In the fifth episode we will see from counterfeit Beanie Babies to very real tax crime. One person wonders if could make refunds in the name of dead people. It turns out that it can. We will also see an attempted fraud by two hackers to the IRS: the United States federal agency in charge of tax collection. These skilled hackers revisit cyber schemes that landed them in the sight of law enforcement.
Take a look back at many of the most fascinating science stories of 2017, a year full of stunning advancements in individual fields of study, from astronomy to biology, geology to history – when we piece these discoveries together we see the year in a new light.
Eternal life is humanity’s oldest dream. It may be finally coming true. Today, at least in the West, the quest for immortality has shifted from the metaphysical to the technical and the scientific. In this film we will investigate the advancement of this research in laboratories around the world. With cryonics technology improving, human cloning now possible, mind uploading and digital brain simulation thriving, reversing the aging of cells and organs feasible, immortality may seem right around the corner.
In some countries, such as the US, Russia and Europe, private companies are financing and promoting the promise of immortality or at least a longer life expectancy. Are they selling a reality or utopia? We will meet scientists, neurophysiologists, computer specialists, geneticists, and biologists, and also hopefuls of immortal life, futurists, sociologists and businessmen. We will film different research laboratories and cities built for the aging; we will interview the experts as well as the anonymous men and women who speak about their relationship with life and death and those who simply embody it.
The episode begins with Tyson describing how pattern recognition manifested in early civilization as using astronomy and astrology to predict the passing of the seasons, including how the passage of a comet was often taken as an omen. Tyson continues to explain that the origin of comets only became known in the 20th century due to the work of Jan Oort and his hypothesis of the Oort cloud. Tyson then continues to relate the collaboration between Edmond Halley and Isaac Newton in the last part of the 17th century in Cambridge. The collaboration would result in the publication of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, the first major work to describe the laws of physics in mathematical terms, despite objections and claims of plagiarism from Robert Hooke and financial difficulties of the Royal Society of London. Tyson explains how this work challenged the prevailing notion that God had planned out the heavens, but would end up influencing many factors of modern life, including space flight. Tyson further describes Halley's contributions including determining Earth's distance to the sun, the motion of stars and predicting the orbit of then-unnamed Halley's Comet using Newton's laws. Tyson contrasts these scientific approaches to understanding the galaxy compared to what earlier civilizations had done, and considers this advancement as mankind's first steps into exploring the universe. The episode ends with an animation of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies' merging based on the principles of Newton's laws.
The bitter feud between Sheela and the Bhagwan divides the community -- and opens the door for the FBI. At the ranch, a task force amasses evidences against the Rajineesh for poisoning, attempted murder, spying and sabotage. Sheela's replacement is a wealthy movie producer named Hasya.
Ma Anand Sheela and several other followers recount their experiences of moving to the ranch and the hostility from the residents of the city of Antelope. With the help of architects, engineers, city planners and commune residents, Rajneeshees construct a town called Rajneeshpuram. The commune decides to become self-governing which would allow them to issue their own building permits and have separate law enforcement. Locals describe their mistrust towards Bhagwan. The American press begins to affiliate Rajneeshpuram with the Jonestown Massacre and paints Bhagwan as an antichrist. The group '1000 Friends of Oregon' initiates a court case to have the buildings of Rajneeshpuram destroyed. In response, Sheela begins buying up available properties in Antelope.
We will also see an attempted fraud by two hackers to the IRS: the United States federal agency in charge of tax collection. These skilled hackers revisit cyber schemes that landed them in the sight of law enforcement.