A look at how life began on Earth, exploring whether it evolved on the ground, in the sea or in space and considering the theory that it may have begun in the molten world below the ocean floor.
Science
What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest? From the ruins of ancient civilizations to present day cities devastated by natural disasters, history gives us clues to these questions and many more in the visually stunning and thought-provoking spec
Welcome a new and very strange world of nature, it's being taken over by the weird subatomic particles of quantum physics. As a physicist Jim Al-Khalili has spent his working life studying how these particles behave in the laboratory but in this BBC special we see him head out into the natural world. Al-Khalili is on a mission to prove quantum physics can solve the greatest mysteries in biology as
Ron Mann investigates the miraculous, near-secret world of fungi. Visionaries Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans lead us on a hunt for the wild mushroom and the deeper cultural experiences attached to the mysterious fungi. The oldest and largest living organisms recorded on Earth are both fungi. And their use by a new, maverick breed of scientists and thinkers has proven vital in the cleansing of sites
In the far corner of our solar system, orbiting quietly, lurks one of the biggest threats to the survival of the human species. Somewhere out there, there’s an asteroid with our name on it. The Earth is under constant bombardment. Each year, many fragments of debris hit our planet. Fortunately for us, most are so small that they burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere. However , there are hundreds
An intriguing documentary that follows the chess match between Gary Kasparov – generally considered to be one of the greatest chess champions of all time – and the IBM computer named Deep Thought. What initially began as a technical and scientific exercise to test how far computer technology could mimic human cognitive capabilities quickly became an apparent threat to the ability of human beings t
Like much of the United States, Dover, Pennsylvania has become a town divided, split between those who accept Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and those who reject it. This rift between science and scripture nearly destroyed the community after a Dover high school student painted a mural showing the evolution of humans from ape-like ancestors. This idea that humans were descendants of primates
National Geographic presents the first accurate non-stop voyage from Earth to the edge of the Universe using a single, unbroken shot through the use of spectacular CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) technology.Building on images taken from the Hubble telescope, Journey to the Edge of the Universe explores the science and history behind the distant celestial bodies in the solar system.This sp
Connections is a ten-episode documentary television series created, written and presented by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978 (UK) and 1979 (USA). It took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention and demonstrated how various discoveries, scientific ac