Ancient Skies

My first course in physics was my high school Project Physics corse. Project Physics was Harvard's post-Sputnik physics curriculum. The more prominent post-Sputnik physics curriculum was developed by the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC). 

PSSC was a mathematically rigorous curriculum intended to foster a generation of scientists and engineers capable of competing with the Soviet Union's scientists and engineers. Project Physics took more of a humanities-based approach, steeped in history and personalities.

Through a bit of trickery that I shouldn't have been able to get away with, I managed to take Project Physics in 11th grade and PSSC Physics (at another campus) in 12th grade. (Physics had sunk its hooks into me early.)

I loved both courses, but preferred Project Physics. As I watched Ancient Skies, I was reminded of my fascination with the history of science that was a feature of Project Physics. And my Close Personal Friend® Phil Plait is featured throughout the series. Phil was a classmate at The University of Michigan (a proud employee of Parcheesi's Pizza while I worked at Wazoo Records), and a fellow traveler in the James Randi Educational Foundation's Amazing Meetings and the Amazing Adventure in the Galápagos.

ANCIENT SKIES at TPT

With breath-taking CGI, beautiful landscape footage and some of the world's most important astronomical artifacts, Ancient Skies looks at the cosmos through the eyes of our ancestors, and our changing views of the cosmos throughout history.

Return to the Moon

NOVA premiered this episode less than a week after the Integrity capsule splashed down. That's as "breaking news/ripped from the headlines" as it gets for NOVA.

RETURN TO THE MOON at TPT

A half-century after American astronauts walked on the Moon, NASA and its international partners are taking the dream of Apollo a giant step further. In the coming years, the Artemis missions – named after Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology – aim to bring astronauts back to the Moon and establish a lunar space station for scientific and commercial exploration. Follow the four members of the Artemis II crew as they embark on a perilous 10-day journey to orbit the Moon, venturing beyond Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo and farther into the Solar System than any humans have gone before. And get an inside look at the preparations needed to overcome the extreme engineering challenges of human-crewed spaceflight, all the way from launch to splashdown.

Our New World

OUR NEW WORLD

What world will we live in tomorrow as climate change reshapes the Earth? Our planet has many surprises in store. This series reveals nature's astonishing adaptation abilities, and how we humans can become a supporting force.

1. THE PULSE OF CHANGE at TPT

Four people on four continents face environmental change driven by climate change. As resources grow scarce, they witness shifts in wildlife behavior. Each actively seeks solutions to adapt and prevent conflict between humans and wildlife.

2. A WILD REVIVAL at TPT

Four people on four continents face environmental change driven by climate change. As resources grow scarce, they witness shifts in wildlife behavior. Each actively seeks solutions to adapt and prevent conflict between humans and wildlife.