Hurricane Sandy is one of the most treacherous weather events to ever hit North America – affecting millions by floods, fires, blackouts, and mass evacuations. But how did Sandy become such a powerful storm?CURIOSITY: SUPERSTORM APOCALYPSE (**working title**) premieres Sunday, Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT on Discovery and follows the action hour-by-hour from the hurricane’s formation in the Caribbean through its intensification in Cuba to the devastation across the East Coast.
Using on-the-ground expert analysis and CGI and satellite imaging, CURIOSITY: SUPERSTORM APOCALYPSE (wt) explores how four distinct phenomena combined to create the perfect storm. Are there any better predictors that could have offered more warning? And what lessons have experts learned to help prepare for the next megastorm?
Part of Discovery’s landmark “big questions” series CURIOSITY, this special also takes viewers inside the storm with footage captured by those on the ground using their own cameras and smartphones. Survivors share their stories, some narrowly escaping with their lives, and recount what it was like as Sandy engulfed their city.
CURIOSITY, now in its second season on Discovery, brings the “I wonder?” moment to television with a provocative series of specials, ranging from storms and Stonehenge, to volcanoes and human evolution. New one-hour CURIOSITY specials continue into December, including:
CURIOSITY: STONEHENGE
Sun., Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
It’s one of the most iconic monuments in the world. Older than the pyramids, it has stood for more than 4,000 years. But how did the stones used to construct Stonehenge get across land and sea from a quarry in Wales to their final location more than 400 kilometres away? And how did the ancients raise the multi-ton stones? For the first time, archaeologists and experts will construct an accurate Bronze Age boat and row the stones from their source to the ancient site in an attempt to solve one of the engineering’s greatest mysteries.
CURIOSITY: MANKIND RISING
Sun., Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
Learn the extraordinary story of the real ancestry of every human being on the planet – in an incredible, single and seamless shot! Zooming through time, this special follows the journey of how one individual evolved from nameless slime.
CURIOSITY: CAN WE PREDICT VOLCANOES?
Sun., Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
Millions of people live in the shadow of active volcanoes – and predicting when they will erupt is nearly impossible. But scientists around the world are getting closer to unlocking a volcanoes deadly secrets. Using CGI compositing techniques, experts delve into the heart of these monsters to show how they work…and why they are so difficult to understand.
CURIOSITY: X-RAY YELLOWSTONE
Sun., Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
When will the super volcano underground erupt? Why are wolves decimating the elk population? What triggers deadly avalanches and spreads raging forest fires? And what makes peregrine falcons one of world’s most lethal hunters? Researchers at Yellowstone National Park have many unanswered questions. With scientific and television firsts, new imaging technologies, and capturing unfolding events as they happen, scientists expose the hidden wonders of this incredible wilderness.
CURIOSITY: THE SUN
Sun., Dec. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
The sun is entering a new phase of violent activity…and massive solar storms could devastate the Earth. But what do the experts really know about the sun and its inner workings? In a visual first, this special creates a virtual sun and send the world’s top solar scientists on an expedition through the fire star, from the nuclear engine at its heart, all the way to its surface…and beyond.
