Whether through tidal power plants, ocean currents or wave energy – the sea represents an almost limitless source of energy. Yet despite decades of research and promising pilot projects, marine energy technologies have yet to achieve a significant breakthrough on a global scale. Why does marine energy fall short of its potential?
Lithium is currently mined primarily in South America and Australia – a resource-intensive, environmentally harmful process. Could Europe produce it more sustainably? And how could recycling electric vehicle batteries bring lithium into a circular system? The film explores the technological challenges of creating a closed-loop lithium cycle.
Over 200 million women around the world suffer from endometriosis, a chronic condition that often goes undiagnosed. The film shows how new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are being researched across Europe – from the saliva test and high-intensity focused ultrasound to genetic individualised therapy.
Shipping aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – and modern cargo sailboats could be the answer. Powered mainly by wind, a new generation of ships is already successfully testing emission-free transport from Europe to America. Drawing on high-tech innovations from ocean racing and digital weather routing, they are delivering impressive results.
American psychologist Elisabeth Loftus is world-renowned for her research on the unreliability of human memory. Based on a series of high-profile US court cases in which she regularly serves as an expert for the defence, Memory Wars highlights the tension between truth and justice. In the age of “fake news”, her scientific expertise is more in demand than ever – and no less controversial.
Since the summer of 2020, boats sailing along the Atlantic coast from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Bay of Biscay in the north have been repeatedly attacked by orcas. The whales specfically target and destroy the boats’ rudders. Researchers want to understand what drives the orcas. Curiosity? Competition for food? Or is it all a game?
Since the COVID pandemic, the immune system has become a focal point of medical research. What is the immune system? How can we boost it? Under what circumstances does it fail? How can it help cure diseases like cancer? This scientific film features fascinating examples, interviews with international experts and graphic explanations.
A highly developed civilisation is said to have existed in eastern Honduras. But shortly after the arrival Christopher Columbus’ ships, it vanished. An international team of archaeologists sets off for the Caribbean to retell a long-forgotten story with the help of local people. Some spectacular discoveries are made.
Heatwaves are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity. How can we protect ourselves against extreme heat in the future? What management strategies are there? Cities, in particular, face enormous challenges. This film examines scientific answers and visits “hotspots” in Europe.
What was motherhood like in prehistoric times? Recent archaeological findings prove that the cooperative support of mothers within a community became a successful reproductive strategy. This scientific film also offers insights into evolutionary biology by examining the communal way young white-tufted marmosets are reared.
A few years ago, everyone was talking about declining bee populations, but today beekeeping is booming. There are now so many farmed bees in Swiss cities that they are taking away food from rare wild bees and other insects. This is a problem for biodiversity. Conservationists are now campaigning for the regulation of beekeeping.
The film tells of the discovery of the world’s oldest medical manual. Georg Ebers, a German Egyptologist, came upon the 3,500-year-old work in Luxor in the late nineteenth century and carried it back with him to Saxony in a spectacular manner.
