Last Watched

"Rap"  Sort by

Nebulas

   2008    Science
Take a tour through the Art Gallery of the Galaxy and view what are considered the "crown jewels" of the heavens. Nebulas are mysterious clouds of gas that aren't classified as stars, planets, moons or asteroids. Astronomers use the most sophisticated techniques to view them since they are practically invisible to the naked eye. Nothing less than stunning, nebulas glow, reflect or obscure the galaxy's light with amazing swirls of color. Nebulas mark the regions where the nothingness of space first coalesces, where stars are born and where stars die. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth.
Series: The Universe

Neptune and Uranus

   2011    Science
Uranus and Neptune: The 'ice giants'. Strap yourselves in for an incredible voyage to the most remote and intriguing planets of all. There has never been a better time to boldly go where no human has gone before to follow in the footsteps of our robot pioneers and visit the planets of the Solar System. Ever wanted to be an astronaut? Imagine heading into the Ice Zone, the frigid, dark realm beyond the orbit of Saturn. So far from the Sun, you wouldn't expect much to be happening here. From orbit, Uranus appears sedate and calm. But why is the planet on its side? And Neptune: The second blue planet, and the last world in our Solar System. But something is driving its wild winds. And what about its Great Dark Spot? this planet just changes its spots. Leopards don't, but Neptune does.
Series: A Traveler Guide to the Planets

Dino Turkey

   2008    Science
From small viscous meat eaters to vegetarian giants, dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes. Remarkable new evidence suggests that one dinosaur did not become extinct but evolved into a new animal species we all know today. Discover the missing link between the velociraptor and modern day birds.
Series: Evolutions

A Sky Full of Ghosts

   2014    Science
Tyson begins the episode by explaining the nature of the speed of light and how much of what is seen of the observable universe is from light emanated from billions of years in the past. Tyson further explains how modern astronomy has used such analyzes via deep time to identify the Big Bang event and the age of the universe. Tyson proceeds to describe how the work of Isaac Newton, William Herschel, and James Clerk Maxwell contributed to understanding the nature of electromagnetic waves and gravitational force, and how this work led towards Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, that the speed of light is a fundamental constant of the universe and gravity can be seen as distortion of the fabric of space-time. Tyson describes the concept of dark stars as postulated by John Michell which are not visible but detectable by tracking other stars trapped within their gravity wells, an idea Herschel used to discover binary stars. Tyson then describes the nature of black holes, their enormous gravitational forces that can even capture light, and their discovery via X-ray sources such as Cygnus X-1. Tyson uses the Ship of Imagination to provide a postulate of the warping of spacetime and time dilation as one enters the event horizon of the black hole, and the possibility that these may lead to other points within our universe or others, or even time travel. Tyson ends on noting that Herschel's son, John would be inspired by his father to continue to document the known stars as well as contributions towards photography that play on the same nature of deep time used by astronomers.
Series: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

The Lives of the Stars

   1980    Science
The simple act of making an apple pie is extrapolated into the atoms and subatomic particles (electrons, protons, and neutrons) necessary. Many of the ingredients necessary are formed of chemical elements formed in the life and deaths of stars (such as our own Sun), resulting in massive red giants and supernovae or collapsing into white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, and even black holes. These produce all sorts of phenomena, such as radioactivity, cosmic rays, and even the curving of spacetime by gravity. Cosmos Update mentions the supernova SN 1987A and neutrino astronomy.
Series: Cosmos

Peril and Promise

   2013    History
In the 80s the nature of the Latino Diaspora changes again. From Cuba a second wave of refugees to United States – the Mariel exodus – floods Miami . The same decade sees the sudden arrival of hundreds of thousands of Central Americans (Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans) fleeing death squads and mass murders at home like activist, Carlos Vaquerano. By the early 1990s, a political debate over illegal immigration – has begun. Globalization, empowered by NAFTA, means that as U.S. manufacturers move south, Mexican workers head north in record numbers. A backlash ensues: tightened borders, anti-bilingualism, state laws to declare all illegal immigrants felons. But a sea change is underway: the coalescence of a new phenomenon called Latino American culture-as Latinos spread geographically and make their mark in music, sports, politics, business, and education.
Series: Latino Americans
The Sky at Night

The Sky at Night

2020  Science
Building Giants

Building Giants

2019  Technology
The Story of China

The Story of China

2016  History
Generation Iron

Generation Iron

2018  History
Welcome to Earth

Welcome to Earth

2021  Nature
Latino Americans

Latino Americans

2013  History
Fierce Queens

Fierce Queens

2020  Nature