Stephen Hawking Centre in Cambridge collaborates on The Universe Unravelled streaming series with Discovery+
The Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology in Cambridge has teamed up with Discovery for a documentary series exploring our universe.
The series, The Universe Unravelled - which is being shown on the Discovery+ channel this month - is aimed at anyone who might be curious about the universe we live in. No previous knowledge of cosmology is required.
Across more than 20 short episodes, the series explores what we already know about the universe, what cosmologists and relativists are working on right now, and where new observations may lead in the future.
The programme is inspired by the late Professor Stephen Hawking’s ground-breaking work on cosmology, black holes and gravitational waves, and features researchers from the Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (CTC) and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.
The series explores the big questions in contemporary research which are being driven by new observations, such as the recent discovery of gravitational waves. It starts with Einstein’s general theory of relativity, describing how massive objects warp the fabric of spacetime and how they can collapse under their own gravity to form black holes.
It also describes the violent explosion that marked the beginning of our universe, and how the universe expanded from this initial Big Bang, forming all the structures we observe today – galaxies, stars and planets. It then probes the mysteries that still puzzle cosmologists, such as dark energy and dark matter.
The collaboration between Discovery and the CTC started in 2010. A highlight was Discovery live-streaming Stephen Hawking's 75th birthday symposium which was a huge success watched by millions.
The series was filmed at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences and the Institute of Astronomy and produced with the help of science editors from Plus magazine, part of the University’s Millennium Mathematics Project outreach programme.
Paul Shellard, CTC director, said: “We are grateful to Discovery and the Kavli Foundation for supporting this unique opportunity to continue Stephen Hawking’s vision of reaching out, especially to younger audiences, to inspire curiosity about our universe and the huge progress currently being made to unveil its secrets.
“This was a remarkable collaboration in which we were able to work closely with the production team, ensuring both viewer interest and scientific accuracy, which we hope provides a great model for future science outreach.”
The series is available on the new Discovery+ service which can be found at discoveryplus.co.uk, along with a short trailer. To find out more about the Hawking Centre, visit ctc.cam.ac.uk.
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