A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Release Date:
October 27, 2003
Original Title:
Magnetic Storm
Genres:
Documentary
Production Companies:
NOVA
PBS Digital Studios
Ratings / Certifications:
US: G
Runtime: 60
What is weakening Earth’s invisible shield? Magnets have the power to attract and repel—sometimes on a massive scale. The Earth’s molten core—a violent mix of searing heat, crushing pressure, and a billion trillion tons of liquid iron—creates an invisible shield that surrounds the globe, guarding against a constant barrage of deadly radiation from space. But over the last few decades, the Earth’s magnetic field has weakened dramatically, intriguing scientists across the globe. The power generated 2000 miles beneath our feet protects us every day, but the loss of Earth’s magnetic field is a brewing storm that affects us all. While experts research and debate, persistent questions remain. Is a rare geomagnetic reversal the cause of earth’s inner turmoil? And if the magnetic field were to vanish altogether, would Earth become as lifeless as Mars?
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Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).
At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.
Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)
While much of the above data are retrieved directly from outside APIs and other such sources, data from American Film Institute (AFI) and British Film Institute (BFI) were manually entered the old fashioned way into a MySQL database. Re BFI I took the following liberties:
Regarding profile removals and data corrections:
Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).
Whereas the overall purpose of this website is to serve as a personal demo/portfolio/workshop of web and data skills, this Movies section is not meant to compete with or substitute for far more definitive movie websites.
Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.