Superquark - Season 9

1. Episode 1

Aired: 6/12/2002

In this first issue, an impressive report: cigarette smoke causes pollution to the lungs that is 100 times greater than that which leads to blocking traffic in the city. For Superquark, researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Milan have repeated the experiment that allows us to see what happens in a closed environment when someone lights up a cigarette, thus revealing the real damage caused by passive smoking, as Giovanni Carrada will explain. Alberto Angela will tell us the story and secrets of the long and careful restoration thanks to which Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua were brought back to their ancient splendor. A "behind the scenes" of a construction site capable of moving. Guests in the studio will be Salvatore Mannone and Gustavo Torreggiani, billiard champions. The champions of the green baize will talk about the passion, studies, techniques, and secrets of a game with precise rules that requires knowledge and a lot of concentration.

2. Episode 2

Aired: 6/19/2002

They are the largest baths of all time. They are located in Rome and have resisted looting and destruction over the centuries. They are the Baths of Emperor Diocletian. Alberto Angela went to visit them to discover their history, their architectural structure and their artistic treasures. For the usual appointment with the documentary, the second episode of the BBC series "Blue Planet" dedicated to the Ocean will be proposed. This evening we will talk about the so-called "coral seas", the richest and most colorful communities of all the seas in the world. Spectacular images of coral reefs, true underwater paradises. Guest in the studio is Dr. Donata Lodi of UNICEF with whom Piero Angela will address the sad topic of infibulation. A mutilation, a painful cut, an indelible mark. There are at least 40 countries in which the practice of genital mutilation on small victims is widespread.

3. Episode 3

Aired: 6/26/2002

The subsoil of Rome hides real treasures. In areas of the city where modern buildings stand, remains of the ancient Imperial City are discovered: streets, baths, walls and even rooms where the frescoes made by our distant ancestors have remained intact. Like in the tomb of a family of senators of ancient Rome, buried for centuries under a building in the Porta Latina district. Alberto Angela went to visit it. For the usual appointment with the documentary, the third episode of the BBC series "Blue Planet" dedicated to the Ocean will be proposed. This evening we will talk about the Arctic and Antarctic. Extraordinary images will make us discover the life of apparently deserted and unreal worlds, where only darkness and cold seem to dominate. Guest in the studio is the writer Carlo Lucarelli. With Piero Angela he will talk about his profession as an author of crime novels, some of which have become screenplays for successful films.

4. Episode 4

Aired: 7/3/2002

5. Episode 5

Aired: 7/10/2002

6. Episode 6

Aired: 7/17/2002

7. Episode 7

Aired: 7/24/2002

8. Episode 8

Aired: 7/31/2002

How much noise do night owls make? A study by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Rome 3 tells us. In the documentary: how a hurricane is born and acts and how nature reacts. What dangerous secret can an egg hide? We're talking about salmonella. A guest in the studio, the Chievo coach who talks to us about his playing philosophy.

9. Episode 9

Aired: 8/7/2002

10. Episode 10

Aired: 8/14/2002

11. Episode 11

Aired: 8/21/2002

12. Episode 12

Aired: 8/28/2002

13. Episode 13

Aired: 9/4/2002

A 9300 km long track that passes through different landscapes: Michelangelo Pepe takes us on the Trans-Siberian, on a journey that starts from Moscow to Vladivostok and crosses seven time zones, introducing us to different peoples and cultures. The reportage to discover stories and people met "on the way" continues in the next episode. Sharks swam in the ocean long before man set foot on our planet: they have existed since time immemorial. This week's documentary is the true story of the shark, starting from the monsters of prehistory up to the sophisticated killing machines of today.

14. Episode 14

Aired: 9/12/2002

The journey along the Trans-Siberian continues, which in this second part, in addition to the different landscapes and the most varied humanity, will introduce us to Irkutusk. It is in this large center, during the construction of the line, that the two sections of the railway met, one departing from Moscow and the other from Vladivostok. Stories of history, sensations, the real Russia connected by a train in this service by Michelangelo Pepe. When cinema and television need to use animals, from tigers to tarantulas, they rely on instructors who are specialists in the sector.

15. Episode 15

Aired: 9/16/2003

In 1993, the magnificent Renaissance Bridge of Mostar collapsed under the blows of the fratricidal war in the former Yugoslavia. Today, finally, we are thinking about reconstruction. A group of Italians has been awarded the task of designing the rebirth of the bridge as it was before the destruction, with its characteristic "humpback" shape. Marco Visalberghi shows us the difficulties and prospects of a long-awaited project. The predators of the seas: orcas. These carnivorous cetaceans that reach six tons in size, even feed on large whales and represent a personification of a sea "monster".