Solar magnetism: Why is it so deadly and so misunderstood? And is there anything we can do to escape the magnetic storm? The Universe s5e3: Magnetic Storms
A new generation of solar satellites has revealed just how big these solar flares are and how vulnerable our planet is. ibid.
The key component of magnetism is that it attracts and repels. ibid.
The only thing that keeps people from walking through walls or falling through the floor is magnetism. Molecules and atoms are extremely small, and the space between atoms is extremely large. At an atomic level almost everything is made up of empty space. It’s not the atoms themselves but the magnetic field that makes matter solid, that keeps a person from walking through walls. ibid.
Solar magnetic storms pose a disturbing threat to life on our planet. ibid.
All solar activity is basically magnetic activity. The sun’s magnetism is created by the movement of super-heated plasma as it ripples across the surface of our home star. ibid.
Something far more dramatic – a solar flare. ibid.
Of all the riddles of the universe time travel may be the most perplexing. Time travel could involve going back in time or speeding into the future. But for the moment every one of us is frozen in the present. Yet Science holds out the possibility that we might loosen the hold that Time has on us. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in which Time plays a central role, makes time-travel an open question. The Universe s5e4: Time Travel
Travelling into the past seems improbable because Time only goes one way – forward. Physicists call this the Arrow of Time. The Arrow makes Time a one-way-street of irreversible events. ibid.
The Arrow of Time can be bent in extreme conditions. ibid.
Space and Time are linked into something he [Einstein] called Space/Time. This means that whenever Space is warped, so it Time. ibid.
The paradoxes when we meddle with the past ... If time travel is possible Nature must have a way round the contradiction. ibid.
Nature prevents paradoxes ... It can’t be done. A different idea is the strange idea of multiple universes. A third solution to the Paradox Problem is the notion that if Time Travel is possible you just won’t be able to change the past when you get there. ibid.
We don’t have to worry about paradoxes when we travel into the future. ibid.
It may be that Time Travel is possible through wormholes that are natural. ibid.
What does it take to make one? The technology we need to manipulate a wormhole may seem impossibly remote. ibid.
While warp-drive is mostly science fiction at present there is some physics behind it ... Not all the sceptics are writing off warp-drives completely ... Another point: achieving warp-drive is very difficult. And control is a real problem. ibid.
The astronauts would have to overcome the problem of killer acceleration. ibid.
They are humanity eyes and ears in deep space ... Space probes – robotic explorers that are humanity’s intergalactic avatars. The Universe s5e5: Secrets of the Space Probes
They’ve already wiped out the dinosaurs. And many other species. And there’s no doubt they will strike again. Investigation of asteroids isn’t just about Science. It’s about Survival. Could the latest asteroid discoveries and daring new space exploration one day save our planet? The Universe s5e6: Asteroid Attack
A total eclipse: the brilliant sun suddenly obliterated by the black disc of the moon. The Universe s5e7: Total Eclipse
A total eclipse of the sun can be seen somewhere on Earth once every sixteen months. Predicting them is now a very exact science. ibid.
Eclipses happen everywhere. ibid.
The Sun and the Moon appear to be the same size in the sky. ibid.
In 1971 a Nasa satellite snapped … an explosion in the corona no-one had seen before. The solar particles speed to the Earth ... Coronal Mass Ejections ... Currently the most powerful known explosion in the solar system. ibid.
1859: Disrupting telegraph service and creating auroras visible down to the equator. ibid.
Over one million Earths could easily fit inside this gargantuan ball of bubbling gas with core temperatures reaching more than sixteen million degrees Celsius. The Sun is approximately ninety-three million miles away. The Universe s5e8: Dark Future of Our Sun
A colossal nuclear reactor comprised of three-quarters hydrogen – the rest mostly helium with traces of heavier elements ... This process called Fusion gives off radiant energy. ibid.
Our sun is an average star. There are stars one hundred times its mass. ibid.
Strangely, our sun is 30% brighter than it was at birth. As it ages it will gradually grow even brighter and more powerful. ibid.
It will run out of hydrogen fuel in its core. ibid.
A red giant is a star that has exhausted its primary reservoir of hydrogen fuel at its core. ibid.
Our solar system has witnessed carnage on a colossal scale. Time and again catastrophes have shattered the planetary peace. Worlds have collided or been paved over by runaway volcanism. The Universe s6e1: Catastrophes That Changed the Planets, History 2011
10) Mercury Mantle Disaster; 9) Saturn’s Shattered Moon; 8) The Orbital Maelstrom; 7) The Late Heavy Bombardment; 6) The Mars Mega-Meteorite Impact; 5) The Mars Magnetic Disaster; 4) The Mars Super Eruptions; 3) The Great Venus Meltdown; 2) The Shoemaker Levy 9 Impacts; 1) Planetary Armageddon. ibid.
Could our sun have an evil companion, an undiscovered death star rotating at the furthest edges of the solar system? The Universe s6e2: Nemesis: The Sun’s Evil Twin
Something is disturbing comet orbits right now. ibid.
The first seven hundred million years: the epoch in which the Solar System formed and stabilised. The Universe s6e3: How the Solar System was Made
How can you survive a crash landing on Mars? The Universe s6e4: Crash Landing on Mars
Mars lost its magnetic field four billion years ago. ibid.
Throughout its more than four billion years of existence planet Earth has endured some extremely rough days. The Universe s6e5: Worst Days on Planet Earth
The seven worst days on planet Earth: 7) The Theia Impact; 6) The Late Heavy Bombardment; 5) Snowball Earth; 4) The Ordovician Extinction; 3) The KT Extinction; 2) The Great Dying; 1) The Solar Apocalypse. ibid.
If UFOs were really extraterrestrial craft what kind of mind-bending technologies would we find under the hood? The Universe s6e6: UFOs: The Real Deal
And if there is silence, what about invisibility? ibid.
Is Science now starting to find elusive evidence of God? Or does Physics tell us no creator was necessary? The Universe s6e7: God and the Universe
Would this God be the transcendent being that many people imagine our creator is? Or would it simply be an advanced mortal? ibid.
The numbers of the universe boggle the human mind ... The Universe s7e1: How Big, How Far, How Fast, History 2012
VY Canis Majoris ... Two thousand times the diameter of our Sun. ibid.
In the deep nothingness of space the cosmic silence is broken. Galaxies, stars, planets and moons sing out with strange and alien music. The Universe s7e2: Alien Sounds
In space no-one can hear you scream ... A universe we can hear in all its variety. ibid.
How much do we really know about our corner of the Milky Way? The Universe s7e3: Our Place in the Milky Way
In 2011 one of Nasa’s space telescopes, the Wide-Field Infra-Red Survey Explorer [WISE] ... found a series of Brown Dwarfs right in our neighbourhood. ibid.
Between stars, between galaxies, in the vast majority of space the temperature reads more than 450 degrees below zero. The Universe s7e4: Deep Freeze
To make sense of outer space they need to understand inner space. The Universe s7e5: Microscopic Universe
Quantum computers could transform the planet. ibid.