Clash of the Gods - J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings

Today on Far Future Horizons we take another foray into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth and the story behind the most renowned myth created in modern times.

Wizards

Beyond the Movie ~ The Lord of the Rings

Today on Far Future Horizons we present the National Geographic Channel’s documentary Beyond the Movie - The Lord of the Rings.

 

J.R.R. Tolkien

This documentary explores the myriad inspirations for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy saga, beginning with the influence of Tolkien's idyllic childhood in rural England, which served as the model for Tolkien's threatened Hobbit paradise.

Map of Middle Earth by Pauline Baynes, 1970

Equally fascinating are the influence of Tolkien's experience in World War I, the "evil" of industrial development, and especially the influence of Anglo-Saxon poetry (notably Beowulf) and the mythology of the Finnish Kalevala, which formed the basis of Tolkien's elfish culture. 

The Day the Universe Changed ~ Episode 2

Today on Far Future Horizons we are present the second episode of “The Day the Universe Changed” hosted by BBC science historian and journalist James Burke.

The Day the Universe Changed Episode 1 ~ The Way We Are

Today on Far Future Horizons we are presenting the first episode of an exciting series of documentaries titled “The Day the Universe Changed” hosted by BBC science historian and journalist James Burke.

The first episode of the series outlines how the rational thought and incessant questioning that typified Ancient Greek culture shaped and continues to influence the Western Civilizations way of thinking, living and interacting with the world around us. Inherent in the Western way of life is constant change brought about by compounding knowledge and new discoveries, processes that stem from the Ancient Greek practice of endlessly questioning the world around them. 

Mission to Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth

It was recently reported in the news that scientists  have sequenced the complete genomes of two Woolly Mammoths. Te prospect of eventually cloning this extinct species has thus come one step closer to reality.

Today on Far Future Horizons we present the Motherboard’s documentary short “The Mission to Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth”.

Pioneer One ~ Earthfall & The Man from Mars

A Cold War relic returns amid fears of terrorism but turns out to be a forgotten Soviet space mission. What it brings back will have implications for the entire world.

Today on Far Future Horizons it gives us great pleasure to present the first two episodes of the fabulous SciFi web series Pioneer One (2010) produced by Josh Bernhard and Bracey Smith. It is a series that has been entirely funded through donations, and is the first series created for and released on Bit Torrent networks.

Pioneer One is a serialized drama produced and distributed online through VODO and the DISCO network. Downloaded more than 3,730,000 times since May 2012 and winner for Best Drama Pilot at the 2010 New York Television Festival, the show is independently produced and financed by viewer donations. The pilot episode was filmed on a budget of $6,000, raised in advance using Kickstarter. The series itself was released under a Creative Commons license and is distributed for free in collaboration with VODO, as with Bernhard's previous independent film The Lionshare, over the Internet including peer-to-peer networks. So far, six episodes have been produced. Production of the rest of the season is funded through direct donations from the fan base.

The plot that surrounds the entire series involves a mysterious spaceship entering the Earth's atmosphere, triggering a massive response from the American government. Since the ship has spread radiation over hundreds of miles of rural Montana, officials are quick to bring up the possibility of a terrorist attack, specifically the detonation of a dirty bomb, however, that idea is discarded subtly by the leading investigator, asking the rhetorical question "Who would launch an attack on Montana?".

Debris is found in Canada, where an investigation of the crash discovers a live human being in a Soviet space suit. Federal agents working for the American Department of Homeland Security get involved, receiving permission from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to operate in Canada. The man is in an unstable condition and his initial blood work shows signs of severe cancer, with his doctors proclaiming him too badly injured to transport. A note handwritten in Russian found at the crash site says that the man is the child of cosmonauts living at a base on Mars. Not believing the note and wanting to announce a Department of Homeland Security success to the press, the American DHS orders Agent Taylor to bring the man back to the United States as a suspected terrorist, despite his severe condition. Believing the note could be true, Taylor ignores his orders and destroys the permission from the RCMP, forcing his team to stay on site.

Our Place in the Cosmos

Today on Far Future Horizons we present a Google Tech Talk delivered by Puragra (Raja) GuhaThakurta on December 1, 2011 titled Our Place in the Cosmos.

Secrets of the Lost Empire ~ Easter Island

Today on Far Future Horizons we premiering a new documentary series titled “Secrets of Lost Empires”. In the first episode we return to the enchanting and mysterious island of Rapa Nui, better known today by its modern name of Easter Island.

The Molecule That Made the World

Today on Far Future Horizons we take a molecular odyssey of sorts.  An odyssey that will take us on extraordinary journey through billions of light years of space and billions of years of time. Join us as we follow a single intrepid molecule of oxygen and trace its grand adventure from its creation to till the present day.

The Lost Gods of Easter Island

Today on Far Future Horizons we present The Lost Gods of Easter Island a BBC documentary written and presented by David Attenborough. It explores the history of the civilization of the remote Easter islands. It was first aired on BBC television in the year 2000 and is part of the Attenborough in Paradise and Other Personal Voyages Collection of seven documentaries.

In this fascinating documentary David Attenborough embarks on a personal quest to uncover the history of a strange wooden figurine carving which turned up in an auction room in New York during the 1980s.

David Attenborough's First life – Conquest

Today on Far Future Horizons we join Dr. David Attenborough for the second episode of his acclaimed documentary series “First Life - Conquest” and follow the three and half billion year saga of life on Earth.

David Attenborough's First life - Arrival

Today on Far Future Horizons we join Dr. David Attenborough in search of the origin of life with his acclaimed documentary series “First Life” and follow the three and half billion year saga of life on Earth.

In fifty years of broadcasting, David Attenborough has travelled the globe to document the living world in all its wonder. Now, in this landmark series, he completes his journey by going back in time to the very roots of the tree of life, in search of the very first animals.

Travelling Through Time

Time travel has been the staple of science fiction novels, television programs and major motion ever since H.G. Wells first penned his classic prototypical scientific romance "The Time Machine" in 1895.

The Universe - Supernovas

"We are the journeywork of the stars, no less than the leaves of grass." -Walt Whitman

Join us today on Far Future Horizons as we explore our stellar legacy. 


Each of us, in the immortal words of the American poet Walt Whitman, “…are the journeywork of the stars, no less than the leaves of grass." As Carl Sagan would put it later on in the twentieth century – “We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands. The loom of time and space works the most astonishing transformations of matter”.

The Perilous Odyssey of Apollo 13

 The Latin phrase Ex Luna, Scientia means "From the Moon, Knowledge."

Today on Far Future Horizons we commemorate the forty-fifth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13 with the documentary Apollo 13 The Real Story produced by Dateline NBC.

Apollo 13 was the third Apollo mission intended to land on the Moon, but a mid-mission oxygen tank rupture caused sufficient damage to force the lunar landing to be aborted. The flight was commanded by James A. Lovell, with John L. "Jack" Swigert command module pilot, and Fred W. Haise lunar module pilot.

The mission launched on April 11, 1970 at 13:13 CST. Two days later, en route to the Moon, a fault in the electrical system of one of the Service Module's oxygen tanks produced an overpressure rupture which caused a loss of electrical power and failure of both oxygen tanks. The Command Module remained functional on its own batteries and oxygen tank, which were only designed to support the vehicle during the last hours of flight. The crew shut down the Command Module and used the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" during the return trip to earth. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17, and the mission was termed a "successful failure". A misquotation of the radio transmission made by Swigert and repeated by Lovell ("...Houston, we've had a problem...") has become widely quoted in popular culture as "Houston, we have a problem."

"And so began the most perilous but eventually triumphant situation ever encountered in human spaceflight".

The Universe ~ Extreme Energy

Today on Far Future Horizons we explore the concept of energy. Energy is the driving force of the Cosmos. It is the very stuff of matter, life and mind. Energy can neither we created nor destroyed but, only transformed from one form of energy into another.

The Universe ~ Secrets of the Sun

Today on Far future Horizons we explore the secrets of the parental star of our own solar system and the main source of our home world’s light and warmth – the Sun.

The Universe ~ Cosmic Collisions

 

Today on Far Future Horizons we present another exciting episode of the History Channel's acclaimed documentary series The Universe which explores Cosmic Collisions. 

Cosmic collisions. They are among the most violent and life altering phenomena in the universe. From fender benders to high velocity impacts, gravity is constantly moving everything around in space and so things are bound to collide. 

The Universe ~ The End of the Earth

Earth 2049 - The End by taenaron

Today on Far Future Horizons another exciting episode of the History Channel's acclaimed documentary series The Universe. 

The Universe ~ Liquid Universe

© 2000 Don Dixon We do not believe Jupiter has any solid surface (despite what you may have seen in the movies!). Instead, the "surface" is probably liquid molecular hydrogen under great pressure from the thick atmosphere. Perhaps it would look like this artist's concept!

Join us today on Far Future Horizons as we ply the exotic oceans of our Cosmos. 

On alien planets scalding iron rains from the sky. On distant moons, even at hundreds of degrees below zero, they slosh around in lakes of methane. 

Building a Sci-Fi Robot

From Terminator to Star Wars, no Sci Fi blockbuster motion picture would be complete without a shape shifting intelligent robot.

Ancient Mining Machines

Roman Slave Miners

Today on Far Future Horizons we present another exciting episode of the acclaimed documentary series Ancient Discoveries which explores Ancient Mining Machines and the ores and gemstones mined throughout human history.

Extreme Engineering of the Ancients

© MONDOLITHIC STUDIOS: This digital painting was commissioned by National Geographic Kids for a special issue on the 7 Wonders of the World.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria (or The Pharos of Alexandria, Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας) was a tower built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt to serve as that port’s landmark, and later, its lighthouse.

When faced with impossible situations, our ancestors  didn't simply give up, they pursued the impossible. Join us today on Far Future Horizons for another exciting episode of Ancient Impossible.

Pharos of Alexandria

This episode of Ancient Impossible explorers the Extreme Engineering projects undertaken by Ancient Civilizations.