This series tells the story of mankind, in this episode starting billions of years ago with the early days of the earth's existence, when there was not yet life on our planet.

Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland is a large energy reserve that provides cold and hot water for individual and collective heating, cooling, and air conditioning needs in an environmentally friendly way. Find out more about how it works!

The structure of the German language makes it easy to combine infinitive verbs with prefixes to completely change the meaning of the original verb. This makes it easy to come up with new words — and as a result, the Duden is always expanding!

Since they are often in close contact at school, young children in particular are susceptible to catching head lice. Luckily, parasitologist Heinz Mehlhorn knows how to get rid of the annoying (though ultimately harmless) little bloodsucking parasites.

Rosetta tells us about what she learned during her first year studying comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — and Philae, asleep on the comet itself, finally wakes up from his hibernation!

Rosetta and Philae were ready for their biggest challenge yet: Philae’s landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. When Rosetta said goodbye to her lander and released it onto the comet's surface, the whole world watched in suspense to see what would happen next.

Because they raise so many questions, celestial bodies have always fascinated humankind. Various probes — including Rosetta and her “little brother” Philae — have been sent into space to gather more information. This video presents the probes as courageous and curious figures in a whimsical fairy tale.

It sounds like science fiction: Researchers at the University of Augsburg are developing an app that can recognize a coronavirus infection whenever a potential carrier speaks into the phone. So far, the app has a hit rate of over 80 percent. Copyright: Deutsche Presse Agentur [The German Press Agency]

Freaked out by the idea of a pilotless plane? How about one without any moving parts at all – no turbines, no propellers? The next generation of aircraft could involve ion propulsion, which allows planes to take off and land anywhere – all without making a sound.

What sounds like a distant vision of the future is already possible today – at least when it comes to technology. Will quadcopters and "soulless" unmanned aircraft soon be transporting hundreds of passengers over long distances?

Air travel has been the focus of much scrutiny lately due to its devastating effects on the environment. How will the aircraft of the future address this problem?

A private lab in Germany is working to create a vaccine for COVID-19 as quickly as possible. The US and German governments are already vying for access to the results.

Although it might help with fighting age-related diseases in the future, research into calorie restriction and aging is not so far along – or free of contradictions – that we should factor it into our dietary choices.

Could eating less help us look younger, and more importantly, could it help us live longer? A few studies seem to show that this could be the case, but there are no conclusive results yet.

In a rare close-up, we see the mother eagle working hard to keep its offspring fed. Then we get a look at the Innergschlöß, an 800-year-old Alpine settlement.