Before Robert Pattinson made vampires a Hollywood heartthrob, 16th century Venetians battled the unimaginable horror of the plague, then a growing legend of the “shroud eater.” Explorer: Vampire Forensics follows forensic anthropologist Matteo Borrini as he digs deeper into this legend. Below are some photos and videos from the program:
EXPLORER: VAMPIRE FORENSICS
Tuesday, February 23 at 10PM ET/PT
Venice, 1575 – the jewelled city of northern Italy is in the throes of unimaginable horror. One of the worst plagues ever to strike mankind: the Black Death. Mass graves swell thousands of bodies. A legend grows that a vampire known as a “Shroud-eater” is the cause of the plague. The Shroud-eater feasts on corpses, then rises from the earth to infect the living. More than four hundred years later Italian forensic anthropologist and CSI specialist Matteo Borrini leads a team excavating a 16th Century mass grave on one of Venice’s outlying islands. He uncovers a skeleton unlike any he had ever seen before. A brick appears to have been inserted between the jaws of the skull. Why? The answer shocks him. He believes the object was part of a macabre ritual designed to kill a vampire. The discovery launches Borrini on a forensic investigation unlike any he has ever attempted – as he attempts to put a face – a life – to the Vampire of Venice. Video “Flesh Eating Corpses” – A 500-year-old skull may tell us more about 16th century European beliefs about vampires.
Video “Consorting with the Devil” – Forensic anthropologists examine the skeleton of a 500-year-old vampire.
EXPEDITION WEEK: Hunt for the Samurai Subs
Tuesday, November 17 at 9PM ET/PT http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/expedition-week/4577/Overview
Just before the atomic bomb forced Japan into submission, the Imperial Navy sent a fleet of incredibly advanced combat subs to attack a major U.S. naval base in the Pacific. But when Japan surrendered, the U.S. Navy confiscated them, only to later have them scuttled near Hawaii when Soviet scientists demanded access. The war machines’ precise location would remain a mystery for decades. Now a team of explorers thinks they can find some of these lost subs in the Pacific’s dark waters. From the Hawaiian island of Oahu, deep submergence vehicle pilots Terry Kerby and Max Cramer, along with a team of devoted explorers, prepare to dive to depths of nearly 3,000 feet to hunt for some of WWII’s largest and fastest submarines — in a Japanese super-submarine graveyard ? and solve one of the war’s great mysteries.
Video “Preview: Samurai Subs” – Deep sea explorers hunt for Japanese submarines lost on the ocean floor – once part of a top-secret plan to dominate WWII.
Terrifying legends from the Amazon tell of Indian headshrinkers who would shrink an enemy’s head to render the vengeful soul powerless. Now, NGC has exclusive U.S. access to 45-year-old archive footage captured by explorer EdmundoBielawski, purportedly the only known footage that shows the process of an actual ? recently deceased ? human head being shrunk. Author and explorer Piers Gibbon heads deep into the Amazon jungle in an attempt to trace Bielawski’s 1960s journey, rediscover the exact location where this scene was filmed and reconnect with the tribe today. After a string of setbacks, Gibbon finally gets a striking clue that leads him on an arduous trek to the village of Tukupi, where he finds one aging warrior, the last of his generation, who could provide answers to the mystery once and for all.
Video “How to Shrink a Human Head” – Piers Gibbon learns from a local priest how the Shuar people’s head shrinking ceremony might have looked.
A hundred sixty miles off the coast of Baja California, science and sport fishing join forces for an unprecedented research effort. A team of world-class anglers will land one of the most challenging fish imaginable: the great white shark. Unlike any other catch ever attempted, they’ll lift an SUV-sized shark out of the water onto a platform, mount a long-lasting tracking tag by hand, take measurements and DNA samples while pumping water into the shark’s mouth to keep it alive, and release it unharmed … all within minutes, like a NASCAR race pit stop. Marine biologist Dr. Michael Domeier uses advanced tracking devices to help uncover how this predator lives, how it mates and where it roams, with the ultimate goal of conserving and protecting this endangered species. But he’ll rely on the fishing expertise of expedition leader Chris Fischer and crew members like actor Paul Walker (“Fast and Furious”), who jumped in as a deckhand and quickly earned the crew’s respect. With more than 1,000 hours of footage culled into 10 upcoming episodes, NGC gives the ultimate EXPEDITION WEEK sneak peak at this exciting series.
With 120 deep-sea expeditions under his belt ? one of which resulted in the historic discovery of the sunken R.M.S. Titanic — National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Bob Ballard embarks on a new, unparalleled underwater exploration for NGC’s second annual EXPEDITION WEEK. Off the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, he’ll dive to the ocean depths searching for British and French warships that sank during the Battle at Gallipoli — one of the bloodiest and most controversial campaigns of World War I. We’ll scour the warship graveyard using Nautilus, an advanced mobile research vessel with state-of-the-art electronics, computers, navigational and communications systems, as well as side scan sonar and two deep-sea ROVs named Hercules and Argus. It’s the most comprehensive underwater exploration of shipwrecks from the Battle at Gallipoli ever taken. Now, stunning HD images from the sea floor could offer tantalizing new details about the Allied army’s catastrophic loss and the tragic carnage left in the battle’s wake.
Video “Preview: Gallipoli Expedition” – Join Bob Bollard as he explores the sunken WWI battleships at Gallipoli and reveals secrets hidden for nearly a century.
The notion of bringing Mars to life ? transforming a cold, dry, uninhabitable desert into a living planet ? called terraforming, has been around for almost a century. Initially just a science fiction concept, it has become a subject of serious scientific investigation. NASA astrobiologistDr.Chris McKay has spent 30 years researching extreme environments to understand the potential of such planetary engineering. On the surface, the red planet’s freeze-dried world of rocks, ice and dust looks like an unlikely place to plant a garden. But rocks and minerals found by the Mars rovers show it must once have had warmer, habitable living conditions. Now, using photorealistic CGI visualizations, we’ll make a science fiction dream of Mars — a world of trees, rivers and blue skies — a plausible future.
Video “Preview: Mars: Making the New Earth” – An 18,500 foot volcano in Mexico is a living laboratory for NASA scientist Chris McKay as he investigates how to transform Mars from a cold, dead planet into a living world like planet Earth.
He was called the King of the Jews, believed to be a Messiah. Just before Passover, the Romans beheaded him and crucified many of his followers outside Jerusalem. But his name was not Jesus … it was Simon, a self-proclaimed Messiah who died four years before Christ was born. Now, new analysis of a three-foot-tall stone tablet from the first century B.C., being hailed by scholars as a “Dead Sea Scroll on stone,” speaks of an early Messiah and his resurrection. Was Simon of Peraea real? Did his life serve as the prototype of a Messiah for Jesus and his followers? And could this tablet shake up the basic premise of Christianity? We’ll go to Israel to assess this unique and mysterious artifact, including testing by a leading archeological geologist and comprehensive review of the letters, script and content by a Dead Sea Scroll expert. Then, from Jerusalem to Jericho, we’ll investigate key archeological ruins that could help prove Simon was indeed real — all of which just might sway the skeptics.
Video “Preview: The First Jesus?” – Explore the mysteries of a recently discovered stone tablet that may speak of a messiah before Christ, who rose from the dead after three days.
National Geographic Channel examines the evidence behind the Maya calendar prophecies in 2012: Countdown to Armageddon, premiering Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Follow Princeton University scientist Adam Maloof to three continents on a detective story that spans eons — with clues embedded in the oldest rocks on the planet. Is there evidence of global upheaval on a massive scale? What can be gleaned from the technically advanced celestial orientation of the Maya ruins? What were the Maya hoping to record in their comprehensive astronomy text called the Dresden Codex? And does a discovery from a melting glacier offer provocative signs of devastating change in ancient Maya times?
In addition to the photos and videos from the program, you can also check out our “Ends of the Earth” hub for other theories and programs on the topic, including interactive features illustrating various scenarios.
Video “Maya Doomsday Prophecy” – The Maya calendar will end on December 21, 2012. Are we three years from the end of the world?
Video “The Maya’s Lost Civilization” – The abrupt abandonment of the Maya’s great cities has stumped scholars for centuries.
Video “A Climate Event to End Time” – Could a sudden climate shift that took place 5,200 years ago tell us more about what the Maya predicted for 2012?
Join leading astronomers on a visual journey beyond our solar system in search of planets like Earth. Using CGI animation, we’ll explore bizarre worlds that stretch our imagination: planets with iron rain and hot ice, with diamonds everywhere, and endless oceans of gas. Planets with abnormal orbital patterns and planets with no pattern at all that drift alone in the Milky Way. Planets so strange we never could have predicted them before. Could life exist there?
Stephen Hawking is one of the world’s most famous scientists. But ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, has left him almost totally paralyzed and it is progressing. Unable to walk, talk, or write, his only way of communicating is through a computer program that turns a small movement of a finger or the blink of an eye, into words from a vocal synthesizer. But Hawking remains determined to discover a theory of everything, a complete set of rules for the Universe. Where did the Universe come from and where is it going? What is the nature of time? Will it ever come to an end? This program will explore Hawking’s major contributions to the understanding of our Universe – from his revolutionary proof that our Universe originated in a Big Bang; to his ground breaking discovery that Black Holes are not completely black, but rather emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear, to his insights on string theory. Will he unlock the secret of creation before his time runs out?
Video #1 – No one’s found the Theory of Everything yet, but when Hawking discovers that black holes emit radiation, he gets very close.
The day before the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, NGC presents Living on the Moon. Man has always dreamed of living on the moon, and now a team of NASA scientists is proving that dream could be achieved in our lifetime. We take viewers inside Constellation, the space program’s plan to establish a human outpost on the moon by 2020. Take a closer look at the plans under way, from upgraded space suits to housing modules and moon vehicles, and examine the challenges ahead, such as finding water, making oxygen, growing food and protecting residents from deadly radiation. Then, using 3-D animation, we’ll visualize how the remarkable outpost will take shape.
Click to enlarge concept art above
“Moon Water” – Maybe the moon has water. Maybe the moon has lots of water. How on earth will we get to it?
“Moon Colony” – Humans are colonizers, and the moon is ripe for populating. But how? And who?
“The load is hanging in the air.The wind is picking up.SNAP!A line breaks!”
— Riley, on erecting a 336-foot wind turbine in Portsmouth, R.I.
Riley travels to Portsmouth, R.I., where residents are setting up a 115-ton wind turbine that will provide years of clean, green energy.The good news is that the winds here are constantly blowing.The bad news is that Riley is about to find out what it takes to raise giant blades in the midst of these unpredictable gusts.Riley joins a team of engineers, ironworkers, crane operators and riggers who must attach the 68-ton gearbox at the center of the blades to the very top of a 300-foot tower, all the while fighting forces strong enough to snap protective lines.
Video “Big Fix” – This town wants to generate its own energy but first it has to figure out how to assemble this turbine.
Deep beneath the legendary Easter Island, a team of National Geographic explorers undertakes a groundbreaking expedition: to map a vast cave system that became the last refuge of the people who carved these iconic statues.Protected by sheer cliffs, narrow labyrinths and underwater entrances, these caverns have been forgotten for centuries.Now, these adventurers discover human remains and telltale artifacts that reveal an astonishing and brutal breakdown of a once utopian society.
WORLD’S TOUGHEST FIXES: Satellite Launch
Thursday, June 4, 2009, at 9 PM ET/PT “Either this rocket is going to launch … or it’s going to be one hell of a show.”
— Riley, on launching a $250 million communications satellite from the French Guiana jungle.
An aging satellite, currently providing phone and Internet service to millions, needs to be replaced. Riley heads into the remote jungle to help a team of rocket scientists and engineers launch a new two-ton satellite with a price tag of more than $1 million into orbit. Some aspects of the preparation are so sensitive, only Riley is allowed inside, without his camera crew — and he works and films all the action on his own as the team races to make the launch window.
Video “Satellite Repair” – Some things aren’t rocket science. This is.
Link: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Science–Technology/All-Videos/Worlds-Toughest-Fixes-3.html
The Mississippi Barge episode will now air in July- Nat Geo changed around some of their air dates from what was originally announced.
Episode Review and Preview by Kate Blake, Editor Multipleverses.com
Episode 1
The map of the trip facing the explorers from Zanzibar to Ujiji- click to view full size
Expedition Africa: Stanley and Livingstone is a unique type of adventure series. This isn’t a show about a single person facing unsurmountable odds but rather a nostalgic look back at one of the most talked about voyages in the 1800s. Dr. David Livingstone was an important figure in 19th century British history. He explored Africa and worked tirelessly to stop the slave trade. In 1864 he headed into the heart of Africa and was not heard from. When months stretched into years, what happened to him became a legendary mystery. In 1871 the New York Herald commissioned civil war veteran and reporter Henry Stanley to mount a trip into the African interior. His voyage covered almost 1000 miles of wilderness and 8 months after starting out in Zanzibar he found Livingstone in Ujiji, a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika on November 10, 1871.* The History Channel together with Mark Burnett- best known for producing such shows as Survivor and The Apprentice, does something very different with Expedition Africa. Instead of sending people to survive in the wild and play stupid games, three experienced field scientists and explorers and a field war correspondent endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Stanley and his voyage and experience the wilderness and beauty as well as the hardships of traversing Africa on foot with only some basic maps and a compass to guide them.
The team consists of a geo-physicist who is a world class mountain climber Pasquale Scaturro, a biologist and anthropologist who discovered the first new species of lemur on Madagascar in a century Mireya Mayor, an author, scientist and well known British explorer Benedict Allen who has traversed the Kalahari deserts as well as the Siberean ice fields, and finally the team is completed with a journalist. The journalist is Kevin Sites- critically acclaimed war correspondent who has covered the middle east and Afghanistan. The team start the trip in Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa. The city is old and beautiful but well past its prime when it was rich from the slave trade of the 1700s. The first challenge the foursome have is to cross the bay to the Tanzania shore where they will get together their support team and supplies that they will need for their 30 some day journey.
Pasquale as both the most senior member of the team and a professional expedition leader takes charge of picking first a head porter , then two Masai warriors who will accompany them on the 970 mile journey. The chore of picking porters is huge. They need people to literally shoulder the supplies needed for this trip- mere backpacks won’t do. By the middle of the day they are ready to head out across the swamps and into the interior. They are beset immediately with mud and chaos as the group needs to figure out who is leading and how to work together. They also screw up and don’t carry water with them and realize they are in danger of ending the trip before it begins. The first night is not a happy one but the next day things get better.
The first full day out they cross a river infested with crocodiles- something Stanley did too. The crocs are huge and would have me volunteering to head back through the swamps. The swamps are mangrove swamps and look surprisingly similar to the ones you see along the south Florida coasts- the team uses mosquito netting making me think there are about the same number of bugs as you find in the swamps in the Keys too. Going just a handful of miles consumes the first couple of days which cover the first episode. You meet the explorers, get a taste for their personalities and their strengths. I really liked that Kevin who was initially going to hang back ended up jumping in and made a place for himself working with the team of porters and watching out for them and their wellbeing while the others trekked ahead.
Pasquale and Mireya and Benedict start showing some territorial issues from the first day as three people used to calling the shots jockey for position. Benedict and Mireya beef a bit but the truth is Pasquale knows the terrain. He had run a voyage from the start of the Nile to the Mediterranean a few years earlier that was in the same region. They are all professionals and pretty much agree to disagree and try to get along.
Second episode: We leave the swamps and go into the Uluguru Mountains. The mountains are a gorgeous and hot in the dry season. The temperature as the team start climbing goes into the low 100s and is humid even at elevation while they climb upward- going from 2000 to over 6400 feet in two days and then back down. The first hour or so into the trek up one of the porters passes out and has to be removed from the mountain, his position replaced with three new porters as two leave to escort him away. Pasquale gets irritated at the delay. He is very focused on making time while the others are pleased to see Kevin who is trained as an EMT jump into speedy action and keep the porter from becoming seriously ill from heat stroke and exhaustion. Mireya and Benedict are both enthralled by the plant and wildlife as well. The Uluguru’s are home to some of the oldest trees in all of Africa. As a result of the delay and some dawdling they stop for the night on a high plateau. It is gorgeous. Everything is green and lush. You can see terraced hillsides- most likely ones that had been farmed in the 1960s as part of the agrarian push into the mountains. **The mountains are remote but not unpopulated- as evidenced by the well worn trails and many examples of farming in the valleys of the mountains.
This trek is a departure from Stanley’s trip as the trek he made went around the mountains -and his path today is fairly well populated and the team wanted to stay to the less populous tracks whenever possible. It is not without risk though. After having a porter drop from the heat in the morning, the team is chilled by nightfall and spends a windy night on the mountain huddled in their sleeping bags. The next day is a hard trek up to the peak and then over it with Kevin- the least experienced moutaineer in the group freaking out a bit when he sees some sheer cliffs they may have to cross. It turns out they are not a problem and that part of the trip is easy. The second night in the mountains is spent along a fresh river which is nice- except that the “Misty Mountains” live up to their name and rain all night so that the next day they can’t get a fire going to make any real breakfast and are wet and miserable. Mid-day they head out of the hills to a small village which has fruits and veggies and a goat that they buy to share a feast with their entire team of explorers and porters.
The porters and the Masai are thrilled to see the meat and have some fun with Mireya as they butcher the goat. Their dinner is rounded out by a troupe of snake dancers from the village who come to perform for them. Travellers in this region are not rare and are welcomed obviously for the small amount of extra cash they bring to these remote tribal villages. You could tell the tribesmen and women had a good time having some fun scaring the tourists as well as sharing their culture. This part of the show and the interactions that Kevin has with the porters and that Mireya and Benedict have when they take the time to speak to the Masai warriors really make the trip feel like you are along with them. To me it is a shame to take a journey like this and not spend as much time experiencing the culture around you and how different it is from your own as you do looking at the scenery.
This is the end of the second episode- the journey will continue with a total of 8 episodes. Will they make the trek in the 30 days they have set out to do it in? What will happen with the four explorers as they continue to jockey for leadership? Can they all stay healthy without running water and so far from help? What other dangers will they face from man , beast and the elements? I am looking forward to seeing how it all works out and enjoying the ride. This is armchair travel at its best with not one but 4 guides to provide perspective and narrate the world we are visiting.
Tune in to The History Channel on Sunday nights from May 31 through the summer to share in this historic travel across Africa, tracing the steps of one of the most exciting trips in history. Let’s see if the team can make it to their destination and ask ” Dr Livingstone I presume?” for themselves.
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