The BEST episodes of How the Universe Works season 2
Every episode of How the Universe Works season 2, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of How the Universe Works season 2!
A users' guide to the cosmos, from the Big Bang to galaxies, stars, planets and moons: where did it all come from and how does it all fit together? A primer for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered.
#1 - Birth of the Earth
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/29/2012
The Earth was formed by a series of cataclysms without which we would not exist. Could the same events have created other earth-like planets elsewhere in the Universe inhabited by creatures like us?
#2 - Asteroids - Worlds that Never Were
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/22/2012
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?
#3 - Comets - Frozen Wanderers
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/15/2012
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.
#4 - Extreme Orbits - Clockwork and Creation
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/8/2012
We owe our existence to the stability of earth's orbit. But we are the freaks: everywhere else we look we find orbits are chaotic, unstable, and violent. Yet on the very largest scale, orbits are also a creative force, even constructing the fabric of the universe itself.
#5 - Planets from Hell
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/25/2012
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?
#6 - Megaflares - Cosmic Firestorms
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/1/2012
The Universe is a magnetic minefield. Spinning star systems crackle and explode, magnetic monsters rip worlds apart, star-quakes shoot beams of devastating energy, and galactic flamethrowers fire gamma-rays half way across the Universe. Will we find Earth in the firing line?
#7 - Volcanoes - The Furnaces of Life
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/11/2012
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?
#8 - The Winds of Creation
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/18/2012
Destructive weather forces are symptoms of Earth's creative energy. 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 that megastorm, and maybe we will find alien life.