Airdate: Forces of Nature with Brian Cox

Renowned science presenter Brian Cox returns to ABC next month with a new show, Forces of Nature with Brian Cox.

This is a four part series in which he combines spectacular sights with our understanding of the universe, to reveal how our planet is created by just a handful of forces.

Episode One: “The Universe in a Snowflake.”

In episode one, The Universe In A Snowflake, Brian uncovers how the stunning diversity of shapes in our natural world are shadows of the rules that govern the Universe. In Northern Spain he shows how a breathtaking attempt by hundreds of people to build the highest human tower reveals the force that shapes our planet.

In Nepal, honey-hunters seek out giant beehives that cling to precipitous cliff walls. The perfect hexagonal honeycombs made by the bees to store their precious honey conceal a mathematical rule.

Off the coast of Canada Brian explains how some of the most irregular, dangerous shapes in nature – massive icebergs that surge down from Greenland and into shipping lanes of the Atlantic – emerge from a powerful yet infinitely small force of nature. Even the most delicate six-sided snowflake tells an extraordinary story of the forces of nature that forged it – the same forces that created everything in the Universe.

8:30pm Tuesday August 2nd on ABC.