The BEST episodes of Through the Wormhole
Every episode of Through the Wormhole ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Through the Wormhole!
Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole explores the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? Is there a creator? These questions have been pondered by the most exquisite minds of the human race. Now, science has evolved to the point where hard facts and evidence may be able to provide us with answers instead of philosophical theories. Through the Wormhole brings together the brightest minds and best ideas from the very edges of science - Astrophysics, Astrobiology, Quantum Mechanics, String Theory, and more - to reveal the extraordinary truth of our Universe.
#1 - Is There a Shadow Universe?
Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 7/23/2014
When we look up into the sky it appears we live in a universe that is filled with light. But scientists are now certain there is far more matter in the dark portions of our universe that we can’t see or touch. There’s something hiding in the shadows. Cosmologists agree that "dark matter" has helped shape our Universe, but now they need to figure out what dark matter is. What’s going on in this hidden world? Could it have formed its own dark stars, planets, and even life forms? Could this Shadow Universe threaten our world of light?
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#2 - Is Gravity an Illusion?
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/9/2014
We feel it every moment of our lives but for physicists, gravity is the longest running unsolved mystery of the universe. Why do all objects that have mass pull on one another? Cutting-edge theories are proposing unexpected answers: Gravity could be another force in disguise, a thermodynamic mirage, or even, a shadow of a hidden holographic universe. If so, the force that holds us to the surface of the earth, and holds the earth in orbit around the sun, may be a trick of the mind. We feel it, but it may not be real. Is Gravity an Illusion?
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#3 - Is There a God Particle?
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/20/2013
Scientists explore the effects of the Higgs Boson discovery, which validates the Standard Model in particle physics and solidifies the understanding of subatomic particles; highlights include an in-depth discussion of the Higgs field and mass.
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#4 - Is Poverty Genetic?
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/11/2014
Are the wealthy just born in the right place at the right time? Are the poor victims of a system designed to keep them down? Or do physics and biology determine who is rich and who is poor? Throughout history, distribution of wealth is governed by hidden forces: DNA, environmental stress, patterns of human migration and even the laws of thermodynamics! Nature seems to demand winners and losers in life. But does this mean greed is king, and the rich can take what they want? Or is cooperation – between microorganisms, monkeys, and humans – more essential to survival of a species?
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#5 - Will We Survive First Contact?
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/6/2012
Mankind longs for proof that we are not alone in the universe, but the moment of first contact will certainly mean the end of the world as we know it. Whether that is a bad thing for humanity or the start of a great future is uncertain.
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#6 - Will We Become God?
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/16/2014
Humanity’s potential seems limitless. But could we become as powerful as God? Scientific breakthroughs grant our species seemingly divine abilities. Biologists tinkering with DNA are figuring out ways to grow new life forms, while neuroscientists try to create artificial consciousness. Statisticians around the world are using big data to predict the future and computer scientists have discovered a "God algorithm" that could solve any global problem in an instant. But to truly become God, we not only have to be all knowing, but all being. Quantum physicists are figuring out how to teleport matter at the speed of light!
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#7 - Can We All Become Geniuses?
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/20/2016
Genius lies somewhere in the human mind, bringing mathematical insight, sparking artistic inspiration and enabling some to see what most cannot. Might we augment our biology with technology to unlock the genius inside us all?
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#10 - Can We Hack the Planet?
Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/9/2017
Unless we can turn the planet's problems into solutions, humanity may be coming to an end. Scientists are unlocking the secrets of nature to tame the elements, harness energy, and even control life. Can we hack the planet to save humanity?
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#12 - What is Nothing?
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/27/2012
Is empty space really empty? Scientists regard understanding the true nature of empty space may explain where the universe came from, whether it is fated to expand into oblivion or whether it will undergo another dramatic transformation that could destroy everything we know.
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#13 - Is God an Alien Concept?
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/5/2014
Is God worshipped in other worlds, across the cosmos? How might alien deities differ from our own? The answer may lie buried on Earth. Animal behaviorists are testing elephants and finding them capable of having spiritual thoughts. Artificial intelligence researchers are building enlightened robots that contemplate the divine. Meanwhile, cosmologists are looking for universal equations that could replace God. Have advanced aliens discovered everything there is to know about the universe? Or are they looking to a higher power for answers?
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#14 - The Riddle of Black Holes
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/16/2010
They are the most powerful objects in the universe. Nothing, not even light, can escape the gravitational pull of a black hole. Astronomers now believe there are billions of them out in the cosmos, swallowing up planets, even entire stars in violent feeding frenzies. New theoretical research into the twisted reality of black holes suggests that three-dimensional space could be an illusion. That reality actually takes place on a two-dimensional hologram at the edge of the universe.
#15 - Beyond the Darkness
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/28/2010
What is the universe made of? If you answered stars, planets, gas and dust, you'd be dead wrong. Thirty years ago, scientists first realized that some unknown dark substance was affecting the way galaxies moved. Today, they think there must be five times as much dark matter as regular matter out there. But they have no idea what it is — only that it's not made of atoms, or any other matter we are familiar with. And Dark Matter is not the only strange substance in the Universe — a newly discovered force, called Dark Energy, seems to be pushing the very fabric of the cosmos apart.
#16 - What Are We Really Made of?
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/21/2010
Our understanding of the universe and the nature of reality itself has drastically changed over the last 100 years, and it's on the verge of another seismic shift. In a 17-mile-long tunnel buried 570 feet beneath the Franco-Swiss border, the world's largest and most powerful atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, is powering up. Its goal is nothing less than recreating the first instants of creation, when the universe was unimaginably hot and long-extinct forms of matter sizzled and cooled into stars, planets, and ultimately, us. These incredibly small and exotic particles hold the keys to the greatest mysteries of the universe. What we find could validate our long-held theories about how the world works and what we are made of. Or, all of our notions about the essence of what is real will fall apart.
#17 - Is There an Edge to the Universe?
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/15/2011
It is commonly theorized that the universe began with the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. But since we can only see as far as light has traveled in that time, we can't actually make out the edge of the universe. Could it be that the universe is infinite? Is there any way to find out what the shape of the universe really is? Can we find the edge, discover what might lie beyond it, and perhaps even discover a universe next to ours?
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#18 - Is a Zombie Apocalypse Possible?
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/2/2014
It is a nightmare that has stalked us for centuries: hordes of human beings transformed into mindless, cannibalistic monsters. Could this civilization-ending nightmare become reality? Scientists have discovered pathogens that turn insects into the walking dead. New strains of viruses are attacking humans every day. Mathematicians have calculated the likelihood of surviving a zombie virus outbreak: they’re not hopeful. Now neuroscientists are discovering how easy it is for us to lose conscious control of our bodies. Are we at risk of becoming puppets? If we were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, would we even know it?
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#20 - Can We Eliminate Evil?
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/18/2012
What drives some to torture and kill without remorse? Why do seemingly normal people commit acts of cruelty and violence. Researchers are exploring our inner demons, looking for ways to isolate and neutralize the source of evil in the brain. Is it really possible to change human nature?
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#24 - Is Time Travel Possible?
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/23/2010
Einstein's Theory of Relativity says that time travel is perfectly possible — if you're going forward. Finding a way to travel backwards requires breaking the speed of light, which so far seems impossible. But now, strange-but-true phenomena such as quantum nonlocality, where particles instantly teleport across vast distances, may give us a way to make the dream of traveling back and forth through time a reality. Step into a time machine and rewrite history, bring loved ones back to life, control our destinies. But if we succeed, what are the consequences of such freedom? Will we get trapped in a plethora of paradoxes and multiple universes that will destroy the fabric of the universe?
#25 - Does Time Really Exist?
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/22/2011
It is a question that has vexed philosophers and scientists for centuries; 'What is Time?' Exactly how is our past, present, and future connected by that arrow of cause and effect that we call Time? Is time simply another dimension, just like the dimensions of space we know? Can you run time backwards just as easily as it runs forward, just as left-to-right can swap for right-to-left? If other universes exist, then what is time like in them: could their Time be different from ours? And we'll probe the biggest question about time: Is our future determined? Do we exercise free will? Or, is time merely a dream?
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