The Universe Unravelled series premieres on Discovery+ this month (November 2020), coinciding with the UK launch of this new digital platform. The series is aimed at anyone who is curious about the Universe we live in, with no previous knowledge of cosmology required. Across more than 20 short episodes, the series explores what we already know about the Universe, what cosmologists and relativists are working on right now, and where new observations may lead in the future.
The programme is inspired by the late Stephen Hawking’s ground-breaking work on cosmology, black holes and gravitational waves, and features researchers from the Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (CTC) and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.
The series explores the big questions in contemporary research which are being driven by new observations, such as the recent discovery of gravitational waves. It starts with Einstein’s general theory of relativity, describing how massive objects warp the fabric of spacetime and how they can collapse under their own gravity to form black holes. It explores how these black holes can send gravitational waves rippling across spacetime, and what happens if you were to fall into a black hole.
Image: Universe Unravelled
Credit: Discovery+
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge