The white hole is a region of spacetime and that cannot be entered from the outside, although energy-matter, light and information can escape from it. In this sense, it is the reverse of a black hole. Einstein predicted strange cosmic phenomena known as white holes, but scientists have yet to prove they exist. Today, astronomers race to find the clues that can unlock the secrets of white holes. They investigate the tiny black holes that hide in the most ancient parts of the universe to finally find the smoking gun.
Uranus and Neptune, two of the largest, farthest and strangest planets in our solar system. These two planets break all the rules. Of all the big planets, Uranus and Neptune remain the biggest enigmas. Today, astronomers are finally unlocking why these supersized snowballs are so weird. Can an ancient mega-collision reveal what knocked Uranus onto its side? Can a missing twin world unlock why one of Neptune's moons orbits the wrong way? And what is the energy that drives the fastest winds in the solar system?
The mission of NASA's Osiris-Rex is to intercept a giant space rock and crack the mysteries of a potential killer asteroid. Can it unlock how asteroids kick-start life on Earth and reveal why they might be our ticket to other worlds? To find out, we take a ride with one of NASA's most ambitious missions to investigate a space rock in more detail than ever before, to reveal how asteroids will rewrite the past and forge the future of our solar system.
Brian Cox looks at our attempts to answer one of the most profound questions we can ask – are we alone in the universe? With scientists sending space probes to the furthest reaches of our solar system and beyond, the scientific search for alien life has begun. Inspired by a childhood love of science fiction, Brian still hopes to hear from ET. In this film, he explains why this search deserves to be taken seriously, and he explores the chances of it happening.
Brian takes a fresh look at the concept of gravity, revealing it to be far more than just the force that makes things fall to the ground. In the last three years, we've made profound discoveries about the nature of gravity and the way it behaves, and how this relates to the origin of the universe and strange things like black holes. Our theory of gravity has become the attempt to understand the nature of space and time.
Time i s a concept which is so familiar, and yet recent discoveries have revealed it to be far stranger than we could have possibly imagined. In the final programme in the series, Brian explores the enigma of time - a phenomenon we take for granted but which is one of the biggest mysteries in the universe. He recalls highlights from his TV series that touch upon this conundrum.
Today, astronomers race to find the clues that can unlock the secrets of white holes. They investigate the tiny black holes that hide in the most ancient parts of the universe to finally find the smoking gun.