Warning: this film features sequences of flashing light that could be unsuitable for photosensitive viewers.
Since 1990, scientists have gone from merely speculating about the existence of exoplanets to having identified some 5,000 and counting. And beyond just discovering them, increasingly powerful telescopes and new detection techniques are helping astronomers determine the astoundingly diverse forms that planets can take. This sprawling work from the US filmmaker and musician John D Boswell (also known as Melodysheep) melds hard science with informed speculation to take viewers on an interstellar journey to some of the most fascinating exoplanets scientists have yet discovered. Via a futuristic interstellar spaceship, Boswell sends viewers on an operatic, 3D-animated tour of nearby solar systems, revealing Earth-like planets that could potentially harbour life, as well as far-out worlds of metal clouds, burning ice, double sunsets and breathtaking auroras.
Video by Melodysheep
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Physics
To change the way you see the Moon, view it from the Sun’s perspective
5 minutes
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Human rights and justice
When a burial for slave trade victims is unearthed, a small island faces a reckoning
29 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes
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Human rights and justice
Can providing humanitarian aid be illegal? A troubling case from the US-Mexico border
17 minutes
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Space exploration
The rarely told story of the fruit flies, primates and canines that preceded us in space
12 minutes
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Film and visual culture
A lush animated opus evokes the frenzied pace of modern life
4 minutes
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Family life
The precious family keepsakes that hold meaning for generations
10 minutes
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Neuroscience
This intricate map of a fruit fly brain could signal a revolution in neuroscience
2 minutes
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Archaeology
What did the first people who entered Tutankhamun’s tomb see?
5 minutes