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How the Universe Works Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2012 - 2012
Documentary series that examins the universe's mechanisms, structures and phenomena, featuring CGI and expert commentary.
Episode 1
Volcanoes: The Furnaces of Life
Wed, Jul 11, 2012 45 mins
Scientists are discovering volcanoes on worlds we once thought dead. From our nearest planetary neighbor to tiny moons billions of miles away, are these worlds where, tomorrow, we might find life?
Episode 2
Megastorms: The Winds of Creation
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 45 mins
On Earth, destructive storms create new opportunities for life. In our quest to discover if we are alone in the universe, we shouldn't look for worlds, we should look for weather. Finding chaotic weather may lead us to alien life.
Episode 3
Planets from Hell
Mon, Jun 10, 2019 60 mins
Over the last twenty years, an extraordinary zoo of planetary nightmares have been discovered outside our own solar system.
Episode 4
Megaflares: Cosmic Firestorms
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 45 mins
The universe is a magnetic minefield. The Sun spits out flares capable of battering life on Earth. But out in space lie true magnetic monsters. As we uncover dangerous megaflares in the cosmos, will we end up in the firing line?
Episode 5
Extreme Orbits: Clockwork and Creation
Wed, Aug 8, 2012 45 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 and destructive. Orbits are a creative force and construct the fabric of the universe.
Episode 6
Comets: Frozen Wanderers
Wed, Aug 15, 2012 45 mins
The odyssey of a comet as it sails through space, watching 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 more mysterious than we imagined.
Episode 7
Asteroids: Worlds that Never Were
Wed, Aug 22, 2012 45 mins
From icy worlds with more fresh water than Earth to flying mountains of pure metal, asteroids shaped our past and could shape our future. Could these enigmatic space rocks hold the key to how life arises and is extinguished?
Episode 8
Birth of the Earth
Wed, Aug 29, 2012 45 mins
The Earth was formed by a series of cosmic cataclysms, including the most powerful blast in the universe. Could the same chain of events have created other earths elsewhere, inhabited by creatures like us?