A revolutionary new series about scientific explorers soon introduced

Movie Trailer: BREAKTHROUGH premier on National Geographic Channel

Executive produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Steve Michaels, Jonathan Koch and Mark Dowley, BREAKTHROUGH is a revolutionary new series about scientific explorers from leading universities and institutions and how their cutting-edge innovations and advancements will change people’s lives in the immediate future and beyond.

The series intends to bring to life the stories, people and technology behind these breakthroughs, and show how they are changing the world.

Each hour-long episode is directed by a Hollywood visionary – Angela Bassett, Peter Berg, Paul Giamatti, Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brett Ratner.

The new series explores the remarkable scientific discoveries in brain science, longevity, water, energy, pandemics and cyborg technology.

It will also explore the courage, imagination, passion and self-sacrifice of the scientists bringing these innovations to life.

Presented by American digital cable and satellite television channel, National Geographic Channel, and US energy giant GE, brands long dedicated to innovation, science and exploration, the series will air in Vietnam on National Geographic Channel at 9pm every Saturday night since November 7.

The six episodes of BREAKTHROUGH cover the following themes.

Water Apocalypse (Directed by Angela Bassett): Bassett focuses on inspiring stories of people working to change the world, such as Sandra Postel, who is trying to bring water back to the Colorado Delta, which became a dried-up husk after the Colorado River was diverted to feed the western United States; Aaron Mandell, whose solar-powered desalinisation project offers a way to conserve and reuse this precious resource; and Italian architect Arturo Vittori, whose quest to build a water-collecting tower in a remote village in Ethiopia dramatizes all the triumphs and challenges of innovation.

Fighting Pandemics (Directed by Peter Berg): Berg takes viewers into the dramatic, inspiring and sometimes heartbreaking world of pioneers scrambling to stop an outbreak and save the world from future plagues. From antibiotics and vaccines to computer programmes that predict how viruses will spread, new lifesaving tools will be used to fight a wide range of viruses in the near future, including HIV, influenza, dengue fever, malaria and a host of other killer diseases.

More Than Human (Directed by Paul Giamatti): Now we are learning how to manipulate our genetic code and seize the keys to creation. But as the natural and man-made worlds merge, will we become more than human? Watch Trish Aelker at Lockheed Martin Exoskeleton Technologies build exoskeletons that give mere mortals super strength, and Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, a brain-machine interfaces expert whose work with the Walk Again Project is giving hope to people with traumatic spine injuries.

Energy From The Edge (Directed by Akiva Goldsman): Finding new ways to harness the energy around us takes a rare breed of scientist/engineer: men and women with a combination of technical skill, imagination and unwavering focus. This hour follows innovative alternative energy projects and the colourful people behind them, like engineer Louis Michaud, who is building a tornado machine to harness the energy it produces; and the team at the National Ignition Facility, who are trying to save the world through the power of controlled fusion.

How Long Can We Live? (Directed by Ron Howard): Can we move beyond treating individual diseases and instead treat the aging process itself? Would a longer life necessarily be a better life? A loose-knit group of researchers believe the real breakthrough is extending our health span – the period of life spent free of disease. Hear from Laura Deming, who dropped out of M.I.T. and committed herself to finding and funding projects that can expand the human health span, and Dr. Brian Kennedy, whose work in the basic biology of aging has been crucial to the development of countless other researchers’ work.

The Brain: The Final Frontier (Directed by Brett Ratner): After millennia of speculation about what goes on inside the human brain, we now have the tools to explore its hidden reaches. These tools are leading to breakthroughs that may free thousands from comas and afflictions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. They are also shedding light on the mystery of consciousness and what makes us who we are.