Superscience Season 5, Episode 11: Earth's Invisible Shield

Grand Canyon

The Rockies

Mysteries surrounding the Rocky Mountains are discussed. Included: recent theories on their formation and how the rate of growth of the American Rockies compares to that of their Canadian counterpart.

60 min

Birth of America

Birth of Life

How did life begin? its one of the most fundamental and difficult questions that has challenged us for ages. Our planet is teaming with life, from the highest mountain to the deepest ocean; life is everywhere. But what was the firing pistol that started the evolutionary race? How did material go from non-living to alive?

Pluto Rediscovered

Three million miles from earth lies a planet so small that even the most advanced telescopes. A dedicated core of scientists offer educated guesses as to the makeup and condition of Pluto, as well as discuss its qualifications to be counted as a planet. Meahwhile, the New Horizons space probe continues its nine year trek to the planet to finally reveal the secrets of the "planet".

Mars: Waterworld

Saturn's Secrets

Asteroid Alert

First to Cross the Ocean

Time Machine

Time travel theorists ask, what if we could send scientific and medical information through time--perhaps a cure for AIDS?

45 min

Big Bang

13.7 Billion years ago, there was absolutely nothing. No space, no time, and no matter. Then there was the Big Bang. Naked Science follows the first second of creation, when a minute speck of light appeared from nothing, expanded at unimaginable speed, and created everything we see in the Universe today.

Supercontinent

Who killed the Aztecs?

Ice Age Meltdown

What's Sexy

How to Kill a Planet

60 min

Hubble's Amazing Universe

Anatomy of a Hurricane

Twister Outbreak

Earth's Evil Twin

Millions of years ago, Venus and Earth cut similar figures. Roughly the same size and about the same distance from the sun, their respective evolutions could have followed similar paths. But today, Venus is a seething vision of Hell, its battery-acid atmosphere and incessant, hurricane-force winds masking a blistering volcanic surface. Some scientists wonder if it is a harbinger of whats in store for Earth. Thanks to the European Space Agency, Venus Express the most sophisticated satellite ever to visit the planet is orbiting Earths estranged twin, gathering the data we need to figure out why Venus went bad. Could our home planet be hurtling towards a similar fate? And could the hostile Venusian environment, now seemingly devoid of biologys most fundamental ingredient water yet harbour life?

Secret Life of Fireworks

Secret World of Fireworks explores the closely held secrets, recipes, and techniques from the world of pyrotechnic showmen. National Geographic takes a behind the scenes look into this exclusive world with unique access from Zambelli Internationale of New Castle, Pennsylvania - Americas First Family of Fireworks - along with rocket scientists and chemists from Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Tsunami From Outer Space

How the West Was Made

Living on the Moon

Birth of The Oceans

Stephen Hawking's Universe

Stephen Hawking is one of the worlds most famous scientists. But ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs Disease, has left him almost totally paralysedand it is progressing. Unable to walk, talk, or write, his only way of communicating is through a computer program that turns a small movement of a finger or the blink of an eye, into words from a vocal synthesizer. But Hawking remains determined to discover a theory of everything, a complete set of rules for the Universe. Where did the Universe come from and where is it going? What is the nature of time? Will it ever come to an end? This programme will explore Hawkings major contributions to the understanding of our Universe - from his revolutionary proof that our Universe originated in a Big Bang; to his ground breaking discovery that Black Holes are not completely black, but rather emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear, to his insights on string theory. Will he unlock the secret of creation before his time runs out?

Death of the Universe

In the farthest reaches of space, a volatile battle is taking place between two forces so great, they may eventually destroy the very universe itself. Known as Dark Matter and Dark Energy, these opposing forces have the capacity to rip apart the universe atom-by-atom. While scientists have previously theorised about a “Big Crunch” where the universe retracts back to its original size, the discovery of Dark Matter and Dark Energy has placed that hypothesis on the backburner. Some astronomers now believe that if Dark Matter offsets Dark Energy then as the universe slowly expands, stars will gradually fade, running out of fuel and leading to a dark, cold and lifeless universe. While the universe’s end may be 50 billion years away, great leaps in science will continue to alter how we believe the universe was formed – and how it will end.