All language subtitles for Einstein and Hawking - Masters of Our Universe (2019) - S01E01 - Mysteries of the Earth WEBDL-1080p

--Captions by VITAC--
www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

♪♪

[ CLOCK TICKING ]

Narrator: TIME -- WE THINK OF IT
AS REGULAR AS CLOCKWORK...

...TICKING OUT THE STEADY
PROGRESS OF THE UNIVERSE.

BUT TIME IS NOT CONSTANT.

AND THAT HOLDS THE KEY
TO THE SECRETS OF CREATION.

AND THE TWO PEOPLE WHO HELPED US
UNLOCK THOSE MYSTERIES

ARE JOINED BY
A COSMIC COINCIDENCE OF TIMING.

♪♪

ON MARCH 14, 1879,

ALBERT EINSTEIN WAS BORN
IN ULM, GERMANY.

AND ON MARCH 14, 2018,

STEPHEN HAWKING DIED
IN CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND.

THEY ARE UNDOUBTEDLY
THE MOST RECOGNIZED SCIENTISTS

IN THE WORLD.

AND BETWEEN THEM, THEY HAVE
TRANSFORMED OUR UNDERSTANDING

OF EVERYTHING.

♪♪

Gates:
IF ALBERT EINSTEIN
HAD NOT LIVED,

IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE

WHAT THE 20th CENTURY
WOULD'VE BEEN LIKE.

Narrator:
IN THE EARLY 1900s,

ALBERT EINSTEIN DEVELOPED
AN IDEA SO REVOLUTIONARY

IT CHANGED
THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

IT WAS CALLED RELATIVITY.

♪♪

Oluseyi: MANY OF EINSTEIN'S
IDEAS ARE OUT THERE.

AT BEST,
THEY'RE COUNTERINTUITIVE.

OTHERS ARE SIMPLY MIND-BENDING.

[ POP ]

Narrator:
HIS GIANT LEAPS
OF IMAGINATION

GAVE US A NEW UNDERSTANDING
OF THE FABRIC OF REALITY...

♪♪

...AND REDEFINED OUR CONCEPTS
OF TIME AND SPACE.

♪♪

AND, CRUCIALLY, HIS WORK
INSPIRED STEPHEN HAWKING...

♪♪

...WHO WOULD DEVELOP
EINSTEIN'S IDEAS

TO REVEAL THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY
PHENOMENA IN THE UNIVERSE.

♪♪

Hawking:
BLACK HOLES ARE STRANGER
THAN ANYTHING

DREAMED OF
BY SCIENCE-FICTION WRITERS,

BUT THEY ARE FIRMLY MATTERS
OF SCIENCE FACT.

♪♪

Levin: HAWKING
IS INCREDIBLY INNOVATIVE,

ABLE TO MAKE DISCOVERIES THAT
SEEMED TOTALLY COUNTERINTUITIVE

AND TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE.

♪♪

Narrator:
RIGHT UP TO HIS DEATH,

HE WAS REDEFINING OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE.

Strominger: HE SAID HE HADN'T
BEEN THIS EXCITED IN 40 YEARS.

WHEN I MISS HIM THE MOST
IS WHEN WE FIGURE SOMETHING OUT.

I'D LIKE TO TELL HIM.

♪♪

Narrator:
THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW
THESE TWO REMARKABLE SCIENTISTS

SHOWED US THAT THE UNIVERSE
IS STRANGER AND MORE WONDERFUL

THAN WE EVER IMAGINED.

♪♪

♪♪

[ BELLS TOLLING ]

[ CLOCK TICKING ]

THE STORY STARTS
IN THIS APARTMENT

IN BERN, SWITZERLAND.

ALBERT EINSTEIN LIVED HERE
WITH HIS FIRST WIFE

AND FELLOW PHYSICIST, MILEVA,

FOR TWO YEARS
WHILE HE DID HIS GREATEST WORK.

WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE
THE CONVERSATIONS

THESE WALLS HAVE HEARD,

THE MOMENTS OF GENIUS
THEY HAVE WITNESSED.

BUT WHEN HE ARRIVED HERE
IN 1903,

THERE WAS NO SIGN AT ALL

THAT EINSTEIN
WAS DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.

IN FACT, EINSTEIN'S PROGRESS HAD
BEEN DISTINCTLY UNDERWHELMING.

♪♪

Gates: ALBERT EINSTEIN WAS
A RATHER UNUSUAL CHILD.

IT WAS VERY LATE
IN HIS EARLY LIFE

THAT HE BEGAN TO TALK,
AND SO HIS PARENTS, IN FACT,

WERE WORRIED ABOUT HIM
FOR QUITE A WHILE.

SO, EINSTEIN,
FROM A VERY EARLY AGE,

WAS INDEPENDENT-MINDED,

FOCUSED ON THINGS THAT CAPTURED
HIS IMAGINATION,

BUT VERY QUICK TO IGNORE THINGS
IN SCHOOL

THAT HE CONSIDERED
LESS IMPORTANT.

♪♪

HE OFTEN FOUGHT
WITH HIS PROFESSORS.

HE BARELY SQUEAKED THROUGH
HIS UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

AND HAD A GREAT DEAL
OF DIFFICULTY

FINDING A POSITION
AFTER UNIVERSITY.

♪♪

SO, THE ONE POSITION EINSTEIN
COULD ACTUALLY ARRANGE

WAS AS AN ENTRY-LEVEL
PATENT CLERK

IN THE PATENT OFFICE
IN BERN, SWITZERLAND.

AND EINSTEIN ENTERED
LITERALLY AT THE BOTTOM.

♪♪

Narrator: THIS WAS
EINSTEIN'S LOT IN 1903 --

AN ACADEMIC UNDERACHIEVER
IN A DEAD-END JOB.

♪♪

BUT IT WAS ALSO A BLESSING
IN DISGUISE.

IT WAS A PERFECT JOB
FOR HIM IN SOME WAYS,

BECAUSE HE COULD GO THROUGH
THE DAY AND GET PAID

AND THEN SPEND
HIS IMPORTANT TIME

DOING PHYSICS ON THE SIDE.

HE JUST WAS ABLE TO LIVE
WITHIN HIS MIND,

AND THAT, FOR ALL OF HUMANITY,
WAS A GREAT BOON.

♪♪

Narrator:
ON JANUARY 8, 1942,

STEPHEN HAWKING WAS BORN
IN OXFORD, ENGLAND,

COINCIDENTALLY, ON THE
300th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE DEATH OF GALILEO.

UNLIKE EINSTEIN,

HE EXCELLED ACADEMICALLY
FROM A YOUNG AGE

AND, ALTHOUGH A RESPECTED
SCIENTIST IN HIS OWN RIGHT,

HE FIRST HIT THE HEADLINES
IN 1984

WITH THE PUBLICATION
OF "A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME,"

WHICH TRIED TO BRING
THE THEORIES OF ALBERT EINSTEIN

TO A WIDER AUDIENCE.

♪♪

Levin: HAWKING IS SUCH
A FASCINATING HUMAN BEING.

YOU CAN'T REALLY EXAGGERATE
THE POWER OF THAT INTELLECT.

AND A COMPLICATED MAN, YOU KNOW,
A COMPLICATED CHARACTER.

♪♪

STEPHEN WAS A LOVER OF LIFE.

HE TOOK ME WITH HIM
TO ANTARCTICA.

HE, OF COURSE, WENT UP
IN A SUBORBITAL FLIGHT,

SO HE WAS WEIGHTLESS.

HE ENJOYED LIFE TO THE FULL.

♪♪

Narrator: AS A TEENAGER,

HE WAS KNOWN TO HIS CLASSMATES
AS "EINSTEIN."

AND AT UNIVERSITY,
HE OFTEN DELIGHTED

IN DOING AS LITTLE WORK
AS POSSIBLE.

♪♪

Hawking: THE PHYSICS COURSE
AT OXFORD AT THAT TIME

WAS RIDICULOUSLY EASY.

YOU DIDN'T NEED TO REMEMBER
MANY FACTS,

JUST A FEW EQUATIONS.

♪♪

Narrator: BUT IN 1962,
WHEN HE WAS JUST 20,

HAWKING'S
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY LIFESTYLE

CAME TO A GRINDING HALT.

HE WAS DIAGNOSED
WITH MOTOR NEURON DISEASE

AND GIVEN
JUST TWO YEARS TO LIVE.

Hawking:
ITS FIRST EFFECT WAS
TO DEPRESS ME.

I SEEMED TO BE GETTING WORSE
FAIRLY RAPIDLY.

Narrator: BUT HAWKING
WAS NOT ONE

TO LET ADVERSITY
STAND IN HIS WAY.

Thorne: STEPHEN WAS THE MOST
STUBBORN MAN I HAVE EVER MET.

HE JUST ABSOLUTELY REFUSED
TO LET HIS PHYSICAL DISABILITY

GET IN THE WAY
OF DOING ANYTHING.

♪♪

Narrator:
THROUGH THE POWER OF HIS MIND,

STEPHEN HAWKING JOURNEYED
THROUGH THE UNIVERSE

TO THE FURTHEST CORNERS
OF SPACE AND TIME.

Hawking:
I CERTAINLY AM HAPPIER NOW.

BEFORE I GOT
MOTOR NEURON DISEASE,

I WAS BORED WITH LIFE.

BUT THE PROSPECT
OF AN EARLY DEATH

MADE ME REALIZE
LIFE WAS REALLY WORTH LIVING.

♪♪

Narrator: STEPHEN HAWKING
AND ALBERT EINSTEIN NEVER MET,

BUT THEY WERE JOINED TOGETHER
BY AN ABILITY

TO CONCEPTUALIZE THE UNIVERSE
IN NEW AND RADICAL WAYS.

♪♪

AND THIS NEW VISION OF REALITY
BEGAN IN SWITZERLAND IN 1905.

[ BELL TOLLING ]

♪♪

Gates: 1905 -- THAT'S THE YEAR
THAT WE PHYSICISTS REFER TO

AS "THE YEAR OF MIRACLES."

HE WROTE FOUR PAPERS THAT YEAR.

ANY ONE OF THEM WAS WORTHY
OF A NOBEL PRIZE.

♪♪

Narrator:
IN MAY OF THAT YEAR,
EINSTEIN WROTE TO A FRIEND.

Einstein:
I PROMISE YOU FOUR PAPERS.

THE FIRST DEALS
WITH THE RADIATION

AND ENERGY PROPERTIES OF LIGHT.

THE SECOND IS A DETERMINATION
OF THE TRUE SIZE OF ATOMS.

Narrator: THE THIRD EXPLAINED
THE MOTION OF PARTICLES

IN A LIQUID.

BUT IT WAS THE FOURTH PAPER,

HIS THEORY
OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY,

THAT WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD.

♪♪

Einstein: THE FOURTH
IS A MODIFICATION

OF THE THEORY OF SPACE AND TIME.

[ BELL TOLLS ]

♪♪

Narrator:
EINSTEIN WROTE ABOUT HOW THIS
MEDIEVAL CLOCK TOWER IN BERN

INSPIRED HIM TO THINK
ABOUT THE NATURE OF TIME.

[ BELL TOLLS ]

[ CLICKING ]

♪♪

TIME -- THE THING WE USE
TO MARK OUT THE DAYS AND YEARS,

THE ONE THING WE RELY ON
TO BE CONSTANT AND UNCHANGING.

♪♪

EINSTEIN WAS GOING TO SHOW

HOW WE'D BEEN GETTING THAT
ALL WRONG.

♪♪

HE PUBLISHED HIS PAPER
ON SEPTEMBER 26, 1905.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING
OF HIS RELATIVITY REVOLUTION,

AND NOTHING WOULD EVER BE
THE SAME AGAIN.

Levin: THERE'S BEFORE RELATIVITY
AND AFTER RELATIVITY.

ONCE YOU LEARN IT,
YOUR WHOLE WORLD VIEW CHANGES.

AND THAT WAS THE IMPACT
ON THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY --

THAT THE WHOLE WORLD CHANGED.

THAT'S, YOU KNOW,

A SPECTACULAR MOMENT
FOR THE SPECIES,

WHEN WE CAN SEE WHAT
A HUMAN MIND IS CAPABLE OF

WHEN ALL OF THE PIECES
COME TOGETHER IN THE RIGHT WAY.

♪♪

MANY OF EINSTEIN'S IDEAS
ARE OUT THERE.

AT BEST,
THEY'RE COUNTERINTUITIVE.

♪♪

OTHERS ARE SIMPLY MIND-BENDING.

♪♪

BUT THAT'S JUST THE REFLECTION
OF A FACT

THAT EINSTEIN UNDERSTOOD
VERY WELL,

WHICH IS -- WHAT IS GOING ON
AT THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE

OF OUR UNIVERSE
IS VERY DIFFERENT

FROM WHAT OUR EYES AND EARS
ARE TELLING US.

♪♪

Narrator: TO UNDERSTAND
HOW EINSTEIN CHANGED

OUR CONCEPT OF TIME,

WE FIRST NEED TO UNDERSTAND
SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL

ABOUT LIGHT AND THE WAY
WE SEE THE WORLD.

♪♪

IN THE EVERYDAY WORLD AROUND US,
EVERYTHING THAT'S NOT LIGHT

MOVES IN PRETTY MUCH
THE SAME WAY.

AND I'M GONNA USE
THIS TENNIS-BALL MACHINE HERE

TO SHOW YOU EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN.

♪♪

IF I FIRE OFF THESE BALLS
FROM THE BACK

OF THIS STATIONARY PICKUP TRUCK,

THEY FLY OFF
AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.

BUT HERE'S THE THING --

NO MATTER IF I'M ON THE BACK
OF THIS PICKUP TRUCK

OR IF THERE'S A PERSON
STANDING ON THE GROUND,

EVERYONE SEES
THE SAME THING --

THE BALLS FLYING OFF INTO
THE DISTANCE IN THE SAME WAY.

♪♪

♪♪

BUT THAT CHANGES
IF THE TRUCK STARTS TO MOVE.

AS WE ACCELERATE,
THE MOTION OF THE TRUCK

AFFECTS THE APPARENT TRAJECTORY
OF THE BALLS.

IF SOMEONE IS STANDING
ON THE BACK OF THE TRUCK,

THE BALLS WOULD APPEAR
TO FLY OFF WITH THE SAME SPEED

AND TAKE THE SAME PATH
THROUGH THE AIR.

BUT FOR SOMEONE ON THE GROUND,

THEY SEE SOMETHING
VERY DIFFERENT.

THE BALLS DON'T TRAVEL
NEARLY AS FAR.

♪♪

AND WHEN THE SPEED OF THE TRUCK
MATCHES THE SPEED OF THE BALLS,

IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THEY
TRAVEL ANYWHERE.

FOR THE STATIONARY OBSERVER,

THE BALLS JUST DROP
STRAIGHT TO THE GROUND.

♪♪

AS THEY SAY,
IT'S ALL RELATIVE.

Narrator: EVERYTHING IN THE
UNIVERSE BEHAVES LIKE THIS --

EVERYTHING, EXCEPT LIGHT.

BECAUSE, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE
OR HOW FAST YOU'RE MOVING,

YOU WILL ALWAYS SEE
LIGHT TRAVELING

AT EXACTLY THE SAME SPEED.

♪♪

AND EINSTEIN USE THIS FACT
TO REDEFINE OUR NOTION OF TIME.

♪♪

WELL, THE FIRST PROBLEM

THAT REALLY LAUNCHED
EINSTEIN'S THINKING

HAD TO DO WITH LIGHT
AND ITS SPEED.

THE SPEED OF LIGHT SEEMED
NOT TO FOLLOW

THE TRADITIONAL BEHAVIOR
OF ORDINARY SPEEDS OF BASEBALLS

OR ANY OBJECT
THAT YOU TYPICALLY THROW.

AND EINSTEIN WORRIED
THAT WE MAYBE

DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND LIGHT
AS CLEARLY AS WE SHOULD.

♪♪

Narrator:
EINSTEIN KNEW THAT,

IF HE COULD UNDERSTAND
THE PROPERTIES OF LIGHT,

THEN HE COULD UNDERSTAND THE WAY
THE UNIVERSE REALLY WORKED.

AND HE DID IT WITH A DECEPTIVELY
SIMPLE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT.

[ TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ]

HE IMAGINED HIMSELF STANDING
ON A TRAIN PLATFORM,

HOLDING A CLOCK THAT USES LIGHT
TO TELL THE TIME.

♪♪

THE CLOCK TICKS
AS A SINGLE PHOTON OF LIGHT

BOUNCES BACK AND FORTH
BETWEEN TWO MIRRORS.

ON A NEARBY TRAIN,
AN IDENTICAL CLOCK TICKS

AT AN IDENTICAL RATE.

♪♪

EINSTEIN THEN IMAGINED THAT
THE TRAIN STARTS TO PULL AWAY.

♪♪

AND HE REALIZED THAT,
AS IT DID SO,

HE WOULD SEE THE CLOCK
ON THE TRAIN

START TO BEHAVE
VERY DIFFERENTLY.

WHEN THE TRAIN IS MOVING,

AS WELL AS SEEING THE PHOTON
BOUNCING UP AND DOWN,

HE ALSO SEES IT MOVING FORWARDS.

THE PHOTON IS TRAVELING FURTHER,

AND SINCE THE SPEED OF LIGHT
IS CONSTANT,

IT MEANS THAT EACH TICK APPEARS
TO TAKE LONGER.

♪♪

FOR EINSTEIN,
THE EXPLANATION WAS SIMPLE.

♪♪

TIME IS PASSING MORE SLOWLY
ON THE MOVING TRAIN.

♪♪

AND THE FASTER THE TRAIN GOES,

THE SLOWER TIME PASSES.

♪♪

IT WAS A STAGGERING CONCLUSION.

EINSTEIN'S CLAIM WAS THAT TIME
DOES NOT RUN AT A FIXED RATE.

IT IS RELATIVE.

IT CAN SPEED UP AND SLOW DOWN,
DEPENDING ON HOW YOU ARE MOVING.

♪♪

Greene: WE'RE ALL USED TO
AN INTUITIVE NOTION OF TIME,

WHICH TICKS OFF THE SAME

REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU ARE
OR WHAT YOU'RE DOING,

HOW FAST YOU'RE MOVING.

THAT HAS NO IMPACT ON THE RATE

AT WHICH YOUR CLOCK TICKS
FORWARD SECOND AFTER SECOND.

AND EINSTEIN SAID, "SURE, THAT'S
OUR EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE OF TIME,

BUT THAT EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE
IS COMPLETELY MISLEADING."

♪♪

Narrator:
BUT EINSTEIN'S GENIUS WENT

BEYOND SIMPLE
THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS.

HE WAS ABLE TO BACK
HIS THEORIES UP WITH MATHS.

♪♪

Dijkgraaf:
IN THIS MATHEMATICAL EQUATION,

EINSTEIN WAS ABLE TO CAPTURE
THE EFFECT

OF MOVING CLOCKS SLOWING DOWN.

AND THIS HAS REALLY,
REALLY DRAMATIC EFFECT.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE GRAPH,

YOU SEE THAT, IF THE SPEED
OF THE TRAIN IS SMALL,

COMPARED TO THE SPEED OF LIGHT,

THERE'S BASICALLY NO DIFFERENCE.

THE TWO TIMES ARE EQUIVALENT.

BUT IF YOU GET CLOSER AND CLOSER
TO THE SPEED OF LIGHT,

YOU SEE THIS CURVE
IS SHOOTING UP,

AND THE EFFECT BECOMES
REALLY, REALLY DRAMATIC.

SO, AT 50%, ONE DAY ON THE TRAIN
LASTS 1.15 DAYS ON THE PLATFORM,

AND 75%, IT'S ALREADY 1 1/2 DAY.

AT 99%, IT LASTS A WEEK.

AND IF YOU GET
TO A SPEED OF 99 POINT --

AND, HERE, I ADDED TWELVE 9s --

AS A PERCENTAGE
OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT --

THEN ONE DAY ON THE TRAIN

LASTS 20,000 YEARS
ON THE PLATFORM.

♪♪

Narrator:
THIS TIME-DILATION EFFECT

DOESN'T JUST APPLY
TO EINSTEIN'S LIGHT CLOCKS.

EXACTLY THE SAME
WOULD APPLY TO US,

IF WE COULD TRAVEL FAST ENOUGH.

[ CAMERA SHUTTERS
CLICKING ]

EINSTEIN EXPLAINED IT
BY USING TWINS AS AN EXAMPLE.

HE REASONED THAT,
IF ONE TWIN LEFT THE EARTH

IN A SPACESHIP TRAVELING
AT VERY HIGH SPEED,

THEY WOULD EXPERIENCE TIME
PASSING MORE SLOWLY

AND WOULD AGE MUCH LESS THAN
THEIR TWIN LEFT BEHIND ON EARTH.

IF YOU DO HOP IN THE SPACESHIP
AND MOVE TOWARD THE NEAREST STAR

AT SOME HIGH FRACTION
OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT --

99%, RIGHT? --

TO YOU, IT DOESN'T SEEM
LIKE THAT LONG.

THE DOWNSIDE OF THAT IS THAT,
IF WE CAME BACK,

ALL OF OUR FRIENDS BACK HERE
ON EARTH WOULD BE DEAD

BECAUSE MANY, MANY YEARS
WOULD HAVE PASSED FOR THEM.

♪♪

Narrator: IT SOUNDS LIKE
A CRAZY IDEA,

BUT WE'VE ACTUALLY DONE
THIS EXPERIMENT FOR REAL.

NASA HAVE
IDENTICAL-TWIN ASTRONAUTS --

SCOTT AND MARK KELLY.

WHAT'S THAT?
YOU WANT US TO --

WE ACTUALLY SWITCHED
THE NAME TAGS.

[ LAUGHTER ]ACTUALLY...

Woman: AND ONE OF YOU SHAVED OFF
THE MUSTACHE.

...HE WAS THE GUY
IN SPACE.

♪♪

IN 2015,
SCOTT SPENT A YEAR

ON THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION,

ORBITING AT OVER
25,000 KILOMETERS PER HOUR,

WHILE MARK STAYED
ON THE PLANET BELOW.

WHEN HE RETURNED TO EARTH,

SCOTT WAS YOUNGER
THAN HIS TWIN

BY A FULL FIVE MILLISECONDS.

Levin: IN PRINCIPLE,
TIME DILATION

SHOULD HELP US
EXPLORE THE UNIVERSE.

IT WOULD ALLOW US TO TRAVEL
ARBITRARILY LARGE DISTANCES

WITHOUT AGING AND DYING
BEFORE WE GOT THERE.

SO, IN PRINCIPLE,
TIME DILATION IS A BENEFIT.

♪♪

Narrator:
EINSTEIN'S THEORY
OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY

COULD BE THE VITAL STEP
THAT ALLOWS US

TO LEAVE THE EARTH
AND EXPLORE THE COSMOS.

♪♪

BUT TO DO THAT,
WE WOULD NEED TO DEVELOP

A WAY TO TRAVEL AT CLOSE
TO THE SPEED OF LIGHT,

AND THAT IS A CONCEPT
THAT WAS CLOSE

TO STEPHEN HAWKING'S HEART.

♪♪

♪♪

Hawking:
GOOD AFTERNOON.

WE ARE HERE TODAY TO TALK
ABOUT BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT

AND OUR FUTURE IN SPACE.

Narrator: IN 2016,

ALONG WITH INTERNET BILLIONAIRE
YURI MILNER,

HAWKING LAUNCHED A VENTURE
CALLED BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT.

Hawking: I BELIEVE
WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE

IS TRANSCENDING OUR LIMITS.

THE LIMIT THAT CONFRONTS US NOW

IS THE GREAT VOID
BETWEEN US AND THE STARS.

BUT NOW WE CAN TRANSCEND IT.

TODAY, WE COMMIT TO THIS NEXT
GREAT LEAP INTO THE COSMOS,

BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN,
AND OUR NATURE IS TO FLY.

Narrator: THE AIM
OF BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT

IS TO DEVELOP
THE FIRST SPACECRAFT

THAT CAN TRAVEL AT A SIGNIFICANT
FRACTION OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

♪♪

♪♪

IN VIRGINIA, AEROSPACE ENGINEER
ZAC MANCHESTER

IS TRYING TO TURN
STEPHEN HAWKING'S DREAM

INTO A REALITY.

♪♪

IN THE '60s,

THE WALLOPS ISLAND
FLIGHT FACILITY

WAS USED TO TEST THE CAPSULES

FOR THE FIRST
MANNED SPACE FLIGHTS

THAT WOULD LEAD THE WAY
TO THE MOON.

John Kennedy:
WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON.

[ APPLAUSE ]

WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON
IN THIS DECADE

AND DO THE OTHER THINGS --

NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY,
BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD.

SO, THIS IS THE ANTARES ROCKET

AND, AT THE TOP,
BEHIND THAT AMERICAN FLAG,

IS A VEHICLE CALLED THE CYGNUS.

AT THE BACK OF THE CYGNUS,
IN KIND OF A TRUNK,

WE HAVE A SPACECRAFT
THAT IBUILT.

UNFORTUNATELY, AS YOU CAN TELL,
THE WEATHER'S NOT GREAT

AND THE LAST 2 OR 3 TIMES I'VE
TRIED WATCHING ROCKET LAUNCHES,

IT'S BEEN THE SAME THING.

I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY
GOTTEN TO SEE

SOMETHING I'VE BUILT LAUNCHED.

♪♪

Narrator: ZAC'S SPACECRAFT
WILL BE THE FIRST TEST

OF A COMPLETELY NEW CONCEPT
IN SPACE TRAVEL

AND WILL BRING
STEPHEN HAWKING'S DREAM

JUST A LITTLE CLOSER.

♪♪

ON THIS MISSION,
WE'RE TESTING THIS LITTLE GUY.

WE CALL THIS THE SPRITE.

IT'S CURRENTLY THE WORLD'S
SMALLEST SPACECRAFT.

IT'S 3.5 BY 3.5 CENTIMETERS
AND WEIGHS 4 GRAMS.

IT'S BASICALLY JUST
A LITTLE CIRCUIT BOARD.

AND, ON HERE,
WE'VE GOT A TINY COMPUTER

WE CALL A MICROCONTROLLER,

A RADIO TRANSCEIVER,

AN ANTENNA HERE
FOR THE RADIO,

AND A COUPLE OF SENSORS.

SO, THE PLAN HERE,
IF THIS ROCKET FLIES,

IS TO DEPLOY 100 OF THESE
IN LOW EARTH ORBIT.

THEY'RE GONNA NETWORK
WITH EACH OTHER,

TALK TO EACH OTHER,
AND THEN TRANSMIT

A BUNCH OF SENSOR DATA
BACK DOWN TO THE GROUND.

♪♪

Narrator: IF IT IS SUCCESSFUL,
WITHIN A FEW YEARS,

WE COULD BE SENDING SPRITES
LIKE THESE ACROSS THE UNIVERSE,

TRAVELING 1,000 TIMES FASTER

THAN ANYTHING
WE HAVE BUILT BEFORE.

♪♪

[ SQUAWKING ]

EVENTUALLY, WE'D LIKE TO BE ABLE
TO SEND SPACECRAFT

OUT TO OUR NEIGHBORING
SOLAR SYSTEMS -- RIGHT? --

OUT TO THE STARS.

AND THE CLOSEST STAR TO US
IS CALLED PROXIMA CENTAURI.

BUT PROXIMA CENTAURI IS
4 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY FROM US,

AND WITH CONVENTIONAL ROCKETS,

IT MIGHT TAKE US 10,000 YEARS
TO GET THERE.

SO WE HAVE IN MIND
A DIFFERENT PLAN.

WE'RE GONNA BUILD A GIANT LASER
ON THE GROUND.

THIS LASER WOULD BE
A KILOMETER ACROSS

AND HAVE 100 GIGAWATTS OF POWER.

AND THEN WE'RE GONNA BUILD
A REALLY, REALLY SMALL,

LIGHTWEIGHT SPACECRAFT
TO RIDE ON IT.

IF WE PUSH A SPRITE
WITH THIS 100-GIGAWATT LASER,

WE CAN ACCELERATE IT
ABOUT AS FAST

AS A SHELL
COMING OUT OF A CANNON --

60,000 G's.

AND, WITHIN A FEW MINUTES,

WE COULD PUSH THIS UP
TO 20% THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

♪♪

Narrator:
AT 20% THE SPEED OF LIGHT,

THE TIME-DILATION EFFECTS
DESCRIBED BY EINSTEIN

START TO COME INTO PLAY.

♪♪

TIME WOULD TRAVEL MORE SLOWLY
ON THE SPACECRAFT

THAN IT DOES
FOR OBSERVERS ON EARTH,

WHO WOULD BE WAITING A LONG TIME
TO SEE THE RESULTS.

Manchester: KEEP IN MIND,
AT 4 LIGHT-YEARS,

IT TAKES THE SIGNALS FOUR YEARS
TO GET BACK TO EARTH.

SO, ALTOGETHER, THIS MISSION
MIGHT TAKE 25 YEARS.

THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY THAT LONG,
COMPARED TO MISSIONS

WE'VE SENT TO THE OUTER
SOLAR SYSTEM ALREADY.

♪♪

Man: THIS IS MISSION CONTROL,
HOUSTON.

EVERYTHING IS SET, READY TO GO
FOR AN ON-TIME LAUNCH TODAY.

Narrator:
A FEW HOURS LATER,
THE CLOUDS CLEARED

AND THE ROCKET
TOOK TO THE SKIES.

Man: 3, 2, 1...

LAUNCH HAS BEEN INITIATED.

Man #2: AND WE HAVE LIFTOFF
OF THE NG-10 MISSION,

TAKING CYGNUS
TO THE ISS.

♪♪

Narrator: AND WITH IT,

WE MAY HAVE TAKEN
OUR FIRST GIANT LEAP

TOWARDS THE STARS,

A JOURNEY THAT MAY,
ONE DAY, ALLOW US

TO SEND HUMAN EXPLORERS
INTO THE UNIVERSE,

A JOURNEY CHAMPIONED
BY STEPHEN HAWKING

AND INSPIRED
BY ALBERT EINSTEIN.

♪♪

♪♪

IN 1909,

EINSTEIN'S REPUTATION
WAS GROWING

AND HE WAS MADE A PROFESSOR
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH.

♪♪

IT WAS HERE HE SET TO WORK
ON THE NEXT STAGE OF HIS MISSION

TO REVOLUTIONIZE OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE.

♪♪

HE WAS GOING TO REWRITE
THE LAWS OF GRAVITY

WITH HIS NEW THEORY
OF GENERAL RELATIVITY.

♪♪

EINSTEIN KNEW
THAT SPACE AND TIME

WERE PART
OF THE SAME STRUCTURE,

THAT THE WHOLE UNIVERSE
WAS FILLED

WITH A FOUR-DIMENSIONAL FABRIC,

WHICH COMBINED TIME WITH THE
THREE DIMENSIONS OF SPACE.

IT WAS CALLED SPACE-TIME

AND EINSTEIN REALIZED
ITS KEY FEATURE

WAS THAT IT COULD BEND
AND FLEX.

♪♪

Hawking: EINSTEIN HAD
A STROKE OF GENIUS

WHEN HE SAW
THAT GENERAL RELATIVITY

RELATES TO THE CURVATURE
OF SPACE-TIME,

SO GENERAL RELATIVITY
GIVES SPACE AND TIME A SHAPE.

♪♪

EINSTEIN'S BASIC IDEA
IS THAT WE NEED

TO THINK OF SPACE KIND OF
LIKE A FABRIC

AND THAT FABRIC IS NICE AND FLAT

WHEN THERE'S NO MATTER
OR ENERGY,

WHICH MEANS THAT OBJECTS
MOVING THROUGH SPACE

WILL MOVE IN A NICE,
STRAIGHT TRAJECTORY.

NOTHING TOO COMPLICATED
ABOUT THAT AT ALL.

BUT THEN THE KEY IDEA IS THAT
IF WE HAVE A MASSIVE OBJECT,

LIKE THE SUN, IN SPACE,

MERELY BY VIRTUE OF BEING
WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT,

THIS MASSIVE OBJECT
WILL WARP THE FABRIC.

AND THEN ANOTHER OBJECT --
THINK OF IT LIKE A PLANET...

♪♪

WILL NOW GO
INTO A NICE CURVED TRAJECTORY,

WILL GO INTO ORBIT...

♪♪

BECAUSE IT'S ROLLING
ALONG A VALLEY

IN THE CURVED ENVIRONMENT
THAT THE SUN CREATES.

♪♪

AND THAT'S THE WAY
THE FORCE OF GRAVITY WORKS --

SPACE ITSELF PUSHING PLANETS

TO GO INTO THESE NICE,
CURVED TRAJECTORIES.

♪♪

THIS, IN ESSENCE,
IS THE ESSENTIAL IDEA

OF EINSTEIN'S GENERAL THEORY
OF RELATIVITY.

♪♪

Narrator:
IT SEEMS A SIMPLE CONCEPT,

EASY TO VISUALIZE
IN TWO DIMENSIONS,

BUT SPACE ISN'T
A TWO-DIMENSIONAL FABRIC.

IT'S NOT EVEN
IN THREE DIMENSIONS.

IT'S A WARPED
FOUR-DIMENSIONAL FABRIC

THAT CREATES COMPLEX SHAPES

THAT ARE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE
FOR HUMANS TO VISUALIZE.

♪♪

ONCE AGAIN,
TO COMPLETE HIS THEORY,

EINSTEIN USED MATHS.

SO, EINSTEIN IS FINALLY ABLE
TO CAPTURE THE CURVATURE

OF SPACE AND TIME
IN A MATHEMATICAL EQUATION,

AND IT'S QUITE A BEAUTIFUL
AND ELEGANT EQUATION.

ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE
IS THE CURVATURE,

THE GEOMETRY OF SPACE-TIME.

ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE

IS THE DISTRIBUTION
OF ENERGY AND MATTER.

BASICALLY, ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE
IS MATHEMATICS.

ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE
IS PHYSICS.

AND IT'S QUITE REMARKABLE

THAT BOTH ARE CONNECTED
IN ONE EQUATION.

AND THE WAY TO READ
THIS EQUATION

IS THAT MATTER TELLS
SPACE-TIME HOW TO CURVE,

AND SPACE-TIME TELLS MATTER
HOW TO MOVE.

I THINK IT'S JUST ONE
OF THOSE REMINDERS

ABOUT HOW REALLY ELEGANT
AND SIMPLE

THE UNIVERSE IS AT ITS HEART.

♪♪

Narrator:
HOWEVER, WHEN EINSTEIN
PUBLISHED HIS PAPER IN 1915,

ALMOST NO ONE TOOK ANY NOTICE.

♪♪

BY THAT POINT,
EUROPE HAD BEEN ENGULFED

BY WORLD WAR
FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.

[ EXPLOSIONS ]

COMMUNICATION LINES
HAD BEEN SEVERED

BETWEEN, FOR EXAMPLE,
BRITAIN AND GERMANY.

TRENCH WARFARE HAD DUG IN.

THE WAR LOOKED INTERMINABLE.

SO IT WAS NOT, AT FIRST,

SEEN AS ANY PARTICULAR
GREAT BREAKTHROUGH,

PARTLY BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE
HAD DIFFICULTY

LEARNING THE NEWS AT ALL.

♪♪

Narrator: EINSTEIN'S THEORY
MAY HAVE BEEN LOST FOR DECADES,

IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE WORK

OF A PIONEERING
ENGLISH ASTRONOMER --

ARTHUR EDDINGTON.

♪♪

IN 1919,

EDDINGTON TOOK A TELESCOPE
TO THE TROPICAL ISLAND

OF PRíNCIPE,
IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN,

TO PHOTOGRAPH A SOLAR ECLIPSE.

EINSTEIN'S THEORY PREDICTED
THE PASSAGE OF LIGHT

WOULD ALSO BE AFFECTED
BY THE WARPING OF SPACE-TIME

AND THAT MASSIVE OBJECTS,
LIKE OUR SUN,

COULD ACT LIKE
A MAGNIFYING GLASS

BY BENDING LIGHT AROUND THEM.

THE PHOTOS EDDINGTON TOOK
OF THE ECLIPSE

SHOWED THAT STARS
IN THE HYADES CLUSTER

APPEARED TO BE
IN THE WRONG POSITIONS.

THE LIGHT COMING FROM THEM
HAD BEEN BENT.

♪♪

EINSTEIN'S THEORY WAS PROVED

AND, THIS TIME,
THE TIMING WAS PERFECT.

Kaiser: THE NEXT DAY, EINSTEIN
IS A WORLDWIDE CELEBRITY.

THERE ARE FAMOUS
FRONT-PAGE STORIES ABOUT THIS

IN THE LONDON TIMES,
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES,

IN INDIA, IN JAPAN.

IT'S REALLY THAT ANNOUNCEMENT,
IN NOVEMBER 1919,

THAT MAKES EINSTEIN
THE CHARACTER

THAT WE'VE COME TO SEEM
SO FAMILIAR TO US.

♪♪

THAT'S WHY WE CAN BUY T-SHIRTS
AND COFFEE MUGS

AND ALL KINDS OF SWAG

WITH EINSTEIN'S FACE.

♪♪

Narrator:
EINSTEIN HAD BECOME
A WORLDWIDE CELEBRITY,

THE MOST INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE
SCIENTIST TO HAVE EVER LIVED.

♪♪

WITH HIS THEORY OF A UNIVERSE

CONSTRUCTED
OF WARPED SPACE-TIME,

ALBERT EINSTEIN HAD TRANSFORMED

OUR UNDERSTANDING
OF THE COSMOS.

♪♪

[ CLOCKS TICKING ]

AND, IN THE 1960s AND '70s,

A GROUP OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS,
INCLUDING STEPHEN HAWKING,

STARTED USING THOSE IDEAS
TO EXPLAIN

THE MOST EXTREME PHENOMENA
IN THE UNIVERSE.

EINSTEIN INVENTED HIS THEORY
OF GENERAL RELATIVITY

BACK IN 1915, RIGHT?

BUT IT WAS STILL KIND OF
A TINY, LITTLE PART

OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS
FOR A LONG TIME.

IT WASN'T UNTIL THE 1960s,

WHEN PEOPLE LIKE
STEPHEN HAWKING

REALLY TRAINED
THEIR MATHEMATICAL MUSCLES

ON UNDERSTANDING
HOW GENERAL RELATIVITY WORKS,

THAT WE UNDERSTOOD
ALL SORTS OF FEATURES

OF THE THEORY
THAT EINSTEIN NEVER KNEW.

WHEN I FIRST MET STEPHEN,

I THINK IT WAS IN JUNE OF 1965.

HE WAS IN THE MIDST
OF HIS PhD WORK AT THE TIME.

HE WAS WALKING WITH A CANE.

HIS SPEECH WAS MILDLY AFFECTED,
BUT NOT STRONGLY AFFECTED.

HE GAVE A SEMINAR
ABOUT HIS RESEARCH.

♪♪

HE HELD FORTH DESCRIBING
HIS INSIGHTS

ABOUT THE BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE.

♪♪

THERE WAS SPECULATION
THAT THERE WAS A BIG BANG,

BASED ON OBSERVATIONS,
BUT NO REAL PROOF,

AND STEPHEN WAS ABLE TO DO
THE MATHEMATICS

TO GIVE A FIRM PROOF
THAT THIS HAD TO HAVE BEEN.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
THE BIG BANG THEORY
HAD BEEN RAGING FOR DECADES.

IT HAD STARTED SOON
AFTER EINSTEIN HAD GIVEN

HIS THEORY OF GENERAL
RELATIVITY TO THE WORLD.

THIS IS ONE OF THE WONDERFUL
THINGS ABOUT PHYSICS,

IS THAT, ONCE YOU INVENT
A CORRECT THEORY OF PHYSICS,

YOU DON'T OWN IT ANYMORE.

THE THEORY IS
OUT THERE, RIGHT?

IT'S NOT LIKE WRITING A NOVEL,

WHERE IT'S YOUR NOVEL,
ONCE AND FOREVER.

ONCE EINSTEIN INVENTS
HIS THEORY,

I THINK, ACTUALLY,
THERE'S NO QUESTION

THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE UNDERSTOOD
AND USED EINSTEIN'S EQUATIONS

BETTER THAN HE DID.

♪♪

Narrator:
ONCE OTHER PEOPLE STARTED
EXPLORING EINSTEIN'S THEORY,

THEY FOUND IT WAS MORE POWERFUL
THAN HE HAD EVER IMAGINED.

[ WIND WHISTLING ]

♪♪

IT DIDN'T JUST TELL US ABOUT THE
STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE.

IT COULD ALSO TELL US
ITS HISTORY.

♪♪

BY 1927, A CATHOLIC PRIEST
AND MATHEMATICIAN

CALLED GEORGES LEMAîTRA

WANTED TO KNOW WHAT
EINSTEIN'S EQUATIONS SAID

ABOUT THE SHAPE
OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE.

♪♪

TO DO THAT, HE NEEDED TO KNOW

WHERE ALL THE MASS
IN THE UNIVERSE WAS LOCATED.

♪♪

Oluseyi: THE EASIEST WAY TO WORK
WITH THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE

IS TO MAKE A BIG ASSUMPTION.

AND THAT IS THAT THE MASS
OF THE UNIVERSE

IS PRETTY MUCH
UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED.

EVERY PATCH OF THE UNIVERSE
IS LIKE EVERY OTHER,

KIND OF LIKE THIS FIELD
OF SAND DUNES

STRETCHING OUT BEHIND US.

ONE PATCH OF SAND IS SIMILAR
TO ANY OTHER PATCH OF SAND.

AND BASED ON WHAT
WE'VE OBSERVED,

THAT'S A VERY GOOD ASSUMPTION,

BECAUSE ON THE LARGER SCALES,

THE GALAXIES OF THE UNIVERSE
ARE UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED.

♪♪

Narrator: BUT WHEN LEMAîTRA PUT
HIS MONOTONOUS UNIVERSE

THROUGH EINSTEIN'S EQUATIONS,

HE MADE
A VERY SURPRISING DISCOVERY.

WHATEVER VALUES HE PUT IN,
THERE WERE NO STABLE SOLUTIONS.

THE UNIVERSE
WAS EITHER CONTRACTING

OR, MORE LIKELY, EXPANDING.

Oluseyi: LEMAîTRA'S WORK HAD
ENORMOUS IMPLICATIONS.

THE UNIVERSE IS GROWING.

BUT IF WE RUN THE CLOCK
BACKWARDS,

WE SEE THAT, IN THE PAST...[ AIR HISSING ]

...THE UNIVERSE
MUST HAVE BEEN SMALLER.

AND LEMAîTRA REALIZED

THAT IF YOU RUN THE CLOCK
BACKWARDS FAR ENOUGH,

ALL OF THE MATTER
IN THE UNIVERSE

WOULD HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATED
INTO A SINGLE POINT.

LEMAîTRA CALLED THIS
THE COSMIC EGG,

AND THAT REPRESENTED
THE BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE.

TODAY, WE CALL IT THE BIG BANG.

[ POPS ]

Narrator:
BY DISCOVERING THE BIG BANG,

LEMAîTRA, THE CATHOLIC PRIEST,

HAD GIVEN THE UNIVERSE
A MOMENT OF CREATION.

LOTS OF PEOPLE HATED THIS IDEA.

ONE OF THEM WAS ALBERT EINSTEIN.

Greene: EINSTEIN,
LIKE MOST EVERYBODY ELSE,

HAD HIDDEN SUPPOSITIONS

ABOUT WHAT THEY CONSIDERED
TO BE NATURAL IN THE UNIVERSE,

WHAT THEY CONSIDERED
TO BE SENSIBLE.

ALL OF THE WORLD'S
GREATEST ASTRONOMERS

AND COSMOLOGISTS
WERE ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED

THAT WE LIVED
IN A STATIC UNIVERSE --

NO EXPANSION, NO CONTRACTION.

THE UNIVERSE,
UNLIKE OTHER THINGS,

WOULDN'T HAVE A BEGINNING
AND A MIDDLE AND AN END.

BECAUSE ONCE ONE HAS
A BEGINNING, ONE MUST ASK,

"WHAT HAPPENED
BEFORE THE BEGINNING?"

OR "WHAT CAUSED THINGS
TO START?"

AND EINSTEIN THOUGHT, "LET'S
AVOID THAT ENTIRE DISCUSSION

BY SAYING
THERE WAS NO BEGINNING.

THERE ALWAYS WAS
AND ALWAYS SHALL BE A UNIVERSE."

AND WHEN HIS EQUATION SEEMED
TO SUGGEST THAT THE UNIVERSE,

MUCH LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE,

EVOLVES AND CHANGES
AND MAY HAVE HAD A BEGINNING

AND -- WHO KNOWS? --
MAY HAVE AN END,

HE RESISTED IT.

Narrator: THE BIG QUESTION
OF THE 1920s

WAS, "WHICH UNIVERSE
DID WE LIVE IN?"

LEMAîTRA'S EXPANDING UNIVERSE,

OR EINSTEIN'S STABLE ONE?

♪♪

Narrator: THE ANSWER CAME
IN 1929

FROM WHAT WAS THEN THE LARGEST
TELESCOPE IN THE WORLD,

ON MOUNT WILSON,
NEAR LOS ANGELES.

AMERICAN ASTRONOMER EDWIN HUBBLE

HAD BEEN STUDYING
DISTANT GALAXIES

AND HAD DISCOVERED
THAT NEARLY ALL OF THEM

WERE MOVING AWAY FROM US.

THE FURTHER AWAY THEY WERE,
THE FASTER THEY WERE RECEDING.

IT WAS COMPREHENSIVE PROOF
THAT THE UNIVERSE WAS EXPANDING.

AND AT THAT MOMENT,

EINSTEIN KIND OF HITS HIMSELF
IN THE HEAD

AND SAYS TO HIMSELF, LIKE,

"WHY DIDN'T I BELIEVE
WHAT THE EQUATIONS

OF GENERAL RELATIVITY
WERE SAYING?"

IN PRINCIPLE,
HE COULD HAVE PREDICTED THIS

A DOZEN YEARS BEFORE IT ACTUALLY
WAS DISCOVERED.

♪♪

Narrator: WHEN PRESENTED
WITH THE EVIDENCE,

EINSTEIN CONCEDED HIS ERROR.

IT HAD BEEN, HE SAID,
HIS GREATEST MISTAKE.

HE OFTEN SAID, "OH, DON'T WORRY
ABOUT MY NAME ON WRONG PAPERS.

MY NAME IS ON PLENTY
OF WRONG PAPERS."

HE WASN'T THAT SCARED
OF BEING WRONG.

I THINK HE CALLED IT
HIS GREATEST BLUNDER

MAYBE BECAUSE THIS RESISTANCE

WAS MORE OUT OF CHARACTER
FOR HIM.

♪♪

Narrator: STEPHEN HAWKING
HAD BURST ONTO THE WORLD STAGE

WITH A PAPER GIVING
THEORETICAL PROOF

THE UNIVERSE MUST HAVE
BEGUN WITH THE BIG BANG.

♪♪

BUT HIS GREATEST WORK
WAS RESERVED

FOR THE MOST REMARKABLE
PHENOMENA IN THE COSMOS...

♪♪

BLACK HOLES.

♪♪

Hawking: IT IS SAID THAT FACT IS
SOMETIMES STRANGER THAN FICTION.

BUT NOWHERE IS THAT MORE TRUE
THAN IN THE CASE OF BLACK HOLES.

♪♪

THEY ARE QUITE LITERALLY
HOLES IN SPACE

THAT STUFF CAN FALL INTO
BUT NOT GET OUT OF.

♪♪

THEY ARE PLACES WHERE
THE GRAVITATIONAL FIELD

IS SO STRONG
THAT NOTHING, NOT EVEN LIGHT,

CAN GET AWAY.

♪♪

Narrator: BLACK HOLES
HAD FIRST BEEN DESCRIBED

AS FAR BACK AS 1916.

♪♪

WHILE SERVING ON THE FRONT LINE
IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR,

A GERMAN ARTILLERY OFFICER
CALLED KARL SCHWARZSCHILD

HAD BEEN PLAYING
WITH EINSTEIN'S EQUATIONS

TO SEE HOW FAR
HE COULD STRETCH SPACE-TIME.

HE DISCOVERED THAT
THE DENSER MATTER BECAME,

THE MORE SPACE-TIME WARPED,

UNTIL, IF YOU TOOK A MASS
THE SIZE OF OUR SUN

AND CRUSHED IT INTO A SPHERE
JUST 2 MILES ACROSS,

IT WOULD CREATE A HOLE
IN SPACE-TIME

THAT WAS INFINITELY DEEP.

WITHIN THAT HOLE,
THE LAWS OF PHYSICS BREAK DOWN.

TIME STOPS,

AND SPACE GOES ON FOREVER.

BUT IT SEEMED INCONCEIVABLE
THAT SO MUCH MATTER

COULD BE SQUEEZED INTO
SUCH A TINY SPACE.

Hawking: ALBERT EINSTEIN WROTE
A PAPER IN 1939

CLAIMING MATTER
COULD NOT BE COMPRESSED

BEYOND A CERTAIN POINT.

I THINK EINSTEIN WENT
TO HIS GRAVE

THINKING THAT BLACK HOLES
WERE NOT REAL.

♪♪

Narrator: BUT JUST BEFORE
THE SECOND WORLD WAR,

SCIENTISTS WORKED OUT
WHAT HAPPENED TO STARS

AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES.

♪♪

Hawking: DURING MOST OF THE LIFE
OF A NORMAL STAR,

OVER MANY BILLIONS OF YEARS,

IT WILL SEPARATE ITSELF
AGAINST ITS OWN GRAVITY

BY THERMAL PRESSURE,

CAUSED BY NUCLEAR PROCESSES

WHICH CONVERT HYDROGEN
INTO HELIUM.

EVENTUALLY, HOWEVER,

THE STAR WILL EXHAUST
ITS NUCLEAR FUEL.

♪♪

Narrator:
WHEN A STAR RUNS OUT OF FUEL,

IT CAN NO LONGER FIGHT
AGAINST ITS OWN GRAVITY.

♪♪

MEDIUM-SIZED STARS WOULD
COLLAPSE IN A MASSIVE EXPLOSION

CALLED A SUPERNOVA,

LEAVING BEHIND
A SUPER-DENSE REMNANT.

THESE NEUTRON STARS HAVE
THE SAME MASS AS OUR SUN,

BUT COMPRESSED INTO A BALL
JUST 10 KILOMETERS ACROSS.

BUT THESE WERE NOT THE
MOST EXTREME OBJECTS OUT THERE,

BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY
MUCH LARGER STARS

THAT WILL ALSO ONE DAY DIE.

♪♪

Hawking: WHAT WOULD BE THE FATE
OF THOSE COUNTLESS STARS

WITH GREATER MASS
THAN THE NEUTRON STAR,

WHEN THEY HAD EXHAUSTED
NUCLEAR FUEL,

THEY WOULD CONSTRICT TO A SINGLE
POINT OF INFINITE DENSITY,

A BLACK HOLE.

♪♪

Narrator: HERE,
IN THE DEATH OF GIANT STARS,

WAS A MECHANISM
THROUGH WHICH BLACK HOLES

COULD FORM.

IT SUGGESTED THERE SHOULD BE
MILLIONS OF THEM OUT THERE,

YET NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN
A BLACK HOLE

OR EVEN A NEUTRON STAR.

THEY WERE SO SMALL AND FAR AWAY,

THEY WOULD BE INVISIBLE
TO CONVENTIONAL TELESCOPES,

BUT A NEW TECHNOLOGY
WAS DEVELOPING.

♪♪

[ TRILLING ]

♪♪

THIS IS THE MULLARD RADIO
ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY.

IN THE EARLY '60s,
RADIO TELESCOPES LIKE THESE

HAD STARTED TO REVEAL
WHOLE NEW AREAS OF SPACE

WE COULDN'T SEE
WITH VISIBLE LIGHT.

♪♪

AND IN 1965, A 24-YEAR-OLD
GRADUATE STUDENT

CALLED JOCELYN BELL

STARTED BUILDING
A NEW RADIO TELESCOPE

CALLED THE INTERPLANETARY
SCINTILLATION ARRAY.

[ TRILLING ]

Bell: THERE WERE ABOUT
HALF A DOZEN OF US

THAT SPENT TWO YEARS
BUILDING IT.

A LARGE NUMBER OF WOODEN POSTS,
OVER A THOUSAND.

[ TRILLING ]

PROBABLY ABOUT 150 MILES
OF WIRE AND CABLE.

IT WAS VERY PHYSICAL WORK.

I COULD SWING A SLEDGEHAMMER
BY THE END OF MY PhD.

♪♪

Narrator:
THE DATA FROM THE TELESCOPE
WERE FED INTO THIS HUT,

WHERE IT WAS PRINTED OUT ON
LONG ROLLS OF PAPER --

OVER 200 FEET OF RECORDINGS
EVERY DAY.

WHAT JOCELYN BELL FOUND
ON THOSE ROLLS

CHANGED THE WAY WE UNDERSTOOD
THE UNIVERSE FOREVER.

THIS IS A PIECE
OF THE ORIGINAL CHART,

AND IT'S VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE
TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.

SO, THE FIRST THING WE DECIDED
TO DO WAS TO SPREAD THIS OUT

BY BASICALLY RUNNING THE PAPER
FASTER UNDER THE PEN.

FINALLY GOT THIS STRING
OF PULSES --

PULSE, PULSE, PULSE, PULSE,

PULSE, PULSE, PULSE,
PULSE, PULSE, PULSE.

Narrator: THE CHALLENGE THEN
WAS TO FIGURE OUT

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY
BE GENERATING

THESE MYSTERIOUS RADIO SIGNALS.

Bell: THE PULSES ARE SHORT
AND QUITE STEEP,

SO THESE THINGS
HAVE TO BE SMALL.

THE OTHER THING THAT
WE VERY QUICKLY ESTABLISHED

WAS THAT THE PULSE PERIOD
WAS VERY, VERY CONSTANT.

IT WASN'T GETTING TIRED,

WHICH MEANS IT'S GOT LARGE
RESERVES OF ENERGY,

WHICH MEANS IT'S BIG.

SO IT'S SMALL, AND IT'S BIG.

[ LAUGHS ] SO...

YOU HAVE TO BE MORE PRECISE
IN WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.

IT'S SMALL IN WIDTH.

IT'S BIG IN MASS.

SO HIGH DENSITY.

[ SHARP PULSATING ]

THAT'S THE FIRST PULSAR.

CP 1919.

SO THAT'S WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE

IF YOU LISTEN
TO THE RADIO SIGNAL.

[ PULSE CONTINUES ]

SO IT'S SPINNING.

[ PULSE CONTINUES ]

♪♪

Narrator: JOCELYN HAD DISCOVERED
A NEW, EXOTIC CLASS OF STAR.

TINY, SUPER DENSE OBJECTS,

THEY EMIT NO VISIBLE LIGHT...

BUT ROTATE AT ENORMOUS SPEED,

SENDING OUT BEAMS OF RADIO WAVES
AS THEY DO SO.

THEY WERE NAMED PULSARS.

[ PULSE CONTINUES ]

SO THAT'S THE WHOLE STAR
SPINNING AT THAT RATE.

AND THERE ARE SOME THAT
ARE EVEN FASTER.

[ PULSE CONTINUES ]

IF YOU LISTENED TO
THE FASTEST ONE,

IT WOULD SOUND
LIKE YOUR KITCHEN BLENDER

IT'S GOING 700 REVS
PER SECOND.

[ PULSE CONTINUES ]

THEY'RE HARD TO BELIEVE.

[ RECORDING STOPS ]

♪♪

Narrator:
BUT THE KEY REALIZATION

WAS THAT THE EXISTENCE
OF PULSARS HAD BEEN PREDICTED.

[ PULSE CONTINUES ]

♪♪

THEY WERE NEUTRON STARS

THAT WERE FORMED
FROM THE COLLAPSE OF DYING SUNS.

♪♪

IT WAS A MASSIVE DISCOVERY.

♪♪

THIS WAS INCREDIBLY EXCITING
TO PEOPLE

BECAUSE THE EXISTENCE
OF A NEUTRON STAR,

WHICH WAS A DEAD STAR,

AN INCREDIBLY DENSE
STATE OF MATTER,

WAS A SUGGESTION
THAT IF THEY'RE REAL,

IF YOU CAN SEE THEM,
MAYBE BLACK HOLES ARE TOO.

BECAUSE BLACK HOLES
ARE LIKE THE NEXT STEP

IN THE KIND OF
ASTRONOMICAL GRAVEYARD.

♪♪

Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME,
IT SEEMED THAT

BLACK HOLES
MIGHT REALLY EXIST.

AND IT IGNITED THE INTEREST
OF STEPHEN HAWKING

AND THE NEXT GENERATION
OF PHYSICISTS.

IT WAS A GOLDEN AGE
OF RELATIVITY

AS WE SORTED OUT,
UNDER HAWKING'S LEADERSHIP,

THE THEORY OF BLACK HOLES.

♪♪

SO WE COME TO EINSTEIN'S
MOST FAMOUS EQUATION --

E EQUALS MC SQUARED.

[ EXPLOSION ]

THAT'S THE POWER OF
E EQUALS MC SQUARED.

AND HAWKING MADE
THE STUNNING DISCOVERY

THAT BLACK HOLES
COULD EVAPORATE.

THAT WAS AN IN-YOUR-FACE,
SHOCKING IDEA.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪