The Infinite Voyage: Unseen Worlds

From the makers of the National Geographic specials comes this award-winning high-tech discovery series. Unseen Worlds, one of the first episodes, explores the universe without and within, journeying to the far stars and down to the level of a quark. Narrator Richard Kiley begins the voyage with a trip to Manchester, England where modern imaging techniques are being used on ancient Egyptian mummies. Scientists have rehydrated bits of 5,000 year-old brain, and discovered that the Egyptians did not exactly live the life of Riley. Parasites and rampant disease seem to have been part and parcel of everyday Egyptian life. Another segment shows how scientists, using computers, have begun to create the first three-dimensional models of the universe. Yet another visits the powerful Fermi particle accelerator beneath Illinois' verdant farmland, where particles collide at tremendous speeds, and scientists study the maps of the explosions for clues about the smallest particles of the universe. Although thematically there is not much of a bridge between the various pieces, the general level of interest remains high throughout. Other titles in the initial set of releases are The Great Dinosaur Hunt and The Geometry of Life. Highly recommended. (Available from most distributors.)