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Secrets of the Forbidden City

   2021    Art
The architectural design of Beijing's ancient complex of palaces and temples enabled it to survive centuries of earthquakes. The Forbidden City is the world’s biggest and most extravagant palace complex ever built. For five centuries, it was the power center of imperial China and survived wars, revolution, fires, and earthquakes. How did the Ming Emperor’s workforce construct its sprawling array of nearly 1,000 buildings and dozens of temples in a little over a decade?

From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature

   2021    Science
Physicist Dr Helen Czerski journeys to the extremes of the temperature scale, where the everyday laws of physics break down and a new world of scientific possibilities begins. In the first part, Frozen Solid, Helen reveals how cold has shaped the world around us and why frozen doesn't mean what you think it does. She meets scientists pushing temperature to the limits of cold, driving technologies such as superconductors.
The second part, A Temperature for Life, explores the narrow band of temperature that has led to life on Earth, how life began where hot meets cold and how every living creature depends on temperature for survival. In the last part, Playing with Fire, Helen Czerski explores the science of heat. She reveals how heat is the hidden energy contained within matter with the power to transform it from state to state.

Hannibal March on Rome

   2020    History
Even 2,000 years after his death, General Hannibal's battle strategies are still studied today. But of all his military feats, perhaps his greatest was leading his massive Carthaginian army of men and three-dozen elephants across the Alps and into the heartland of Rome in 218 B.C. Until now, the route they took has been a matter of dispute, but thanks to modern-day technology, geomorphologist Bill Mahaney and microbiologist Chris Allen believe they've accurately traced this ancient journey.

Black Code

   2017    Technology
Where big data meets big brother -- The story of how governments manipulate the internet to censor and monitor their citizens, and how those citizens are fighting back. This battle for control of cyberspace will challenge our ideas of privacy, citizenship and democracy to the very core. The film is a look at the global impact the internet has on free speech, privacy and activism.

The Surveillance State

   2019    Technology
Frequent security expos feature companies like Megvii and its facial- recognition technology. They show off cameras with A.I. that can track cars, and identify individuals by face, or just by the way they walk. In China it's been projected that over 600 million cameras will be deployed by 2020. Here, they may be used to discourage jaywalking, but they also serve to remind people that the state is watching. Matching with the most advanced artificial intelligence algorithm, they can actually use this data, real-time data, to pick up a face or pick up a action.
A.I. is a technology that can be used for good and for evil. So, how do governments limit themselves in, on the one hand, using this A.I. technology and the database to maintain a safe environment for its citizens, but not to encroach on a individual's rights and privacies?
Series: In the Age of AI

Cryptocurrency

   2018    Technology
Bitcoin, the beautiful anonymity of cash, but cash that wasn't printed by governments. Instead, it was made by a bit of code, powered by citizens of the internet, and you could trust it. Today, anyone can buy cryptocurrency. A few signups, type in your credit card number, and trade in your money for digital cash. And with a few more steps, you can use Bitcoin to buy what the majority of Bitcoin is spent on: Illegal services. Virtual currencies can pose challenges for law enforcement, given the appeal they have among those seeking to conceal.
Is digital cash the next revolution? Learn about this anonymous currency and why it's so coveted.
Series: Explained
The Last Czars

The Last Czars

2019  History
Eden: Untamed Planet

Eden: Untamed Planet

2021  Nature
Oceans

Oceans

2009  Nature
The Jinx

The Jinx

  History
Shine a Light

Shine a Light

2008  Art