For the first time in human history, we can see the full splendor and mystery of the universe, thanks to instruments on scores of planetary probes and observatories that have been launched into space since the 1990s.
A New History of Life
Life is stranger than fiction. Recent investigations hint at episodes in the history of life on Earth that rival the most imaginative movies. For example: Could our planet have been seeded with life from elsewhere? Did the development of life create conditions that threatened to poison the biosphere? How have natural forces conspired, over and over, to remove most traces of life from the planet? And how has life itself responded with determination to survive and thrive in a multitude of astonishing forms?
Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian
In May 1905, an unknown 26-year-old Swiss patent clerk wrote to a friend about four scientific papers he had been working on in his spare time. He casually alluded to one as “revolutionary,” and he confidently asserted that another would modify the “theory of space and time.” He had not yet started on a fifth paper that would also come out in 1905 and that would propose a surprising and earth-shaking equation, E=mc2.
A Field Guide to the Planets
Humanity’s first steps on the Moon were an immense accomplishment in 1969 and a fantastic milestone in the history of space exploration. And yet, how little we knew about our solar system as compared to what we know now!
Chaos
It has been called the third great revolution of 20th-century physics, after relativity and quantum theory. But how can something called chaos theory help you understand an orderly world? What practical things might it be good for? What, in fact, is chaos theory? “Chaos theory,” according to Dr. Steven Strogatz, Director of the Center for Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, “is the science of how things change.” It describes the behavior of any system whose state evolves over time and whose behavior is sensitive to small changes in its initial conditions.
Modern Physics for Non-Scientists
Favorite trailer magnet YEAR: 2000 | LENGTH: 24 parts (~30 minutes each) | SOURCE: TGC description: “It doesn’t take an…
Big History, The Big Bang, Life on Earth and the Rise of Humanity
Favorite trailer magnet YEAR: 2008 | LENGTH: 48 parts (~30 minutes each) | SOURCE: TGC description: About 100,000 to 60,000…
12 Essential Scientific Concepts
Favorite trailer magnet YEAR: 2014 | LENGTH: 24 parts (~30 minutes each) | SOURCE: TGC description: Cosmology. Neurology. Genetics. Chemistry.…
Supercharged Otters
Otters are playful, adaptable and champion swimmers – they’ve captivated cameraman Charlie Hamilton James for the last 25 years. He’s filmed them more than anyone else and now, through the eyes of three orphaned river otters, a set of groundbreaking experiments and some incredible wild encounters, Charlie wants to reveal their survival secrets and exactly why he believes they’re so special.
Uncharted Amazon
Deep in the jungles of Peru, a silky anteater is fighting to stay awake and a mother hummingbird is struggling to raise her chick. As this documentary reveals, life in his incredible part of the planet faces changing conditions.
The Wild Andes
Born from volcanic fire 25 million years ago, the Andes are the longest mountain chain on the planet. Pushed upwards by huge tectonic forces, they continue to rise, creating new landscapes and new habitats for a diverse variety of creatures. Explore the mountains’ extremes and celebrate the animals that call it home on a 4,000-mile journey along the western edge of South America, from icy Southern Patagonia to the oxygen-deprived Altiplano plateau to the northern tropical Andes.
Mysteries of the Rainforest
The island of Barro Colorado in the Panama Canal is full of mysteries, some involving the wide diversity of wildlife, and some involving the island itself. Every year, hundreds of scientists and students come here to uncover the rainforest’s secrets, but this year is very different. The island is running dry and no one knows why. Follow several research teams as they observe, experiment, and conduct research in this pristine habitat, and most pressing of all, try to find out what happened to the rain and when it will come again.