Content from Autentic

The sun is the miracle that makes everything possible - but also the greatest danger. For the first time, a feature-length documentary is dedicated to the search for the significance of our home star for mankind, science and nature. Thanks to the researchers from the American space agency NASA, who work at the Canary Islands observatories in the hottest and coldest places on the planet.

The endless expanses of the Indian Ocean are home to the last natural paradises: Remote atolls surrounded by coral reefs in crystal clear water. Whole regions of this ocean are still unexplored, many reefs are not marked on any map. The departure of the research vessel Agulhas II from the island of La Réunion marks the beginning of one of the greatest scientific adventures of our time. The expedition, initiated by Monaco Explorations with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, lasted six weeks and led into the Western Indian Ocean along the Mascarene Plateau.

From the moment we got engaged and set a wedding date, we began thinking about the reasons we chose one another. What was so special about this relationship that we decided to spend our lives together? Would our love be the same if we were born in another time or at another place? What is love exactly? Driven by those questions, we decided to embark on a one year journey around the world to research whether love, one of the highest values in our lives, is universal, or it is completely conditioned by the circumstances around us.

In the 1950s, Havana shines as a vibrant metropolis—alive with music, casinos, and cabarets. However, beneath the allure lies a city controlled by the American mafia, where luxury contrasts sharply with the poverty endured by most Cubans. U.S. tourists escape Prohibition and moral restrictions back home. Icons like Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, and Ava Gardner revel in the city’s rhythms, frequenting hotspots like the Hotel Nacional and the Tropicana nightclub. Yet beneath the surface, corruption and oppression grip Cuba. Dictator Fulgencio Batista secretly partners with the mafia to build a “Las Vegas in the Caribbean” fueling unrest as the Cuban people suffer. This tension paves the way for Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries, who, on January 8, 1959, triumphantly enter Havana and end U.S. dominance on the island.

Birthplace of Alpine winter tourism and numerous winter sports, and the most fashionable meeting place in the Alps: St. Moritz. Over a hundred years ago, the hype surrounding the small mountain village in the middle of a magnificent mountain backdrop began with wealthy English people spending the winter here and changing the town forever. Grand hotels were built, and the village of 5000 souls quickly became a hotspot for the rich and famous. Since then, the motto in St. Moritz has been: there is nothing that does not exist here.

As one of Germany’s beauties, the river was the gem of German landscape. But with industrialization it became the country’s hardest working river and like everything that has been overworked, it lost it magnificence and charm. Due to tender love and care, the river is now a reigning example of one of the most successful and outstanding renaturation projects in the country.

Since the disappearance of the last male northern white rhino in 2018, only a mother and daughter remain as representatives of the species in a Kenyan reserve. Mammoths, which became extinct 4,000 years ago, are attracting the interest of the private American laboratory Colossal Biosciences. Its researchers are working to produce ex vivo (with artificial wombs) embryos from cells harvested from mammoths, liberated from the thawed soils of Siberia, and from Asian elephant oocytes, 99.6% of whose genome matches that of the ancient mastodon. They hope to have their first baby mammoth by 2028.

If we compare ourselves with our genetically closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, we have few physical advantages. We are far weaker, cannot move nearly as fast, and do not have the same climbing capabilities. Instead, humans excel in areas such as architecture, religion, science, language, writing, art, culture, and ideas. These achievements are due to our larger brain that contain billions of neurons. It was the rapid growth of our brain, originating about 2 million years ago, that allowed us to be the predominant species of the world. What caused this rapid growth of our cerebral cortex? Researchers worldwide have asked this question for many years, but now there finally seems to be an answer.

The documentary tells the exciting story of the beginnings of surgery through to its specialization - a fascinating journey through time from the Stone Age with the first skull openings through antiquity and the early modern era to the first heart operation. The film was shot at the most important locations in the history of surgery - including Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary and the USA. The film contains fascinating and partly unpublished archive material.

Marrakech, one of the most beautiful cities in North Africa, developed into a center of attraction for the elite in the 20th century: The cosmopolitan nature of the city, the riads - traditional houses with a garden in the courtyard - and the souks - the markets - all attract famous personalities such as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

For more and more people, food not only has to be tasty and healthy, but also good for the climate. Five alternatives to classic foods are being put to the test. Can they meaningfully supplement our diet? This documentary goes in search of answers with the vegan star chef Ricky Saward and health experts Irina Blumenstein, Sandra Ulrich-Rückert and Margareta Büning-Fesel.

Heading into the lost empires of Turkmenistan.

Over the past few years, technology has improved our lives in so many ways. Now, some people, called trans-humanists, are taking the next logical step - they are fusing their bodies with digital implants to increase their abilities and expand their senses - they are becoming, in effect, real life cyborgs. How is life going to change for us all if some people have supernatural powers?

The charismatic cats are generally quite shy, but very curious about the world around them. With the help of local rangers and 15 cameras set up in the Bohemian forest, we are able to track the lynxes and observe their every move – such as a hunt during night, or even the intimate hours during mating season. For the lynx, the environment around them is used to their advantage, like the long grass to sneak on prey, or even using the trees to sharpen their claws. With an arsenal of skills at their disposal, the lynx is an exceptional hunter. Come with us as we see these skills in action!

Around four million years ago, ape-like creatures discovered the advantages of walking upright. The starting point of a fascinating journey that, with many dead ends and setbacks, leads to modern man, who populates the whole world as a successful model of evolution. The impressive computer animations bring viewers closer to prehistoric and early man than ever before. The film also accompanies the world-renowned paleoanthropologist Friedemann Schrenk from the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt to hotspots of human history between South Africa and Europe. The film shows documentary scenes from the hotspots of human history as well as spectacular computer animations.

Witness how technological visions become reality with the largest containership the world has ever seen. The largest cargo ship ever built is as large as four soccer fields, reaching 400 meters long and 63 meters wide.

In recent years, resentments and hatred towards Jews have become increasingly aggressive, louder and more brutal. What is at the roots of this development? Statistics show an extreme rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Germany but also worldwide. Berlin, for example, has become the city with the highest number of such attacks in Europe. Whether it’s from the left or the right, among Muslims or simply in normal everyday life - Jews and Jewish institutions are increasingly being threatened and violently assaulted in this country. In this series by Richard C. Schneider, experts and scientists, as well as those affected, attempt to explain the intentional or unintentional mechanisms of anti-Jewish hostility on the basis of historical, social and ideological developments.

In this two-part series, we take a look at the monumental discoveries underway, specifically surrounding black holes and meteorites. Black holes have been revealed as one of the foundations for the basic conditions of life. Through black holes, life is possible in an infinite number of places in space. We also follow how meteorites brought the basic substances of life to our planet, allowing for its creation. The films describe the latest findings concerning cosmic events in relation to the origin of life, providing a grandiose perspective of what makes life possible.

The whole story of the world’s most famous monument is told for the first time, from its ancient beginnings to the groundbreaking renovation underway amid a storm of controversy.

A look at some of the world's largest machines.

New discoveries of dinosaur fossils are completely changing what we know about the animals that lived on our planet millions of years ago.

Humanity's drive to push the bounds of the known world sometimes results in tragedy - but science still remembers the breakthroughs.

Hit rewind, a replay the worst disasters in history. Tracking time, directions, and trajectory - what is revealed post impact? If we knew what would unfold, could we course correct and save lives?

Behind the veil of tourism in Asia’s most stunning National Parks people and animals share the same backyard. Unlike protected areas in North America and Europe, the diverse endangered habitats of Asia are almost always home to people as well as wildlife. This series explores how people and animals live and survive together. Meet gentle Shinto people who have learned how to live in the shadow of an active volcano, a tribal man who cares for orphan elephants by day while wild elephants threaten his village every night and see how the spirits of a tropical island off Borneo stopped a local Imam from cutting down the rainforest. One-horned rhinoceroses, Asiatic elephants, Guizhou golden monkeys and a cast of other wildlife characters fill the lands of Asia from the flood plains of India to the granite peaks of China’s holy mountains. The result is a fusion of great stories, engaging characters and rare and threatened wildlife against a backdrop of drama and beauty.

We examine how animals have evolved over the course of time and analyze how we can benefit from their evolution.

The story of the engineers and mechanics behind some of the largest lifting and moving equipment in the world.

The history of humankind is filled with power-hungry dictators. Come with us on a journey to the past as we re-visit Europe's forgotten dictatorships.