Time’s Arrow

It controls the rhythm of our lives like a Metronome ticking away and measuring the pace and tempo of our existence. Time is an enduring mystery. And, along with time’s arrow we are taking an inexorable voyage into an unknown future.

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 2011 AD we at Discovery Enterprise are going on a Time odyssey in search of the nature of time to explore it in all its majesty, wonder and mystery with this three part BBC documentary series entitled Time Machine.

From the creation of the highest mountains to the opening of  flowers petals, time controls the world around us. To understand this super-powerful force on Earth, we must wrench control of time ourselves - compressing, expanding, stopping and dissecting it, to reveal how the passing of time and how it shapes our world and our lives.

 

Carl Sagan - A Cosmic Celebrity

 

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present a biographical documentary concerning Dr. Carl Sagan.

Carl Sagan was the rarest of all creatures - the celebrity scientist. While some accused him of being a grandstander, none can deny that his approach to science helped introduce millions of people to the great wonders of the universe that fascinated him all his life.

He played many different roles - professor, working scientist, bestselling author and TV personality. In his classic television series, he brought science to the masses in an accessible, entertaining format. 

Deepest Dive - The Story of the Trieste

Over fifty years ago, two men attempted to reach the deepest part of the ocean, 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) down in the South Pacific. This is the tale of the Trieste vessel and their feat that has never been equalled.

It was a seven-mile voyage to the deepest part of the ocean, and there were only two men in the world right for the job.

Today on Discovery Enterprise we join Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy LT. Don Walsh in this exciting documentary film as they pilot the bathyscaphe Trieste into the abyss of the Pacific's Mariana Trench.

Rocket Compulsion

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the real life story of an Australian Rocketeer in today's video feature - Rocket Compulsion.

Rocket Compulsion is the story of a tenacious Australian Pilot, David Mayman, as he strives to achieve his childhood dream of building and free-flying his very own Rocket Belt - only to discover he faces a nearly impossible task.

Professor Brian Cox: A Night with the Stars

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present a media event in which Professor Brian Cox goes unplugged in a specially recorded programme from the venerable lecture theatre of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.  

Flying through Heaven

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever thought what it would be like flying in a SR-71 Blackbird? There you are, at night, travelling at over 3000km/h at at altitude of  25 km. You have reached Near Space and you turn of your cockpit light:

One moonless night, while flying a routine training mission over the Pacific, I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000 feet if the cockpit lighting were dark. While heading home on a straight course, I slowly turned down all of the lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky. Within seconds, I turned the lights back up, fearful that the jet would know and somehow punish me. But my desire to see the sky overruled my caution, I dimmed the lighting again. To my amazement, I saw a bright light outside my window. As my eyes adjusted to the view, I realized that the brilliance was the broad expanse of the Milky Way, now a gleaming stripe across the sky. Where dark spaces in the sky had usually existed, there were now dense clusters of sparkling stars Shooting stars flashed across the canvas every few seconds. It was like a fireworks display with no sound. I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly I brought my attention back inside. To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge, lit by starlight. In the plane's mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit incandescently illuminated in a celestial glow. I stole one last glance out the window. Despite our speed, we seemed still before the heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power. For those few moments, I felt a part of something far more significant than anything we were doing in the plane. The sharp sound of Walt's voice on the radio brought me back to the tasks at hand as I prepared for our descent.

Hat tip http://chicagoboyz.net/

Happy Boxing Day with Robbie the Robot

Today dear readers we celebrate Boxing Day with two film classics from the 1950s staring the one and only Robbie the Robot.

Robby the Robot is a fictional character who has made a number of appearances in science fiction movies and television programs after his first appearance in the 1956 MGM science fiction film Forbidden Planet. 

In Search of the Real Santa Claus

To kick off this holiday season Ralph, Dennis, Michael and I would like to extend our heartfelt and warmest wishes to our readers the world over and to each of you a New Year full of happiness and good fortune.

Today on Discovery Enterprise we go in search of the real Santa Claus with today’s double video feature. 

Christmas message from the Moon

Image via Wikipedia

The astronauts of Apollo 8 were the first humans to leave Earth orbit and visit another world, our Moon. They orbited the Moon for 20 hours during Christmas and on the 24th December 1968 sent the people of Earth the following Christmas message:

William A. Anders:
We are now approaching lunar sunrise. And, for all the people back on earth, the crew of Apollo 8 have a message that we would like to send to you. ''In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.''

James A. Lovell, Jr.:
''And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters, and God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven, And the evening and the morning were the second day.''

Frank Borman:
''And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.'' And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close, with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good earth.

They also gave us a priceless Christmas present, the picture above, the living Earth rising from the barren Moon.

The Christmas Truce

The Great War (First World War) of 1914-1918 saw a new world order of violence that spawned the hallmarks of Twentieth Century conflict - machine guns, tanks, air raids; and gas.

The Great War transformed the common soldier into a unit of sacrifice, to be processed and exterminated on an industrial scale.

The war machine was born, a machine that ran on men. In the course of four years, it would get through 20 million soldiers of all nationalities. 

God and the Universe

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present another exciting episode of acclaimed Documentary series The Universe which explores perhaps the ultimate existential question – Did God Create the Universe?

Hubble's Amazing Universe

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present Hubble's Amazing Universe.

This documentary reveals the amazing discoveries made by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope has explored the creation of stars and planets, the glory of supernovas, the formation of super massive black holes, charted dark matter and has changed forever our understanding of reality itself. 

A Tribute to Carl Sagan

"The cosmos is all there is, all there ever was, and all there ever will be.” ~ Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980.

Today on Discovery Enterprise we commemorate the life of  perhaps the greatest teacher in my living memory – Carl Edward Sagan who died an untimely death fifteen years ago today.

Carl Sagan’s name will forever be linked to the greatest science television series in history – Cosmos.

Killers in Space

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present Killers in Space, a look at how our solar system is teeming with thousands of asteroids and comets. While an impact would be catastrophic for human life, it is now thought these mini-worlds played a vital part in kick-starting life on our planet.

Batman Tech

Today on Discovery Enterprise we explore the technological wizardry of "The Caped Crusader" in another exciting episode of Modern Marvels.

Is It Real? - Life on Mars

Today on Discovery Enterprise we will be taking a voyage to the planet Mars in search of past Martian civilizations and Extraterrestrial Archaeology monuments.

Becoming Super Human

Do normal humans actually possess the ability to have super powers? Today on Discovery Enterprise we find out if this indeed is a possibility in another exciting episode of Modern Marvels.

In Utah, see how a man can strap on an exoskeleton and lift hundreds of pounds with virtually no effort. In England, visit "Mr. Cyborg," a man with the ability to control machines with merely a thought. In California, see a man glide through the sky like Superman, then it's off to Atlanta, Georgia to see how engineers have found a way to help people glide through the water like Aquaman. 

What’s The Real Deal Behind UFO Reports?

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present another exciting episode of acclaimed Documentary series The Universe to investigate the real deal behind UFO reports.

Many argue that flying saucers and other extra-terrestrial space ships continuously visit the earth. If that were true, what kinds of technologies would such alien spacecraft require? And do eyewitness reports of UFO sightings jibe with modern theories of how interstellar travel might be possible? 

StratoLaunch: Space Dream Team's new project

Exciting news! Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen, aeronautical genius Burt Rutan, SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk and former NASA director Mike Griffin are teaming up to build a commercial rocket system which will have the largest aircraft ever built. NOTE: The payload capacity can certainly take an entire crewed Dragon capsule into orbit. This is BIG news!


More  here.

Modern Marvels - Renewable Energy

Today on Discovery Enterprise we take a look at the future of renewable energy with another exciting episode of the acclaimed documentary series Modern Marvels.

In the young 21st Century, two realizations are dawning on the world's population: we are hopelessly dependent on petroleum, which is only going to get more expensive; and global warming, caused mainly by our burning of fossil fuels, will impact civilization in ways that we're only beginning to grasp. 

How To Kill A Planet

Today on Discovery Enterprise we take a close at five possible ways to totally obliterating the Earth.

Earth is a 4.5-billion-year-old, 6-trillion-trillion-ton ball of rock. So what would it take to destroy it? NGC challenged some of the world’s greatest scientists to devise their own doomsday situations. 

The Blue Planet - The Deep

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present the second episode of the acclaimed documentary series The Blue Planet narrated by David Attenborough.

In this second instalment Doctor Attenborough takes us into the deep. Over sixty percent of the sea is more than a mile deep and it forms the planet's most mysterious habitat. 

Did Aliens Build The Pyramids?

Today on Discovery Enterprise we journey back in time to answer the question - Did Aliens Build the Pyramids?

All over the world there are giant stone monuments. Almost everyone knows they were created thousands of years ago by ancient man. But could almost everyone be wrong about the pyramids, Aztec Temples, Stonehenge?

The Atomic Bomber

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present an episode from the acclaimed documentary series Planes that Never Flew- The Atomic Bomber.

Solarmax

Today on Discovery Enterprise we undertake a breathtaking and spectacular odyssey into the awesome vastness and mysterious power of our closest star – The Sun.

Solarmax is a spectacular and historic IMAX film about humankind’s close relationship with our dangerous and beautiful life-giving star.

Every 11 years the sun’s poles reverse with unimaginable violence. The peak of the storm is called a solarmax.

A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

Today on Discovery Enterprise we commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor  and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous “day of infamy speech” thus plugging America into the Second World War.

To mark this historic occasion, we present the first episode of the documentary series “Hell in the Pacific – Inferno” and Roosevelt’s famous “day of infamy speech” asking congress to pass a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan. 

Brave New World With Stephen Hawking Episode 3 – Technology

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the third episode of another exciting documentary series hosted by Professor Stephen Hawking – Brave New World.

Professor Stephen Hawking presents a global exploration of the scientific breakthroughs that are transforming our lives in the 21st century.

With the help of some of the world’s leading scientific figures, including Sir David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, Aarathi Prasad, Lord Winston and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, this five-part series reveals how science is striving for humankind’s next leap forward.

In this instalment the experts explore how 21st-century technology is shaping our future by changing the way we live, the way we communicate and our perception of the universe. 

The Flight of the Aquanaut

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the Flight of the Aquanaut, a short Canadian IMAX documentary film set against startling undersea vistas.

Modern Marvels - Future Tech

 

Today on Discovery Enterprise we travel forward in time to the year 2060 and explore some of the Modern Marvels of the future.

Deep Sea Exploration: Challenging the Abyss

 

One of the greatest unexpected peace dividends to emerge after the collapse of communism and the end of the cold war was the impact it would have on undersea exploration. A cornucopia of amazing new technologies once devoted to purposes of the military and espionage could now be employed to explore Earth’s final frontier – The Abyss. 

Today on Discovery Enterprise we present another exciting episode of the acclaimed documentary series Modern Marvels that first aired on November 3^rd, 1997 and chronicles the history of deep-sea exploration and the vessels and devices that make it possible. 

Impossible Naval Engineering of the Ancients

Today on Discovery Enterprise we explore the Maritime engineering skills of antiquity.

Naval engineering has been at the vanguard of technological innovation through out recorded history. For the simple reason that if anything goes wrong at sea, you're dead.

Today in this exciting episode of Ancient Discoveries we relive the most extraordinary naval ambitions of the ancients.

Brave New World With Stephen Hawking Episode 2 - Health

Today on Discovery Enterprise we are proud to present the second episode of another exciting documentary series hosted by Professor Stephen Hawking – Brave New World.

Professor Stephen Hawking presents a global exploration of the scientific breakthroughs that are transforming our lives in the 21st century.

With the help of some of the world’s leading scientific figures, including Sir David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, Aarathi Prasad, Lord Winston and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, this five-part series reveals how science is striving for humankind’s next leap forward.

In this instalment the experts examine how scientists are fighting for our survival by battling the world’s big killer diseases. 

Worst Days on Planet Earth

Today on Discovery Enterprise we look at some of the worst days that have plagued our planet during its 4.54 billion years in another exciting episode of the acclaimed documentary series The Universe.

Earth may seem like the most hospitable planet in the solar system. But look again. Startling new discoveries reveal the blue planet has been plagued by more chaos and destruction than scientists once imagined.