Horizon
Season 36

s36e01 / Season 36, Episode 01

4th Jan '00 - 9:00pm
Season 36, Episode 01 Summary

Scientists are now close to understanding the biological mechanisms that make us age and make us die. A few decades ago, no-one thought we could add years to life. The maximum life-span possible for humans was believed to be a hundred or so - and all because of an immutable genetic clock. These extraordinary mice can perfectly regenerate tissue, such as this hole punched in the ear, without any signs of scarring.But recently a series of startling discoveries has forced scientists to rethink their theories on aging. They have already found some of the genes involved in delaying the ageing process in animals. Tinkering with them, geneticists have created races of super-organisms - fruit flies, for instance, that can live double their natural life-span and that die healthy and vigorous. Other laboratories have bred mice that can spontaneously regenerate parts of their bodies, constantly repairing the damage that is part of the aging process. Controversially, some scientists are confident that their results can be extended to future generations of humans.

137 have watched this episode

s36e02 / Season 36, Episode 02

5th Jan '00 - 9:00pm
Season 36, Episode 02 Summary

Paul Mayho has a disease that was completely unknown only a few decades ago. He was then infected with another disease that was thought to have disappeared entirely from the West. As we enter the 21st-century with all our modern medical weaponry the question is: how could these things be happening? The dominant species on this planet are not humans. They are organisms too small to see with the naked eye, viruses and bacteria. Many believed that we would have won the battle against these microbes in the last century, but things turned out very differently. The new things that willhug us in this century will be unknown emerging microbes and the return of old plagues that we thought had been defeated. Scientists now know that we can never defeat nature itself.

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s36e03 / Season 36, Episode 03

6th Jan '00 - 9:00pm
Season 36, Episode 03 Summary

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s36e04 / Breath of Life

13th Jan '00 - 9:00pm
Breath of Life Summary

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s36e05 / The Lost City of Nasca

20th Jan '00 - 9:00pm
The Lost City of Nasca Summary

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139 have watched this episode

s36e06 / The Diamond Makers

27th Jan '00 - 9:00pm
The Diamond Makers Summary

This is the story of the race to produce man-made gem diamonds, from the first faltering steps 50 years ago, to today's 'New Alchemists' in Russia who are using the latest science and technology to produce perfect synthetic diamonds in an array of colors and sizes. And it is the story of how this leap in diamond-making technology has forced De Beers to develop ever-more sophisticated detection equipment, trying to spot the synthetics, while the physical distinction between real and man-made diamonds becomes more and more blurred.

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s36e07 / Supervolcanoes

3rd Feb '00 - 9:00pm
Supervolcanoes Summary

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142 have watched this episode

s36e08 / Miracle in Orbit

10th Feb '00 - 9:00pm
Miracle in Orbit Summary

When and how did space and time begin? The birth of the Universe is one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy. It has perplexed the best scientific minds for centuries. Decades before space travel was possible, astronomers dreamed of putting a telescope into orbit to try and answer these fundamental questions. It wasn't until the 1970s, when space flight had become a reality, that NASA resolved to build just such a space telescope. They named it Hubble.

138 have watched this episode

s36e09 / Complete Obsession

17th Feb '00 - 9:00pm
Complete Obsession Summary

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s36e11 / Is GM Safe?

9th Mar '00 - 9:00pm
Is GM Safe? Summary

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141 have watched this episode

s36e12 / Planet Hunters Part I

16th Mar '00 - 9:00pm
Planet Hunters Part I Summary

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s36e13 / Planet Hunters

16th Mar '00 - 9:00pm
Planet Hunters Summary

Horizon follows the trials and tribulations of the planet hunters and shares in the triumph of the Scottish team who, just a few months ago, became the first to achieve the ultimate goal - to capture the image of an alien planet. It is orbiting another star, 55 light years away from Earth. The question is - how similar is this planet to our own and could it be home to alien life? Horizon uncovers the answers.

138 have watched this episode

s36e14 / Moon Children

4th Apr '00 - 9:00pm
Moon Children Summary

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s36e15 / Conjoined Twins

19th Oct '00 - 9:00pm
Conjoined Twins Summary

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s36e16 / The Lost World of Lake Vostok

26th Oct '00 - 9:00pm
The Lost World of Lake Vostok Summary

It sometimes seems as if our planet has no secrets left - but deep beneath the great Antarctic ice sheet scientists have made an astonishing discovery. They've found one of the largest lakes in the world. It's very existence defies belief. Scientists are desperate to get into the lake because its extreme environment may be home to unique flora and fauna, never seen before, and NASA are excited by what it could teach us about extraterrestrial life. But 4 kilometers of ice stand between the lake and the surface, and breaking this seal without contaminating the most pristine body of water on the planet is possibly one of the greatest challenges science faces in the 21st century.

138 have watched this episode

s36e17 / Vanished: The Plane That Disappeared

2nd Nov '00 - 9:00pm
Vanished: The Plane That Disappeared Summary

On August 2nd 1947, a British civilian version of the wartime Lancaster bomber took off from Buenos Aires airport on a scheduled flight to Santiago. There were 5 crew and 6 passengers on board the plane - named 'Stardust'. But Stardust never made it to Santiago. Instead it vanished when it was apparently just a few minutes from touchdown. One final strange Morse code radio message - 'STENDEC' - was sent, but after that nothing more was heard from the plane. Despite a massive search of the Andes mountains no trace of the plane was ever found. For 53 years the families of those who disappeared have not known what happened to their loved ones.

138 have watched this episode

s36e18 / Secret Treasures of Zeugma

9th Nov '00 - 9:00pm
Secret Treasures of Zeugma Summary

In the summer of 2000, one of the great frontier cities of the Roman Empire, the city of Zeugma, all but disappeared from the face of the Earth under the flood waters of a dam. In a bid to modernize, the Turkish government has embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in the world, building a series of dams on the Euphrates over the past twenty years. Almost every dam threatens ancient remains that lie below in one of the most archaeologically rich regions of the world. The completion of the Birecik dam, featured in this film, has flooded the valley where Zeugma is buried. The city on the flat plain has entirely disappeared and the waters have now risen to cover 30% of the city on the hillside. 'Horizon' tells the story of the archaeologists' fifth and final visit, struggling to save what they could before the dam waters rose. It witnesses the uncovering of some of the most beautiful examples of Roman art ever found. The team's discoveries at Zeugma caused an international outcry and further excavations were hurriedly put together.

137 have watched this episode

s36e19 / The Valley of Life or Death

16th Nov '00 - 9:00pm
The Valley of Life or Death Summary

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139 have watched this episode

s36e20 / Extreme Dinosaurs

23rd Nov '00 - 9:00pm
Extreme Dinosaurs Summary

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141 have watched this episode

s36e21 / Supermassive Black Holes

30th Nov '00 - 9:00pm
Supermassive Black Holes Summary

In June 2000, astronomers made an extraordinary discovery. One that promises to solve one of the biggest problems in cosmology - how and why galaxies are created. Incredibly, the answer involves the most weird, destructive and terrifying objects in the Universe - supermassive black holes. Scientists are beginning to believe that these forces of pure destruction actually help trigger the birth of galaxies and therefore are at the heart of the creation of stars, planets and all life. Supermassive black holes are so extraordinary that until recently, many people doubted that they existed at all. The idea of giant black holes the size of the Solar System seemed more like science fiction that reality - such monsters would be so powerful that they could destroy the very fabric of the Universe. But in the last five years a series of discoveries has changed our understanding of supermassive black holes and galaxies forever.

137 have watched this episode

s36e22 / Boy Who Was Turned Into a Girl

7th Dec '00 - 9:00pm
Boy Who Was Turned Into a Girl Summary

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