Space Telescopes • 2021 • episode "S1E9" • Zenith: Advances in Space Exploration

79:14

Tells the epic story of the first transatlantic communications cable laid between Valentia Island, County Kerry, and Newfoundland, Canada. The first transmission via undersea cable on 16th of August 1858 signalled a new age of modern communication and laid the foundation of modern Ireland's technology industry, with impacts still being felt today. Prior to this technological advancement, messages took at least ten days to travel by ship. Today, 99% of all internet and mobile communications are powered by undersea cable, not by not by satellite. In the digital age, undersea cable remains the cheapest and most efficient communications method, with all major global tech companies utilising and investing in them across the world. The two communities at the centre of this story, Valentia Island and Heart's Content, share a vision of securing UNESCO World Heritage status. It is hoped that the cable houses and communities that helped change the course of communication history and globalisation will be recognised in the coming years.

2024 • Technology

57:09

YouTube star and gaming addict Dan Howell explores the changing world of gaming: from hobby to a mass spectator sport that’s watched by millions around the world. To the envy of amateurs, they've taken gaming to a whole new level, training 12 hours a day, playing in packed stadiums, and earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.The bizarre community of e-sports has been almost invisible to the outside world – up until now. Three young British gamers at different stages of their careers all have dreams of reaching the very top. KaSing, an overnight sensation from Tottenham, lives in Berlin, and is playing in one of Europe’s top teams. His 20-year-old former teammate, Matt, nicknamed Impaler, is having a crisis of confidence about his once-flourishing career. And 17-year-old hopeful Greensheep is struggling to break through onto the big stage.

2015 • Technology

59:11

Dallas Campbell and Dr Hannah Fry present a documentary exploring aviation, beginning with a look at the challenges of getting aircraft into the air. The programme features a visit to the world's busiest airport to discover the work that goes into getting its millions of visitors off the ground. Plus, the construction of the world's largest passenger plane and the dangers of taking off from the coldest city on Earth.

Part 1 • City in the Sky • 2016 • Technology

41:29

What if we could travel not just through space, but through time itself? If you could travel through time, would you change the past or the future? What if you found it couldn’t be changed? What price does the time traveller — and the people they are closest to — pay? This is a journey from H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine through ideas like The Grandfather Paradox and The Butterfly Effect to the professional time traveller that is the ever popular Doctor Who. Steven Moffat, David Tennant, Karen Gillan, and Neil Gaiman offer a unique perspective on the Doctor. Edward James Olmos reveals the hidden meaning of the language he created for the vision of the future that is Blade Runner. Bob Gale and Christopher Lloyd take us behind the scenes of Back to the Future, while Ed Solomon describes the joy of solving a time travel conundrum for Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. But what would be the physical and emotional cost to the time traveller? Audrey Niffenegger explains what inspired her novel The Time Traveller’s Wife. And what if someone from the future tried to travel back in time to warn us? Would we believe them? From the apocalyptic tones of 12 Monkeys to the drama of Quantum Leap and the comedy of Groundhog Day, time travel is a subject that has been irresistible to the creators of every type of science fiction.

Part 4 • The Real History of Science Fiction • 2014 • Technology

58:56

From the Stone Age to the Silicon Age, materials have helped drive forward our civilisation. By manipulating materials we have been able to transform our world and our lives - and never more so than in the past century when we have discovered and designed more materials than at any other time in human history. (Part 2: Plastic) Professor Mark Miodownik tells the story of plastics - created in the lab, they have brought luxury to the masses and shaped the modern age. He recounts tales of the mavericks responsible for some of plastic's most outrageous failures and heady successes, from the explosive attempts to make a replacement for ivory billiard balls to the ultimately ubiquitous Bakelite. Investigating at atomic level, Mark discovers the properties that have allowed plastics to dominate our world and reveals how the next generation of plastics will take its inspiration from nature, creating man-made materials which behave as though they are alive and which could help rebuild the human body.

S1E2 • How It Works • 2012 • Technology

64:19

In the 21st century devices create more data than humans do. Rick Smolan, author of The Human Face of Big Data, shows the positive force of the collection of data in worldwide examples of the uses of medical data, personal data and business data to enrich people's lives.

S1E8 • Curiosity Retreats: 2015 Lectures • 2015 • Technology