Nearly 100 years after its creation, the power of the U.S. Federal Reserve has never been greater. Markets and governments around the world hold their breath in anticipation of the Fed Chairman’s every word. Yet the average person knows very little about the most powerful - and least understood - financial institution on earth.
Based on an essay written by noted best-selling novelist Jonathan Franzen for The New Yorker, ‘Emptying the Skies’ chronicles the rampant poaching of migratory songbirds in southern Europe. Songbird populations have been drastically declining for several decades, and a number of species face imminent extinction. The film explores the wonder of these tiny globe-flying marvels, millions of which are unlawfully slaughtered each year for large sums on the black market.
"With the birth of the knowledge society, higher education is booming. There were 13 million university students in 1960. In 2015, their ranks had swollen to nearly 200 million. The number of students attending university is exploding around the globe, as a gigantic global student market is being forged… It’s a simple fact: for the past two decades, the new wealth producing champions have been business executives and members of the intellectual and scientific professions.
A new industrial revolution is under way. Super-intelligent, docile and never tired, robot workers are carrying out ever more complex tasks. In Saudi Arabia, some have reached such a stage of evolution that they have even acquired the status of citizen! But workers are struggling to find their place in this new world and even the creators themselves suspect that robots are destroying more jobs than they create. Is society prepared for such upheavals?
An industrial revolution is under way. Super-intelligent robots are carrying out ever more complex tasks. In Saudi Arabia, some have evolved so much that they have acquired the status of citizen! But workers are struggling to find their place in this new world and even the creators suspect that robots are destroying more jobs than they create. Is society prepared for such upheavals?
The Canary island of El Hierro, which produces most of its electricity from wind, is the focus of the premiere episode of the series, which examines islands that have embraced sustainable energy.
Iceland's embrace of volcanic hydro power and geothermal energy, which provides almost all of its electricity, is detailed. Also: its effort to run all cars and its enormous fishing fleet on hydrogen.
On the Portuguese island of Madeira, the inhabitants are converting an irrigation system from the 15th century into a future-age energy storage facility.
The Orkney Islands, which is studying whether tides and waves can be turned into an energy source, are spotlighted.
A look at the Baltic island of Samso, which produces more energy than it can use from wind turbines and straw-fuelled thermal power stations.
