The fabric of the cosmos - What is space ?

Directed by

Graham Judd et Sabin Streeter

Produced by

WBGH Educational Foundation

Documentary, United States, France, United Kingdom, 2011, 52 min

Space separates us from each other, one galaxy from the next, and atoms from each other. It is everywhere in the universe. But to most of us, space is nothing, an empty void. Well, it turns out space is not what it seems. Brian Greene reveals space as a dynamic fabric that can stretch, twist, warp, and ripple under the influence of gravity. Stranger still is a newly discovered ingredient of space that actually makes up 70% percent of the universe. Physicists call it dark energy because while they know it’s out there, they have no idea what it is. Probing space on the smallest scales only makes the mysteries multiply—down there, things are going on that physicists today can barely fathom—forces powerful enough to generate whole universes. To top it off, scientists propose that space may just be a projection of a deeper two-dimensional reality, taking place on a distant surface that surrounds us. Space, far from being empty, is filled with some of the deepest mysteries of our time.

Debate with :

• Sylvie Léon-Hirtz, researcher (CNES)
• Nathalie Mercer, audiovisual and multimedia manager (CNES)

Know more

• What is space ? is one episode of the serie The Fabric of the Cosmos. Three other episodes will be released on Arte.