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Ratings: 8.90/10 from 112 users.

ATOMThe discovery that everything is made from atoms has been referred to as the greatest scientific breakthrough in history. As scientists delved deep into the atom, they unravelled nature's most shocking secrets and abandoned traditional beliefs, leading to a whole new science which still underpins modern physics, chemistry and biology, and maybe even life itself. Nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of this discovery and the brilliant minds behind the breakthrough.

The second part of Professor Jim Al-Khalili's three-part documentary about the basic building block of our universe, the atom. He shows how, in our quest to understand the tiny atom, we unravelled the mystery of how the universe was created - a story with dramatic twists and turns, taking in world-changing discoveries like radioactivity, the atom bomb and the Big Bang, as the greatest brains of the 20th century competed to answer the biggest questions of all.

The final part of Professor Jim Al-Khalili's documentary series about the basic building block of our universe, the atom. He explores how studying the atom forced us to rethink the nature of reality itself, discovers how there might be parallel universes in which different versions of us exist and finds out that 'empty' space isn't empty at all. Al-Khalili shows how the world we think we know turns out to be a tiny sliver of an infinitely weirder universe than which we could have conceived.

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95 Comments / User Reviews

  1. DustUp

    If only the rest of us with useful and/or useless theories could get paid for coming up with such useless and/or useful theories like some of these so called scientists do.

    Are we truly better off knowing any of this? Discovering nuclear bombs, polluting the planet with vehicle emissions, GMO foods, pesticides, herbicides, and other cancer causing compounds.

    It all seems a distraction from what really is important. A method to deny God to be your own god. The marxist maneuver to supplant God with science as a means for the elites to feel justified in forcing the peons to do their will, "because they can buy science that supports whatever they claim should be." "And if that's what the science shows, and if you have FAITH in science, then you must follow it."

    Have faith ye in the blind atom! With it we shall show ye whatever serves our purposes at the time!

    Beam me to a nice island no govt nor scientist knows or cares about, thank you.

    1. Doug Blackington

      Dear "DustUp", I was not fortunate enough to be born with good health as I am certain that you were. I literally owe my life to science. I would not be here writing a reply to you if it were not the work of countless scientists who discovered human physiology and what set of chemicals could prevent another near death experience due to childhood asthma. I have been in the "Critical Care" unit and should have by all counts been dead, yet thanks to someone, a "scientist" discovered what might save an asthmatics life. Being mis-diagnosed early on with Cystic Fybrosis, only to have that tossed out and "Life-threatening Asthma" replace it.
      You have no idea what it is like to not know if you will live another year when you are a child just trying to be a normal boy at school.
      Shame on you for being so righteously indignant about science and everything they have done to better the lives of countless individuals, including myself.

  2. DustUp

    If pennies are the building blocks of the dollar ...you cannot find a half penny unless you cut one in half and then it is not spendable at the normal stores ...then atoms are NOT the building blocks of the universe.

    What of the particles Tesla describes as carrying charge? Electrons as the fools who teach the teachers teach us? Not at all. Much smaller particles. It was Tesla's opinion that it was likely that electrons hinder the flow of electricity. So then are electrons one of the building blocks of atoms? Or are they just a coagulated group of stuff, a cloud, that we have named and put into a framework called an "atom"? And what part of the atom accounts for the smaller particles Tesla spoke of? And why would I put much more stock in things Tesla said and wrote than a THEORETICAL physicist? Because he did actual experiments and trusted the work of some others like himself who did actual accurate experimentation disproving some of the claims for the basis of theories still taught to this day.

    Mu mesons are said to be so small that when they fall to earth they pass right through the spaces between your atoms and keep on going. Could it be that atoms are just a convenient way point in which to describe a useful framework, when such particles may go down to infinitely small particles, which are the true building blocks? And what if by chance these infinitely small particles are like an ether, a spirit of substance which can be commanded by the wave output of the brain of some person or entity that knows how or is able to turn on and use the rest of their brain?

    More than one energy device inventor has found that their device that worked well enough in their workshop, fails to work when demonstrating it outside of their workshop. To the point the explanation is that the force of faith in what the inventor is doing is alive and well and permeates their workshop which imparts energy into the device. That energetic force is diminished outside by many other factors. Clearly these were marginal devices but this occurrence suggest there is much more to this world than a "student" thinking they know most everything after attending a few classes or reading a few books by physicists, whose theories often fly in the face of other theories and/or experimentation. The more recent cosmology documentary "The Principle" regarding Copernicus and much more, demonstrates that quite well. What if a theory doesn't need black holes to plug holes in their theory of cosmology and how things move? Such a theory exists.

    Here is a question or a few for the so called scientists (who often fail to follow scientific principles such as dumping their world view caused by theory(s) which no longer can be supported by the evidence): Unless one has lived an extremely sheltered life or in full denial, it is clear that good and evil exist. What was their origin? The big bang? And how so, if rocks, plants, and lower animals are neither bad nor good, "they just are". Did jealousy come with the big bang also? I've seen a dog jealous of another dog. Watched a documentary where a female gorilla killed another one in the same group who did not threaten or challenge her. When discovered, it seems there was a discussion as to whether to kick her out of the group or not by the remaining gorillas. Does not the universe contain ALL that is in it as part of natural "science"? And what of mind over matter? If brain waves can be measured, then they are able to affect some sensor that measures them. What else can they affect? And what of the successful telepathic experiments of Admiral Byrd while at Antarctica? What building block atom did these telepathic messages use to reach the mainland usa at the scheduled time? Or are atoms really the building blocks?

  3. Ade

    Folks, science and religion are different things. Religion in whatever form is as old as the world we are living in. Agnostics or atheists or scientific comments cannot solve the riddle of the universe. Brushing God aside and looking for answer is counter productive.
    Punder over this: If there was a big bang explosion, what caused it in the first place without the presence of atoms? If atoms is responsible, from where did it comes from?
    The simple answer is found in the Bible. Period. Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. With humans limited understanding, one cannot and will not understand what actually happened before the "beginning".

  4. harish

    all of the comments are on god and science.

    in my opinion they connected not by nature
    by our human nature.

    i explain it.

    gods are made by humans
    on one see them never

    simply in science the beginning of every thing no one see it ever.

    ______________________________

    for a Religion person god is the answer of every thing. everything means everything
    like any problem in life, every question in mind.

    but most important god is hope
    for anyone and its gives power.

    when you are alone and in very big trouble you only believe in the power how can help you and its GOD at this time
    who have ability to do every thing,

    that is fact we need theme.

    but in some Religion its just hell you know very well.
    many all of the comments are on god and science.

    in my opinion they connected not by nature
    by our human nature.

    i explain it.

    gods are made by humans on one see them never

    simply in science the beginning of every thing no one see ever.

    ______________________________

    for a Religion person god is the answer of every thing. everything means everything
    like any problem in life, every question in mind.

    but most important god is hope
    for anyone its gives power.

    when you are alone and in very big trouble you only believe in the power how can help you and its GOD at this time how have ability to do every thing,

    that is fact we need theme.

    but in some Religion its just hell you know very well.
    all of the comments are on god and science.

    in my opinion they connected not by nature
    by our human nature.

    i explain it.

    gods are made by humans on one see them never

    simply in science the beginning of every thing no one see ever.

    ______________________________

    for a Religion person god is the answer of every thing. everything means everything
    like any problem in life, every question in mind.

    but most important god is hope
    for anyone its gives power.

    when you are alone and in very big trouble you only believe in the power how can help you and its GOD at this time how have ability to do every thing,

    that is fact we need theme.

    but in some Religion its just hell you know very well.
    some religion take wrong things about god .
    ____________________________________

    in the other side SCIENCE is a language of theories and maths for educated person which he believe by proofs. but this is proved by others.
    you really don't know in fact you never see science as like god you never see.

    science give you idea that how things and nature system work.
    this big deference.

    god give you hope for human kind.
    and
    science give you idea and bit maths of explanation .

    _______________________________________
    ____________________________________

    in the other side SCIENCE is a language of theories and maths for educated person which he believe by proofs. but that proved by others.
    you really don't know in fact you never see science as like god .

    science give you idea that how things and nature system work.
    this big deference.

    god give you hope
    science give you idea and bit maths of explanation .

    _______________________________________

    ____________________________________

    in the other side SCIENCE is a language of theories and maths for educated person which he believe by proofs. but that proved by others.
    you really don't know in fact you never see science as like god .

    science give you idea that how things and nature system work.
    this big deference.

    god give you hope
    science give you idea and bit maths of explanation .

    _______________________________________

    and if you really love science documentaries then watch

    COSMOS : a spae time oddessy

    from bigning to end.

  5. harish

    all of the comments are on god and science.

    in my opinion they connected not by nature
    by our human nature.

    i explain it.

    gods are made by humans on one see them never

    simply in science the beginning of every thing no one see ever.

    ______________________________

    for a Religion person god is the answer of every thing everything means everything
    like any problem in life, every

    1. Virgil Killebrew

      OK Harish, I get your point - because it appears that your finger somehow got stuck on the "send" button. So, was it "God" or Science" that compelled you to craft your comments in this post in the hope that you might 'enlighten' others?
      And was it "Science or God" [subjects purposely reversed] that gives you hope that your comments will be received, understood and appreciated by other sentient beings in this vast universe?

      If the machinery doesn't work or if the ear doesn't hear Does it matter?

  6. john smith

    Drive-by observation (rhetorical question): why are so many of you putting such effort into making a logical debate with (who are imho) obvious trolls that are here to egg you on with religious non-sense? Do yourself a favor and simply ignore them. (ie: please don't feed the trolls)

  7. ChrisB

    For those religious people who think that the big-bang indicates a divine creation, you aren't seeing the whole picture. It's a shame and unfortunate that most pop-sci implies that the big bang was 'the' beginning of 'the' universe and here lies the misconception. They do this for the sake of simplification so they can fit the information into a documentary, to keep it on a level that the average person can understand and I suspect that it is also to appeal to religion and bring it on-side with science instead of rejecting it on a basis of something we still don't really know.

    Besides, scientists don't much like to talk about stuff that can't be proven. That includes what came before the big-bang or what is beyond our observable universe. These are not constructive questions as far as science is concerned (so far), so it is ignored. Science likes facts and there are no facts to corroborate what came before or what is outside. For all we know at this point, the previous universe was made of cotton candy and the space beyond our universe is filled with green jello.

    It took me a long time and much digging to find the answer. Even as a very scientific mind, I questioned this stuff myself for many, many years because it really doesn't make much sense on the surface. What isn't being clarified is that the big-bang was the beginning of 'our' universe. Not 'the' universe. In fact, there are many theories that try to go beyond the big-bang but at least so far, it's purely speculative.

    When you know more about this stuff and think hard enough about it, then ultimately we have to come to the conclusion that the universe is infinite in space and time. This means there was no true beginning. When science is speaking of the big bang, they are speaking of the beginning of a new cycle/era. Look up the big bounce or many-worlds theories, just for starters.

    Even the idea that the universe was once smaller than the smallest parts of an atom, is a misconception. We don't know that. We can only speculate based on what evidence we have and on mathematical models. We can say that we know our universe was once much smaller, because of observations and if you extrapolate that even further using our current math models, then eventually you run into a mathematical singularity (which btw, is a mathematical error and suggests that we don't have the whole picture yet).

  8. Oliver

    Any idea where I can buy the DVDs?

  9. Uzair Ahmed

    i have knew what we believe in and what not but the real story which is of hell are we in the right side or the left of burning fire that we bond us to dive in and risk how life god is the key how we been brought to this world and how we given us a happier lives to live and god give us a roof to live in and a family to raise me as growing up i have learned a lot why did i come to earth how am going to be alive or when is my time to go heaven but you have do good things to reach your full experiences and become what your need to be and always call out to god if in your trouble or pray to find a way which the door well open the light for you to enter heaven and not hell

  10. Somsak Lopansri

    Before the bang: In the beginning before the Big Bang, there was a master Devil who got an illusion to finish God almighty once and for all so he hurled the largest matter ever at God with all his might, forgetting that God has the largest matter and power without limit. God therefor acted in kind but with the largest size and force than the devil with the intention to create our universe and us, human being. The power and force of God has no ending, that's why our universe will expand forever with the power of God in the form of dark energy and dark matter . The two objects collided in the largest bang ever, matters exploded in all direction spreading and expanding with the power of God creating dusts and the smallest particles since then that we observe today with all size of matters. The universe therefore come to existence once and will never happen again. This is why it banged. This happened with a Grand design.God made Devil to do it.

    1. Achems_Razor

      Oh, for christs sake! what is funny some people will actually believe you!

  11. Calvin M

    This is a very fine documentary the leaves the viewer with an understanding of the profound discoveries made by human beings using only their intellect and powers of observation.

  12. awful_truth

    For anyone interested in atomic physics, this is a great documentary that gives terrific explanations, by covering the history of who and what led up to today's modern scientific understanding.
    It should also be noted that for anyone who is skeptical regarding certain aspects of what we think we know today, may find solace that many theories are duplicitous in nature, and are merely arbitrary choices that we accept as a singular truth, which it is not! Check it out, it is a very enjoyable watch.

  13. Luis Martinez

    God exists as a psychological construct in the mind of people, and as such it has a great impact. The idea of God exists and is a powerful one, this far can be said without doubt.

    Earth was somehow created, and the universe somehow came to existence. If somebody wants to call this principle of creation "God", they're probably free to do so. But if someone decides to invent, or "see in a dream" that some conscious supernatural being did it all, without having any evidence, even if anyone is free to believe it, they should never try to force this idea into others... and they should recognise that the incredible achievements in science were possible only because some people were able to put dogma aside, forget all the old assumptions, and just look at things instead of talking about things.

    Science. Science is cool. Without science, you wouldn't be reading this. Without science, I would have died as a baby. My father would be dead too. I am grateful for the effort of humankind to advance science and allow me to live, and I am grateful to all who use science to help make the world a more awesome place.

    1. Allrighthen

      science were possible only because some people were able to put dogma aside

      not true, some of the best science investigations were conducted by the church

    2. Luis Martinez

      Which ones do you mean?

    3. Jortiz3

      True. If you replace the word conducted with "funded by"

    4. Calvin M

      Religion has hindered science and knowledge far more than it has helped. For some reason believers can't stand others having different thoughts. It is a form of nosiness and inability to mind one's own business that is dangerous and non-productive.

    5. Minh Duong

      I have a hypothesis on why "believers can't stand others having different thoughts".

      1: For most believers - like almost everybody else, their belief system form the foundation for their sense of identity. Thus, any "attack" on their belief system is essentially a psychological attack on them.

      2; Often times, religious belief imbue a sense of significance/ importance to the believer. Therefore any "attack" on the religious beliefs is insidious, disgusting, and abhorrent.

      3: The conservative mindset (which everyone has to varying degrees) seems to be based upon the disgust reflex (or so I've heard). The important and successful survival strategy that is the disgust reflex (the urge to recoil from and avoid that which is disgusting/ dangerous) motivates us to avoid that which would be dangerous to us - such as psychological attacks on our identity.

      4: There is a correlation between religiosity and conservatism.

      Therefore "believers can't stand others having different thoughts". ( a more fully fleshed out explanation would require to much space.)

      Or

      Therefore, I'm completely making things up.

  14. Brett Davenport

    Only 3mins into The Clash of the Titans.
    Ludwig Boltzmann, Science God, Austrian not German, died September 5th not October... C'mon BBC either you know something we don't or you need to sort your s**t out :).

  15. Theresa

    Atom and Eve...

  16. oklima

    I'd rather burn in hell for all eternity than be a lame religious fool

  17. Abdul Wahab

    VERY IMPORTANT READ THIS...

    let me tell you...listen..think deeply about all the parts of our body how complicated it is,the dna ,genes,heart and all .. ...man how can we can say that god is not there..let me give you a simple example the beginning of earth ..the earth which we live is placed in such a perfect spot that instead if our earth was placed in place of even mars or Venus we wouldn't have water in liquid form...without which we couldn't have survived .... about the temperature if earth was in place of venus too hot couldn't survive or instead of mars too cold couldn't survive......who put all of this in the correct place ...is it a coincidence? the chances are 1 in a billion..... think about it...there are millions of example to prove god is there..

    why is it hard for you digest the fact that there is a superior power....man no matter how much science advances ..it cannot explain the basic fact of how much a mother loves a son...can science calculate love ? Guys when will u guys wake up....

    some ppl don't believe in god because they are mislead by the wrong religion... I am a Muslim....guys just take a effort to read the Quran (holy book).. it will hardly take a month...Man just think how many books have u read in yr life time ...how many movies have u watched..juz spare some time to read this ..english translation(all languages translation) is available in the quran...read it and if still ur not satisfied dont follow islam..simple as that...but trust me brothers and sister all the answers to your question is answered in the quran....

    GOD is great..

    1. Vlatko

      @Abdul Wahab,

      Your comment has nothing to do with the documentary.

      SeeUat Videos is not your personal pulpit. You absolutely may not use the site as a source for conversions.

      If you want to discuss the Quran or religion in general, find a suitable documentary (thread) on the site. And read the Comment Policy (link above).

    2. Jesús García

      Lol... Life is very unprobable... therefore god... That is a lame logic... If we used your logic, every probable thing would be evidence against him... wouldn't it?

      Then... If you don't think science can explain how much a mother loves a son or that science can calculate love... Either you don't know enough science or you just trying to use ambiguous words... :P

      BEHEAD THOSE WHO INSULT ISLAM!

      Sounds familiar? Maybe you should also remember the down side of your religion and/or your book.

    3. Salvo Fernandes

      Abdul u r new to this i think, the arguments you have pointed out have been refuted by scholars and intellectuals, please learn more about evolution and how the universe functions.Do also understand that there r millions of galaxies that each contains billions i repeat billions of stars like our sun so its not great for life to evolve on earth considering the enormous amount of planets in our universe where life hasn't evolved,the odds of life elsewhere in the universe are quite high.

      I love all believers in a higher power,u people are super cute. Life wouldn't b the same without u guys...

    4. bishop

      1 and a million chance is pretty good if you consider the size of the universe....a million or even a trillion or whatever word you want to come up with for the shear size of the big picture is so small and insignificant that yes coincidence is absolutely possible...oh and btw... i am god

    5. Calvin M

      Where does this superior power stop? What global superior power made the local superior power? And so on. It is useless to think about it because there is no possible answer. My advice is to discover what you can about the Universe and don't speculate about some connection between you and a higher power. We'll all be safer for it. This is a science discussion. If you want to discuss narrow and dangerous, religiocentric fantasies go find another place.

  18. Joseph Pradeep Raj

    And whether particles are created anywhere to fill this vacuum? Im not sure what im asking is correct or not.

  19. Joseph Pradeep Raj

    I have a doubt. If universe is expanding, then whether vacuum is getting increased?

    1. Jesús García

      Im far from being an expert on the subject, but yes... what I understand is that space is also expanding.

    2. Calvin M

      My understanding is that space itself is expanding. Although space is thought of as nothing, it has some quality and that quality is expanding. A great mystery is, what is it expanding into? What is outside of space and our universe?

  20. Geby

    For every effect there is a cause:

    Where did the atom, universe, time came from?

    1. Richie Cahill

      Don't tell me.... God, right?

    2. Anthony Pirtle

      The atom came from the expanding energy of the big bang. Atomic particles are what happens when you release energy. Time is a dimension of space time, and its direction is a result of entropy. The universe itself? We don't know.

    3. Anthony Pirtle

      THough I should add there's no definitive reason to assume the universe 'came from' anything.

    4. Rachel Johnson

      Well, you tell me how some god could make the earth is 7 days, when the complexity of one cell could take ten lifetimes to function right under any creative design. What of mitochondria? They are like protozoan organisms that live in our cells and make energy for us. Without them we would die. What would the intent of this design be? Due to the highly complex state of all life, I doubt you could find a god that played a hand in man's creation.

  21. Mr. Wrong

    Science, unlike dogma, is a self correcting process which aims to describe in the best possible way anything to do with nature and its processes. It has no bias, it does not care about feelings or egos, it either proves a theory right through experiments or it demolishes it. If the experiments do not agree with the results implied by the theory it no longer can be considered a theory and it is thus discarded. Simple.
    Religion, on the other hand, has an agenda. It requires of its followers (sheep) to obey, even in the teeth of evidence to the contrary, whatever nonsense it publishes through its unmovable bronze age book. It cannot change, therefore the whole universe has to be adapted to suit its version of the "truth". Talk about arrogance....
    The "open minded" religious community cannot simply be happy wallowing in their utter ignorance but they also want you to join their club. Thanks for the kind offer but you can shove it up your rectum right next to were your head is.
    I'll take my chances with the also made up hell.
    To quote Epicurus (Greek philosopher):
    "If god is willing to stop evil but unable, he is not omnipotent. If he is able but not willing he is malevolent. If he is neither able nor willing then why call him god?"

  22. John

    interesting, Lady Storm, the "invisible" is on all levels I take it, not just the (meta-)physical. Accepting the indescribable without assuming that it therefore does not exist is the starting place for being open and teachable. As I see it, scientific pragmatism loses it's way at this point and often descends into pointless derogatory comments: long worn out phrases like "if God was good he would not allow suffering..." and all those other platitudes. I will look at your website....

    1. veverk

      Sorry, but you're talking about God? The fiction thread is somewhere else

  23. Lady Storm

    God is a word to describe something that is indescribable it is not male nor female it just is. It is the invisible that is part of the visible. For me I prefer to call God "the Source of being". What ever that means I don't know it just is "for me".

    1. Jesús García

      keep it up with your own personal dictionary

  24. John

    Religion is a human made explanation of the unexplainable and so Zoons you are obviously correct to point out the incompatabilities. What you or I believe about "God" is irrelevant in the extreme because the God you don't believe in does not exist any more than my belief in the existence of a "God" makes him/her/it a reality. Evolution is a model not an anti-religeous statement. Again, there is no compatability on the surface. I don't have "religion" because I see it as anti-God. It compartmentalises that which is utterley beyond human comprehension. Nevertheless I recognize, for want of a better word, the high probability of the supernatural.

    NOT that which is scientifically "unexplainable". To pretend that science is the proof of human intellectual prowess and transcendence over what atheists call superstition is just the same as the nonsense spouted by those idiots purporting to "prove" the existence of their own pet God using intelligent design or some other half-baked stupidity invented merely to ease the pain of not knowing. This "unknowing" is in fact the core of real spirituality and until a human ego frees itself of it's own arrogant belief in it's own pragmatism, "God" can never be experienced. When, however, it is experienced, no proof, discussion or "belief" is required. Do you see the paradox? A discussion involving both "God" and "science" is therefore very much needed because once really grasped, it is seen that they are one and the same...and more...

  25. 2OONS

    well ill state the obvious most of you guys or girls are probably a thousand times smarter than i could wish to be but isnt bringing god, allah or religion of any sort into a scientific discussion kind of like teaching evolution at sunday school its just going to start a argument that will get nowhere neither side is going to prove or disprove god in one argument/discussion especially on a online forum lol
    i personally dont believe in god or any religion but i have the RESPECT not to walk into my local church etc and start preaching evolution etc why doesnt people with religion have the same respect???

  26. Soeren

    @ Epicurean_Logic

    "Blocking logic for the sake of a fluffy fantasy that makes you feel better about death is weak and irrational."

    true, and i dont get why people think they need religion. because when you think about it, science should be enough to not be afraid of death. many people make science out to be black and white, when it in reality isnt. the world of science is a thousand times more beautiful and complex than we today can begin to imagine, that at least should give you some calm, that there very likely could be something completely weird shit after death, something you probably couldnt even put words on if you saw it.

    conclusion: science makes me sleep good at night

  27. john#2

    Good point John(#1), i was just explaining the universe to some ignorance the other day. and while doing so i came to the conclusion that what gives mass, mass(higgs boson) will never be seen or measured by man. the universe is god and even the montheistic religons can be traced to just monotheistic stories which are derived by earlier humans, and all they knew were the cosmos. The universe is surely our god. There for Higgs boson deserves the name the "god particle". and for someone to see it, means they achieved a sense of divine enlightenment that can only be seen in the realms of the "heaven"(s)

    1. Jesús García

      That is called pantheism... which essentially is the aprehenssion to the god concept, that you have to put it somewhere... You have learned science and how it can explain things... so whenever you reach a point where you don't understand or a point where you can't measure something... that's where your god will be...

      That's lame, because if you are wrong, and in the future somebody is actually able to achieve what you just said, your god will be reduced to next unknown thing...

      Isn't that peculiar? With each advance in science, your god gets reduced...

      Maybe that is why many people associate religion/god with ignorance... :P

  28. hedwerx

    The Universe was sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure.
    If you want the evidence just look at all the tissues!
    They can't have just come about by chance could they?

    :P

  29. John

    Maybe the universe IS God. Possibly alot more as well, but I don't know. There is no need for God to explain itself it just is. It's good fun playing with our minds but to quote Bible's, theories, ideas, etc, just to try and prove our point is mere egotism.

    1. Jesús García

      This just means that you don't know what you are talking about. You don't know what "god" is... if you are willing to say that the unviverse is god... that means that you are assuming there is one... you just have to put it on top of the previous definition...

      You are trying to invent another god... don't play with words... The universe, love, altruism, etc... they all have a name... theres no need to infiltrate god's name into that...

    2. Jon

      In a sense you are defining omnipresence.

    3. Calvin M

      If there is a God, I don't like him.

  30. matthew razo

    it is repressed memory on a massive scale.

  31. matthew razo

    the universe is an illusion of the mind.the collective memory of the big bang is locked deep in the canyons of the unconscious mind.

  32. JK

    And here I go again, this is the third time I watch these documentaries :D

  33. person

    @Epicurean_Logic

    nice reasoning i like the way you thinking, about the mind and evidence based reasoning.

    although the problem of big bang is created by the expectancy of a start of things (the same problem with god....)

    why big bang? why not infinite continuity down to the small or the big?
    why would there be no existence in a tiny universe?

    if there is only continuity the small or big becomes a mere name just words, which depends on a valid observer....

  34. person

    it made us think .... thats a start.
    the fact that "modern" science is able to demonstrate the dependency principle is great, but im not sure that even the physicists are aware of what immensely profound subject they are studying... or maybe they just do not want to let go of the inherent view of things, its seems that if we would let go of expectancy fallacy we might be able to experience things they really are .....

    for antimatter to exits it seems matter needs to exist and vice versa, but if neither can exist without the other how can they be separate? my, may it be incorrect answer, is that they are one and the same, but dualistic appearance come into play when an inherent observer "measures it".... if there is no inherent observer there is no problem to be solved...can you let go of the problem? if the answer is: but....... than probably not.....

    BTW lots of beautiful religious statements down here too, but question: how does that lead you to understanding the nature of existence?

  35. Mohammed Shehata

    I'm not good at all at physics.But this documentary made me think about it in a new way! A way that beautifully reveals that this universe can't be created in vain and that it has One and only One creator:Allah
    "Behold! in the creation of the
    ...heavens and the earth, and the alternation of Night and Day, there are indeed Signs for men of understanding." \Quran Surah 3 Verse 190.
    "The Unbelievers say, "Never to us will come the Hour": say, "Nay! but most surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you; - by Him Who knows the unseen - from Whom is not hidden
    the least little atom in the Heavens or on earth: nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the Record Perspicuous"
    Quran Surah 34 Verse 3

    1. Jesús García

      shut up

    2. hellosnackbar

      Dump Islam in the toilet where it belongs and accept he truth of science?

    3. Calvin M

      I don't think the humans who made up the Quran and the Bible and the Book of the Dead, and dozens of other reputedly holy publications knew anything about the true nature of the Universe and any similarity to what truths have been discovered by centuries of human effort is coincidence.

  36. Epicurean_Logic

    @Simon

    To pre-emt your next statement, 'what caused the big bang to happen?' it must have been god. No no no my friend, The ancient tribal and demonic book that you call the OT makes no mention of god initiating a big bang.

    If you have actually read it, which i doubt very much you will see that there are two contradictary versions of the creation myth one written by the followers of El and one by the followers of the demonic god Jahweh and neither of them mention a big bang type event!

    So don't presume that god started it! presumption are fun 'n all. but they certainly don't bake any bread!!

    1. Calvin M

      He's a local deity. His bosses live somewhere else.

  37. Epicurean_Logic

    @Simon

    I can't really comment on the biological parts of your argument but i am sure that if you look at @Epicurus' multiple posts on the subject of biology and evolution you will find that they will clear up the confusion that you have!

    You don't understand the big bang theory. The important part is that there are many observations (started by Hubble 100 years ago) that show that the universe is expanding! the reason we know this is becaue of redshifts of stellar objects... So if we trace backward in time and space we will see a contracting effect, with me so far? then if we trace backwards far enough (14 billion years or so) the universe must have been very small! This is how the big bang theory was postulated.

    With that in mind. Please answer me this. Which is the more reasonable model of creation? the big bang or god did it in 6 days? Any reasonable mind can see that it is the former. Hence i can only conclude that you have drawn your line in the sand and have your take on things based on mystical and tribal speculation rather than observable facts! and for an intelligent guy like you to do that is a real shame. Blocking logic for the sake of a fluffy fantasy that makes you feel better about death is weak and irrational.

    you said, 'Science done right points to God.'

    this makes no sense whatsoever. Its impossible to rationalise god! He was designed by man that way!

    1. Jesús García

      LOL... I hate it when this people say something like... A little knowledge gets you away from god, but a lot of knowledge gets you back to him... Or something like that... I don't know how they cope with that kind of statements...

  38. Simon

    @ Epicurean_Logic

    The level of pre-judgement and patronisation vested in your statement is 90% of the reason for your statement, it's almost as if you perceive me, and other Leading scientist against your views, as Fire fearing cavemen, closing their eyes and covering their ears to science.

    Let me be clear, I am not argung God created the world, I am arguing science is leaning more on the epigraph dictating the world was created for a reason, rather than It all just happened by chance.

    Darwin said "Time will prove evolution right", well looking at the leagues of scientific findings dictating the precision required for life in the universe, earth's position in the galaxy, the complexity of the cell functioning on the pre-defined information embedded in DNA, The Cambrian explosion which inherently invalidates Darwins theory, and 98% of paleontheological find all screams Intelligent design.
    Science done right points to God.
    Ironically, time has not proved Darwin right.

    1. Jesús García

      LOL... C'mon man... theres no need to hide... you can come out of the closet as the creationist you are...

      If science can't explain that... It must be god, right? lol...

  39. Epicurean_Logic

    @Simon

    Science doesn't seek to disprove the existence of god, it has it's own path and direction, without which you would all still be living in a mud hut! etc, etc, etc. Due to sci/tech you life is immesurably better than your ancestors. According to MIT proffessor Walter Lewin we all have the equivalent of 100 servants. Due to, yes, you guessed it sci/tech. Don't bite the hand that feeds you to appease your god!

    You are using the same argumennt as many others on SeeUat Videos: that is, because we don't know alot of things god must of done it! this is not an exaustive argument for the existence of god in fact is actually very limiting and regressive.

    Whenever there is difficulty in a project and progress is stiffled for any reason we say, ok lets just put it down to god did it and call it a day, have a beer, smoke a cigarillo and say god is the answer!! How is this going to help towards the solution of a given problem? its not going to. It's a cop out solution for simplistic minds and even worse it is then used to excert influence on large numbers of people by unscrupulous priests and organizations.

    The 'i dont know why, so god must have done it' argument is limiting, dangerous and regressive.

  40. Simon

    Ok Let's discuss the creation account for a moment.
    I did not dispute the big bang theory, nor the process the galaxies came into existence, through a sudden influx of light, energy, hydrogen
    and I believe Helium, as you mentioned which transformed through the heat of the initial explosion into the planets and galaxies. No, I did not dispute that.
    We see the "Effect" of the Big bang, but no one can explain the cause. When you say
    "Now if you choose to believe some supernatural being just "turned on the lights" go ahead, its your right."
    Does not science say "The Big Bang -Just- Happened", how did it happen "It just did"..o_O

    Some theories include the Inflationary model which I believe says, the universe expands
    then contracts, then expands again, hence the big bang,...but as others this theory is flawed, as according to the laws of physics there
    had to be a point of singularity, in which case where did that singularity come from. Another theory is the "Galaxy regenerating machine" Which creates
    universes in a field of energy, following the laws of Quantum physics - well, where did the energy, and information required for that Machine to exist, and carry out it's functions come from? As a scientist said, to make a simple machine requires intelligence, if you heard a loud noise, and someone said, "It just happened" You'd ask, well what caused it?

    Look, to say that the universe in it's Mind boggling complexity, it's trillion * Trillion to the power of 73, chance of life spawning on the earth,
    the perfect degree and equipose of gravity, cosmological constant, Oxygen cycle, carbon cycle, e.t.c. e.t.c. each to the trillionth degree,
    and to which if one of those factors we're moved a percentage up, or down would make life impossible --- All just happened is un-scientific, un-empirical -- as un-empirical as Darwins theory of
    evolution which is disproved by 98% of Paleonthological recrods (This is fact).
    I'm not scientifically arguing God created the heavens and the earth, I'm scientifically arguing, The big bang, life on earth, the human Brain more complicated than the very Universe itself, required an Intelligent design, and did not just happen.
    Go do your own research.

    1. Jesús García

      Can you stop saying evolution was dismissed?

      I've done my research... And did not find anything suggesting that... Please put a clear reference... Appealing to authority...

      If you are "scientifically arguing" as you say... you will provide evidence my friend... (evidence as in scientific papers, not a lame actor's documentary that is under the "religion" category... lol)

  41. ez2b12

    @ Simon

    Science has a very logical explanation for where the stars come from. Just because your blind belief in the supernatural does not allow you to consider real evidence does not mean science is flawed. It means we as humans are flawed by nature, science is an attempt to move past that instinctual nature into the realm of true intelligence.The stars where created by huge collapsing clouds of hydrogen. Once the hydrogen became dence and hot enough, due to this collapse it started nuclear fusion. This created helium and other heavier elements. Now if you choose to believe some supernatural being just "turned on the lights" go ahead, its your right. But do not claim that the explanation science provides is bogus. It is entirely possible and through the hind sight of reason even probable that this is the correct explanation. The beauty of science is that it is says if you can prove this explanation wrong with empirical evidence that can be veriffied, and if your explanation can hold up to years of rigorouse assault form very motivated and intelligent people- we will accept your version as the truth. Theism can not and has not been able to accomplish this, science has many times. Science requires faith in reality in testable provable ideas ( Want to test gravity? Jump off your roof.) I hardly think you can compare this with faith in an omnipotent supposedly kind God. Even if you do not look at the scientific evidence you can not explain other paradoxes. Like how can you call a God that has commanded murder, infanticide, genocide, slavery, rape, and war over and over, according to your hebrew bible, a good God. How do you explain the millions of good decent people that believe totally in thier own religion that says your religion is false, are they going to hell or are you. We are all athiest about ninety percent of the gods that have been theorized to exist in the past. Some of us just go one diety further.

  42. Simon

    I disagree. Stickinig with creation.
    The scientist in all their wisdom, as an explanation for how everything came into existence and years of research have come up with "It just happened" How? What caused the sudden bang, creation of nuclei energy, emergence of the building blocks (atom)? Endless Cycles, Gravitational force? It just happened.

    Tell me, how does that differ from "A being created it all". The role of science in explaining the world, analogically is - A Man builds a Bicycle, while a child (science) runs into the bicycle, concludes the bicycle simply appeared, and documented the different parts which make up the bicycle dictating how it functions. It dosen't disprove the account that a man created the Bicycle.
    All you've done is explain how what has been created works.

    Science can only prove God dosen't exist, if it proves The universe came from nothing, in which case, man will have to create Hydrogen and the other gases which came as an occurence of the big bang, from nothing.

    1. Jesús García

      where did god come from?

    2. johann

      I created him!!!

  43. michael blancaflor

    To put in the most simple way in the micro sense of observation, atomic and quantum particles takes its form
    depending on the depth of the micro infinitisemal ratio of an imaginary observer placed inside the region or the inner space of a single atom,as we plunged the observer deeper and deeper into the depth and limitless horizon that encompass an equally universal scale region of space inside an atom."Everything will look like nothing."
    One way to establish the beginning and end of the universe is to think deeper,imagine the inside of an atom and place our thoughts in its region of emptiness, pass through its layers and go through the core end of nothing.That's the beginning "nothing can be seen".The far end is at a distance of 13.5 billion lightyears, the boundary of our universe,and if you travel farther and farther away that universe will look like a single dot which is becoming fainter and fainter until "nothing can be seen".So its the thing ,the universe may have started from a big bang,or maybe a steady state.but one thing is sure its smallest part,the atom begins from "nothing" and the whole universe ends to "nothing". It's the human mind that co exist with the physical universe that dictates it has to begin and to end.

  44. michael blancaflor

    MICHAEL
    The scientific world had proved itself to be the authority by showing and proving the best explanation through checking,reviewing and accurately experimenting to the point of replacing time accepted universal theories with the new and more profound findings of the ultimate building blocks
    of matter.The time emerging new brilliant scientific minds is still lined up from our time and the coming generations, parallel with their coming new theories.But as they go deeper and deeper to the realm of the micro atomic field,the same reality will be there "The smallest particle unimaginable the proton ,is still a cloud of empty existence if we are as the observer a billion,billionth time smaller than it." This theory is perfectly the ultimate because it is co existent with mans questioning and thinking mind.

  45. Simon

    To Philonus;
    "The quotes your used used only made sense to us because ...and theological context."

    My friend, the fact is simple, Science has no logical explanation for how the stars came into being, but that it simply did.
    listen If you hear a big bang, you would ask "Where did it come from?" if someone said, "It just happened, without any logical explanation" and someone else said "God created that sound"
    Tell me, how is the first more provable than the second and how is the second out of context from the first. They are both based on the unseeable held up by faith.

    "It's origins....stars not God" applies to my earlier example.

    "Science, as I said,...the laws of nature."
    A Scientific mind is based on facts, When you cannot falisfy, or disprove the explanation that God created the universe, with a cohesive scientific explanation of how the nucleus energy, and stars came into existence, aren't you in essence simply "Believing" that "Science must be right, in esense saying "Although I cannot disprove the supernatural, the supernatural explanations simply MUST be wrong"

    The bible is not out of context from science, since the bible serves as a historical documentation, and all the scientific explanations in this documentary, fits perfectly in line with what I've read in the bible, I can see no contradictions.

    1. Jesús García

      Correction... any rational scientist will not say (at least not meaning it) that he is sure about a theory being totally true. A scientist accepts the best theory so far, recognizing the limitations it may have ... BUT for the rest... the scientist says: I don't know! Instead of making up stories about it...

  46. Philonous

    @Simon
    No, science is not a religion. Religion simply keeps or believes in the assumptions only through the appeal to authoritative interpretation, without requiring empirical methods (deductive or inductive) to ascertain those assumptions. Science, on the other hand, depends upon the method of falsification and testability to be able to prove that even an accepted theory can be wrong if it does not completely describe the natural phenomena. The reason why Science is not a religion is that unlike theologians, scientist can at least admit that a theory can be wrong and move on to another theory that can best explain nature. Theologians and religious dogmatist simply persist in their faith to believe in a specific belief in spite of evidence.

    Science, as I said, can only describe natural phenomena that can be ascertained by our empirical methods (such as experiments). God is not natural but, supposedly, supernatural and transcendental. Therefore Science cannot falsify or prove the existence of God who is beyond the laws of nature.

    Also just because there are no explanations for why the strong nuclear force simply doesn't split does not conclude that there has to be a God that sustains it, you can't prove or conclude something by a absence of explanation and evidence. it is easily conceivable that another theory, that is not theological, can explain the natural phenomena scientifically.

  47. Philonous

    @BBC
    No, the only reason why the bible sounds like its correct is because your only interpreting it in another context. The quotes your used used only made sense to us because we just saw the whole documentary on quantum physics. Also your not only interpreting it in another context but your doing it out of context which is even worse because your only suppose to understand the bible in terms of its own historical, cultural, political, and theological context.
    Also, I think the whole documentary at least implies or suggest that you don't need God to explain how the universe runs, the universe has at least been explained naturalistically without resorting to theological assumptions. The fact that the sun and supernova produced all the elements in the periodic table only suggests that everything that we see here (the elements of the periodic table) do not need to appeal to God to be explained, their origins can be traced to the stars, not God.

  48. pamela

    loved this documentary. If quantum physics helps me do better osteopathic techniques to help people heal, that's great. We do not need to know everything, just to use what we've learned and share it with others.

    1. Jamspel

      we do not need to know everything, but if we didn't seek this knowledge we could not have progressed this far, or at all

    2. Pavel

      picture of the universe is a picture of your consciousness
      nothing before nothing after

  49. Simon

    From watching episode 2,
    Essentially, Science is a religion.
    The explanation for the creation of the universe is;
    1 Theory - A big bang, Presense of an Immense energy, Presence of Helium and Hydrogen
    - Where did the Radeon energy come from?
    - Where did the Helium and Hydrogen come from?

    2nd Theory - The Universe always existed.

    Also, there is no theory explaining why the nucleus, or the force which keeps the atom together, never simply splits and runs out of energy.

    Science actually, Proves the presence of a divine emergence And sustainance of creation.

    1. Jesús García

      YOU will find god everywhere you look, because you have that viral idea inside your head... you would need to get rid of it to understand what I DON'T KNOW means... You will keep seeing god in every thing you can't explain... And that is lame...

    2. Revencher

      garcia

      so of cores this mean you know there is no god right? if so i would love to hear how u proved the unprovable? oh and while u r ate it y don't u tell me what god mean to every 1? considering it means something different to everyone. or maby you r the one that needs to have an open mind so u can truly know what "I DON'T KNOW" really means.

  50. Neuroscientist

    Fantastic intro into quantum-mechanics and the (sub)atomic-world. A must see!

  51. Brock

    Really enjoyable series, liked how it expanded upon things as it went through the docs and kept me thinking the whole time.

  52. Robert

    I'm wondering why he suggested that the number of electrons changes the element in the minute 36 of clash of the titans. its certainly a proton that changes the element.

  53. BBC

    I barely passed physics in school. They dumbed the information down enough that even i could understand it. This series was very thought provoking, in my opinion it shows myself that the Bible to be true in what it states. The Apostle Paul states, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18); and
    "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). The heavenly realms would be the unseen world, these authors most likely were not able to explain the atom the way the brilliant scientist have, but they were aware of this unseen world thousands of years ago.

    The Bible is truly an amazing Book. I feel that with science and the Bible i am able to experience ultimate reality (the seen and the unseen world we live in).

  54. Kumar Sanghvi

    Such an awesome piece of documentary.......
    Complex theories of Quantum Mechanics are explained in a very simplistic and nice manner......

    The content of all the 3 parts is very well prepared and presented!!

  55. Nameless

    For those who have always looked for a simplistic approach to explain the ever complex quantum mechanics and particle physics , this documentary is definitely the right place to start with.

    Personally, the biggest riddle in theoretical physics that desperately needs a breakthrough is the "measurement problem". Infact I was wondering if Hawking's Paradox was somehow incorporated in this documentary. That could have been a great fit in the third part "Illusion of reality".

    Overall a very solid introduction to the world of "Atoms".