Back to the Moon

PBS, July 10, 2019

Back to the Moon

"On the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing, NOVA looks ahead to the hoped-for dawn of a new age in lunar exploration. This time, governments and private industry are working together to reach our nearest celestial neighbor. But why go back? The Moon can serve as a platform for basic astronomical research; as an abundant source of rare metals and hydrogen fuel; and ultimately as a stepping stone for human missions to Mars and beyond. Join the next generation of engineers that aim to take us to the Moon, and discover how our legacy of lunar exploration won't be confined to the history books for long."

Chasing the Moon

Chasing the Moon

PBS July 8-10, 6 hours

IT TOOK MILLIONS OF STEPS TO MAKE ONE GIANT LEAP.

Film Description

“Chasing the Moon,” a film by Robert Stone, reimagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama..."

Quark Science

I found this documentary series quite fascinating and totally trans formative views of our world through the eyes of science.  I like how they include the mathematical equations that lead to the conclusions the the theories are based on and ultimately proven. Then leading to the next. Now one of my favorite science documentary series next to Cosmos and NOVA's 'Great Math Mystery', 'Life's Rocky Start'. All totally interrelate. 

Amazon Prime:

'Quark Science is a collection of episodes that answer some of humankind's most complicated questions: Where did we come from? What is the smallest particle? What actually drives the universe? Team up with the world's leading scientists to uncover the answers to these complex yet fascinating questions.'

Episode 1: The Amazing World of Gravity
Episode 2: Everything and Nothing
Episode 3: Order and Disorder
Episode 4: The Secret Life of Chaos (my favorite)

Frontline: The Facebook Dilemma

PBS.org

Frontline SEASON 37: EPISODE 4

The promise of Facebook was to create a more open and connected world. But from the company’s failure to protect millions of users’ data, to the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation, mounting crises have raised the question: Is Facebook more harmful than helpful? On Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, FRONTLINE presents The Facebook Dilemma. This major, two-night event investigates a series of warnings to Facebook as the company grew from Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room to a global empire. With dozens of original interviews and rare footage, The Facebook Dilemma examines the powerful social media platform’s impact on privacy and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.

Do You Trust This Computer?

IMDB: 

"Science fiction has long anticipated the rise of machine intelligence. Today, a new generation of self-learning computers is reshaping every aspect of our lives. Incomprehensible amounts of data are being collected, interpreted, and fed back to us in a tsunami of apps, smart devices, and targeted advertisements. Virtually every industry on earth is feeling this transformation, from job automation to medical diagnostics, from elections to battlefield weapons. Do You Trust This Computer? explores the promises and perils of this developing era. Will A.I. usher in an age of unprecedented potential, or prove to be our final invention?"

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Test Flight

NOVA: Black Hole Apocalypse

Soundbreaking

8 Episodes: Nov 14 - 23, 2016

Featuring more than 160 original interviews with some of the most celebrated recording artists, producers, and music industry pioneers of all time, Soundbreaking charts a century’s worth of innovation and experimentation, and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the birth of brand new sounds.

Silk Road: Drugs, Death and the Dark Web

TED Radio Hour: Jamie Bartlett: What Goes On In The Secrecy Of The Dark Web?

Cold Fusion: Tesla Semi Autonomous Truck and Updated Roadster

Boston Dynamics: The Coming Robot Revolution

The Farthest Voyager in Space

pbs.org

"THE FARTHEST tells the captivating tales of the people and events behind one of humanity’s greatest achievements in exploration: NASA’s Voyager mission, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this August. The twin spacecraft—each with less computing power than a cell phone—used slingshot trajectories to visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They sent back unprecedented images and data that revolutionized our understanding of the spectacular outer planets and their many peculiar moons."

NOVA: Eclipse Over America

Program Description: (pbs.org)

On August 21, 2017, millions of Americans witnessed the first total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States in 99 years. As in all total solar eclipses, the moon blocked the sun and revealed its ethereal outer atmosphere – its corona – in a wondrous celestial spectacle. While hordes of citizens flocked to the eclipse’s path of totality, scientists, too, staked out spots for a very different reason: to investigate the secrets of the sun’s elusive atmosphere. During the eclipse’s precious seconds of darkness, they gathered new clues on how our sun works,

The Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

A blockchain is a distributed database that is used to maintain a continuously growing list of records, called blocks. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. A blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of the data. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and a collusion of the network majority. Functionally, a blockchain can serve as "an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. The ledger itself can also be programmed to trigger transactions automatically.

Quantum entanglement transmitted through space

Going out in a Blaze of Glory: Cassini Science Highlights and Grand Finale

Boston MBTA Proposed North South Rail Link

The North–South Rail Link is a proposed pair of rail tunnels, each about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, that would connect North and South Stations in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

The tunnels would better link Amtrak's various trains into and out of the city, but would mainly benefit the MBTA Commuter Rail by connecting its northern and southern lines. Currently, the Amtrak Downeaster line from Maine has no direct connection to the Northeast Corridor routes south and west. Both Amtrak and the commuter rail lines currently terminate at North and South Stations.

NASA: A New Era in Astronomy: Amber Straughn Public Lecture (JWST)

On March 1, 2017, join NASA's Amber Straughn for an inside look at the James Webb Space Telescope, which launches in 2018 and will be 100 times more powerful than Hubble. 

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James Webb Space Telescope

Boston Dynamics: Introducing Handle

Handle is a research robot that stands 6.5 ft tall, travels at 9 mph and jumps 4​ ​feet vertically! ​It uses electric power to operate both electric and hydraulic actuators, with a range of about 15 miles on one battery charge. ​​​Handle uses many of the same dynamics, balance and mobile manipulation principles​ found in the quadruped and biped robots we build, but with only about 10 actuated joints, it is significantly less complex. Wheels are efficient on flat surfaces while legs can go almost anywhere: by combining wheels and legs Handle can have the best of both worlds.

Imagine, this used to be only seen in a movie using special effects. But this thing is real, and not tethered! 

The video gave me a sense of awe, and a bit of 'yikes'. Welcome to the future. A matter of time until one of these gets armed with a weapon.