to watch this video. —Jed Winer, producer/editor WATCH NOW SHARE

ON TV

|      Tuesdays at 10/9c     | GENIUS: PICASSO Starring Antonio Banderas in the titular role, the second season of National Geographic’s 10-part, Emmy-nominated global event series, GENIUS: Picasso, explores how the artist’s passionate nature and relentless creative drive were inextricably linked to his personal life, which included tumultuous marriages, numerous affairs and constantly shifting political and personal alliances. WATCH CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO FREE

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