Superquark - Season 26

First aired: 6/26/2019 9 episodes

Episodes

1. Archaeological Museum of Naples, the Bueno Fonteno caves, the stamped steak

Aired: 6/26/2019

With Alberto Angela at the Archaeological Museum of Naples, where the beautiful collection of bronze statues discovered in the Villa of the Papyri will be the excuse to return to Herculaneum beneath the ashes of Vesuvius. Paolo Magliocco and Francesca Marcelli descended with speleologists and our crew into the Bueno Fonteno caves on Lake Iseo: a precious and unknown underground world. This abyss, a collection of enormous and fascinating karst cavities, rich in water reserves, was recently discovered. A report on the Italian Army's bomb disposal team, where we'll see how old unexploded bombs as well as state-of-the-art devices are cleared, will be followed by an "explosive experiment" in Paco Lanciano's studio. The printed steak: Using new plant-based proteins and a 3D printer, it's possible to produce a new type of meatless steak.

2. Orthopedic prostheses, digital startups, and the sun, under special surveillance

Aired: 7/3/2019

The second episode of Superquark, the BBC nature documentary from the "Dynasties" series, opens. It takes us to Atka Bay, off the coast of Antarctica, in a hostile and icy environment where survival is far from guaranteed. How an orthopedic prosthesis is created: why digital technology is transforming mechanics into cutting-edge technology. Giovanni Carrada and Giulia De Francovich went to see how, starting from a simple piece of titanium, digital technologies help create a highly sophisticated product, performing a double miracle: medical and economic. Paolo Magliocco and Daniela Franco are in Mestre at the multimedia and interactive museum dedicated to the twentieth century, where the short century, the century of world wars, the century of the economic boom, the century of great technological innovations, and social changes can be explored on many levels, from simple curiosity to scientific exploration.

3. Tokyo Olympics, Turin's Egyptian Museum, and the police's technological arsenal

Aired: 7/10/2019

The third episode of Superquark, the BBC nature documentary about lions, opens with a focus on two females who, at a certain point, find themselves alone and must protect what remains of their pride: eight cubs. With the Tokyo Olympics a year away, how are Italian athletes training? Today, competition is so intense that Olympic preparation requires complex technologies to study athletic performance in minute detail. In the studio with Piero Angela, Professor Enrico Giovannini, an Italian economist, statistician, and academic, will discuss one of the most important debates of our time: the environment. At the Egyptian Museum in Turin, discovering invisible archaeology. Thieves and criminals today have an additional, very powerful enemy: electronics. And in particular, artificial intelligence.

4. The wild dogs

Aired: 7/24/2019

In this fifth episode, the BBC nature documentary takes us to India, to the Bandhavgarh Wildlife Refuge. Thanks to its dense jungle, ponds, and abundant prey, it's the perfect habitat for one of the most fascinating felines: the tiger. The reserve is home to more than 80 tigers. Raj Bhera is one of them. She recently became a mother of four cubs. BBC cameras followed her for 220 days, observing her as she patrols the territory to defend its borders and prepares to hunt just a short distance from her den to feed and protect her young.

5. Johnson Space Center, the Rimini purifier

Aired: 7/31/2019

Alberto Angela is at the heart of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a truly unique place: the laboratory where the rocks collected on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts are preserved. Inside, Alberto Angela will reveal what these stones have to say. In "Frankenstein," Mary Shelley imagined it was possible to reconnect nerve fibers between the brain and the body. Barbara Gallavotti and Francesca Marcelli went to hear from the experts to understand what became of that dream. Keeping the sea clean and properly purifying sewage is not an impossible feat, as demonstrated by the town that has been a symbol of seaside holidays for at least half a century: Rimini. How did they manage it? Superquark went to see how the purifier works. What does it take to be happy? Over 80% of people answer "money" and "success." "Nothing could be more wrong," Robert Waldiger of Harvard Medical School would respond.

6. Childhood obesity, volcanoes, autism

Aired: 8/7/2019

In Reggio Emilia, epidemiologists and pediatricians are working side by side to address the problem of childhood obesity. Barbara Gallavotti and Giulia De Francovich went to find out how. Led by Alberto Angela, they will visit the place where everything that happens on the International Space Station is managed: the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Volcanoes have a voice. Special microphones decode sounds inaudible to the human ear that herald imminent eruptions. Marco Visalberghi and Barbara Bernardini explain what's happening on Mount Etna. What is autism? Barbara Gallavotti and Rossella Livigni will take stock of a highly diverse and little-understood condition that affects thousands of families in Italy. The new satellites are small, inexpensive, and launched in their hundreds: who is rewriting the rules of space traffic, and how?

7. Toirano caves, liquid biopsy, Nemo's garden

Aired: 8/14/2019

Through careful analysis of animal bones and human footprints found in the Toirano caves, a group of high-level specialists was able to reconstruct a day in the caves that took place 14,000 years ago. Gianpiero Orsingher interviewed them. Andrey Varlamov is a Russian physicist with a passion for Italian cuisine and who works for the National Research Council (CNR) in Rome. For years, he has been experimenting with the physics of cooking. This time, he has developed the formula for Neapolitan pizza. Paolo Magliocco and Federica Calvia interviewed him. The new frontiers of prevention. Will a drop of blood be enough to detect possible tumors? Marco Visalberghi and Barbara Brenardini visited the MIT laboratories in Boston to understand what liquid biopsy is. Barbara Gallavotti and Giulia De Francovich will talk about an Italian researcher in Oxford who is tracking down fifty thousand books published in the first decades after the invention of the printing press.

8. Resistant bacteria, the Entracque dam, expeditions and lunar bases

Aired: 8/21/2019

The enormous capacity of bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance poses a major risk for the future. Barbara Gallavotti and Rossella Li Vigni set out to understand the possible remedies. The Entracque Dam, the energy giant: Giovanni Carrada and Gianpiero Orsingher journeyed deep into the mountain to uncover the secrets of Europe's largest hydroelectric dam. We learn from our mistakes. This is why simple procedures now exist to ensure maximum safety in air travel and in the operating room. Massimiano Bucchi and Rossella Li Vigni set out to find out what they are. Can intelligent machines really be intelligent? Could Artificial Intelligence also become a risk? Paolo Magliocco and Giulia De Francovich traveled to Oxford to discuss three exemplary cases with philosopher Luciano Floridi. Who will be the thirteenth astronaut to set foot on the Moon? An update on future lunar expedition and base projects.

9. Smell, forest hi tech, digital payments

Aired: 8/27/2019

In Trieste, a group of neuroscientists is studying smell and tells us what remains to be discovered about this still little-known sense. Barbara Gallavotti and Francesca Marcelli went to interview them. Superquark goes behind the scenes of a major discovery: the lakes hidden beneath the polar ice cap of Mars. How a team of Italian researchers managed to identify these lakes a kilometer and a half below the surface. An in-depth study will follow in the studio, featuring a scientific experiment by Paco Lanciano and Piero Angela. Monitoring our forestry heritage thanks to satellites, drones, and sensors applied directly to the trees. Today it's possible. Paolo Magliocco and Gianpiero Orsingher went to see the Hi-Tech forests. Digital payments, Bits instead of banknotes: methods, convenience, and security of new electronic payments. Giovanni Carrada and Rossella Li Vigni went to the Bank of Italy to investigate.