Science and Nature

PBS Space Time

PBS Space Time explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth. Host Matt O'Dowd breaks down the both the basic and incredibly complex sides of space and time.

Is Quantum Tunneling Faster than Light?

9m 52s

Where are you right now? Until you interact with another particle you could be any number of places within a wave of probabilities. Matt dives into these counter-intuitive ideas and explains the bizarre phenomenon known as quantum tunneling in this episode of Space Time

Episodes

  • How Much Of The Universe Can Humanity Ever See?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Much Of The Universe Can Humanity Ever See?

    S9 E9 - 16m 49s

    There’s an absolute limit to our access to the universe beyond our own galaxy. So we’re going to figure out the absolute limit of our future view of the universe, and of the universe’s ability to influence us.

  • What If Black Holes Are Dark Energy?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What If Black Holes Are Dark Energy?

    S9 E8 - 16m 34s

    Black holes and dark energy being the same thing has received some recent hype in the press. So let’s see if it might actually be true.

  • What’s Your Brain’s Role in Creating Space & Time?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What’s Your Brain’s Role in Creating Space & Time?

    S9 E7 - 16m 28s

    Physics is the business of figuring out the structure of the world. So are our brains. But sometimes physics comes to conclusions that are in direct conflict with concepts fundamental to our minds, such as the realness of space and time. How do we tell who’s correct? Are time and space objective realities or human-invented concepts?

  • Are Space and Time Real?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Are Space and Time Real?

    S9 E6 - 18m 58s

    Physics progresses by breaking our intuitions, but we’re now at a point where further progress may require us to do away with the most intuitive and seemingly fundamental concepts of all—space and time.

  • How Does The Nucleus Hold Together?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Does The Nucleus Hold Together?

    S9 E5 - 14m 28s

    Two protons next to each other in an atomic nucleus are repelling each other electromagnetically with enough force to lift a medium-sized labradoodle off the ground. Release this energy and you have a nuclear explosion. So how does it all hold together? Nuclei are held together by a quirk of nature, without which we would have no complex atoms, no chemistry, and certainly no labradoodles.

  • How Does the Earth Really Move Through The Galaxy?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Does the Earth Really Move Through The Galaxy?

    S9 E4 - 16m 29s

    Perhaps you’ve seen videos of how the planets of the solar system move through the universe in this cool helix. Not only are these misleading, but the Earth’s real motion - YOUR motion through the universe, is way more complicated and way more interesting.

  • What If Alien Life Were Silcon-Based?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What If Alien Life Were Silcon-Based?

    S9 E3 - 14m 47s

    Life as we know it is carbon-based, but does it have to be this way? There’s another element on the periodic table that shares some of the key properties of carbon but is far more abundant on most planets. I’m talking about silicon. So is there silicon-based life out there?

  • What If The Universe Is Math?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What If The Universe Is Math?

    S9 E2 - 17m 33s

    Quantum phenomena have no subjective qualities and have questionable physicality. They seem to be completely describable by only numbers, and their behavior precisely defined by equations. In a sense, the quantum world is made of math. So does that mean the universe is made of math too? If you believe the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis then yes. And so are you.

  • The New Science of Moon Formation: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The New Science of Moon Formation

    S9 E1 - 15m 32s

    Einstein once asked whether “the moon exists only when I look at it?". It was rhetorical objection to the idea that measurement in quantum mechanics causes reality to become real. But there was a time when the moon didn’t exist, and then hours later suddenly did. At least, according to the latest simulations of its formation.

Extras + Features

  • Quantum Physics in a Mirror Universe: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Quantum Physics in a Mirror Universe

    S5 - 12m 19s

    When you look in mirror, and see what you think is a perfect reflection, you might be looking at universe whose laws are fundamentally different.

WETA Passport

Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.

Similar Shows

Poster Image
Outback: show-poster2x3

Outback

Science and Nature