PBS NOVA scienceNOW Did an ancient supernova explosion trigger the birth of the solar system? Scientists are finally closing in on evidence that, nearly five billion years ago, a supernova shock wave swept through a cloud of dust and gas and caused it to collapse, eventually forming the sun and the planets. Meteorite hunters have scoured the globe for space rocks containing evidence of this ancient supernova in the form of rare isotopes that could only be created in the intense pressure of a supernova explosion. Working side-by-side with computer modelers, who create dazzling visual simulations of the baby solar system, they have revealed that the death of an enormous star, at least twenty times the mass of our sun, could be responsible for the birth of our own solar system. We also see amazing Hubble images of nebulae where the same cycle is happening today.

1X60 min. documentary, National Geographic Channel Drilling for natural gas causes a mud volcano in Java. Urban sprawl bolsters microclimates in Atlanta that help strengthen an approaching tornado.  Miiners in Newcastle, Australia remove so much coal and water from the earth it causes the most severe earthquake in Australian history.  Can a direct link be drawn between human activity and these ‘natural disasters’?  The jury is still out.  Some geophysicists believe these are examples of man’s capacity for drastically and suddenly awakening the planet’s destructive force, others believe these conjectures are without merit.  Does our quest for power and our impulse to build mega-structures come with an unexpected price tag? Certain forward-thinking energy companies and structural engineers are assuming it does, and they’re at the vanguard of a new movement that’s finding ways to generate energy and build big without disrupting the delicate balance of forces below—and above—the earth’s crust.