Unexpected Egg Paradox
An egg is concealed in one of ten boxes. You will not be able to deduce which box it is in before you open the box and see it.
| S - | Ep - | |
| - min | ||
Imagine that you have before you ten boxes labeled from 1 to 10. While your back is turned, a friend conceals an egg in one of the boxes. You turn around. ñI want you to open these boxes one at a time,î your friend tells you, ñin serial order. Inside one of them I guarantee that you will find an unexpected egg. By ïunexpected' I mean that you will not be able to deduce which box it is in before you open the box and see it.î Assuming that your friend is absolutely trustworthy in all statements, can this prediction be fulfilled? Apparently not. Your friend obviously will not put the egg in box 10, because after you have found the first nine boxes empty you will be able to deduce with certainty that the egg is in the only remaining box. This would contradict your friend's statement. Box 10 is out. Now consider the situation that would arise if your friend were so foolish as to put the egg in box 9. You find the first eight boxes empty. Only 9 and 10 remain. The egg cannot be in box 10. Ergo it must be in 9. You open 9. Sure enough, there it is. Clearly it is an expected egg, and so your friend is again proved wrong. Box 9 is out. But now you have started on your inexorable slide into unreality. Box 8 can be ruled out by precisely the same logical argument, and similarly boxes 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Confident that all ten boxes are empty, you start to open them. What have we here in box 5? A totally unexpected egg! Your friend's prediction is fulfilled after all. Where did your reasoning go wrong?
The Unexpected Hanging Paradox
The day of the hanging will be a surprise, so it cannot happen at all, so it will be a surprise.
| S - | Ep - | |
| High | - min | |
A judge tells a condemned prisoner that he will be hanged at noon on one weekday in the following week but that the execution will be a surprise to the prisoner. He will not know the day of the hanging until the executioner knocks on his cell door at noon that day. Having reflected on his sentence, the prisoner draws the conclusion that he will escape from the hanging. His reasoning is in several parts. He begins by concluding that the "surprise hanging" can't be on Friday, as if he hasn't been hanged by Thursday, there is only one day left - and so it won't be a surprise if he's hanged on Friday. Since the judge's sentence stipulated that the hanging would be a surprise to him, he concludes it cannot occur on Friday. He then reasons that the surprise hanging cannot be on Thursday either, because Friday has already been eliminated and if he hasn't been hanged by Wednesday night, the hanging must occur on Thursday, making a Thursday hanging not a surprise either. By similar reasoning he concludes that the hanging can also not occur on Wednesday, Tuesday or Monday. Joyfully he retires to his cell confident that the hanging will not occur at all. The next week, the executioner knocks on the prisoner's door at noon on Wednesday which, despite all the above, was an utter surprise to him. Everything the judge said came true.
"Unfillable Void"
| S - | Ep - | 2013// |
| Short Story | - min | |
Unholy
| 2007/09/04 | ||
| Film | 90 min | |
| HOR SF THR | USA | |
A woman who lost her daughter to suicide investigates a theory that may have to do with the young girl's death. Martha, a widow living in rural Pennsylvania, comes home to find her daughter about to blow her own head off with a shotgun in the basement of their house. Martha doesn't succeed in stopping her child's horrific demise, but the girl's death gradually leads the grieving mother to investigate a conspiracy that involves a legendary local witch, Nazi dabbling with the occult, and secret government experiments, with the story even referencing the fabled Philadelphia Experiment.
Unidentified Flying Oddball
| 1979/07/26 | ||
| Film | 93 min G | |
| COM FAM ADV FAN SF | USA | |
An astronaut and his android double travel back to the time of King Arthur. A NASA spacecraft proves Einstein right when, traveling faster than light, it ends up near King Arthur's Camelot. On board are big-hearted Tom Trimble and Hermes, the look-alike robot he built. Tom immediately makes friends with pretty Alisande and enemies with the awful knight Sir Mordred. It seems Mordred is out to oust Arthur, while Alisande's father is not the goose she believes him to be but is also a victim of Mordred's schemes. It's as well the Americans have arrived.
Universal Traveler
| S - | Ep - | |
| Short | 12 min | |
| SF | ||
Making nanobots to travel through time.
The Universe
Cosmic Holes
| S 2 | Ep 2 | 2007/12/04 |
| TV Series Episode | 45 min | |
| DOC HIS | USA | |
Black holes, white holes and worm holes are all consistent with Einstein's theory of General Relativity. Of the three, actual evidence exists only for black holes. Their behavior is explained. Scientists speculate on on whether white holes and worm holes exist and how they would behave.
The Universe
Unexplained Mysteries
| S 2 | Ep 11 | 2008/02/26 |
| TV Series Episode | 45 min | |
| DOC HIS | USA | |
A few of the astronomical mysteries that bother scientists and the progress toward understanding them are described.
The Universe
Gravity
| S 2 | Ep 17 | 2008/04/15 |
| TV Series Episode | 45 min | |
| DOC HIS | USA | |
Program presents scientists current understanding of gravity and some of the phenomenon it causes.
The Universe
Light Speed
| S 3 | Ep 3 | 2008/12/09 |
| TV Series Episode | 45 min | |
| DOC HIS | USA | |
Physical behavior that results from having a constant speed of light are described.
The Universe
Science Fiction, Science Fact
| S 4 | Ep 11 | 2009/11/03 |
| TV Series Episode | 45 min | |
| DOC HIS | USA | |
Is science-fiction rooted in science? Has science caught up to science-fiction, past and present? Is there any scientific technology that has surpassed science-fiction? This episode explores these questions and more.
The Universe
Time Travel
| S 5 | Ep 4 | 2010/08/19 |
| TV Series Episode | 45 min | |
| DOC HIS | USA | |
Scientists have taken a serious look at the possibility of time travel. Current scientific theories offer some likely prospects but engineering a working time machine, even if possible, remains a distant prospect.
University Of Andy
Time Travel
| S 2 | Ep 8 | 2010/04/04 |
| TV Series Episode | - min | |
| COM | USA | |
Learn how to properly navigate the turbulent waters of time travel with Uncle Andy.
Unkai no meiky_ zegai
| Film | 70 min | |
| ADV FAN | Japan | |
In a world that's parallel to ours, a battle between good and evil rages. Himiko, who wants to harness the powers of the gates of the wind in order to rule the universe, is in league with monsters, cyborgs, and other unseemly characters. Himiko wants to capture a teen girl named Miki who is unaware that she is a priestess and possesses a talisman that's key to opening the gates of the wind. Out to protect Miki and to thwart Himiko's plan is Hikikata Toshizo, who was a warrior on earth in the 19th century and who now lives in the parallel world, assisted by his aged sidekick, Gennai. With the help of a cat, Hikikata, Gennai, and Miki may succeed.
Unlocked
| Film | - min | |
Unna and Nuuk
| Film | - min | |
Unpossible
| Film | - min | |
Unsealed: Conspiracy Files
Time Travel
| S 1 | Ep - | |
| TV Series Episode | 60 min | |
Time travel is examined.
Unterwegs nach Atlantis
1 season, 13 episodes
| S - | Ep - | 1982/09/18 |
| TV Series | 25 min | |
| COM FAM SF | Germany | |
Rhon, a twelve year old boy from the year 3000, is the son of a scientist who was involved in the development of time machines. His uncle - Dr. Graf - is accused of the Academy of Sciences to have violated the fundamental law of travel, namely not to change the past. For this reason, Rhon embarks on a journey into the past. Rhon suspected his uncle at the Chateau Noir, the secret meeting of the time travelers in the 16th century. He, however, does not find him, but found only a map of Berlin from the 20th century. So he sets out on a journey back in 1982, but is pursued by men from the future that can damage his machine (AL-2), thereby Rhon is forced to land. (escape thru time from villians)
Untitled Civil War Project
| S - | Ep - | |
| Film In Development | - min | |
A guy who is obsessed with all-things relating to the U.S. Civil War, and who is an active participant in re-enactments, finds himself with a group of people that are transported back in time to the real Civil War.