Oceans - Indian Ocean

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the fifth instalment of the highly acclaimed BBC documentary series "Oceans" that has not graced our blog site in over a year. Today we join Paul Rose, Philippe Cousteau Jr, Dr Lucy Blue and Tooni Mahto in exploring the Indian Ocean.


The Indian Ocean is the third largest body of water on Earth at more than 6,000 miles wide and covering 13% of the world's surface. It is home to 5,000 species of fish, many of which only exist in the Indian Ocean. But it is also an ocean under threat from global issues such as over-fishing and climate change, which make this an ocean on the edge.

Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the Science Fiction Classic “Silent Running” directed by Douglas Trumbull.

The loner crew member of a spaceship harboring Earths last nature reserves goes renegade when he is instructed to jettison his beloved forests and return home. Accompanied only by three robots, he ponders the fate of his last pocket of nature and the murders of his fellow crew members in this far-looking speculative film.

The Last Day of Pompeii

On August 24th, 79 AD one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history destroyed the three neighbouring Roman resort cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae in the wake of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This volcano still threatens the Italian city of Naples today.

Atlantis: The Evidence

In this Timewatch special, historian Bettany Hughes unravels one of the most intriguing mysteries of all time - did Atlantis really exist?

Dr. Hughes presents a series of geological, archaeological and historical clues to show that the legend of Atlantis was inspired by a real historical event – the greatest natural disaster of the ancient world – the eruption of Thera on the Aegean island of Santorini. In this documentary Dr. Hughes traces the origins of the Atlantis myth and presents evidence that the Thera eruption inspired Plato’s account of this mystical land.

The Starlost

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the first episode of “The Starlost: - Voyage of Discovery” a Canadian-produced science fiction television series devised by writer Harlan Ellison and broadcast in 1973 on CTV in Canada and syndicated to local stations in the United States. The show's setting is a huge generational colony spacecraft called The Ark, which has gone off-course. Many of the descendants of the original crew and colonists are unaware, however, that they are aboard a ship. The series experienced a number of production difficulties, and Ellison ended up disowning it before the first episode even aired.

NOVA Power Surge

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present a recent episode of the acclaimed PBS science series NOVA. “Power Serge” attempts to answer two fundamental questions Are we finally on the brink of a clean energy revolution? And, can emerging technology defeat global warming?

Elon Musk wants to go to Mars

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBillionaire Elon Musk (the man behind Paypal) wants to send astronauts to Mars. Considering his success with SpaceX, if any man can that man is Elon Musk.

SpaceX hopes to put an astronaut on Mars within 10 to 20 years, Elon Musk says

From: AFP

April 24, 2011

US company SpaceX hopes to put an astronaut on Mars within 10 to 20 years, the head of the firm says.

"We'll probably put a first man in space in about three years," Elon Musk told the Wall Street Journal.

"We're going all the way to Mars, I think ... best case 10 years, worst case 15 to 20 years.''

SpaceX is one of the two leading private space companies in the US and has won $75 million from the US space agency NASA to help its pursuit of developing a spacecraft to replace the space shuttle.

The California-based company last year completed its first successful test of an unmanned space capsule into orbit and back.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/deadline-10-years-destination-mars/story-fn5fsgyc-1226044123413#ixzz1KX14u3Pc

Certainly the hardware is becoming available.  Multiple launches of the Falcon Heavy could be used to assemble the spaceship.  Bigelow inflatables could serve as the habitat.  Dragon capsules could land astronauts on the surface. However the human factors are another issue. Until the problems of microgravity and space radiation are solved human Mars missions are not going to happen.

The Transatlantic Cable

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present Modern Marvels “The Transatlantic Cable” which tells the story of Cyrus West Field and his epic struggle to lay the first transatlantic cable between the Old and New Worlds.






In today’s era of high-speed communications and global connectivity it’s difficult to imagine a time when news travelled no faster than it could be delivered in person. A message can now be sent around the world in less time than it takes to read this sentence.

Earth Day April 22, 1970

On behalf of my co-bloggers Ralph Buttigieg, Dennis Chamberland and Michael Lombardi I would like to wish each and every one of our dear readers a Happy Earth Day. Today marks the forty-first anniversary of the first Earth Day events of April 22, 1970. According to the entry of that ever indispensable, yet at times not always dependable, web resource Wikipedia:

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.

My father took me to the first Earth Day celebrations that were held in New York City. I was nine years old at the time. I remember 14th Street near Union Square being closed off to traffic and that there was a street fair displaying the eco-friendly technology of the time. It was the first time that time ever I actually saw an electric car. To commemorate that event and in a sense to share an early childhood memory I decided to post the original broadcast of the CBS News Special Report with Walter Cronkite covering the events of the first Earth Day of April 22, 1970.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Robinson Crusoe on Mars, is a 1964 Techniscope science fiction film, which is the retelling of the classic Daniel Defoe novel. It was directed by Byron Haskin, produced by Aubrey Schenck and starred Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin and Adam West (of Batman fame). Robinson Crusoe on Mars is all time childhood Sci Fi favourite of mine and I have fond memories of watching this motion picture as a child when it was shown as a Saturday morning television matinee feature. It was released on DVD for the first time as a special edition from The Criterion Collection on September 18, 2007.

The Hawking Paradox

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present an outstanding BBC Horizon documentary concerning the physicist Stephen Hawking and Black hole information paradox. Has Stephen Hawking been wrong for the last 30 years?



Stephen Hawking is the most famous scientist on the planet. His popular science book 'A Brief History of Time' was a publishing sensation, staying at the top of the bestseller lists longer than any other book in recent history. But behind the public face lies an argument that has been raging for almost 30 years.


Hawking shot to fame in the world of physics when he provided a mathematical proof for the Big Bang theory. This theory showed that the entire universe exploded from a singularity, an infinitely small point with infinite density and infinite gravity. Hawking was able to come to his proof using mathematical techniques that had been developed by Roger Penrose. These techniques were however developed to deal not with the beginning of the Universe but with black holes.

Science had long predicted that if a sufficiently large star collapsed at the end of its life, all the matter left in the star would be crushed into an infinitely small point with infinite gravity and infinite density – a singularity. Hawking realized that the Universe was, in effect, a black hole in reverse.

George Pal’s Conquest of Space

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present George Pal's “Conquest of Space”.


Conquest of Space is a 1955 science fiction movie produced by George Pal which depicts a voyage to Mars. The science and technology were intended to be as realistic as possible. The poster tagline was "See how it will happen in your lifetime!" Which is rather ironic since many of the people association with the production of this motion picture have already gone to their eternal rest and for those of us still alive it still appears that a mission to Mars is not happening any time soon.

A Video Tribute to “The Sentinel” by Arthur C Clarke

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present a short video tribute to Arthur C. Clarke and his 1948 short story “The Sentinel” which was the basis of the science fiction epic “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

The Sentinel 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."

2001: The Making of a Myth

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the first television documentary about the greatest science fiction epic ever made - Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Ancient Robots

We think of the robot as a twentieth century conceptual invention. The word robot was introduced to the public by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. However the idea of the robot, as an artificial human or life form can be traced back to classical antiquity.

Legend has it that Hephaestus, the ancient Greek god of fire, metalworking and handicrafts, “forged” two dozen copper tripods, which could move about the place “on the golden wheels” as if they were self-propelled (or automatic?). The devices are said to have been used for rendering services to gods who visited Hephaestus. Could they be some kind of a remote-controlled robot or automatic means of transporting?

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present “Ancient Robots” an episode from the acclaimed History Channel documentary series “Ancient Discoveries”.

Yuri Gagarin: 50 Years of Manned Spaceflight

Today on Discovery Enterprise we join the rest of the world in commemorating the memory of Yuri Gagarin, first man in space and the Golden Anniversary of manned spaceflight with four video features that mark this auspicious occasion.

In the early morning hours of April 12th, 1961 the world awoke to the news that a human had ventured into space. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, beheld the orb of the world from a vantage point never experienced before, in a spaceflight that consisted of a single orbit of the Earth that took a total of 108 minutes from launch to landing. That brief flight heralded the beginning of a new historical epoch: The Age of Manned Spaceflight and a new age of adventure, exploration and discovery.

Life Beyond Earth

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the PBS documentary “Life Beyond Earth” hosted by Timothy Ferris.

Are we alone in the universe? In this captivating PBS documentary, science writer Timothy Ferris examines the research aimed at answering the age-old question. The film contains startling visual effects; interviews with astrophysicists and other experts who provide insights about the probability of life elsewhere in the cosmos; and a segment about the radio transmissions used to try to contact intelligent life beyond our solar system.

 

Hubble, Journey Through the Orion Nebula

Pillar's of Creation

Today on Discovery Enterprise we will take an exhilarating voyage through the Orion Nebula, a vast star-making factory 1,500 light-years away. Swoop through Orion's giant canyon of gas and dust. Fly past behemoth stars whose brilliant light illuminate and energizes the entire cloudy region. Zoom by dusty tadpole-shaped objects that are fledgling solar systems.

This virtual space journey isn't the latest video game but one of several groundbreaking astronomy visualizations created by specialists at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, the science operations centre for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Falcon Heavy and Mission to Farside

A few days ago SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a new rocket, the Falcon Heavy. It will be the most powerful rocket in world with the ability to orbit 53 tonnes and do it at far lower cost too. The launcher should dominate the commercial market but it has applications as a manned launcher as well.  With about half the capacity of the old Saturn V an Apollo type moonshot can be done with two launchers and a flyby done with one. However there could be another one launch mission  which be exciting and unique.

So far all explorations of the Moon have been done to the near side , the side facing Earth. The farside is unexplored territory. One reason for that is the difficulty of communicating with a farside explorer. To accomplish that a communication satellite would be required. The best place to locate such a satellite would be the L2  Lagrange point  of the Earth-Moon system. A spacecraft could stay there for extended periods in a halo orbit. It would be about 61,500 km behind the Moon but still be able to view the Earth.

The Falcon Heavy has a GTO capability of 19500 kg , L2 actually requires less Delta V then GEO so sending a 5 ton Dragon capsule to L2 should be well within the range of the Falcon Heavy. Having reached L2 what to do there? How about sending a robot on the surface? The crew  Dragon capsule would act as a comsat relay to Earth and could teleoperate the robot. The  robot could be a version of  the Google Lunar X Prize winner or maybe this chap.

Medicine at the Edge

Painting by Space Artist Pat Rawlings

Today on Discovery Enterprise we take a look at medicine on the edge of the new frontiers of sea and space.

From the edges of our atmosphere to the depths of the deepest oceans, wherever mankind goes, medicine must follow. As we push the limits of our environment we push our bodies to the extreme. Activities that were once thought impossible are now commonplace, but not without risks, risks that have to be managed with care and attention to detail. Deep-water diving, climbing Mt Everest, a mission to Mars — for every extreme environment, medicine has to answer the call.

Dangers of the Deep

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present another fascinating episode from the National Geographic Channel’s documentary series “Naked Science –Dangers of the Deep”. In this instalment of “Naked Science” we will take a spectacular foray deep into the last great frontier of our planet – the seas and oceans.

Humans have explored much of the solar system, carried out studies to assess the possibility for life on Mars yet little is known about our own oceans that cover over 70% of our planet's surface. If we were to drain the seas what would we find, and what would it take to explore the abyss, a place with no light, temperatures at near zero and pressure a thousand times greater than the surface. Only two people have ever visited the bottom of the oceans less than have walked on the moon. We are on a journey to the bottom of some of the deepest oceans. Investigating the technologies and vistas that could, one day, open-up an entirely new world.

Graham Hawkes: Fly the seas on a submarine with wings

My good friend and co-blogger Ralph Buttigieg yesterday reported about Richard Branson’s latest exploit, his plan to explore the deepest parts of the world's oceans with a jet-like submarine – the Deep Flight Merlin.

Today on Discovery Enterprise we meet the man who will make this all possible – inventor, marine engineer and CEO of Deep Flight - Graham Hawkes.

Sir Richard Branson explores Aquatica

The amazing Sir Richard Branson plans a new adventure:

Reuters) - Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, known for such exploits as trying to balloon around the world, said on Tuesday he planned to explore the deepest parts of the world's oceans with a jet-like submarine.

The 18-foot (5-1/2 meter) vessel is capable of descents of more than 36,000 feet (11,000 meters) below the surface, said Branson at a news conference in Newport Beach, California.

His project, called Virgin Oceanic, will undertake five dives over two years. The first is set for later this year, when the team plans to explore the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench at a depth near 36,000 feet.

Branson plans to pilot a second dive himself, into the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Ascent of Man - The Harvest of the Seasons

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the second episode of Jacob Bronowski’s acclaimed PBS series “The Ascent of Man” – “The Harvest of the Seasons”.

In the second instalment of the series Jacob Bronowski discusses early human migration, agriculture the first settlements, and the origins of war.

The Ascent of Man was a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski. Intended as a series of personal view documentaries in the manner of Kenneth Clark’s 1969 series Civilisation, the series received acclaim for Bronowski’s highly informed but eloquently simple analysis, his long unscripted monologues and its extensive location shoots.

Wonders of the Universe - Messengers

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the fourth and last episode of Brian Cox’s epic documentary series “Wonders of the Universe- Messengers”.

In the final instalment of this series Brian takes a look at the fossils of the Burgess Shale and takes us to the sands of the oldest desert in the world to demonstrate how light holds the key to understanding the whole Universe including the origins of humankind.

To understand how light holds the key to the story of the universe; you first have to understand its peculiar properties. Brian considers how the properties of light that lend colour to desert sands and the spectrum of a rainbow can lead to profound insights into the history and evolution of our universe.