Dr. Carroll explains the subject of dark matter and dark energy in 24 lectures. He explains why scientists believe we live in a smooth, expanding universe that originated in a hot, dense state called the Big Bang. He describes the features of the infant universe that led to the large-scale structure we observe today. He takes you through the standard model of particle physics and shows how it provides the framework for understanding the interaction...

"What is everywhere, not made of atoms, and can't be seen?" Dark matter, says renowned astrophysicist David Spergel - but not everyone in the cosmological community is in agreement with him. This program presents the views of Spergel and other key figures in the debate, including Princeton University's P. James Peebles and Jeremiah Ostriker; Timothy Sumner, of Imperial College London; astrophysicist Mordechai Milgrom; and Saul Perlmutter, a member...

"What is our latest picture of some of the most inexplicable features of the universe? What still remains to be uncovered? What are some of the next avenues of exploration for today's chemists, physicists, biologists, and astronomers? ... This lecture series is a wonderful entrée to scientific pursuits that lie at the very heart of the history and nature of our universe."--Publisher.

"In distant realms far beyond the familiar solar system, an epic drama is playing out, with a cast list featuring rogue planets, colliding galaxies, and black holes more massive than a billion suns, and each character has its own extraordinary story to tell."

Join astrophysicist and novelist Janna Levin on a mind-blowing voyage to the frontiers of black hole science, which is shining new light on the most powerful and mysterious objects in the universe.

A montage of images taken from the Hubble Space Telescope with musical accompaniment.

Scientists explain current theories about the formation of the earth's continents, oceans and climate, and examine the earth's relationship to the sun and other planets.

Features videos of the universe taken from telescopic images with musical accompaniment.

In 'Secrets of the Sun, ' take a guided tour of Earth's life-giving star through computer-generated graphics. 'Mars: the Red Planet' uses dated collected from probes and robotic rovers to take viewers to the planet's surface to show what life would be like for a human settlement. 'The End of the Earth' takes a harrowing look at the results of a collision with a deep space object, and at the technologies scientists are developing to protect the planet....

The Standard Deviants introduce the fundamental terminology of astronomy and discuss its history, covering the contributions of such figures as Plato, Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Johannes Kepler.