Season 17

This episode of Superquark opens with a magnificent documentary from the USHUAIA series: One day the earth sank. From the Bahamas to Mexico, crossing Cuba and the island of Montserrat, Hulot and his team tell us the story of the geological, animal and human evolution of those places that witnessed an upheaval, 60 million years ago, due to the fall of a meteorite, one of the probable causes of the disappearance of the dinosaurs. A few hundred thousand years later, the immense desert was transformed into a sea, due to the melting of the polar ice caps caused by global warming. In this episode, many reports, guests in the studio and columns: the Apocalypse of 2012 is a lie. Superquark explains why, starting from the Mayan prophecy. Alberto Angela in the Etruscan necropolis of Tolle, near Siena, for the live opening of tomb no. 1000. A city of science in the desert of Qatar. Even the emirs invest colossal sums in research. 3D: new technologies applied to cinema and television.

In this episode, there will be many topics that will be addressed, starting with the interesting report by Alberto Angela on the discovery of the surgeon's house in Rimini. The house, which dates back to the 2nd century AD, is one of the oldest Roman homes in the area, stands a stone's throw from the sea and represents a true archaeological treasure. Paolo Fresu and his trumpet, guests of Piero Angela, in the studio, to tell us about the characteristics of this instrument and for an unusual musical performance. In the column dedicated to technology, Marco Visalberghi presents the new developments in the field of robotics. In particular, we will see the application of a sophisticated bionic hand. The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A report by Lorenzo Pinna will clarify the dynamics, risks, peculiarities and details of this devastating ecological disaster and how, more generally, oil activities are managed and regulated in the world.

In this episode, we will address topics ranging from nature to technology to medicine. The episode opens with the BBC documentary “The Great Rift - water” focusing on the beauty of the fauna and flora of East Africa. Water in all its forms is the absolute protagonist: lakes, waterfalls, rivers, boiling springs, and the ocean that is scanned with latest-generation submarines, and of course the inhabitants of this habitat, from birds to predators. In the report “Telerilevamento”, by Barbara Gallavotti and Gian Marco Mori, the extraordinary three-dimensional images of the Italian territory are shown, obtained thanks to the comparison of satellite and aerial images, elaborated and perfected by computer. An aerial mapping of Italy of great precision, as has never been seen before. For medicine, instead, Marco Visalberghi and Barbara Bernardini, analyze a disease that afflicts 9 million people in Italy: migraine.

In this episode, the adventurous journey continues in the African Rift Valley, with the BBC documentary, Erba, dedicated to the savannah. In these immense spaces, in the shadow of the Rift volcanoes, there is the highest density in the world of wild animals and especially elephants. At night, the savannah becomes the kingdom of carnivores and predators. In a succession of ever-changing situations, we will see for the first time the extraordinary images of chimpanzees sleeping in their dens. Alberto Angela and Giampiero Orsingher take us to the extraordinary site of Masada, in the desert of Galilee, near the Dead Sea. In Roman times, Masada, a natural fortress of spectacular beauty, was transformed by Herod into a fortress palace, where, thanks to ingenious hydraulic solutions, water was brought. In this sort of "garden in the desert", a group of a thousand Jews decided to dig in and resist Roman rule, in 66 AD, under Nero.

This episode of Superquark opens with the wonderful story of motherhood in the animal world: the BBC documentary “Mothers and Children” describes the intimate relationship between mothers and their cubs from the first days after birth. We will see, among others, lions, lemurs, hippos and elephants in the most tender or dramatic moments with their cubs. In fact, there are a thousand fun curiosities and also dangers in the first moments of life, many threats, for example, come from their own species and, precisely through animal behavior, we will follow a surprising evolutionary path. Everyone knows President Kennedy, but not everyone knows that he suffered from a rare disease, Addison's disease, which still affects one in 8,000 people and causes excruciating kidney pain. This disease is caused by the failure of two small adrenal glands, which can be defined as “stress glands”.

The episode takes us to discover what is hidden in the folds of the earth. The BBC documentary “Depths of the Earth”, through spectacular images, describes how geology, geographical position and consequently climatic factors influence the development of man and somehow determine his history. Everyone has heard of the placebo effect, but what is the nocebo effect? ​​This term indicates the tendency to negative autosuggestion with respect to, for example, a drug or a therapy. It is the exact opposite of the placebo effect. Francesca Marcelli, has collected the opinions of doctors and researchers on mass psychogenic diseases and on how to recognize the nocebo effect. The “How to do it” column, edited by Rossella Li Vigni, takes us to Puglia, in the Apricena quarries, where a group of paleontologists have made important discoveries on prehistoric animals and men.

The BBC documentary “Wind” deals with the effects of winds on our planet and how their action affects human life. Deserts and fertile fields, navigation and hurricanes: places and phenomena linked to the movement of winds and their diversity. Spectacular images take us to the different continents where the winds exert their power, from China to the Pacific. In California there is an instrument capable of recreating on earth the thermonuclear reaction that occurs every moment on the sun. Marco Visalberghi and Barbara Bernardini, in the report “The sun in a room” describe this sophisticated device made of 192 laser beams that in a spherical room of 10 meters by 10, reproduces the sun, and they explain the many scientific implications connected to this technology. Every era produces dangerous drugs. One of these drugs, even if not in the traditional sense, can be considered the internet.

Water in all its forms, in the spectacular images of the BBC documentary “Water”, which tells us how this element, in continuous transformation, has contributed to creating life on our planet. We will discover the factors that have determined the fate of societies and we will learn about the influence of water in every aspect of our history, from art to industry, from religion to war, from world domination to the decline of a civilization. Every year hundreds of thousands of Italians enter intensive care. Many stay there for a few days, others, instead, for months. Usually, isolated from relatives, apart from a few very brief contacts. But is it really so necessary? Where it was decided to open the doors of intensive care, there was no turning back. Cristiano Barbarossa went to learn more about the developments of this new medical approach. The long shadow of livestock farming: how much carbon dioxide is released into the environment to eat a steak?

For the last episode, SuperQuark presents the Pioneer Production documentary, “The Living Body”, which follows the development of the human body, in particular of a woman, from birth to old age. Computer graphics, special effects and cutting-edge medical images explain the biological differences between human beings, in the different stages of life, through the transformations of the body. Giovanni Carrada and Gian Marco Mori, in the service “Telemedicine for heart patients” followed, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, in the United States, the testing of a new electronic device for heart patients, which can be worn. In this small and light device, there are sensors to monitor cardiac function, a microprocessor and a transceiver. The patient can check his or her health status and send the data collected to the hospital, via a smartphone. It is a revolutionary technology that allows for early intervention on heart disease.

To close this year's Superquark series, a very special BBC documentary on the polar bear. Cameras hidden in icebergs, snowballs and more have spied on the life of bears in such a difficult environment and their ability to adapt to the world of ice. Beautiful and funny images. In May 1942, 19 Royal Air Force bombers carried out a very high-risk mission, which cost the lives of 56 English airmen and the loss of eight aircraft. The purpose of the mission: to destroy the dams of the Ruhr mining region, to weaken German production capacity. Alberto Angela retraces the stages of this little-known event of the Second World War. Super megacities with over 25 million inhabitants seem to be the trademark of this century. In 2025, China will have 15 cities with a similar population.