10 Things You Didn't Know About… (2008)
TV Show

Iain Stewart journeys across the oceans to explore the most powerful giant waves in history, with ten remarkable stories about tsunamis. They can be taller than skyscrapers, travel at the speed of a jet plane and when they reach land, rear up and turn into a wall of water that destroys everything in its path. They caused the ruin of an entire ancient civilization, may have played a small part in the demise of the dinosaurs, and in World War II were used as a weapon of war.

Iain Stewart looks at some of the world's most dramatic earthquakes and reveals the stories and science behind them. In seconds, these powerful forces of nature which cannot be predicted or prevented can shake a town to destruction and shift the landscape forever. We discover why quakes can last 60 times longer on the moon than on earth; how one particular earthquake fault line can produce hallucinations; and how 1960s Cold War spying gave scientists a crucial clue to understanding them.

Iain Stewart travels across mountain ranges and glaciers to reveal ten remarkable stories about avalanches.

Over a million avalanches happen throughout the world each year, and yet we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the chaotic turbulence inside an avalanche. Scientists have had to put themselves right inside a raging avalanche to find out more.

Stewart shows how the deadliest avalanche in history killed 18,000 people in three minutes; how Hannibal's army was devastated by avalanches as he crossed the Alps to fight Rome; why an avalanche was key to one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time; and how global warming may increase the rate of ice avalanches in the future.

Iain Stewart reveals some interesting but little-known scientific facts. Volcanic eruptions are among the most destructive and deadly events in nature. But there is far more to volcanoes than death and destruction - without volcanoes our planet would be a very different place, lacking not only an atmosphere but also life itself.