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How the Universe Works Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2012 - 2012
Episode 1
Volcanoes
Wed, Jul 11, 201244 mins
Scientists are discovering volcanoes on worlds we once thought dead. From our nearest planetary neighbour to tiny moons billions of miles away, today we are discovering volcanoes on alien worlds. Are these worlds where, tomorrow, we might find life?
Episode 2
Megastorms - The Winds of Creation
Wed, Jul 18, 201244 mins
On Earth, violent and destructive storms create new opportunities for life. In our quest to discover if we are alone in the universe, we shouldn't just look for worlds, we should look for weather. Find chaotic weather and maybe we will find alien life.
Episode 3
Planets from Hell
Wed, Jul 25, 201244 mins
Over the last twenty years we have discovered an extraordinary zoo of planetary nightmares outside our own solar system, all of them truly wild worlds, a collection of monsters. Now we must face the question: Is every planet out there a planet from hell?
Episode 4
Megaflares - Cosmic Firestorms
Wed, Aug 1, 201244 mins
The Universe is a magnetic minefield. The Sun spits out flares capable of battering life on Earth. But out there in space lie the true magnetic monsters. As we uncover dangerous megaflares in the cosmos, the question is, will we end up in the firing line?
Episode 5
Extreme Orbits - Clockwork and Creation
Wed, Aug 8, 201244 mins
The only reason life on Earth is possible is because of our stable orbit around the Sun. Elsewhere in the Universe, orbits are chaotic, violent and destructive. On the largest scale, orbits are a creative force and construct the fabric of the Universe.
Episode 6
Comets - Frozen Wanderers
Wed, Aug 15, 201244 mins
We follow the odyssey of a comet as it sails through space, watching every move as it evolves from a chunk of ice and rock into an active nucleus engulfed in a gaseous haze. What we learn is a revelation; comets are even more mysterious than we imagined.
Episode 7
Asteroids - Worlds That Never Were
Wed, Aug 22, 201244 mins
From icy worlds with more fresh water than Earth to flying mountains of pure metal, asteroids shaped our past and promise much for the future. Could these enigmatic space rocks hold the key to how life in the Universe arises and is extinguished?
Episode 8
Birth of the Earth
Wed, Aug 29, 201244 mins
The Earth was formed by a series of cosmic cataclysms including the most powerful blast in the Universe. Yet amid the turmoil our world was born. Could the same chain of events have created other earths elsewhere, inhabited by creatures like us?