Ellie Arroway on koko ikänsä etsinyt elämää muilta planeetoilta. Eräänä päivänä hän saa avaruudesta signaalin, josta paljastuvat galaksien välisen kulkuvälineen piirustukset. Kulkuvälineessä on tilaa vain yhdelle. Ellie joutuu kamppailemaan asemastaan, mutta tieteellisten tutkimusten johtajana hänet valitaan lopulta matkalle. Se uhkaa erottaa hänet Palmer Jossista, joka toimii presidentin neuvonantajana. Palmer on päättänyt tehdä kaikkensa estääkseen lähdön.
Radioastronomi Zane Zaminsky uskoo havainneensa kosmisessa kohinassa älyllisen signaalin. Zane saa välittömästi potkut kertoessaan havainnoistaan esimiehelleen. Omin päin Zane yrittää epätoivoisesti selvittää signaalin alkuperää, mikä johdattaa hänet Meksikoon, jossa salaperäinen energiavoimala näyttäisi generoivan muutakin kuin sähköä. Kun mahdollista lähestyvää luonnonkatastrofia tutkiva tiedenainen Ilana Green löytyy kuolleena, alkaa Zane epäillä, että hän on salaliiton jäljillä.
An astronomer who works at the Mexican Large Millimeter Telescope discovers a misterious signal coming from the Cygnus constellation, which starts causing strange events at the observatory.
Prof. Jim Al-Khalili tackles the biggest subject of all, the universe. Through a series of critical observations and experiments that revolutionised our understanding of our world Jim guides us through the greatest cosmic detective story of all. He takes us from the beginning of the universe to the end time and answers the question: where did the universe come from and how will it end?
In an ordinary industrial Soviet town, notable only for presence of a radio-telescope, people start behaving strangely, in a robotic manner, while assuming geometry-inspired aliases and organizing into a new hierarchy. The phenomenon spreads via a device of alien origin, called “the mediator”, capable of implanting extraterrestrial minds into human bodies. The aliens are bound by limitations of the terrestrial technology, having to use the means at the disposal of humans to prepare the grounds for the full-scale invasion. With “the mediator" being unable to subdue minds of children, lunatics, geniuses, and rebels, a struggle over the fate of the town and the human civilization ensues.
An incredible travel through space and time between the walls of the Paris Observatory, which is celebrating its 350th birthday. Place of discoveries such as speed of light or Neptune’s existence, it is still today one of the oldest operating observatories and the greatest hub in the world for astronomy and astrophysics researches, second only to Harvard.
Man has always sought to seek further afield. After the seafaring explorers of the 16th century, 21st century cosmologists today navigate more celestial oceans, with each mission providing an ever-broader and more impressive cartography of our surroundings. At the avant garde of modern technology, these strange travellers are actually immobile, and their vessels are powerful and spectacular telescopes, on the Earth or in space, constantly widening the limits of our knowledge and giving form to our dreams of infinity. From Hawaii to Australia, via South Africa and China, we set out on an incredible scientific and human adventure to visit the planet's greatest cosmic exploration centres to discover the new challenges involved in understanding the universe. A journey on Earth and in the heavens that will take your breath away!
What’s it like to dedicate your life to work that won’t be completed in your lifetime? Fifteen years ago, filmmaker David Licata focused on four projects and the people behind them in an effort to answer this universal question.