Today our lives depend on just a handful of natural resources but they are not the ones we think they are. Forget about oil, coal and gas, today we depend on a new set of super elements with obscure names like indium and rhenium. They're properties are so bizarre, they could be confused with an alien technology of sorts.These super elements are driving innovation, everything from smartphones t
At one time we thought the universe ticked off its motions with stately regularity, however with every development in understanding the world around us we discovered that much of the universe operates in a far more unpredictable way.Up until recently science had no explanation for such anomalies observed throughout the universe. The atmosphere, the oceans and much of outer space moves like a t
Thousands of mummies in the very heart of Europe, monks, doctors, soldiers and even children, dead yet resisting deaths inevitable decay in the catacombs in Italy's Catholic churches. Some of these mummies are so well preserved it is almost impossible to tel if they are dead or merely sleeping, but who made these mummies and why?First the first time these Italian churches are permitting scientis
August 24th, 79 A.D. was a day like any other day in the ancient roman town of Herculaneum, citizens met in the town square, discussed a little Italian politics, talked business over lavish lunches. Herculaneum was a booming sea side town at the height of the Roman Empire, trade was good and the future looked bright little did this towns residences know that the clock was ticking, their beautiful
Great Military Blunders is a six part documentary series which was originally aired in 2000, the series itself provides a fascinating examination of the key factors which lead to some of the greatest military disasters in history.In war we typically find that defeat stems from mistakes which include making bad plans or not seeing good ones through, a lack of understanding with regards to your
In the beginning the universe was a bit of a let down really, after the big bang nothing else really happened for millions of years. The big bang was not really the moment of creation, the real moment of creation came 100 million years later and it was a magical, metaphysical moment known as the cosmic dawn, the moment of first light when stars began to form.These first star formations were fu
We like to think that humans are special, and we are but we are not one of a kind. The past thirty to frothy thousand years in human history have been really unique in the sense that we are alone on our planet. Earlier than this and there were always different types of humans around, those that we met and mixed with.Thanks to well preserved DNA we now know that there were at least four
It shouldn't have happened that Homo sapiens, our species, managed to survive and overcome the odd which have been against us for over 200,000 years. We are not indestructible and there are many evolutionary dead ends but our ancestors managed to not only survive, but also to spread into every corner of the globe.It was only our ancestors who managed to spread and colonise some of the most diffi
In this three part documentary series we see Scottish actor David Hayman set off on a journey to better understand the state in which the Scotch whiskey industry is currently in and how it's world dominance is becoming threatened.In the first episode we see Hayman meet up with coopers and coppersmiths whilst also enrolling in a distilling course in Campbeltown. He is schooled in the alchemy