About this season
Computer graphics, visual analogies and a recurring cast of expert scientists combine to reveal new aspects of the world you think you know, from canyons of gravity that warp space and time to rain triggered by cosmic rays.
Episodes (9)
1. Rain
Aired 23 May 2013 • 21 min
Raindrops aren't only formed from condensed water vapor; some result from micrometeorites, and others deliver bacteria from the upper atmosphere.
2. Tsunamis
Aired 23 May 2013 • 21 min
Tsunamis form in the open ocean before making toward land. Science seeks not only to understand these giant waves but also predict them.
3. Gravity
Aired 13 June 2013 • 21 min
Earthquakes can actually affect Earth's gravity, and the ability of scientists to map gravitational fiels has uncovered mysterious anomalies.
4. Goldilocks
Aired 20 June 2013 • 21 min
Earth's distance from the sun is just right to sustain life, with neighbors Venus and Mars illustrating the impact of a slight difference in location.
5. Magnetic Shield
Aired 27 June 2013 • 21 min
A metallic core at the center of the Earth turns the planet into a magnet, generating a field that protects life on the surface from cosmic radiation.
6. Blizzards
Aired 4 July 2013 • 21 min
A visit to the researchers at a Colorado storm lab and an examination of lake-effect snow in northern New York reveal the science of blizzards.
7. Tides
Aired 18 July 2013 • 21 min
Water levels rise up to 50 feet at high tide in Canada's Bay of Fundy, while the Turnagain Arm in Alaska experiences 10-foot-high tidal "bore waves."
8. Volcanoes
Aired 25 July 2013 • 21 min
As evidenced by the 1815 eruption of Indonesia Mt. Tambora, volcanoes can profoundly impact the weather, producing lightning, ash and acid rain.
9. Strangest Places
Aired 1 August 2013 • 21 min
The world's most astonishing sites include extreme underwater ecosystems, steamy subterranean worlds and stratling igneous formations of lava rock.