Known Universe

The human body thrives on the welcome confines of Earth, but in space, survival becomes a tense, daily challenge. Micro-gravity's effects on daily human activity, from eating to sleep to sex, are just beginning to be understood. But these are only the start of our problems well also explore how the vacuum of space and its near-zero pressure can kill us within minutes, if not seconds. And the ultimate space executioner may be the ever-present dangers of solar radiation. How will we overcome the odds and survive space.

Join a treasure hunt of cosmic proportions, with a diamond mine on Neptune?! Known Universe explores innovative ideas that could allow humans to harness raw materials in space. One concept includes using Kevlar ribbons to anchor astronauts to asteroids containing more metal than has been excavated in all of human history. And see how meteorites have created huge deposits of gold and other precious metals here on Earth.

This episode of Known Universe explores how a star becomes even more powerful in its violent supernova death, and how the most intense place in the universe may not be a star at all... but a black hole. We'll also delve into how these powerful stars affect the planets around them, from the utter devastation of their enormous amounts of energy, to the possibility of creating the ideal environment for life.

Humans have come to recognize Earth as an environment where we are in control. Were continually creating technologies that get bigger, faster, and make us more interconnected. In this episode of KNOWN UNIVERSE we'll explore how science is re-thinking the physics of the universe to take everything from basic household items and vehicles to our most advanced technologies here on Earth and transform them for use in space.

Volcanic eruptions aren't unique to Earth they are common throughout the solar system. Eruptions are capable of both destruction and creation, and we'll see their astonishing effects on humans and entire galaxies. We'll head to the big island of Hawaii to get up close and personal with one of the most active lava fields on the planet. Is there a way to predict when the next catastrophic eruption might occur?

Engineering in space represents the future of human civilization, but also poses some of our greatest technical difficulties. We'll travel to NASA's tool lab and see the equipment we need to build in this challenging environment, from high tech wrenches and hammers to the ultimate robotic handyman, Robonaut.

We've landed on the moon, and launched probes to study planets hundreds of millions of miles away. But when it comes to space travel, were just babes in the woods. Of the hundreds of launches we've made into space, only a handful have even left Earths gravity. So whats the problem? Well, for one, its a huge challenge just getting off the planet. If you want to get into space you have to fly fast and high. Find out just how tough and complicated future space travel can be.

The world didn't end on 5/21/11 as some feared, but someday it will, and not just on Earth, but for asteroids, comets, moons, planets, stars and everything in our Known Universe. To demonstrate this complex cycle of life and death, scientist David Kaplan watches the destruction of a 16-story building shattering the structure while creating new matter and debris. We'll also see how a wildfire compares to the ignition of a supernova deep in space, and step inside a black hole simulator.