What is time? | The Magic of the Cosmos

Part 1 | ARTE

It was Albert Einstein who first shattered Isaac Newton’s hypothesis of a universal time and explained that it is in fact a subjective experience. An episode in a captivating documentary series on the mysteries of the cosmos.
If man has been trying to measure time with increasing precision for thousands of years, it would be difficult to define it, as it is still one of the greatest mysteries of physics. For the perception of its continuous flow is nothing but an illusion. Albert Einstein was the first to shatter Isaac Newton’s hypothesis of a universal time and explain that it is in fact a subjective experience. Why is this? Simply because movement in space affects its flow. Einstein thus reveals the fundamental connection between space and time, inducing in passing that past, present and future exist in the same way and without distinction!
The magic of the cosmos
Episode 1: The Illusion of Time

Documentary series by Randall MacLowry (United States, 2011, 53mn)

Part 2 | ARTE

Space separates two galaxies as well as two atoms. Author of the book “The Magic of the Cosmos”, published in 2004, the physicist Brian Greene reveals that it is a dynamic fabric that can stretch, twist, deform and undulate under the effects of gravity. Even stranger still is the recent discovery of a mysterious ingredient that is said to make up 70% of the universe and which physicists call “dark energy”. Even if they admit its existence, they still don’t know what it is. Examining space on infinitely small scales only makes the mystery even deeper.
3D animated sequences prove that our ability to reason quickly reaches its limits and struggles to influence our behaviour. Mundane objects such as matches and chairs allow for surprising experiments when handled by researchers. To prove the validity of their theses, researchers don’t hesitate to jump on a surfboard or study the methods of magicians. All of these are reasons to worry sometimes, especially when we learn that our brains make decisions seven seconds before we are aware of them! A fascinating journey to the four corners of the world, from Australia to Germany via the United States and Sweden, to observe our neurons in all their states..
The magic of the cosmos
Episode 2: What Is Space

Documentary series by Randall MacLowry (United States, 2011, 53mn)

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