There's a cornucopia of subjects to peruse on National Geographic this week.
Sex dolls are easy Photo courtesy of Nat Geo
You won't be disappointed in the variety that goes from sex dolls to Stealth fighters, Pluto's right to remain a planet to the inhospitable terrain of Venus, Mercury and Mars.
Below are the video clips for NGC Weekly Highlights - February 8 - 14, 2010 .
TABOO: STRANGE LOVE
Wednesday, February 10 at 10PM ET/PT
Human relationships can bring safety, security and love… but sometimes they can also be taboo.
Witness a real-life “Lars and the Real Girl” relationship, when a man in the United States falls in love with a sex doll.
In Australia, meet a couple who stay faithful by having sex with strangers.
In poverty-stricken Nepal, innocence is lost when a 7-year-old child is sold as a bride. Then, in the United Kingdom, a man defies one of his country's strictest taboos by marrying seven women.
Video “Love Doll Relationships” –
Two men rely on synthetic substitutes when it comes to love.
Video “My Girlfriend Has Sex With Strangers” –
Despite making a commitment to one another, Holly and Dino also have sex with strangers. And they like it that way.
FIGHT SCIENCE: STEALTH FIGHTERS
Thursday, February 11 at 9PM ET/PT The Fight Science team explores the deadly art of stealth fighters, from attacks and hidden defenses to infiltration and escape skills — and discovers some results that defy science. Watch as experts in Brazilian capoeira, karate, tae kwon do, and muay Thai kickboxing execute hair-trigger techniques that push the limits of human ability with their speed, agility and force. Watch as a martial artist demonstrates evasive maneuvers combining balance and dexterity while moving through a laser beam obstacle course and a Shaolin warrior breaks a steal-tipped spear aimed at his throat, allegedly by manipulating the body’s powerful energy. Video “Free Runners” – Free runner, Ryan, leaps from a 9-foot platform and lands with featherlight ease.
A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS: SATURN
Sunday, February 14, 2010, at 9 pm ET/PT
From Earth, Saturn’s rings appear solid, but they are actually made up of chunks of rock and ice. They look spectacular, but navigating around them — and the planet’s more than 60 moons — would be a nightmare for travelers. We travel through the rings for a stunning CGI tour of the surface of this gaseous giant, which scientists’ theorize is covered with a layer of metallic liquid hydrogen. If you can withstand Saturn’s gale-force winds, the hardy space traveler would be rewarded with an impressive light show from its auroras. Video "Saturn Up Close" - The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft sets off on an orbital tour of Saturn, sending back some out-of-this-world images.
A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS: JUPITER
Sunday, February 14, 2010, at 10 pm ET/PT Everything is super-sized on Jupiter, a giant larger than all of the other planets in the Solar System combined. With its churning red “eye” — a thunderstorm twice the size of Earth that has raged for more than 300 years — and gigantic magnetic field, Jupiter made quite an impression when the Voyager space probes passed by in 1979.
But travelers are advised to use caution. The radiation from high-energy particles zooming out from the planet is enough to kill, and the temperature and pressure of the planet’s atmosphere are enough to crush a small car into the size of a tin can. We dive below the clouds to reveal the planet’s strange secret: it’s really more like a star in composition.
See what today’s advanced telescopes are revealing about the moons in Jupiter’s extraordinary kingdom, from Io, a spicy world of fire and brimstone, to Europa, where a warm salty ocean hides beneath the surface. And take a sneak peak at Juno, a new probe set to launch in 2011, which scientists hope will provide an even clearer picture of this strange world.
Video "Magnetic Storms on Jupiter" - Jupiter's magnetic field is a radiation hot zone of staggering intensity.
A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS: MARS
Monday, February 15, 2010, at 9 pm ET/PT
Rocket to the Red Planet for a stunning tour of giant volcanoes, mighty canyons and constant sunshine. Here, the traveler will enjoy a low gravity environment that gives you super jumping abilities across a rocky terrain a lot like Earth. The only drawbacks? A complete lack of breathable atmosphere, and temperatures like mid-winter in Antarctica.
Now, evidence suggests that Mars’ climate has changed more than once. Could our neighbor offer us insights into preserving our own world? Then, travel to Chile’s Atacama Desert where scientists are practicing techniques for finding life in extremely dry conditions.
And get a preview of what the first manned mission to Mars will be like — and learn why scientists believe that the first boot in the planet’s dust will belong to someone alive today. Video “Off Roading on Mars” – Though the thin, cold atmosphere makes Mars inhospitable, in the past, the planet may have been much more suitable for life.
Video “Destination: Mars” –
The Valles Marineris is a titanic canyon system that tops the list of must-see destinations on Mars.
A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS: VENUS AND MERCURY
Monday, February 15, 2010, at 10 pm ET/PT Mercury and Venus are the Solar System’s Hot Zone. Temperatures on tiny Mercury can reach a blistering 800° F. And on Venus, temperatures are hot enough to melt lead. Take in the sights on Mercury, where the planet’s sunny side offers travelers a stunning view of solar flares as they work on their tans.
But pack warmly for a trip to the planet’s dark side, where temperatures plummet to minus 275 degrees. Back away from the Sun and we encounter Venus, our nearest neighbor. Smothered by a climate gone mad, a visit to our sister planet’s tortured scenery means diving into an atmosphere where acid smog eats bare metal for breakfast.
Travel to a Hawaiian volcano, where scientists hope to gain insights into the extremely hot and inhospitable environments of our planetary neighbors. And take a look at the super suit designed to withstand the Venusian weather. Video “Hot Side of the Planet” – Mercury may offer a beautiful light snow, but stay out of the sun if you don’t want to get burned to a crisp.
Video “Exploding Planet” –
Venus has been tortured by fire. Over 1,600 giant volcanoes puncture its surface.
A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS: NEPTUNE AND URANUS
Tuesday, February 16, 2010, at 9 pm ET/PT
Head into the Ice Zone to learn the secrets of two fathomless worlds. Uranus, an icy gas giant with an atmosphere composed of a cosmic cocktail of hydrogen, helium, and methane, is so distant from the sun that it takes 84 years to orbit the sun. Neptune, its vibrantly blue neighbor, takes nearly twice that long. Is it really possible to set sail on a Neptunian sea?
And why does Uranus orbit the Sun on its back? Now, as telescopes get bigger and better, our lonely neighbors are finally getting their day in the sun. See stunning new pictures of the planets, and learn what it would take to see them in person. Video “Inside Planet Uranus” – Don’t plan a visit to the inner layers of planet Uranus anytime soon – unless you don’t mind being crushed and boiled alive!
Video “Surfing Neptune’s Winds” – Neptune’s supercharged winds may be the reason this planet changes its ‘spots’ so quickly and so often.
A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS: PLUTO AND BEYOND
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 10 pm ET/PT
Pluto is so far away from Earth that it is a mere pinprick of light in our powerful telescopes. Smaller even than our own moon, it has never had a single visit from Earth. We don’t know what it looks like.
And recently, astronomers decided it didn’t even qualify as a planet. But Pluto is not alone and unloved. Locked in a gravitational dance with its largest moon Charon, this frozen outpost is simply the first discovered body in an unseen swarm of icy worlds. But could the ice out here have been the source of water on Earth?
Learn what it would take for humans to journey to the uncharted limits of our solar neighborhood and what NASA scientists think we’ll find when we get there. Then, travel to the New Horizons control room, where scientists are working with the first spacecraft to visit Pluto, set to arrive to the tiny world in 2015. Video “Mission to Pluto” – The New Horizons spacecraft is set to reach Pluto in 2015, giving us our first glimpse of this faraway world.
Video “Pluto: Not a Planet” – When Pluto’s status as a planet is revoked, the public protests.
Video “Destination Pluto” –
What would it be like to descend to the surface of Pluto?
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