The real reason for exploring Enceladus

Happy New Year !

Cosmic Time

It controls the rhythm of our lives like a Metronome ticking away and measuring the pace and tempo of our existence. Time is and enduring mystery. And, along with time’s arrow we are taking an inexorable voyage into an unknown future. Can we reverse the passage of time by something as simple and insubstantial as a light beam and also open a curtain and learn something about our collective and individual futures?

Many of us today, the world over, will be counting the seconds as Mid Night approaches and a New Year dawns. All of us during some moment of our lives have wondered about the fundamental nature of time. But, while it dominates our lives and all of us are bound up in its inexorable passage, few of us can give a precise definition of what Time with a capital “T” precisely is.

Today being the last day of 2009 AD we at Discovery Enterprise are going to go in search of the nature of time and explore it in all its majesty, wonder and mystery.

We will explore the possibility of time travel with Ronald L. Mallet and voyage with H. G. Well’s time traveler to the far future of 802,701 AD in the exciting and trilling motion picture, directed by George Pal that brought this Wellsian classic to the silver screen and finally go on a Cosmic Voyage to the End of Time.

Dear readers its time for an extraordinary journey of discovery through the fourth dimension as we go in search of the nature of time. And, on behalf of Dennis, Ralph and my own humble self we would like to wish each of you a Happy New Year full of many blessings and good fortune. May Father Time rain much good fortune on each and every one of you dear and loyal readers.

Exploring Time - Part 1

Most of the events taking place around us everyday happen too quickly or too slowly for us to see them. But imagine if you could see the changing phases of the moon, the sweep of the seasons and the shifting of continents, they are all connected to events happening to the here and now. Today scientists are using new technologies to shed light on forces that transform our world and universe on the most epic of scales.

Exploring Time - Part 2

Around us is a world moving to fast to glimpse. Within us life and death hang in the balance on the most fleeting of time scales. The universe is taking shape across the entire spectrum of time scales. Down to events so brief they challenge natures own limits. Journey into the realm of the ultra fast in the second installment of Exploring Time.

H. G. Well's The Time Machine

From the book by H.G. Wells, a scientist and tinkerer builds a time machine and uses it to explore the distant future where there are two races, a mild gentle race, and a cannibalistic one living underground. His machine is stolen by the underground race and he must risk being captured (and eaten) to return to his own time.

The World's First Time Machine

A 2003 BBC Documentary chronicling the work of Dr Ronald Mallett, a physicist on the brink of making time travel a reality. This documentary covers: Traveling to the pass, the future, alternative universe and paradoxes that come with time travel.

Can a Highly Advanced Extraterrestrial Civilization Build Dr Ronald L. Mallett’s Time Machine and allow us to Journey into the Deep Past?

Cosmic Journeys / Journey to the End of Time

Time is flying by on this busy, crowded planet as life changes and evolves from second to second. And yet the arc of human lifespan is getting longer: 65 years is the global average way up from just 20 in the Stone Age. Modern science, however, provides a humbling perspective. Our lives indeed the life span of the human species are just blips compared to the age of the universe, at 13.7 billion years and counting. It now seems that our entire universe is living on borrowed time. How long it can survive in any form depends on whether Stephen Hawking's theory checks out.

Rockets Into To Space-The Edge of Space

Today on Discovery Enterprise we honour the space visionary Robert H. Goddard. He has been called the father of modern rocketry. In 1926 he successfully lunch the first liquid fuel rocket. He was convinced with such a vehicle man would be able to fly into outer space. Working alone Goddard continued his experiments in New Mexico. His rockets became bigger and flew higher. He was a true visionary of space travel. But at the same time scientist in Nazi Germany were building a rocket that was far superior then any of Goddards design. However it wasnt a tool of space exploration but of destruction. The V2 missile, Hitlers vengeance weapon. Some 3,000 V2s would be launch against cities in Europe and Britain in WW II. The dream of space travel had become a nightmare.

Rockets Into To Space-The Edge of Space

The Universe - It Fell From Space

Every year, thousands of objects both natural and man made plummet through our atmosphere and crash into the Earth. These menacing messengers from the sky provide scientists with amazing insights into the natural, and not so natural, phenomena of the cosmos. From space rocks crashing through homes to cosmic boulders triggering mass extinctions to rocket parts landing on front lawns, explore objects that fall from the heavens, such as asteroids, comets, meteor showers and space debris.

The Universe - It Fell From Space

The Search for Extra-solar Planetary Systems and the Search for Life In the Universe

Had Carl Sagan been alive today he would have been extremely thrilled with the fact that new extra solar planetary systems are being discovered almost on a weekly basis. New planets mean more potential abodes for life and perhaps consciousness elsewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.

Today on Discovery Enterprise we will be posting six videos concerning the search for extra-solar planetary systems and the concomitant search for life and sentience throughout the Cosmos. Also as our space missions to the outer solar system have revealed there are over a hundred other exotic worlds in our solar system that hold the promise of life - the moons of Jupiter, Saturn Uranus and Neptune, each a world in its own right. So join us on the most exciting odyssey made possible by the science of our age as we explore a plethora of Alien Worlds and Moons and embark on an Alien Safari.

Finally we look at the latest tool to be deployed in the search for worlds very much like our own- NASA’s NASA Kepler mission, which was launched on March 7, 2009. As the International Year of Astronomy draws to a close lets reflect on the many exiting discoveries of the past four hundred years of astronomical research and look forward to the many exciting discoveries to come.

The Universe - Alien Planets



The Universe - Alien Moons



The Universe - Astrobiology



The Universe - Search for E.T.



The Kepler Mission



Space Mysteries - Alien Safari


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The Expanding Universe - The Sun And Other Stars

In Five Billion years are nearest star (The Sun) will die swelling and becoming a Red Giant. The heat will be so intense the oceans will boil and our planet will be scorched beyond recognition. The crust will melt, the surface will become a ocean of molten rock and all life will end in the ultimate Armageddon.

The Expanding Universe - The Sun And Other Stars

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The Atomic Submarine (1959): Undersea Science Fiction

Something mysterious and alien lurks beneath the waves of our oceans and threatens the collective security of every man, woman and child of our planet.

In the “far and distant future” of 1968, many ships and planes are crossing the North Pole to transport passengers and cargo. Now, more than eight ships and seven submarines have vanished mysteriously. The Atomic Submarine Tigershark is sent out to investigate their whereabouts and - if possible - remove the cause of their disappearance. But the life form Commander Vandover and his crew encounter may be too powerful even for their weapons of newest technology...

This is the one of the first science fiction films to deal with Deep Sea UFOs or UNIDENTIFIED SUBMERGED OBJECTS (USOs) as they have become known.

The Atomic Submarine (1959)


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Christmas with Jules Verne

In order to ring in this festive season with our loyal readers we are going to present for your viewing pleasure three motion pictures to honour the man who helped inspire the Atlantica Expeditions – First Undersea Colony Project. So join us as we celebrate Christmas with the legendary father of science fiction Jules Verne.

Walt Disney's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1954)


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The Fabulous World of Jules Verne - Karel Zeman (1958)




Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969)

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City - 1969.avi from Juz2C on Veehd.

A Special Holiday Message

On behalf of my co-writers Dennis Chamberland and Ralph Buttigieg I would like to wish all our dear readers a blessed and joyous holiday season and for the coming New Year we would like to bestow upon all of you this heartfelt wish:

As the dawn breaks on a new year, let us give thanks for all we hold dear: our health, our family and our friends.

Let us release our grudges, our anger and our pains, for these are nothing but binding chains. Let us live each day in the most loving ways, the God-conscious way. Let us serve all who are in need, regardless of race, colour or creed.

Let us keep God of our own understanding in our hearts and to chant God’s name each day. Let us lead the world from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth and from wrong to right.

Let us remember that we are all one, embracing all, discriminating against none.

May your year be filled with peace, prosperity and love. May God's blessings shower upon you and bestow upon each of you a bright, healthy and peaceful new year.

In the Beginning..........

The Known Universe

Today join us on Discovery Enterprise as we take a six minute tour of the known universe in this video from the American Museum of Natural History. Start on Mt. Everest, and get pulled through the Earth’s atmosphere to glimpse the inky black of space. Then zoom through the solar system and the Milky Way to mysterious quasars and supernovae, all the way back to the to the afterglow of the Big Bang. The Known Universe is based on precise, scientifically-accurate observations and research.

“I liken the Digital Universe to the invention of the globe,” says Curator Ben R. Oppenheimer, an astrophysicist at the Museum. “When Mercator invented the globe, everyone wanted one. He had back orders for years. It gave everyone a new perspective on where they live in relation to others, and we hope that the Digital Universe does the same on a grander, cosmic scale.”

This is a new film produced by the American Museum of Natural History that is part of a new exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City.

The Known Universe

Wright Brothers’ Flying Machine

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the wonderful story of how two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio taught the world to fly. On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright became the first to make a controlled and sustained flight in a power-driven, heavier-than-air craft. Though not formerly trained in the field of engineering, the brothers approached the problem of flight as would any well-trained engineer. Using a thorough and systematic approach, they were able to solve three key challenges that kept all other would-be flyers aground.

First, there was the issue of lift. When the brothers found the existing data on lift inaccurate, they collected their own data, making use of a wind tunnel that they designed and built themselves. Then there was the control of an aircraft. While others saw their crafts as being inherently stable, the Wrights knew that the opposite was true; they knew that a successful aircraft would have to continually make adjustments in response to changes in wind speed and direction.

Finally, there was propulsion. Before the Wrights, there was no detailed data on propeller design. Again with the help of their wind tunnel, they developed a propeller that was far more efficient than any other then in existence. In fact, their propeller design has remained virtually unchanged to this day.

This wonderful documentary from the PBS series NOVA describes the Wrights’ 1903 Flyer, including how they used the plane’s controls to maneuver their craft.

The Wright Brothers’ Flying Machine

Oceans - The Great Southern Ocean

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the second episode of the BBC documentary Oceans and explore the Southern Ocean which girdles the ice covered of Antarctica.

In the year 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization created the fifth and newest world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The new Southern Ocean completely surrounds Antarctica. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).

The Southern Ocean, which circles the globe without being blocked by land, is home to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the longest of the world's ocean currents. Also known as the "channel", it connects the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins and exerts a powerful influence over the Earth's climate. The ACC carries 150 times more water around Antarctica than the flow of all the world's rivers combined.

The team investigates why parts of the Southern Ocean are warming twice as fast as the rest of the world's oceans and looks at the impact of this phenomenon.

Expedition leader Paul Rose, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto brave some of the roughest seas and the strongest winds on the planet. They go in search of one of the planet's most curious and enigmatic creatures - the weedy sea dragon. They explore iconic kelp forests to investigate how they're being threatened by the rise in sea temperatures and a new predator. They dive one of the thousand shipwrecks in these waters and in a unique sunken valley, they search for mysterious deep ocean creatures normally found hundreds of metres below the surface. And they enter a maze of perilous sea caves to hunt for evidence of ancient sea creatures that can reveal how this ocean formed.

Oceans - Southern Ocean


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One of Carl Sagan's Most Pertinent Messages for Humanity

"Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the Earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours. In every one of them, there's a succession of incidence, events, occurrences which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time. And our small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical branch-point in history. What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidity we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than time between the collapse of classical civilization and the  Italian Renaissance. But, we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the Universe, and to carry us to the stars." Carl Sagan explains the immensity of space and time. This clip is from Carl Sagan's Cosmos episode 8, "Journeys in Space and Time."

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996)

The Best of Cosmos – Remembering Carl Sagan

Today on Discovery Enterprise we commemorate the memory of Carl Sagan who died an untimely death thirteen years ago today. Carl Sagan, was an astronomer, astrochemist, author, and highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). For me personally he will always be remembered and revered as a great teacher who communicated the joys and transcendence of scientific discovery. Carl Sagan’s enduring legacy will always be linked to his ability to convey the wonders of science to the general public and his skill in inspiring the next generation of scientists. Carl Sagan’s name will also be forever linked to the greatest science television series in history – Cosmos.

Sagan made the front cover of Time Magazine (Monday October 20th, 1980) which dubbed him the “Showman of Science.” The cover story, entitled ‘The Cosmic Explainer’ by Frederic Golden contains a very good biographical sketch of Carl and appeared when his landmark documentary Cosmos graced our television screens some thirty years ago.

So in order to commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of his death we are presenting a retrospective of the very best moments and highlights of the highly acclaimed documentary series Cosmos and the A&E Channel’s profile of Carl Sagan which aired shortly after his unfortunate death. It is a very good portrayal of how a kid from Brooklyn made good and became something of a media superstar —“indeed, a supernova of sorts”. So for your perusal “Heeere's Carl, bringing you nothing less than the Cosmos.”

Best of Sagan's Cosmos






Carl Sagan: A Biography

Forums on Discovery Enterprise

Discovery Enterprise has taken an important step. We have installed forums, a public discussion board, on our website. Just click on Forum from the menu and you will be taken there. The board is the place for anyone to post articles, ideas, ask questions and generally interact with other readers.

If there are any problems please let me know. I'm unaware of any other Blogger blog that has forums. We are operating at the frontier (which is were you would expect us to be of course) so there may be problems.

There are only a few rules. To post you will need to register but that's easy and free. Please be civil,  bad behavior will get you banned. Please keep to the general topic heading. Discovery Enterprise is about exploration, science, technology and SF. Its not the place to post about President Obama's health policy or Britney Spears latest shenanigans.

We want debate so don't be afraid to be controversal. So log in and go for it!

Oceans - Sea of Cortez

Today on Discovery Enterprise we will begin highlighting a new BBC documentary series whose subject matter is one very dear to our hearts -the exploration of humanity’s last great frontier on Earth - the undersea realm of Aquatica.

Over a year, Paul Rose, Philippe Cousteau Jr, Dr Lucy Blue and Tooni Mahto explore how a unique ocean paradise, home to the greatest variety of whales and dolphins in the world, is under threat. They dive stormy seas to investigate how a giant predator, the cannibalistic Humboldt squid, is invading this sea, and search for the threatened hammerhead shark. In an extraordinary encounter, the team carry out pioneering science on one of the largest carnivores on earth: the 20-metre-long sperm whale. They explore a sunken ship with a tragic human story, and search for evidence that the Sea of Cortez is still growing, they dive along part of the San Andreas fault line. The dive is above waters heated to near-boiling point by the furnace of the inner Earth.

Oceans - Sea of Cortez

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Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds

In this TED talk Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mind-bending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a fabulous case for the serious exploration and mapping of the undersea realm of Aquatica.

Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds

We at the Discovery Enterprise through our commitment and support of the Atlantica Expeditions are in total agreement with Dr. Robert Ballard. We find it ludicrous that not enough funding has been given for the comprehensive exploration of humanity’s last great frontier on Earth – the Undersea Realm of Aquatica.

Humanity in the last fifty years has made great strides in the exploration of space and has all but completed its preliminary reconnaissance of the solar system. But, in the course of explorations we have overlooked three quarters of our own world. We have left a great yawning gap in the map of our own planet and a fuller understanding of our own world. The time has come to fill in this great unknown.

Yet, the debate as to whether to fund space exploration at the expense of undersea exploration or vice versa in our minds is a very artificial one. In a greater context exploring the oceans of our world is part and parcel of the planetary exploration of our solar system. But, it is a very vital one because it concerns a very large portion of our home world about which we know very little.

We do not view the debate as an “either or proposition”. We support both exploratory endeavours and view them as vital to the long term survival and well being of the human species. Both undertakings stand on their own merits and they also compliment one another. The same applies for the eventual colonization goals of both enterprises.

What we learn in the course of exploring Earth’s last great frontier will help enhance our long tern survival on our own world and on countless worlds through out the Milky Way Galaxy.

Many of the members of the League of New Worlds have a tremendous interest in both enterprises. And are actively engaged and employed in both exploratory programs. We feel that the goals of exploring and eventually inhabiting both sea and space enhance humanity’s prospects of inhabiting both realms.

We have nearly completed the preliminary reconnaissance of the worlds of our Solar System. And, these worlds cry out for further and more detailed exploration. But, in the course of our wanderings we have missed something very close to home by over looking three quarters of our own world.

In the immortal words of T.S. Eliot “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time”.

If we have learned anything during the past fifty years of space exploration its that "good planets" are hard to find and its high time we fully understand and take better care of the one, which for now at least, we can truly call home.

The dream of permanently settling Aquatica has begun, with the immediate, global commitment to long term ocean monitoring and the sustainable development of its vast wealth. We also seek to venture there to teach every culture innovative and powerful systems of thought, carved from a profound visionary philosophy – to preserve and protect this vast ocean realm. It is a philosophy vital to our long term survival on this planet and out in the vast frontier of outer space.

We must also commit our global civilization to the long term goal of maintaining the health and vitality of this planet in all its realms – land, air and sea. All of which are integral to the long term habitability of our world. Vital in meeting that end is our commitment to the continual monitoring of the health of our planetary ocean - Aquatica. Visit the Atlantica Expeditions web site and learn more about this exciting vision of exploration and discovery.

Discovery Enterprise

In Search of Myths and Heroes – Jason and the Golden Fleece

One of the most ancient and enduring of myths is that of the hero’s quest. In the second instalment of Michael Wood’s acclaimed television series In Search of Myths and Heroes we follow in the wake of the sailing ship Argo an follow Jason and the Argonauts on an intrepid odyssey that will take them to the ends of the known world of classical antiquity.

The tale of Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest stories in all of Greek myth. In this episode, Michael Wood traces the route of Jason and his famous boat, the Argo, along its route from Greece to Turkey and Georgia. The story of Jason can be traced back to the town of Volos in modern day Greece. The probable site of ancient Iolkos, it was here that King Pelias feared Jason a contender to this throne and so sent him on an impossible mission to finish him off. The mission was to travel to the far away kingdom of Colchis — in the Black Sea — to retrieve the magical Golden Fleece that had been taken there. But Jason proved courageous and strong and set out on an epic route.

Wood similarly travels by boat from Greek island to Greek island, stopping off to explore the history behind certain nodes in the story. From Greece, he journeys on to Turkey and struggles up the massive currents of Istanbul's River Bosphorous. Once out into Turkish countryside, Wood discovers whole communities of Pontic Greek — still living and speaking Greek in modern day Turkey. Are they the hangover from hordes of ancient Greeks pushing east and exploring the Black Sea? Is the whole Jason myth an explanation of that exploration? In Georgia, Wood travels to Vani, an archaeological dig that has revealed an Iron Age kingdom rich in gold. Finally in the remote north west region called Svaneti, Wood finds the true source of the myth. Here tribesmen have for centuries panned for gold in the river using sheep's fleece.

Jason and the Golden Fleece

Planet Earth – Ocean Deep

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the eleventh and final episode of David Attenborough’s acclaimed documentary series Planet Earth. For all of us at Discovery Enterprise it is fitting that this final instalment of Planet Earth focuses on the most unexplored area and humanity’s last great frontier on our planet: the deep ocean. It is a very symbolic episode because we are currently deeply committed to the Atlantica Expeditions – First Undersea Colony Project.

Seen from the heights of celestial space an intrepid explorer would clearly see that our world is by and large an Ocean planet. Three quarters of our planet is covered by water and yet for all of recorded history humankind has insisted on naming our planet the Earth. Yet the dry land, which is the kingdom of man, only occupies a quarter of our globe. It has served as the stage on which many of our human concerns have and continue to be played out. The realm of Poseidon would comprise a planet more than three times greater in size than humanity's domain. Only after humans took their first tentative steps away from the security of the seashore did the surface of the world's oceans begin to greatly influence the affairs of men. It has served as a barrier to hostile powers, a battlefield for plunder and conquest, and as a highway for commerce. The control of its major sea routes has built global empires. Its treasures have enriched the kings and principalities of many an empire. Yet, despite all this much of the ocean's vast food and mineral wealth remain untouched. Men have yet to share in the vast bounty that lies in wait at the end of Poseidon’s cornucopia.

The depths of the oceans are a world on to itself, beyond, for most of human history, the reach of mere men and their earthly empires. It is a world beyond the rule of terrestrial kings and princes. A world that could be aptly named Aquatica. It is our hope to change all that. It is our hope to relieve much of human suffering, misery, and poverty by opening this vast wealth to humankind. It is our belief that one day humankind will one day make his home again within the bosom and embrace of the mother of all life. This is not in our view an evolutionary regress but, rather a step forward in creating a new branch of human civilization.

Aquatica is the Earth’s own planetary ocean. The League of New Worlds is actively engaged in a project that seeks to explore and eventual colonize our planet’s last great frontier.

As of today, the dream of permanently settling Aquatica has begun, with the immediate, global commitment to long term ocean monitoring and the sustainable development of its vast wealth. We also seek to venture there to teach every culture innovative and powerful systems of thought, carved from a profound visionary philosophy – to preserve and protect this vast ocean realm. It is a philosophy vital to our long term survival on this planet.

We must also commit our global civilization to the long term goal of maintaining the health and vitality of this planet in all its realms – land, air and sea. All of which are integral to the long term habitability of our world. Vital in meeting that end is our commitment to the continual monitoring of the health of our planetary ocean - Aquatica.

Planet Earth - Ocean Deep

Planet Earth - Seasonal Forests

Today on we will join host David Attenborough for the tenth and penultimate episode of this wonderful BBC series. In today’s instalment Dr, Attenborough surveys the coniferous and deciduous seasonal woodland habitats — the most extensive forests on Earth.

Conifers begin sparsely in the Arctic but soon dominate the land, and the taiga circles the globe, containing a third of all the Earth's trees. Few creatures can survive the Arctic climate all year round, but the moose and wolverine are exceptions. 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) to the south, on the Pacific coast of North America, conifers have reached their full potential. These include some of the world's tallest trees: the redwoods. Here, a pine marten is shown stalking a squirrel, and great grey owl chicks take their first flight. Further south still, in the Valdivian forests of Chile, a population of smaller animals exist, including the pudú and the kodkod. During spring in a European broad-leafed forest, a mandarin duck leads its day-old family to leap from its tree trunk nest to the leaf litter below. Bialowieza Forest typifies the habitat that characterised Europe around 6000 years ago: only a fragment remains in Poland and Belarus. On a summer night on North America's east coast, periodical cicadas emerge en masse to mate — an event that occurs every seventeen years. After revisiting Russia's Amur leopards in winter, a timelapse sequence illustrates the effect of the ensuing spring on the deciduous forest floor. In India's teak forests, a langur monkey strays too far from the chital that act as its sentinels and falls prey to a tiger. Planet Earth Diaries explains how aerial shots of the baobab were achieved by the use of a cinebulle, an adapted hot air balloon.

Planet Earth - Seasonal Forests

Legacy: India - The Empire of the Spirit

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the second instalment of Michael Wood’s documentary series Legacy where he traces rise of both Asian and Western civilization in one global perspective in these thought-provoking videos. From the crumbling ruins in the Iraqi desert to those of Greece and Rome, viewers contemplate thriving cities and complex societies that have vanished, a reminder that other nations prospered for thousands of years. Now all that remains is their legacy.

In this week’s episode we explore the legacy of India – The Empire of Spirit.

Ancient India is with us today in the living tradition of the Hindu religion, the basis of Indian culture. The traditions that are honoured by millions of Hindus in the present were born in the Indus valley 5,000 years ago.

India: The Empire of the Spirit

The Universe - The Hunt for Ringed Planets

Join us on Discovery Enterprise as we join the hunt for ringed planets of our galaxy. They are perhaps the most breathtaking sights in the Universe yet they can be lethal and a constant source of surprise. The stunning rings of Saturn have mesmerized countless scientists over the centuries.

With particles ranging in size from that of a dust mote to that of a house shooting at 53,000 miles per hour around the planet, any spacecraft passing through would meet an instant and catastrophic end. Inside the rings is like a NASCAR race--with bumping, jostling and frequent collisions that can cause a massive spin-out. Lesser known are the other planets that have rings--Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, possibly Pluto and Mars. Even Earth has a ring. Comprised of some 200 satellites in a geosynchronous orbit, it is the only known man-made ring in the universe. But the most remarkable thing about rings is that they contain the story of the birth of our solar system, and entire distant galaxies. Rings are more than a wonder of the universe--they reveal the secrets of our own origins.

The Universe - The Hunt for Ringed Planets

The Planetary Society Blog posted this wonderful video on December 3rd, 2009 which depicts the Earth with a natural ring system of its own.

THE RINGS OF THE EARTH

The Ancient Maya Tools of Astronomy

Today on Discovery Enterprise we take another foray into the field of Archaeoastronomy and explore the ancient tools of Mayan Astronomy.

Without the aid of magnifying technology or even a firm idea of where they stood on the planet, the Mayan grasp of the universe through astrological observation was simply stunning. Host Michael Guillen travels to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula to get a firsthand look at the ancient world's most skilled astronomers. Climb the giant pyramid of Kukulkan and see how it functioned as a giant solar observatory. Examine “El Caracol” at Tikal, which looks amazingly like a modern day observatory. Learn how the Maya used the sun to lay out their various temples and observatories and examine their incredibly complex and accurate calendar.

The Ancient Maya Tools of Astronomy


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Cosmic Odyssey-Extreme Astronomy

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are going to explore the extreme edge of the spectral frontier where, strange things go bang! in the night. High-energy radiation, the alarm signal of atoms in extreme distress, can only be detected in space through the advanced technology of X-ray telescopes and gamma-ray satellites. In Extreme Astronomy, rare but spectacular catastrophes caused by high-energy radiation -- such as supernovas, stars in collision, and planets falling into black holes -- are glimpsed through these instruments, teaching us more about our universe. William Shatner narrates "Cosmic Odyssey"

Cosmic Odyssey-Extreme Astronomy

ATOM - Key to the Cosmos

Today on Discovery Enterprise we once again make a foray into the microverse of the atom with the second installment of British theoretical nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili’s exciting documentary television series Atom. The discovery that everything is made from atoms has been referred to as the greatest scientific breakthrough in history.

This episode tackles the world-changing discoveries of radioactivity, the Atom Bomb and the Big Bang, and tries to answer the biggest questions of all - why are we here and how were we made?

ATOM - Key to The Cosmos

Raising an Undersea Family

Shown here is a photo of our son Eric Milton Chamberland literally departing the land to live for a day undersea. It was the day before he became certified as an aquanaut, living for more than 24 hours in a habitat in Aquatica – the great global ocean. Eric, our other children and their parents found out first hand what it was like to live as a family undersea. Although the habitat was not large enough to accommodate us all, while their parents were doing their research in the ocean, the children were still always connected. In some cases by radio and in others by frequent visits to the habitat bringing mom and dad meals, taking away their trash and just visiting.

It was not an uncommon site to see Claudia sitting in the moonpool tutoring a math problem or giving specific homeschooling instructions. On another occasion, one of the children’s SCUBA instructor sat our son Brett down on the front of the habitat and gave him his final underwater exam – just two feet from where we sat in comfort observing him, having a snack and watching the entire event. It may be the first time parents have enjoyed such a close up and comfortable view of their child being certified as an open water diver – while being in the same element with them!

On their frequent visits to the habitat, their mother Claudia would greet the children at the moonpool and then visit with them. At the end of their visit, she invariably would kiss their salty foreheads goodbye and bid them off with an undersea mom’s loving send off: “Exhale, exhale, exhale…” It’s meaning was unique among mothers on earth. Its meaning was, “Do not hold your breath while returning to the surface, it is dangerous.” While other mothers are warning their children to look both ways before crossing the street, our children’s mother invoked a similar warning, but altogether unique to families who live undersea.

Around our habitat lives a rather hostile looking four foot barracuda. While Fred (the name he was given by the local divers) never seemed to threaten or bite anyone, he was still a rather intimidating stray fish with sporting an absolutely evil looking row of razor sharp teeth. On several occasions Fred would orbit around the habitat and curiously peek inside at us. When they children were around, I would warn them by a hand sigh out the window – with the fingers of both hands together mimicking Fred’s teeth. It at least warned them to look out for Fred, although the worst damage he probably would have induced is causing someone to hurt themselves by trying to get out of his way. But hand signals out the windows to the children were essential when the sound of the voice was strictly confined to the walls of the habitat. Of course there were many other hand signals from ‘shark’ to ‘go back to the surface’ to ‘come inside’ to ‘watch your air pressure’ and ‘you’re getting cold – come inside’.

Families living under the sea will soon become a reality again. While our family may have been the first that we are aware of, and only for a painfully short period of time in 1997 and 1998 - others are sure to follow. And of the Atlantica Expeditions gets its way it will be very soon indeed. But this time, the expedition is never scheduled to end and the trips to the surface will be far less than the trips around the magnificent, crystal void of humankind’s new permanent dwelling place: Atlantica.

Prehistoric Astronomers

Today on Discovery Enterprise we explore a controversial theory concerning the Sistine Chapel of prehistory – Lascaux Cave and its astronomical connection.

Thirty five thousand years ago in Europe, tribes of hunter gatherers invented a fascinating art form. An art populated with animals, emerging from the depth of the earth. Some eighteen thousand years later in the heart of Périgueux region in France they created their most fabulous masterpiece: Lascaux.

Prehistorians have offered all sorts of explanations for the paintings. But an independent French researcher has come with an exciting new hypothesis. She thinks the Lascaux cave paintings represent a map of the sky: The sky as seen by the world's first prehistoric astronomers, seventeen thousand years ago.

Prehistoric Astronomers

Planet Earth - Shallow Seas

Today on we will join host David Attenborough for the ninth, and for us at Discovery Enterprise because of our involvement in the Atlantica Expeditions – First Undersea Colony Project, the most interesting, episode of the reward winning documentary series Planet Earth. In today’s instalment we will join Dr. David Attenborough on a tour of the shallow seas that fringe the world's continents. Although they constitute eight percent of the oceans, they contain most marine life.

As humpback whales return to breeding grounds in the tropics, a mother and its calf are followed. While the latter takes in up to 500 litres of milk a day, its parent will starve until it travels back to the poles to feed — and it must do this while it still has sufficient energy left for the journey. The coral reefs of Indonesia are home to the biggest variety of ocean dwellers. Examples include banded sea kraits, which ally themselves with goatfish and trevally in order to hunt. In Western Australia, dolphins 'hydroplane' in the shallowest waters to catch a meal, while in Bahrain, 100,000 Socotra cormorants rely on shamals that blow sand grains into the nearby Persian Gulf, transforming it into a rich fishing ground. The appearance of algae in the spring starts a food chain that leads to an abundant harvest, and sea lions and dusky dolphins are among those taking advantage of it. In Southern Africa, as chokka squid are preyed on by short-tail stingray, the Cape fur seals that share the waters are hunted by the world's largest predatory fish: the great white shark. On Marion Island in the Indian Ocean, a group of king penguins must cross a beach occupied by fur seals that do not hesitate to attack them. Planet Earth Diaries shows the difficulties of filming the one-second strike of a great white shark, filmed by Simon King.

Planet Earth - Shallow Seas

MOONSHOT

Today on discovery Enterprise we are going to present Moonshot, a dramatisation of the early NASA moon missions. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." American astronaut Neil Armstrong spoke those words 40 years ago this summer on July 20, 1969, just after stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle to become the first human ever to walk on the moon. 

A Brief History of Time – The Documentary

This is a movie about Stephen Hawking’s ideas as outlined in his best selling book “A Brief History of Time” and about his life.

A Brief History of Time attempts to explain a wide range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes, light cones and super-string theory, to the non specialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics.

Stephen Hawking noted that an editor warned him that for every equation in the book the readership would be halved, hence it includes only a single equation: E = mc². In addition to Hawking’s abstinence from equations, the book also simplifies matters by means of illustrations throughout the text, depicting complex models and diagrams. The book is considered by many to be an “unread bestseller”, which is a book many people own but few have finished. So if you haven’t really read the book make it a point to watch this documentary.

A Brief History of Time – The Documentary