Space Oddities

Experimental physicist at CERN and acclaimed science presenter Harry Cliff offers an eye-opening account of newly discovered strangenesses of the universe that could transform our understanding of the fundamentals of physics and of reality.

Something strange is going on in the cosmos. Scientists are uncovering a catalogue of weird phenomena that simply can't be explained by our long-established theories of the universe. Particles with unbelievable energies are bursting from beneath the Antarctic ice. Unknown forces seem to be tugging on the basic building blocks of matter. Stars are flying away from us far faster than anyone can explain.

After decades of fruitless searching, could we finally be catching glimpses of a profound new view of our physical world? Or are we being fooled by cruel tricks of the data?

In Space Oddities, Harry Cliff, a cutting-edge research physicist at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, provides a riveting look at the universe's most confounding puzzles. In a journey that spans continents, from telescopes perched high above the Atacama Desert to the subterranean caverns of state-of-the-art particle colliders to balloons hovering over the frozen icesheets of the South Pole, he meets the men and women hunting for answers - who have staked their careers and reputations on the uncertain promise of new physics.

The result is a mind-expanding, of-the-moment investigation of physics and cosmology as they transform before us. With wonder, clarity, and a dose of humour, Cliff investigates the question: Are these anomalies accidents of nature, or could they be pointing us toward vast, hidden worlds?