Mechanical Marvels - Clockwork Dreams

Today on Far Future Horizons we present the BBC Documentary Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams hosted by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life.

Let There be Light….

In the Beginning, in a burst of pure radiant energy, light came into being and in that brief instant of creation the Universe came into existence some fourteen billion years ago. Within the first three minutes of the big bang pure energy condensed into matter. From this matter stars and galaxies came forth and through the process of nuclear fusion, heavy elements were forged in the hearts of distant and massive suns. It is the existence of these elements that make the reality of living things a possibility. We owe are very existence to that very instance when the laws of physics through accident or design (depending on your philosophical and religious proclivities dear reader) declared, eons ago –“Let there be Light”.

The Comet's Tale

Today on Far Future Horizons we present a very informative documentary on one of the most wondrous of phenomena that have invoked both awe and terror in our forbearers – Comets.

“The Comet's Tale” traces the intertwined history of comets and civilization. Ancient civilizations thought they were gods. Some believed they were harbingers of doom and with the advent of the scientific revolution  one comet in particular led Isaac Newton to formulate his theory of Universal Gravitation. 

The ESA's Giotto Mission to Halley's Comet

Comets are now leading twenty-first century science to a deeper understanding of the origin of our solar system and perhaps even life on Earth.