- Through the Wormhole
-
Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 
Also known as Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman Genre Documentary Starring Morgan Freeman Narrated by Morgan Freeman Theme music composer Hans Zimmer Country of origin United States Language(s) English No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 17 (List of episodes) Production Running time 44 minutes Production company(s) - The Incubator
- Revelations Entertainment
Distributor Discovery Communications Broadcast Original channel Science Picture format - 480i (SDTV)
- 1080i (HDTV)
Original airing 9 June 2010 External links Website Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman is an American science documentary television series narrated by American actor Morgan Freeman. It began airing on Science in the United States on June 9, 2010.[1]
Contents
Development
The TV channel Science has been highlighting what VP of Production Bernadette McDaid calls the "Rock Stars of Science",[2] such as Michio Kaku and Brian Cox. "We wanted to merge our 'Rock Stars of Science' and merge that with the superstars of pop culture".[2] When Science general manager Deborah Myers heard that Morgan Freeman was very interested in things to do with the universe and space and "asks the big philosophical questions",[2] she approached Freeman and his producer and proposed making a series together.[2]
In February 2011, Sean Carroll confirmed on his Twitter page that he has started shooting Season 2 of Through the Wormhole.[3] On May 17, 2011, Discovery confirmed the second season will be premiering on Science on June 8, 2011.[4]
Episodes
Season 1
# Title Original air date 1 "Is There a Creator?" 9 June 2010 Is the universe just a coincidence or was it created by a God who looks after us? 2 "The Riddle of Black Holes" 16 June 2010 Nothing in the universe is more powerful than black holes. 3 "Is Time Travel Possible?" 23 June 2010 To travel through time you have to break the speed of light. Is it possible? 4 "What Happened Before the Beginning?" 30 June 2010 This episode explores where the universe came from. 5 "How Did We Get Here?" 7 July 2010 The creation of life and where we came from. 6 "Are We Alone?" 14 July 2010 Are we alone in the universe or is there other life somewhere out there? 7 "What Are We Really Made Of?" 21 July 2010 Protons, electrons and neutrons are just a small portion of what we know about the world we see. 8 "Dark Matter: Beyond the Darkness" 28 July 2010 The exploration of dark matter. Season 2
There are 9 episodes in the second season.[5]
epguides.com lists episode 10 as "Is There an Equation of Everything?" However, there is a bonus episode not yet aired that is called "Are There Parallel Universes?"[6]
# Title Original air date 1 "Is There Life After Death?" 8 June 2011 In the premiere episode of the second season, Morgan Freeman dives deep into this provocative question that has mystified humans since the beginning of time. Modern physics and neuroscience are venturing into this once hallowed ground, and radically changing our ideas of life after death. Freeman serves as host to this polarized debate, where scientists and spiritualist attempt to define "what is consciousness", while cutting edge quantum mechanics could provide the answer to what happens when we die. 2 "Is There an Edge to the Universe?" 15 June 2011 It is commonly theorized that the universe began with the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. But since we can only see as far as light has traveled in that time, we can't actually make out the edge of the universe. Could it be that the universe is infinite? Is there any way to find out what the shape of the universe really is? Can we find the edge, discover what might lie beyond it, and perhaps even discover a universe next to ours? 3 "Does Time Really Exist?" 22 June 2011 It is a question that has vexed philosophers and scientists for centuries; 'Does Time Really Exist?' Exactly how is our past, present, and future connected by that arrow of cause and effect that we call Time? Is time simply another dimension, just like the dimensions of space we know? Can you run time backwards just as easily as it runs forward, just as left-to-right can swap for right-to-left? If other universes exist, then what is time like in them: could their Time be different from ours? And we'll probe the biggest question about time: Is our future determined? Do we exercise free will? Or, is time merely a dream? 4 "Are There More than Three Dimensions?" 29 June 2011 We move and live in three dimensions: length, width, and height. However, Einstein revealed what was once unimaginable: time is actually a dimension and linked with space itself. To reconcile the massive cosmic and minuscule quantum worlds, physicists are realizing four dimensions may not be enough. They're unraveling up to eleven dimensions. How could this be true? Where could these dimensions be? 5 "Is There a Sixth Sense?" 6 July 2011 Can we perceive objects and events beyond the world detected by our five senses? The true limits of our human brain remain a scientific mystery. New studies in neuroscience are showing that our minds can really detect events and objects that our conscious selves know nothing about. Can we predict events in the future? Is there such a thing as a global consciousness? Could physical laws on the cusp of being discovered be at the root of all this? 6 "How Does the Universe Work?" 13 July 2011 It was Einstein's famous unfinished project - to find one law that unites all of physics, and explain everything in the universe. It's still an unfinished project, and today hundreds of physicists from CERN to NASA to the Ivory Towers around the world are struggling to find this holy grail of science. Is there one theory, one equation that governs every single event in our universe? An overarching structure to reality? This episode of THROUGH THE WORMHOLE attempts to journey into an understanding what the universe is made of, and how we got here. 7 "Can We Travel Faster than Light?" 20 July 2011 It's called the speed limit of the universe. Einstein blew all of our minds when he worked out the Theory of Relativity, and showed that space and time were malleable substances. He also theorized that we as humans can never travel faster than the speed of light, which leaves the stars and other galaxies almost impossibly out of our reach. But the dreams of Star Wars and Star Trek are not dead. In fact, there could be ways to travel faster than the speed of light - and some of them are already being tested in labs around the world. 8 "Can We Live Forever?" 27 July 2011 Medical advances have doubled human life expectancy in past centuries. But can humans ever beat death altogether? Can we control and fix the errors that build up in our DNA over the years? Can we find a way to replace the chemistry of life with something more durable? This episode wonders into the mystifying definition of 'eternity' as it relates to human lifespan. 9 "What Do Aliens Look Like?" 3 August 2011 Science fiction writers have always had their little green men. But these humanoid aliens were based soundly on Earth-based life, not any extra terrestrial evidence. Today, we've discovered hundreds of planets around other stars. As we learn what some of these alternative Earths might look like, science and imagination have allowed us to use real science to imagine the biology of their inhabitants. Will they have two eyes? Two legs? What color will their skin be? Which species on Earth can give us clues about likely biology of aliens? And what can we learn from how life on Earth developed to help us understand what ET really looks like? DVD releases
In region 1, season 1 was released on DVD on March 8, 2011, and season 2 will be released on November 22, 2011.[7]
See also
- The Universe
- How the Universe Works
- Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking
References
- ^ Neil Genzlinger (8 June 2010). "Asking the Big Questions in a Dignified Manner". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/arts/television/09wormhole.html.
- ^ a b c d Halterman, Jim (9 June 2010). "Interview: "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman" Executive Producer Bernadette McDaid". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant/2010/06/09/interview-through-the-wormhole-with-morgan-freeman-executive-producer-bernadette-mcdaid/20100609_throughthewormhole/.
- ^ Sean, Carroll. "Sean Carroll mentions Season 2". Twitter Page. http://twitter.com/#!/seanmcarroll/status/38268104739917824.
- ^ "THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN Returns for an Awe-Inspiring Second Season this June on SCIENCE". Discovery Corporate. http://corporate.discovery.com/discovery-news/through-the-wormhole-wht-morgan-freeman-returns-fo/.
- ^ http://science.discovery.com/tv/through-the-wormhole/episodes/
- ^ Skip to 1:10, there is a new episode not aired
- ^ Through the Wormhole DVD releases at tvshowsondvd.com
External links
Categories:- Discovery Channel shows
- American documentary television series
- 2010 American television series debuts
- Documentary television series about science
- Science (TV channel) shows
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