Today on Discovery Enterprise we will be exploring some New World archaeology. Through breathtaking discoveries, archaeologists are uncovering the early years of the ancient Maya to reveal a dynamic, sophisticated culture that was flourishing before the time of Christ. The Preclassic Maya, which was once dismissed as primitive. Yet, they erected massive pyramids, created elaborate art, and developed writing. The Mayans were also accomplished in Astronomy. So join us as we take a voyage through time to witness the – “Dawn of the Maya”.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we focus our sights on Saturn’s mysterious and mesmerizing moon Titan. Titan is a moon shrouded in a thick orange red atmosphere which, like the planet Venus, hides its surface from the gaze of terrestrial astronomers. To paraphrase the great Winston Churchill, Titan was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. And, our puzzlement over Titan only deepened when we pierce its veil and obtained our very first pictures of its surface.
So much so, and quoting directly from an upcoming article in Scientific American entitled “The Moon That Would Be a Planet”:
“….. On the morning of January 14, 2005, at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, the pictures caused jubilation and puzzlement in equal measure. None of us expected the landscape to look so Earth-like. As Huygens parachuted down, its aerial pictures showed branching river channels cut by rain-fed streams. It landed on the damp, pebble-covered site of a recent flash flood. What was alien about Titan was its eerie familiarity”.
And, it is this sense of déjà vu that prompts us to ask the question is Titan, A Place Like Home?
BBC Horizon - Titan, A Place Like Home? Also on Youtube. See Below!!!
Today on Discovery Enterprise we are presenting the first episode of an exciting series of documentaries entitled “The Day the Universe Changed” hosted by BBC science historian and journalist James Burke.
The first episode of the series outlines how the rational thought and incessant questioning that typified Ancient Greek culture shaped and continues to influence the Western Civilizations way of thinking, living and interacting with the world around us. Inherent in the Western way of life is constant change brought about by compounding knowledge and new discoveries, processes that stem from the Ancient Greek practice of endlessly questioning the world around them. These developments in the intellectual history of Western thought have produced corresponding changes in whom and what we are as a society. It is this trajectory in human thought, for better or worst, which will continue to shape humanity for the remainder of this century.
A very interesting web site well worth a visit is the home page of the James Burke Institute for Innovation in Education and its flagship project, the Knowledge Web. And, if you would like to purchase this and other documentary series by James Burke we encourage you to visit Documentary-Video a great online store where you can purchase a wide selection of documentaries.
The Day the Universe Changed Episode 1 -The Way We Are
Today on Discovery Enterprise we join a team of interdisciplinary scientists in a solving a scientific detective story worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Our mystery begins in Cairo’s Museum of Egyptian Antiquities when an Italian mineralogist discovers a mysterious green gem in the center of Tutankhamun's necklace. A gem compose of a bizarre form of glass whose origins can only be traced to a time well before the dawn of Egyptian civilization and the fiery heat of a nuclear conflagration. The game is afoot when we go on an intrepid odyssey into the heart of the blistering Sahara desert in search of Tutankhamun's Fireball.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we focus on the private sectors efforts to carry private citizens into space. In the light of NASA’s recent policy shift in relying on the private sector to raise the venture capital and develop the technologies that will take future astronauts into low Earth orbit and beyond this is an especially appropriate documentary feature to watch.
Follow Burt Rutan on his quest to build a personal spacecraft dubbed Space Ship One and capture the elusive X Prize: a $10 million award that will go to the first privately funded, non-governmental group to build a spacecraft capable of carrying three six foot two, one hundred and ninety eight pound adults to an altitude of 62 miles twice in 14 days. Since the contest began in 1996, more than twenty teams had entered, representing the United States, Canada, Russia, England and Argentina. But Burt Rutan, the first to sign up, looks and won. No other X Prize competitor could have matched his success or track record in aircraft design.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we explore the origins of our remarkable home planet –Spaceship Earth.
Four and a half billion years ago in the high performance race to become a planet, primordial Earth made it to the winners circle to become the beautiful glistening blue orb we call our home. The competition was filled with chaos and violent collisions.
After tremendous perseverance it finally became a special place in the solar system, to sustain oceans, land and life. Despite modern disasters that now plague the planet it still remains one of the most mystifying creations in the universe. Blast off aboard spaceship Earth.
As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (S.E.T.I.) as a bona fide branch of legitimate scientific inquiry we cannot help but wonder when humanity will get its first direct call from E.T.
Seth Shostak, the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, predicts that we will make first contact by 2025. Perhaps we will serendipitously stumble upon a radio transmission that just happens to be beamed our way or the aliens may find us interesting enough that they deliberately choose to try to send us a direct transmission. I have my doubts that this approach alone will allow humanity to successfully discovery extraterrestrial civilizations. The Search For Extraterrestrial Artifacts (SETA) and the Search for Extra Terrestrial Visitation (SETV) past and current may provide a reasonable alternate strategy in the search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations concurrently with the current radio searches.
I believe success lies with the next generation space based advanced astronomical observatories such as NASA’s Terrestrial Planet Finder, the James Webb Space Telescope and their successors. These telescopes in tandem with the various proposals for the New Worlds Missions will help us image the surfaces of any terrestrial planets that the Kepler space observatory happens to find. If we can image the surfaces of these planets then perhaps we will be able see the evidence of any advanced technological civilizations that happen to inhabit these worlds. I think success lies in spotting the lights of cities, spectroscopic evidence of industrial activity and using these telescopes in Optical SETI (OSETI) – the search for powerful lasers pulses used for interstellar communications at optical wavelengths by extraterrestrial societies.
Our best chances of success in this endeavor will be finding direct visual evidence of technological activity over astronomical distances. Along with evidence of large scale engineering on planetary and astronomical scales. And, finally wouldn’t it be wonderful to find evidence of extraterrestrial technology on Earth and the rest of the solar system?
My favorite scenario is the one first outlined by Arthur C Clarke in his short story “The Sentinel” written in 1948 for a BBC competition (in which it failed to place) and was first published in the magazine 10 Story Fantasy in 1951, under the title "Sentinel of Eternity". In this scenario humanity stumbles upon an alien artifact of immense antiquity.
The story deals with the discovery of an artifact on Earth's Moon left behind eons ago by ancient aliens. The object is made of a polished mineral and tetrahedral in shape, and is surrounded by a spherical forcefield. The first-person narrator speculates at one point that the mysterious aliens who left this structure on the Moon may have used mechanisms belonging "to a technology that lies beyond our horizons, perhaps to the technology of para-physical forces."
For millennia (evidenced by dust buildup around its forcefield) the artifact has transmitted signals into deep space, but it ceases to transmit when the astronauts who discover it breach the forcefield. The narrator hypothesises that this "sentinel" was left on the moon as a "warning beacon" for the possible intelligent and spacefaring life that might develop on Earth.
This quotation illustrates the idea, and its ramifications:
It was only a matter of time before we found the pyramid and forced it open. Now its signals have ceased, and those whose duty it is will be turning their minds upon Earth. Perhaps they wish to help our infant civilization. But they must be very, very old, and the old are often insanely jealous of the young.
Later in the novel and motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey, the operation of the sentinel is reversed. It is the energy of the sun, falling for the first time on the uncovered artifact that triggers the signal that creatures from the Earth had taken the first step into space. The sentinel in 2001 takes the form of a Monolith.
The Monoliths in the Space Odyssey universe serve several functions as teaching machines of backward species that have the potential to be elevated to higher sentience, cosmic gateways reminiscent of worm holes, advanced self replicating Von Neumann machines and the ultimate doomsday device and destroyer of worlds.
As to the question- Will This Be the Year We Make Contact? I hope so but, I have my doubts. In the meantime dear reader enjoy today’s motion picture features –“2001: A Space Odyssey” and “2010 The Year we Make Contact”.
2001 A Space Odyssey
Please note dear reader that at first you will be greeted by a black screen but, the motion picture will start in about three minutes.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we are offering a special treat to our loyal readers – the motion picture version of “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” along with its trailer. This is a science fiction comedy film classic based on the famous novel by Douglas Adams.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we take a close look at the dangers of spaceflight and the disaster that befell the Space Shuttle Columbia.
We have been redefining our place in the universe since 1961. We have broken the bonds of gravity. We have walked on the moon. As part of this on going program of discovery and exploration the crew of the space shuttle Columbia launched from Cape Canaveral on January 16th, 2003.
The 113th shuttle mission was dedicated to the pure pursuit of science. But, unseen by crew and spectators at the time as Columbia pushed skyward a piece of foam from the shuttles external fuel tank struck the leading edge of the orbiters left wing. The shuttle held firm and made it into orbit for 16 days the crew of seven worked 24 hour alternate shifts of intensive scientific experiments. On February 1st the crew and shuttle began there journey home - then disaster stuck.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we present a Horizon documentary that explores the truth behind the legendary Trojan War and the abduction of the woman that precipitated this legendary conflict.
The legend of Helen of Troy has enchanted audiences for the last three thousand years. Now, modern day archaeology has given us the tools to shed light on this legendary tale of heroes and damsels in distress.
Since 1988 Professor Manfred Korfmann has been excavating the site of Troy. He has never before spoken at this length. He has made amazing discoveries – how large the city was, how well it was defended and, crucially, that there was once a great battle there at precisely the time that experts believe the Trojan war occurred.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we look at the ultimate speed limit of the cosmos – Light Speed. But, is it really the ultimate speed limit or can we one day break the light barrier.
Streaking through space, light is the fastest thing in the universe. As it reaches us across vast distances it reveals the history of the cosmos. Light travels at 300,000 kilometres per second (186,000 miles per second), its speed is an ultimate barrier, nothing can go faster. But is the answer final? Will spaceships ever speed faster than light? Is it even worth trying? It can neither be touched nor felt. It is an abstract quantity of immense impact. The rate of motion at the very heart of all existence, the fundamental linchpin of the universe that we call light speed.
The Universe is available on DVD from Amazon.com and the History Channel’s
online store.
The Universe - Light Speed
For your viewing pleasure we at Discovery Enterprise would also like to offer you the following documentary - Simon Schaffer's fantastic four part series the "Light Fantastic" that was produced for BBC 4. In this documentary series science historian Simon Schaffer takes is on a voyage of discovery to follow humankind’s quest for enlightenment to discover the true nature of light.
Today on discovery Enterprise we continue our year long celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (S.E.T.I.) and explore one of the greatest mysteries of our time: Are we alone in the universe? Or do we have unknown neighbours on other planets?
Hollywood has already given its own answer to this question. Having witnessed close encounters of the third kind such as "E.T.", serious scientists have taken up the hunt for real aliens. Since 1977, a golden gramophone record has been travelling through space. The Voyager record contains greetings in 55 languages and music from Mother Earth. 30 years later, some researchers even want to load human DNA on a rocket. But this plan is causing trouble. In a worst case scenario, we are inviting hostile invaders to take control over the earth. Do we really want to give away our most important secret to everybody? The documentary shows us a world where science and fantasy mingle, and where fictions inspire real research. “CALLING ALL ALIENS” shows the desperate yet hopeful believers behind their monstrous telescopes. In 2007, their search will reach a new dimension. With 350 satellite dishes, each one measuring six meters in diameter, the world's most gigantic telescope array ever built will be tuned in to detect the message that could change the world.
According to a recent article in Space.Com more than 400 worlds have been found beyond the reach of our sun, and the tally is rising rapidly. From super-Earths to giants dwarfing Jupiter, our galaxy is a zoo of different kinds of planets. Today on Discovery Enterprise we are going on an imaginary odyssey to explore this extra-solar planetary menagerie in today's video feature.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we join acclaimed BBC journalist Michael Wood in the fourth and final instalment of his documentary series “In Search of Myths and Heroes” as we go in search of Britain's legendary King Arthur.
In this episode of the series, Wood explores the greatest British myth: the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Travelling round the Celtic world from Cornwall to Wales, Brittany, Ireland and Scotland, Wood uncovers the extraordinary story of how a shadowy Welsh freedom fighter — a Dark Age Che Guevara — became a medieval superman, and finally the model of a Christian hero.
On the way we discover the real stories behind the Round Table, Excalibur, and the Holy Grail itself, the unattainable, mystical cup of Christ which has inspired poets novelists and film makers from the Middle Ages right down to Indiana Jones, Monty Python and the Da Vinci Code. Finally, in an intriguing piece of historical detective work Michael offers us a tantalizing glimpse of a historical Arthur — but in the unlikeliest of places.
In Search of Myths and Heroes – Arthur the Once and Future King
Forty-one years ago today (February 15, 1969), perhaps the most ambitious life in the sea programs in history was deployed off San Clemente Island in California.
At a depth of 610 feet/185 meters, the Sealab III project built upon the successes great success of Sealabs I and II. The project was spearhead by the US Navy, with a parallel cooperation with civilian researchers.
With saturation diving being relatively new, and these depths being well into the range of being considered experimental, studies of the divers' medical/physiological status were key components to the project.
Sealab III was the culmination of years of research and development by Dr. George Bond ("Pappa Topside") and his team of divers from Project Genesis (1957-1963) through the first two Sealab missions. Five teams of Aquanauts(52 in all) were scheduled to spend 12 days each in the habitat, with objectives to test new salvage techniques, and conduct oceanographic and fishery studies from a saturation environment.
Many of the individuals considered to be the pioneers of advanced and technical diving today got their feet wet in the Sealab program. Among the Aquanauts were NASA Astronaut/Navy Diver Scott Carpenter and Bob Barth, who was the only Aquanaut to dive on all three Sealab projects.
Much to the devastation of the project, Sealab III was plagued with strange problems from the beginning. The habitat leaked soon after deployment. Divers were sent to repair it via a PTC (Personnel Transfer Capsule). Bob Barth discusses the event in his "Sea Dwellers",
"Barry(Cannon) and I met outside the bell for a brief moment getting our umbilical ready for the short trip to the habitat. As we hung floating out there Berry tapped me on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the habitat. On our first dive, we were all fired up trying to get into the habitat, and the excitement must have consumed all our need for sight-seeing. However, this time we took a moment to stop and smell the roses. Many years later, I am glad that we took that moment. What we saw is still a vivid picture in my mind. Sitting out there was this magnificent, big yellow dwelling resting comfortably on the bottom. There were many lights to illuminate the whole area, and they were all on. It was lit up like a giant ball field. Barry and I could see various outcroppings on the seabed around our future home. It was a magnificent sight to behold and something that I will never forget. Here we are at just over 600 feet swimming around in the Pacific Ocean. Not to many people had ever done that before, and to top it off we were going to be staying down here for two whole weeks. That's what our kind of saturation diving was all about."
On this very dive, Aquanaut Barry Cannon tragically died. It was later found that his breathing apparatus was missing Baralyme, the chemical necessary to remove carbon dioxide that builds up in the unit. Due to safety and publicity concerns following this incident and other mishaps, Sealab was cancelled.
This cancelled program, in fact, marked the end of the US government pursuit of further life in the sea programs. Programs in the private sector have taken place, though have been sporadic at best. There has been much speculation as to the true motives of the Sealab program, and the timing of its being cancelled. There is some evidence that the US Navy used Sealab as a platform to train special ops divers to work at depth from lock-out submarines for clandestine operations in the Cold War. It has been suggested that the cancellation of Sealab was due to the Russians learning about the new US deep reconnaissance capabilities.
Today, as I've written about so many times before, the fate of life in the sea programs has yet to be determined. Without meeting a major human need, in today's economy anyway, it is unlikely that the US government will consider a major investment. However, in pressing forward, we can't overlook the investment that was made forty years ago...by our government, and by those that died while pushing the known envelope to advance human capabilities on this planet, and beyond.
For discussion of historic life in the sea programs, with a glimpse at a future proposed program, you can view Chris Cooper's (Ocean Technology Foundation) presentation at the 2010 Northeast Rebreather & Advanced Diving Technology Workshop entitled 'Lessons learned from historic Habitat programs, and future dive systems proposed'.
Teleportation is sci-fi's most exciting way to travel. Imagine zapping your molecules through space on a transporter beam right out of Star Trek. Dr. Kaku reveals how we might all one day be saying, Beam me up Scotty.
The first and second seasons of Sci Fi Science, hosted
by Dr. Michio Kaku is a available on DVD from the Discovery Channel’s online store.
No vista can be more inspiring than viewing the night sky on a clear moonless night with the starry firmament in all its glory and splendor in full view.
Many of us who have taken up the leisurely pursuit of Astronomy with an almost religious fervor can recall when we learned the positions and names of some of the brightest stars in the night sky and learned about the star groupings we call the constellations.
We were all introduced to the ancient lore from times past associated with the deities that make their home on the vault of celestial sphere and can feel a certain kinship with our hunter-gathering ancestors and the ancient farmers and mariners of the world’s first civilizations as we recite their names and marvel at the splendor of the most prominent stars associated with them. So join us today on Discovery-Enterprise as we take a voyage through time and space and reacquaint ourselves with the marvel and beauty of the constellations.
The Universe is available on DVD from Amazon.com and the History Channel’s
online store.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we take a closer look at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (S.E.T.I) and some of the people currently involved in this remarkable enterprise.
Scientists believe extraterrestrials may exist, but in a very different form than Hollywood has portrayed them. Learn what current research is being done to document the existence of alien beings and what they look like.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we are going to look at the possibility of designing a working light saber. The lightsaber, as every science fiction fan knows, is a weapon which has a key role in the Star Wars movies and the franchise's expanded universe.
The lightsaber consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of energy about one meter long. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for offence, or to deflect blaster bolts. In today’s episode of Sci Fi Science, Dr. Michio Kaku reveals how we could one day build a light saber using the knowledge of twenty-first century physics and engineering.
The first and second seasons of Sci Fi Science, hosted
by Dr. Michio Kaku is a available on DVD from the Discovery Channel’s online store.
On February 10, 2010 the European Southern Observatory released this spectacular photograph (shown above) of the Orion Nebula that reveals many of its hidden secrets in a dramatic image taken by ESO’s new VISTA survey telescope. The Orion Nebula is one of the most active star formation regions in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The telescope’s huge field of view can show the full splendour of the whole nebula and VISTA’s infrared vision also allows it to peer deeply into dusty regions that are normally hidden and expose the curious behaviour of the very active young stars buried there.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we are going to take a grand tour through the Art Gallery of the Galaxy and view what are considered the crown jewels of the heavens. Nebulas are mysterious clouds of gas that are not classified as stars, planets, moons or asteroids. Astronomers use the most sophisticated techniques to view them, as they are practically invisible to the naked eye. Nothing less than stunning - nebulas glow, reflect or obscure the galaxy's light with amazing swirls of colour. Nebulas are the regions where stars and planets are born. And, where stars die.
Today on Discovery Enterprise in order to help commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Frank Drake’s Project Ozma and kick start a year long celebration to mark the birth of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and Astrobiology program in general we begin today by exploring the various technologies that make these endeavours possible.
These technologies have taken us to the planet Mars to sift its sands for life. And, have also led to development of sophisticated radio telescopes that help us sieve through the cosmic radio noise for signs of intelligent civilizations that share this awesome Cosmos with us.
In 2003, when Mars was closer to Earth than it had been in 60,000 years, scientists launched three life-seeking planetary landers. NASA's Spirit and Opportunity and the European Space Agency's failed Beagle 2 mission represent the pinnacle technologies in the current search for extraterrestrial life. And, the current generation of space based telescopes such as Kepler and its descents will shed light on the number of worlds in our galaxy that may indeed harbour life and extraterrestrial civilizations.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we take an imaginary voyage to the world of Pandora depicted in the motion picture Avatar and look at the possibility of humanity one day taking a very real interstellar odyssey to worlds beyond our solar system.
The setting of the movie Avatar takes place in the year 2154 on the terrestrial like moon of Pandora.
Pandora is a lush, Earth-like moon of the planet Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri star system. Pandora is inhabited by the Na'vi, a ten-foot-tall blue-skinned species of sapient humanoids, who live in harmony with nature, worshiping a mother goddess called Eywa.
Its location is a real place - Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun and the most likely destination for our first journey beyond the solar system.
Remarkably, it is anti-matter, the science fiction fuel of choice that could take us there. Normally, it's only created in powerful jets that roar out of black holes. We can now produce small quantities in Earth-bound particle colliders. Will we journey out only to plunder other worlds? Or will we come in peace? The answer may depend on how we view our home world, the Earth, at that time in the distant future.
Voyage to Pandora: Humanity's First interstellar Flight
Today on Discovery Enterprise we follow the world's greatest scientists as they attempt to comprehend a mysterious phenomenon that Einstein believed could only exist in the realm of theoretical physics. We now know there are millions of black holes in our galaxy, and they are the scariest things we know the least about.
The ability to move “faster than a speeding bullet, to be more powerful than a speeding locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” may soon be within your reach.
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it’s a plane, no it ain’t superman, its you in your brand new Super-suit!
Michio Kaku reveals his plan to create a super suit which will give the wearer superpowers equivalent to that of the superheroes found in comic books! This according to Dr. Kaku may be possible using the laws of twenty-first century physics.
The first and second seasons of Sci Fi Science, hosted
by Dr. Michio Kaku is a available on DVD from the Discovery Channel’s onlinestore.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we take an intimate look at the last years of Albert Einstein’s life and the work that occupied his mind in the twilight years of his illustrious career.
In spring 1951 the most famous scientist in the world celebrated his 72 birthday. This is the extraordinary story how Albert Einstein spent the last years of his life. Battling to destroy the consequences of his own work. It was a quest that would end in his failure and isolation. The dramatic section in this film is an interpretation of Albert Einstein in his final hours.
Powerful comets plow through our solar system by the trillions. Some comets are over 100 meters in diameter and travel at speeds of 60,000 miles per hour. Sooner or later on of these monsters will strike Earth unless scientist can learn how to deflect or destroy them.
Comet Collision if the video is not working you can view this documentary on YouKu.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we are going to explore our home galaxy -The Milky Way.
Our home galaxy is a crucible of creation and destruction. It is just one galaxy among billions and we are living at its very edge. The Milky Way is a brilliant tapestry of over one hundred billion suns and dust clouds which are the birth place of future generations of stars and planets. It is a place of extremes, where stars can drift lazily or be flung out at more than a million miles per hour. Now scientists have pierced the galaxy’s heart of darkness to penetrate the mystery of the Milky Way’s galactic core.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we explore the strange and minuscule world of quantum universe. The phenomenon of "uncertainty" takes a quizzical glimpse at quarks and a world in constant flux.
President Barack Obama's 2011 budget request has effectively shut down NASA's five-year effort to return astronauts to the moon, leaving the U.S. space agency with lofty goals – but no firm deadlines – to once again send humans beyond Earth orbit.
The budget request, released today, would scrap NASA's Constellation program to build the Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets for new < – a $9 billion investment to date. The request calls for $19 billion in funding for NASA in 2011, a slight increase from the $18.3 billion it spent in 2010.
The request does, however, pledge extra funding to extend the life of the International Space Station through at least 2020 and offers $6 billion over five years to supportcommercially built spaceships to launch NASA astronauts into space. The space agency's three remaining space shuttles are due to retire later this year.
The plan should make Elon Musk ans SpaceX happy. What do our readers think?
UPDATE: This is now a FORUM topic. Visit our FORUM and join the conversation.
Today on Discovery Enterprise we present a very informative documentary on one of the most wondrous of phenomena that have invoked both awe and terror in our forbearers – Comets.
Today’s documentary “The Comet's Tale” traces the intertwined history of comets and civilization. Ancient civilizations thought they were gods. Some believed they were harbingers of doom and with the advent of the scientific revolution led Isaac Newton to formulate his theory of Universal Gravitation and twenty-first century science to a deeper understanding of the origin of our solar system and perhaps even life on Earth.
The Comet's Tale
How did Isaac Newton really discover gravity - apple or comet?
Today it gives us great pleasure on Discovery Enterprise to present a 1981 interview with the late Nobel laureate physicist Richard P. Feynman.
While the video quality of this exclusive NOVA/Horizon interview is not of the highest quality its content more than makes up for this.
Today’s documentary will delight and inspire anyone who would like to share something of the joys of scientific discovery. Feynman is a master storyteller, and his tales – about childhood, Los Alamos, or how he won a Nobel Prize – are a vivid and entertaining insight into the mind of a great scientist at work and play.
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out with Richard P. Feynman
Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the second instalment of the acclaimed documentary series narrated by Christopher Plummer.
Episode 2 of Miracle Planet takes us back more than two billion years, to this first ice age that gripped the Earth for what scientists believe was millions of years. Snowball Earth reveals the startling secrets of how life survived this devastating cold and how this extreme climate shift forever changed the development of life on Earth.
Snowball Earth refers to the highly contested hypothesis that the Earth's surface became nearly or entirely frozen over at least once during three periods between 650 and 750 million years ago. The geological community generally accepts this hypothesis because it best explains sedimentary deposits generally regarded as of glacial origin at tropical paleolatitudes and other enigmatic features in the geological record. Opponents to the hypothesis contest the implications of the geological evidence for global glaciation, the geophysical feasibility of an ice- or slush-covered ocean, and the difficulty of escaping an all-frozen condition. There are a number of unanswered questions, including whether the Earth was a full snowball, or whether it was a "slushball" with a thin equatorial band of open (or seasonally open) water. The geological time-frame under consideration comes immediately before the sudden multiplication of life-forms on earth known as the Cambrian explosion and may have triggered multi-cellular life on earth.
But, recent evidence has dealt this hypothesis a serious blow by new evidence that periods of warmth occurred during this so-called 'Snowball Earth' era.
