The NatureWatch

Sunday March 21st 9pm, BBC2


This week Professor Brian Cox reveals how something as flimsy as an envelope of gas - an atmosphere - can create some of the most wondrous sights in the Solar System.

Brian takes a ride in a English Electric Lightning and flies 18kms up to the top of Earth’s atmosphere, where he sees the darkness of space above and the thin blue line of our atmosphere below. In the Namib desert in south-west Africa, he tells the story of Mercury. This tiny planet was stripped naked of its early atmosphere and is fully exposed to the ferocity of space.

But it’s against the stunning backdrop of the glaciers of Alaska, that Brian reveals his fourth Wonder. Saturn’s moon Titan is shrouded by a murky, thick atmosphere. In this episode Brian reveals that below the clouds lies a magical world. Titan is the only place beyond Earth where we’ve found liquid pooling on the surface in vast lakes, as big as the Caspian Sea. But the lakes of Titan are filled with a mysterious liquid, and are quite unlike anything on Earth.

Written & Directed by Chris Holt
Assistant Producer Tom Ranson
Series Producer Danielle Peck
Exec Producer: Andrew Cohen

For further details, please visit programme link below
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rmpqh

'Museum of Life' starts 18th March 8pm on BBC2.
Jimmy Doherty goes behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum to join the people who are uncovering secrets, solving mysteries and making discoveries among the historic collections
Visit the official BBC website. 


Noah's Ark in Kensington

(Reposted from Paul Williams http://www.ironammonite.com/)

While I'm pushing this promising new series I want to also tell you about a discovery that I made in the BBC archives. In 1970 the BBC produced an episode of Horizon called 'Noah's Ark in Kensington' - you could say that it's a version of tonight's programme from an age gone by. A charming film with a faded sepia look that gives it an air of being produced in World War II. The people who feature in it are lovable parodies of the eccentric British upper-class scientist. Here's a few screenshots...

The 1970s Natural History Museum security lining up for inspection by the 'Major' in the morning. http://twitpic.com/18zh3e

Where's the Diplodocus? According to Richard Fortey it was moved from the reptile gallery, now the Dinosaur Hall, to be the centrepiece of the main hall in 1979. http://twitpic.com/18ziov

What they've been saying about last week's episode:
"utterly compelling...spectacularly good - Auntie at her best" Daily Mail

"literally the best hour of TV I have ever seen" Chris Evans, R2 Breakfast Show

"The sort of television that captivates hungry young minds, the sort that’s recalled as inspirational for years to come." Daily Telegraph

In the second episode of his stunning exploration of the Solar System, Professor Brian Cox reveals how all the beauty and order we see in our cosmic backyard was carved out of nothing more than a chaotic cloud of gas.

Chasing tornados in Oklahoma, Brian explains how the same physics that creates these spinning storms shaped the young Solar System. And out of this celestial maelstrom emerged the jewel in the crown, Brian’s second Wonder - the magnificent rings of Saturn. Brian travels to an ice-choked lagoon in Iceland to see the nearest thing to Saturn’s rings we have here on Earth. Using the latest scientific imagery and breath-taking graphics, he explains how the intricate patterns are shaped by the cluster of more than 60 moons surrounding Saturn. One of those moons makes a spectacular contribution to Saturn’s rings, and is his third Wonder of the Solar System. Brian describes the astonishing discovery of giant fountains of ice erupting from the surface of Enceladus, which soar thousands of kilometres into space.

Series Producer: Danielle Peck
Written & Directed by Michael Lachmann
Assistant Producer: Diana Ellis-Hill
Exec Producer: Andrew Cohen
for further details about this series, the BBC's new Solar System website and CBBC's spin-off series, Space Hoppers go to
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/