XFINITY Science Saturdays Begin Tomorrow

Comcast, in partnership with the National Geographic Channel, will sponsor nine at the beginning tomorrow and through July 30.

Each Saturday, museum guests are invited to attend hourly screenings of special science programming in the museum’s theater.

The XFINITY Science Saturdays program is designed to highlight the National Geographic Channel’s outstanding programs that are available on XFINITY TV and complement the museums’ popular educational programs. 

Featured shows include The 12,000 Bottle Boat, Jurassic CSI, Hubble’s Amazing Universe; Naked Science: Birth of the Earth, Moon Mysteries, Naked Science: Secret World of Fireworks and Ultimate Factories: Caterpillar.

Comcast will also feature XFINITY Science Saturdays on its Local On Demand show What To Do Around Atlanta.

National Geographic Channel is available on XFINITY TV Digital Preferred service in HD on Channel 839.

XFINITY Science Saturdays screenings take place in the museum’s theater starting on the hour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Featured dates of National Geographic Channel programming are as follows:

June 4 - Hubble’s Amazing Universe

It's perhaps the most renowned telescope in the world; responsible for unlocking many mysteries of the final frontier; and now it is in danger of being lost forever. The Hubble Space Telescope has explored the creation of stars and planets, the glory of supernovas and the formation of super massive black holes, charted dark matter and changed forever our understanding of reality itself. Now, it's spiraling toward the Earth, and astronauts are embarking on a dangerous mission to fix it. In Hubble's Amazing Universe, we'll glimpse the far ends of the universe as seen through the amazing Hubble Space Telescope, and meet one of the astronauts risking everything to save it.

June 11 – Naked Science: Birth of the Earth

The Earth is unlike any other planet we know, because it supports life. It's not just our home, it's the only safe haven we have in the universe. But how did form? What strange forces created this living planet? It's a mystery scientists are just beginning to solve.  Follow an imaginary time traveler on a journey back in time 4.5 billion years ago to uncover the natural forces that created our planet and made it possible for life to evolve.

June 18 – The 12,000 Bottle Boat

It’s the ultimate eco-dream – a six person catamaran built from more than 12,000 recycled plastic drinking bottles.  It’s the brainchild of eco-adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild, who has made it his life mission to spread a message of environmental responsibility across the globe.  Follow the creation and journey of the Plasticki, and the daily struggles and hazards facing its crew.  First, de Rothschild wrestles with the challenge of finding recyclable plastic strong enough to create the framework to hold the thousands of bottles needed for buoyancy.

June 25 – Ultimate Factories: Caterpillar

Imagine a truck the size of a two-story house on 14-foot-high tires that weigh 5 tons each, powered by a diesel engine that weighs 42,000 lbs. This is the Caterpillar 797B, the world's most powerful mechanical dump truck, designed by the world's largest manufacturer of construction vehicles.  It takes 80 days and 700 tons of material to transform molten metal into this engineering marvel and mining Goliath.  The vehicle is so large that assembly takes place at six different locations, including plants in Amite, La.; Lexington, S.C.; Lafayette, Ind.; and Decatur, Ill.  Final assembly happens at the actual mine site -- and that alone takes 20 days! Travel across the country and get a real insider's tour of all the Ultimate Factories where they build this extraordinary mammoth.

July 2 – Naked Science: Secret World of Fireworks

How do fireworks burst into spectacular colors and patterns in perfect unison?  We visit "America's First Family of Fireworks," Zambelli Fireworks in New Castle, Pa., to learn how the century-old pyrotechnics company handcrafts thousands of fireworks in a dazzling array of colors, shapes and sizes.  We go inside their laboratory to discover the closely held scientific secrets, recipes and techniques they use to transform the most basic of materials -- paper, string and gunpowder -- into their awe-inspiring million-dollar displays.  Then we reveal the science behind the computerized choreography that paints the night.

July 9 – Moon Mysteries

It's an 81 million-billion ton lump of rock and dust orbiting almost 250,000 miles over our heads. It gives us our tides, our 24-hour days and our seasons. If it's possible the moon influenced the evolution of life on Earth, could it also be responsible for bizarre human behavior? As it continually tugs on the Earth, could the moon's gravitational pull trigger catastrophic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? Naked Science explores the mysteries of the Earth's celestial companion.

July 16 – Jurassic CSI

If you thought you knew about dinosaurs, think again.  Paleontologist Phil Manning challenges existing beliefs and poses new questions most dinosaur experts never thought to ask.  Using unprecedented methods and 21st century technologies, Phil connects paleontology with experts in the fields of medicine, engineering, design and more to better understand the reign of the dinosaurs.  In this six-part series, Phil and his team investigate everything from the sensory powers of the killer predator, Tyrannosaurus Rex, to the frontier field of soft-tissue preservation… is it possible to see the proteins of once living dinosaurs?  To find the answers, Phil and his team travel the globe assembling pieces of the puzzle and putting them to the test at Manchester University.  Will he find the answers he seeks… stay tuned.

July 30 — How to Build A Volcano

In an epic and ambitious quest for answers, a team of British, Canadian and American volcanologists are teaming up to carry out a breath-taking experiment, the sheer scale of which has never before been attempted.  With the help of a Hollywood crew, they are going to design and build a carefully scaled 4 story high volcano – then, in a series of spectacular eruptions they’ll use the model to test cutting-edge scientific theories.