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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Rituals and celebrations
Beware the Nalujuit! A rare glimpse into a chilling Labrador Inuit tradition
13 minutes
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Future of technology
Artificial ‘creativity’ is unstoppable. Grappling with its ethics is up to us
23 minutes
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Design and fashion
Refined towards imperfection – a ceramic artist recreates a rare Korean treasure
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Politics and government
‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai
20 minutes
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Global history
The famed medieval map that stretched beyond Earth to heaven, history and myth
5 minutes
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Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
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Design and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
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Music
As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time
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Human rights and justice
Meet the man who uncovered the scandal of nuclear testing in South Australia
13 minutes