Through the Wormhole
Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole will explore the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? Is there a creator? These questions have been pondered by the most exquisite minds of the human race. Now, science has evolved to the point ... Read all
Genre: Documentary
Cast:Morgan Freeman , Sean Carroll , Michio Kaku , Kip Thorne , Carlos Frenk , Max Tegmark , Paul Davies , Lee Smolin , Janna Levin , Frank Tipler , Frank Close , Michael Persinger , Paul Steinhardt , Andy Albrecht , Will Wright , David Spergel , Alan Guth , Steve Nahn
S1.E1 ∙ Is There a Creator?
This program examines some recent scientific theories of the universe and conceptions about God they may suggest.
S1.E2 ∙ The Riddle of Black Holes
After reviewing theories about how black holes form and how they were detected this program looks at their counterintuitive behavior that makes them seem so bizarre.
S1.E3 ∙ Is Time Travel Possible?
But if we succeed with time travel, what are the consequences of such freedom? Will we get trapped in a plethora of paradoxes and multiple universes that will destroy the fabric of the universe?
S1.E4 ∙ What Happened Before the Beginning?
Following a review of the discovery and evidence for the Big Bang this program examines the progress of scientists trying to determine what went on before the Big Bang that could have caused it.
S1.E5 ∙ How Did We Get Here?
Scientists explore a variety of ways that life may have formed on earth and try to recreate them.
S1.E6 ∙ Are We Alone?
This program considers the likelihood that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe and the prospects that it may inhabit a nearby planet. Then the various methods being used to look for alien intelligence are reviewed.
S1.E7 ∙ What Are We Really Made Of?
This program delves deep into the atom to find the ultimate constituents of matter focusing finally on the theoretical Higgs Boson.
S1.E8 ∙ Beyond the Darkness
Scientists have discovered that the universe we see is an incidental component of all there is. This program explains how dark matter and dark energy were discovered and how scientists are struggling to understand them.
S2.E1 ∙ Is There Life After Death?
Science is a long way from answering the question posed in this program. But exploring it has proved a fertile avenue for investigation into what exactly is consciousness and self-awareness.
S2.E2 ∙ Is There an Edge to the Universe?
To the average person it seems obvious that the universe must have an edge. Yet most cosmologists think that like a ball, or more likely a bagel, the universe has no end, other then a temporal one - a beginning and, perhaps, an end. But several scientists agree with the common man that there is an edge to the universe and they have some definite ideas about what is beyond the edge and how to prove their case.
S2.E3 ∙ Does Time Really Exist?
After a brief explanation of how we measure time this program takes a detailed look at how we perceive time. Then it's time for the physicists to present their ideas about what time is before Steve Weinstein talks about two dimensional time.
S2.E4 ∙ Are There More Than 3 Dimensions?
To scientists it looks like the weakness of gravity, the existence of dark matter and the big bang may all be dependent on how many dimensions there are to the universe. But are the three dimensions we're used to too few or too many? This program examines the pet theories of several scientists about the dimensionality of our universe, how they are going about proving their theories and why their theories don't agree with the three dimensions that seem obvious to us.
S2.E5 ∙ Is There a Sixth Sense?
Several scientists have conducted experiments, although with somewhat questionable controls, that suggest humans may have a rudimentary capabilities for telepathy and precognition. This program reviews the studies and the scientists speculate about how these capabilities may work and why we might have them.
S2.E6 ∙ Are There Parallel Universes?
This program presents the scientific foundation for parallel universes. Then it reviews the various speculative ideas scientists are exploring about how universes form and how they interact. In our explorations we bump into our old cosmic friends; black holes, white holes, dark matter and the big bang.
S2.E7 ∙ How Does the Universe Work?
A revolution in science is underway that will transform life on Earth and ensure our survival as a species. If we can solve the equation of everything, it will present the keys to creation itself.
S2.E8 ∙ Can We Travel Faster Than Light?
The laws of physics allow a variety of ways to get around the universe faster than the speed of light. These prospects are explained along with the daunting engineering challenges of making them practical and safe.
S2.E9 ∙ Can We Live Forever?
This program reviews current thinking about what causes death and aging. Then it examines increasingly bizarre ideas about how to prevent them.
S2.E10 ∙ What Do Aliens Look Like?
This program gives serious consideration to what life forms on other planets might look like founded on the vast diversity of life on earth now and in the past and what is now known about the environments on other planets found by the Kepler telescope. Then it indulges in a little speculation about what extra-terrestrial intelligence might be like.
S3.E1 ∙ Will We Survive First Contact?
Mankind longs for proof that we are not alone in the universe, but the moment of first contact will certainly mean the end of the world as we know it. Whether that is a bad thing for humanity or the start of a great future is the subject of much debate.
S3.E2 ∙ Is There a Superior Race?
Are races different on the inside as well as the outside? Is there such a thing as race at all? Or, could advances in technology create a superior race? The answers to these questions may tell us where humanity is headed.
S3.E3 ∙ Is the Universe Alive?
The cosmos may be a superorganism, a collection of separate bodies acting like a single being. Scientists are probing this colossal creature for its beating heart, quantum-computing brain and even its offspring. Or are space & time illusions we created?
S3.E4 ∙ What Makes Us Who We Are?
What is it that gives each one of us a unique identity? As we move through life our outer appearances transform almost entirely. Our opinions and ideas change. Are we all born with a permanent sense of self or can our identities be altered?
S3.E5 ∙ What Is Nothing?
Can there be such a thing as nothing? Scientists are looking for answers in the mind-bending science of Quantum Mechanics. Their work may uncover what our cosmos is made of, how it came from nothing and when it might collapse into an empty void again.
S3.E6 ∙ Can We Resurrect the Dead?
What if death wasn't the end? Resurrecting bodies isn't enough. To truly live again, we must also resurrect our minds. Scientists are developing ways to digitally preserve the contents of our brains. We may rise again as software, embedded in new forms.
S3.E7 ∙ Can We Eliminate Evil?
Researchers are uncovering the hidden forces that inflame our inner demons, looking for ways to neutralize the source of evil in the brain. Methods include learning impulse control and stimulating altruism. But can psychopaths who lack empathy be helped?
S3.E8 ∙ Mysteries of the Subconscious
The subconscious has long been thought of as the source of our primal fears and desires. But scientists have discovered how the subconscious makes snap decisions that protect us from harm, and that it can be trained to actually heal our bodies of disease.
S3.E9 ∙ Will Eternity End?
Can time tick on forever or will time itself end? It's possible that eternity already exists, and the future is traveling back in time to shape the present. Or time might even be a holographic projection, reaching back to us from the end of eternity!
S3.E10 ∙ Did We Invent God?
Did God invent humanity? Or did we invent God? Since our brains are where we experience reality, does imagining God make God real? One neuroscientist is trying to find the answer by peering into the human mind, and seeing what God really looks like!
S4.E1 ∙ Is There a God Particle?
Scientists have hunted for a particle to explain how matter came to exist in the universe. In 2012 they found it - the Higgs Boson, the God Particle. But the discovery raises many questions. And what if we owe our existence something else?
S4.E2 ∙ When Does Life Begin?
What defines the beginning of a life? New evidence reveals that inside all of us are traces of cells from our relatives, blurring the lines between one life and another. Technology is now giving birth to new life forms made of surprising components.
S4.E3 ∙ Can We Survive the Death of the Sun?
We are all at the mercy of the Sun: someday, it will bathe us in a fiery, planetary holocaust. How can we survive the death of our star? The technology to move ourselves to Mars or another "Earth" sounds like sci-fi, but almost within our grasp.
S4.E4 ∙ How Do Aliens Think
By studying the non-humans in our midst, the evolution of human language, and the psychology of super-intelligent beings, scientists are learning how alien minds might function.
S4.E5 ∙ Will Sex Become Extinct?
Every person who has lived was created from the genes of one man and one woman, but human reproduction is about to undergo a revolution. Technology is close to making children from two fathers, or two mothers. If this is the case, will sex become extinct?
S4.E6 ∙ Can Our Minds Be Hacked?
Our minds store our entire lives, our memories and our deepest desires and our brains are biological computers. Could brain hackers someday be able to rewrite our thoughts similar to how computer hackers hack email?
S4.E7 ∙ Are Robots the Future of Human Evolution?
From our smartphones to our cars, we have robots that live and work beside us. We are designing them to think and move on their own. Is it possible that these objects evolve to be smarter than humans or will we choose to merge with the machines?
S4.E8 ∙ Is Reality Real?
Do we live in the "real world" or is it all in our mind? Our perception of reality is controlled by society. Thanks to "the optimism bias", we make unrealistic assessments about our own reality. Human senses capture only a small part of nature.
S4.E9 ∙ Do We Have Free Will?
What if everything that has or will happen has already been determined? Until the discovery of quantum uncertainty, physicists were convinced free will does not exist. Now other scientists have stepped into the fray, arguing that free will is an illusion.
S4.E10 ∙ Did God Create Evolution
Is life the product of evolution or is it thanks to the guiding hand of God? Believers in Intelligent Design argue complex life could not have evolved randomly. Was life created by evolution, by God or both?
S5.E1 ∙ Is God an Alien Concept?
Is God worshiped in other worlds across the cosmos? How might alien deities differ from our own? Have advanced aliens discovered everything there is to know about the universe, or are they too looking for answers? The answer may lie buried on Earth.
S5.E2 ∙ Is Luck Real?
Do you make your own luck, or does luck make you? Some scientists believe luck is strictly a matter of statistics and probabilities - but others believe unseen forces are at work.
S5.E3 ∙ Is Poverty Genetic?
Are the wealthy just born in the right place at the right time? Are the poor victims of a system designed to keep them down? Or do physics and biology determine who is rich and who is poor? Scientists have found that throughout history, the distribution of wealth is governed by hidden forces: DNA, environmental stress, patterns of human migration and even the laws of thermodynamics! Nature seems to demand winners and losers in life. But does this mean greed is king, and the rich can take what they want? Or does the cooperation among even the smallest microorganisms prove selfishness is not essential for survival?
S5.E4 ∙ How to Collapse a Superpower
The stability of the US, Europe, China, or any global power depends on high-speed digital communication. With a little imagination, could a few terrorists sabotage this massive network? Cripple a mighty nation? Perhaps even tear down modern civilization? Our increasing dependence on digital devices and global interactivity may be placing us in grave danger. Scientists around the world are dealing with new threats such as body hacking, Trojan Horse viruses, and brain-damaging Internet addiction. But what if the ultimate threat isn't an attack on technology, but the technology itself? Could the final superpower be a conscious Internet?
S5.E5 ∙ Does the Ocean Think?
There could be an undiscovered species on Earth unlike anything we've ever known. Not in the ocean, but the ocean itself.
S5.E6 ∙ Is a Zombie Apocalypse Possible?
It is a nightmare that has stalked us for centuries: hordes of human beings transformed into mindless, bloodthirsty monsters that usher in the downfall of civilization. Could this nightmare ever become reality? Scientists have discovered pathogens that turn insects into the walking dead. New deadly strains of viruses are attacking humans every day. Mathematicians are calculating the likelihood of surviving a zombie virus outbreak. Neuroscientists are even discovering that we can easily lose conscious control of our bodies. If we were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, would we even know it? Will we someday lose our bodies and souls? Is a Zombie Apocalypse possible?
S5.E7 ∙ Is Gravity an Illusion?
Gravity is an unsolved mystery of the universe. Why do all objects that have mass pull on one another? New theories propose unexpected answers.
S5.E8 ∙ Will We Become God?
Humanity's potential seems limitless. But could we become as powerful as God? Scientific breakthroughs grant our species seemingly divine abilities.
S5.E9 ∙ Is There a Shadow Universe?
Cosmologists agree that "dark matter" has helped shape our Universe, but now they need to figure out what dark matter is. What's going on in this hidden world? Could it have formed its own dark stars, planets, and even life forms?
S5.E10 ∙ When Did Time Begin?
We float along the river of time. But does that river have a source? Where did time come from?
S6.E1 ∙ Are We All Bigots?
If you had less than one second to make a life-or-death decision to shoot a man who might be armed with a lethal weapon, what would you do? Would the ethnicity of the man affect your decision?
S6.E2 ∙ Can Time Go Backwards?
Could science ever make the clock move backwards? Experiments in quantum physics are showing that the future influences the present: what happens later limits the choices we think we have now.
S6.E3 ∙ Are We Here for a Reason?
Evolution say that all life exists only to reproduce; a new theory proposes that instead of passing on genes, humans have another purpose.
S6.E4 ∙ Do We Live in the Matrix?
Our universe seems real. But what if it's a video game? Scientists in a variety of fields are taking seriously the possibility that we live in a virtual reality.
S6.E5 ∙ Are Aliens Inside Us?
Odds are excellent that extraterrestrial life exists. So why haven't we found aliens out in the galaxy? Are we looking in the wrong places?
S6.E6 ∙ Why Do We Lie?
We all agree lying is shameful. Yet we still deliberately deceive each other constantly. Are our brains wired for lying from a young age? The brains of pathological liars may provide insights. Will technology make it easier for us to be dishonest, or could it someday instantly reveal someone is lying? Perhaps we are deceitful because our limited senses prevent us from seeing the real truth. Scientists say our own memories deceive us, and have managed to implant false memories. Other scientists look for ultimate truth in the subatomic world - only to end up turning reality on its head.
S7.E1 ∙ What Makes a Terrorist?
Terrorists, like any group, have a cause to rally around. But for them, the cause justifies the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians. How can they think that way? Now, science is peering into the dark heart of terror networks to find out why.
S7.E2 ∙ Is Privacy Dead?
We examine a life without privacy in order to solve crimes and prevent terrorism.
S7.E3 ∙ Are There More Than Two Sexes?
Science reveals the line between male and female is blurred. And the battle of the sexes is happening deep within our cells. Are there more than two sexes?
S7.E4 ∙ Can We All Become Geniuses
Genius lies somewhere in the human mind, bringing mathematical insight, sparking artistic inspiration and enabling some to see what most cannot. Might we augment our biology with technology to unlock the genius inside us all?
S8.E1 ∙ Is the Force with Us?
New research is beginning to reveal a hidden force in the universe - one that penetrates space with trillions of invisible connections, instantly linking every place in our world and joining our future with our past. Is the Force with us?
S8.E2 ∙ Can We Cheat Death?
Scientists are peering inside the mechanisms of aging, tampering with the cellular makeup of our DNA, and imagining a world where death is cured like a disease. Are we entering a new age of immortality?
S8.E3 ∙ Can We Hack the Planet?
Unless we can turn the planet's problems into solutions, humanity may be coming to an end. Scientists are unlocking the secrets of nature to tame the elements and harness energy. Can we hack the planet to save humanity?
S8.E4 ∙ Is Gun Crime a Virus?
Every 17 minutes, someone is killed with a gun. It's a wave of violence that political debate can't seem to stop. Is this an epidemic that scientists can help cure? Could gun crime be a virus?
