Thought I would use the time of this lecture free week to digg around the web and find some quality documentaries for you. In the posts below you find the entire episodes of the first season of “The Universe”, a series about, well the name says it, the universe.

Most episodes cover the different planets, however more recent ones are also about “how to travel at the speed of light”. What I like about the universe is that the individual segments are (to my understanding) well researched, featuring mostly NASA and NASA JPL (Jet propulsion labs?) experts or scientists.
Still, at the same time, it is not too geeky and fun to watch.

I watched the universe when living in London pretty much up and down and enjoyed the typical history channel documentary series set-up. It may be just me, but I think the speaker’s are always the same?
Anyway, enjoy!

The universe began with a massive expansion, billions and billions of years ago, and it continues to expand with every passing second. The idea that the universe, and man’s very existence, began with a “Big Bang” is no longer a topic of debate among most scientists–it is essentially taken as fact. How has man come to this conclusion, and how has our knowledge evolved so that we can recreate the very first seconds of our universe and all that has developed since? Interviews with the world’s leading physicists and historians are woven together with animated recreations and first-person accounts to explain concepts such as the formation of galaxies, the creation of elements and the formation of Earth itself.

http://rapidshare.com/files/192183908/The.Universe.S114.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192188503/The.Universe.S114.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192193043/The.Universe.S114.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192197888/The.Universe.S114.part4.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192202463/The.Universe.S114.part5.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192207133/The.Universe.S114.part6.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192212730/The.Universe.S114.part7.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192179147/The.Universe.S114.part8.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

In a galaxy filled with a billion stars, in a universe filled with a hundred billion galaxies–are we alone? SETI–the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence–is a privately funded project using radio telescopes and optical telescopes to scan the stars for signals. NASA is planning missions to Mars, Jupiter’s sixth moon, Europa, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, to look for primitive, microbial life in ice concentrations. Whether we discover primitive or intelligent life, how will that knowledge impact humankind’s view of itself? Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would be like on other planets, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

http://rapidshare.com/files/191983405/The_Universe.113.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191987852/The_Universe.113.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191992254/The_Universe.113.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191994398/The_Universe.113.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

Take a tour of the cosmic hot zones–black holes, galaxy mergers, gamma ray bursts and magnetars. Super massive black holes can figuratively “lasso” the Earth out of the solar system. A clash between two galaxies can result in a barbaric ritual called “galactic cannibalism” in which the dominant galaxy’s super massive black hole eats the weaker one. Magnetars are a cosmic magnetic force so strong it could wipe out data on every credit card on the planet. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would be like on other planets, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

http://rapidshare.com/files/192099773/the.universe.112.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192104931/the.universe.112.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192109712/the.universe.112.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192094828/the.universe.112.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

New discoveries regarding the Outer Planets are creating a fundamental rethinking of our solar system. Uranus is a toxic combination of hydrogen, helium and methane. Scientists speculate that the planet was knocked on its side after colliding with another body. Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, is cold and barren, but some scientists speculate that liquid water might exist under Triton’s icy surface. If this is proven true, Triton could be the home to one of the biggest discoveries of all time. Cold and inhospitable, Pluto completes one orbit around the solar system every 248 years. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would be like on other planets, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

http://rapidshare.com/files/191967486/The_Universe.111.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191972077/The_Universe.111.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191976630/The_Universe.111.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191978922/The_Universe.111.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

Ignited by the power of the atom, burning with light, heat and wrath, stars are anything but peaceful. They collide, devour each other, and explode in enormous supernovas–the biggest explosions in the Universe. Using cutting-edge computer graphics, never-before-seen satellite images, and interviews with the world’s leading astronomers, take a front row seat to the most amazing light show in the cosmos.

http://rapidshare.com/files/191951869/The.Universe.S110.part1.rar

or

http://rapidshare.com/files/192168959/The.Universe.S110.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/191956165/The.Universe.S110.part2.rar

or

http://rapidshare.com/files/192174034/The.Universe.S110.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192179103/The.Universe.S110.part3.rar

or

http://rapidshare.com/files/191960547/The.Universe.S110.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192164351/The.Universe.S110.part4.rar

or

http://rapidshare.com/files/191962722/The.Universe.S110.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

To know our place in the universe take a look far, far away to the realm of Alien Galaxies. Our galaxy is one of hundreds of billions in the universe. The Milky Way consists of more than a billion stars, our sun being only one of them. Take a view of the universe through the Hubble Space telescope and go back almost all the way to the Big Bang. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would be like on other planets, and to imagine what life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

http://rapidshare.com/files/192083812/the.universe.109.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192088399/the.universe.109.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192092636/the.universe.109.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192079124/the.universe.109.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

Are the rings of Saturn a real celestial phenomenon or merely a cosmic Illusion? Technology allows the experts to get closer to the furthest planet visible to the naked eye. Old questions are answered and new ones arise. Does Saturn hold the key to Earth’s weather and will one of its moons supply us with all the oil we’ll ever need? Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to show what life would be like on other planets and to imagine what kinds of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

http://rapidshare.com/files/192066696/the.universe.108.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192071196/the.universe.108.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192075969/the.universe.108.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192062271/the.universe.108.ws.dsr.xvid-sys.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

The Inner Planets – Scorched by their proximity to the sun, Mercury and Venus are hostile worlds; one gouged with craters from cosmic collisions and the other a vortex of sulfur, carbon dioxide and acid rain. Prime examples of planets gone awry, do they serve as a warning for ominous scenarios that might someday threaten Earth? Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to show what life would be on other planets and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

http://rapidshare.com/files/192152802/The.Universe.S107.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192157552/The.Universe.S107.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192162121/The.Universe.S107.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192148070/The.Universe.S107.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.

Take a high performance ride through the formation of the third planet from the Sun, Earth. A survivor of one of the most violent “neighborhoods” in the universe, learn how earth was created and discover what creatures hold clues to how life began. What evil forces threaten the demise of Earth? Complex and controversial, this is the scientific detective story of all time. Cutting-edge graphics are used along with the stories of scientists and explorers who dare to venture into the uncharted territory of the cosmos.

http://rapidshare.com/files/192134095/The.Universe.S106.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192138721/The.Universe.S106.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192143328/The.Universe.S106.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/192145711/The.Universe.S106.part4.rar

All episodes from season one of The Universe to season three can be found at the paste bin at http://paste2.org/p/143414 or at the bottom of the about page.