[ethereal music playing]
[birds chirping]
[Freeman] The universe…
[calf whines]
…has provided our planet
with all the ingredients needed for life to emerge…
[whooshing]
…and flourish.
The energy flowing through us.
The daily rhythms we follow.
[cub yowls]
[zapping]
[Freeman] The elements we are made of.
But behind all these wonders…
[ethereal tinkling]
…lies a mysterious force…
[exploding]
…that makes all of this possible.
[exploding]
Gravity.
It holds everything in place.
It builds every star…
[rumbling]
…and shapes every planet.
[whooshing]
And guides every life.
It's the ultimate force of attraction.
[penguin squawks]
So profound, it will bring two young souls together…
in their search for the perfect mate.
[dramatic music playing]
In the Southern Ocean, over 2,000 kilometers from Antarctica…
[majestic music playing]
…lies the windswept island of South Georgia.
[penguins squawking]
Home to a colony
of half a million king penguins.
[squawking continues]
And it's a big day for two of them.
New parents.
For over 50 days…
they've been taking turns keeping their precious cargo safe…
[penguins squawking loudly]
…and warm.
And today, it's time to welcome their baby son into the world.
[chick chirping]
[calm music playing]
Little Rocky…
meet big world.
And on the other side of the island,
another little chick is stepping out.
[chick chirping]
A girl.
Paloma.
[chirping continues]
Rocky and Paloma don't know it yet, but they are destined for each other.
[calm music continues]
A force of attraction beyond their control
will bring them together.
[chirping continues]
[dramatic music building]
This force not only hugs Rocky and Paloma firmly to the ground…
[chirping]
…it hugs our atmosphere to the planet.
It keeps Earth orbiting the Sun…
[whooshing]
…the Sun rotating around the center of our galaxy…
[whooshing]
…and galaxies dancing and swirling around each other
on the grandest of scales.
Gravity holds all the pieces of our universe together,
connecting everything…
[whooshing]
…from the most distant star…
[whooshing]
…to the tiniest penguin.
But Rocky and Paloma aren't thinking about their place in the cosmos…
[chick chirping]
…just their next meal.
[playful music playing]
It's taking all the efforts of their devoted parents…
to feed their insatiable appetites.
It's a thankless…
and never-ending task.
[chirping continues]
[penguins squawking]
They're doing everything they can to fatten their chicks in time for winter.
Because as Rocky and Paloma have been growing bigger…
the days have been growing shorter.
[pensive music playing]
Food is becoming scarce.
[penguin squeaking]
Their parents must leave the island…
and travel hundreds of kilometers out to sea…
to hunt for food…
leaving their precious chicks for months
to fend for themselves.
[solemn music playing]
[Paloma crying out]
Paloma's cries go unanswered…
as the first, loneliest night sets in.
[wind gusting]
The darkest moment in a penguin chick's life.
[whooshing]
[ethereal music playing]
But it's nothing compared to our universe's darkest moments…
because long before there was an Earth,
a Sun,
or stars…
there was no light at all.
The universe was just a dark, dense web of gas.
[ethereal music continues]
But here, gravity began to work its magic.
From this gravity came everything.
Parts of the web were pulled together…
into clumps of matter…
[rumbling]
…that grew and grew…
until they got so big, they collapsed in on themselves…
[creaking]
…bursting into life…
[rumbling]
…as the very first stars.
[zapping]
[rumbling in distance]
Gravity kept working,
sculpting the primordial web into more and more stars…
pulling them toward each other
and spinning them into vast galaxies.
[majestic music playing]
From nothing,
gravity shaped an entire universe of possibility…
that still speckles our night sky.
[calm music playing]
[penguins chirping]
But light from distant stars won't keep penguin chicks warm.
[ominous music playing]
With their parents at sea,
Rocky and Paloma are losing weight,
becoming more and more vulnerable.
[seagull grunting]
[chick squealing]
[ominous music crescendos]
The chicks only refuge from the cold
is their fluffy down
and each other.
[solemn music playing]
Their survival hinges on a precise, elegant dance
between one star
and one planet,
choreographed by gravity over four and a half billion years ago.
[whooshing]
[solemn music continues]
Out of the dust and gas left over from the formation of the Sun…
[rumbling]
…gravity pulled bits and pieces of rubble together…
[crashing]
…molding them over time into a planet.
[rumbling]
It was unrecognizable from the home we know now…
but it had all the potential for life…
bathed in the glow of our newborn Sun.
That same Sun, billions of years later, is now rising…
[calm music playing]
…signaling to Rocky and Paloma's parents,
it's time to return to South Georgia…
with their bellies full of fish.
[penguins squawking]
As the sun warms the beaches,
the island is transformed into a haven once again.
[calm music continues]
But making it to shore was the easy part.
Rocky's parents now have to find their baby
amongst thousands of others.
[chicks chirping]
[playful music playing]
Up the coast, Paloma's parents lock onto her special call…
[Paloma chirping]
…and quickly find her in the crowd.
[penguins squawking]
And finally, Rocky's parents also hear
the unmistakable cry…
[Rocky chirping]
…of their little one.
[chirping continues]
His voice has a unique signature only his parents can identify.
[happy music playing]
It's a family reunion.
And two baby bellies
are full at last.
From the first stars to the birth of our galaxy,
Sun, and planet,
gravity set the stage for life.
[whooshing]
But for Earth to become the home we know,
gravity would need to send a bit of chaos our way…
[explosion rumbles]
[penguins squawking, chirping]
…so evolution could run riot.
[calm music playing]
Several months have passed.
Rocky's now doubled in size…
and is ready for love.
But he won't truly be an eligible bachelor…
until he's become fit and handsome.
First, a new outfit.
Trading in his childish, fluffy feathers…
for a shiny, waterproof coat…
he's ready for his first swim.
[pensive music playing]
On the other end of the beach,
Paloma is ready to launch as well.
After only knowing dry land their whole lives,
it's an intimidating moment for both.
[calm music playing]
Rocky thinks he's swimming…
but Paloma actually is.
Rocky finally figures out he needs to be in the water.
[calm music continues]
These young birds will be gone for the next two years…
on their own separate journeys.
[mysterious music playing]
There are great riches awaiting them in the ocean…
thanks to gravity…
[whooshing]
…and our nearest neighbor.
[whooshing, rumbling]
[dramatic music playing]
Not long after our planet formed…
it collided with another young world.
[rumbling]
[crashing]
And out of the orbiting debris…
[ethereal music playing]
…gravity formed Earth's traveling companion…
the Moon.
The impact knocked the young Earth onto its side…
-[whooshing] -…and threw it into turmoil…
lurching and spinning wildly.
But over billions of years,
the gravitational tug of the Moon tamed the Earth.
The Moon drifted away.
[whooshing slows]
Earth's rotation slowed…
which transformed Earth's story.
Because slower spin meant longer days…
and, therefore, more hours of continuous sunshine
penetrated the oceans…
[intriguing music playing]
…creating the conditions for the first life to get a foothold.
[gurgling]
The first step in an underwater labyrinth of life
that grew and grew…
[majestic music playing]
[dolphins squeaking]
…eventually filling the oceans with unimaginable wonders.
[whale singing]
[majestic music swells]
Wonders that today provide a rich ecosystem
for two very hungry penguins…
hundreds of kilometers apart
in the open ocean.
Paloma has reached the polar front…
where the Southern Ocean meets the warmer waters of the Atlantic,
Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
[ethereal music playing]
Here, nutrients are churned up from below,
supporting thousands of species…
including lantern fish, a favorite of the king penguin.
[suspenseful music playing]
They live deep underwater.
But that's no problem for Paloma.
She's able to hunt 300 meters below the surface.
[suspenseful music continues]
Penguins are uniquely adapted to dive and hunt at great depth.
But to understand how these remarkable adaptations came about,
you need to know what gravity had been up to 66 million years ago.
[ethereal music playing]
In the cold outer reaches of the solar system,
millions of chunks of ice and rock orbit the Sun.
Most of the time, these asteroids are no trouble.
But sometimes they are.
In the outer region of the asteroid belt,
one particular rock, ten kilometers across,
was warmed by the Sun over millennia.
[calm music playing]
And bit by bit,
the warming began to shift this asteroid, called Chicxulub, out of its orbit…
until gravity took hold…
pulling it in toward the Sun…
sending it on a collision course with Earth…
[suspenseful music playing]
[whooshing]
…at 72,000 kilometers an hour.
[suspenseful music intensifies]
The impact triggered a superheated wave of plasma…
[explosion rumbling]
…causing wildfires and devastation across the planet…
blocking out the Sun.
-[fire crackling] [ethereal music playing]
Three-quarters of Earth's species were obliterated.
[explosion rumbling]
It was bad news for the dinosaurs…
but good news for the king penguin.
[calm music playing]
Smaller and lighter,
birds were able to survive the impact.
They took to the skies and diversified.
With large predators gone…
the oceans abounded with fish.
The penguin's ancestors became expert divers,
diving deeper
and staying down longer
until, ultimately, they lost the ability to fly altogether.
[calm music continues]
From soaring through the skies…
to soaring through the oceans.
Invaluable adaptations
that Rocky and Paloma have put to good use.
Fitter and stronger,
they are now ready to return to their home shores
in search of a mate.
But their homecoming is interrupted…
[ominous music playing]
[blowhole exhales]
…by orcas,
the only whale known to eat penguins.
Paloma shifts into top gear.
[suspenseful music playing]
[orca squeals]
It will be a race to the finish.
Orcas are fast.
[blowhole exhales]
[suspenseful music continues]
But king penguins are built for speed.
[blowhole exhales]
[orca squeals]
Paloma is too quick for her pursuer.
But Rocky took cover in the kelp forests near the shore.
[ominous music playing]
[orca squeals]
And the hungry orca isn't going anywhere.
[suspenseful music playing]
[orca squealing]
Rocky sees his opening…
and bolts for the shore.
[suspenseful music crescendos]
-[Rocky squawks] -He definitely knows how to swim now.
[calm music playing]
Two long years roaming the sea,
all for a chance to enter the great lottery.
The search for love.
Gravity shaped the Sun, Earth, and Moon…
creating a stable home for life on our planet
and steering evolution in new directions.
[whooshing]
[explosion rumbles]
But the ballad of Rocky and Paloma needs one more part…
[fire crackling]
…created by gravity
in the fiery heart of the Sun.
[crackling intensifies]
Light.
[whooshing]
Our star only shines because,
at its center, an intense battle is taking place.
[zapping]
Gravity pulls inward…
while intense pressure pushes back.
[ethereal ringing]
This gravitational war….
[zapping, whooshing]
…causes atoms to collide and fuse…
[whooshing rapidly]
…releasing tiny pockets of energy…
[zapping]
…in the form of photons…
[sizzling, whooshing]
…that not only shower the Earth with life-sustaining energy…
but also bathe it in light.
[ethereal music playing]
Light that contains its own hidden wonders.
Because within every sunbeam
is a rainbow.
Each photon has a unique wavelength
and interacts with the stuff our world is made of
in a different way.
[penguins squawking]
Some wavelengths are absorbed.
Others are reflected.
[ethereal tinkling]
How these light waves hit our eyes determines what colors we see.
And this ability to perceive color
plays a key role in the penguin dating game.
[intriguing music playing]
[squawking]
Years of feasting at sea have made Rocky fit and strong.
[penguins squawking]
Traits he needs to display to attract a mate.
[squawking continues]
Pigments that he synthesized himself
color his feathers brilliant yellow…
perfect for showing off his own flair
and attracting the gaze of the one bird in this crowd…
-[penguin chirping] -…who only has eyes for him.
Paloma.
[ethereal tinkling]
[whooshing]
[ethereal humming]
Starlight reflects onto the retina at the back of Paloma's eye.
[intriguing music continues]
Here, millions of cone cells get to work
decoding every wavelength…
[ethereal squeaking]
…which allows Paloma to distinguish one color from another.
[whooshing]
In the blink of an eye,
these lovebirds are not only able to see their world
but also understand it
and find their soulmate.
[playful music playing]
The courting then turns to a carefully choreographed dance.
[penguin chattering]
Each displaying their dazzling, yellow feathers…
for the other to admire.
[playful music continues]
[penguins squawking]
Other suitors try their luck
but to no avail.
[playful music continues]
Because Rocky's yellow feathers…
aren't his only selling point.
[ethereal tinkling]
By shaking his head…
he encodes a secret message…
in ultraviolet light.
His beak catches the Sun
and reflects its rays.
[ethereal tinkling continues]
[whooshing]
And thanks to an extra cone cell…
[whooshing]
…Rocky and Paloma's eyes can see colors beyond our own.
These UV signals win Paloma over.
They're the perfect match.
[calm music playing]
[chick chirping]
Raising a penguin chick is a grueling task
that requires both parents to be in top form.
Impressive yellow feathers and a flashy beak
are proof of strength and ability,
essential characteristics when it comes to bringing up a family.
From all the thousands of other birds,
Rocky and Paloma…
have found each other.
[whooshing]
[ethereal music playing]
From the first ripples in the cosmic web…
[rumbling]
…to the birth of our Sun…
planet,
and Moon…
[rumbling]
…the impacts that have written Earth's history…
[fire crackling]
…to the force that powers the Sun, painting our world in color…
gravity has had a hand in all of it…
guiding these two penguins to their special moment…
[majestic music playing]
…on this special island…
where it's not long before something extra special
is delivered to Earth.
[Paloma moaning]
Rocky and Paloma are going to be parents themselves.
[chick chirping]
Ushering in a new life
and maybe even new romance…
with gravity, as ever, helping to lead the way.
[ethereal music playing]
All across the Earth,
life is dazzling in its variety.
[chimpanzee hooting]
-["What a Wonderful World" playing] -♪ I see skies of blue ♪
♪ And clouds of white ♪
♪ The bright blessed day ♪
♪ The dark sacred night ♪
♪ And I think to myself ♪
♪ What a wonderful world ♪
[Freeman] It has taken 13.8 billion years
to reach this one precious moment
in time and space.
[zapping, whooshing]
[majestic music playing]
[rumbling, exploding]
Every animal made from the stars…
synchronized with the planet,
and sustained by gifts from the cosmos
that only made it here by pure chance.
♪ I hear babies cry ♪
♪ I watch them grow ♪
♪ They'll learn much more ♪
♪ Than I'll never know ♪
All held in its place
by the ultimate,
the original force of attraction.
The story of our universe
is the story of how life came to be here on this planet…
♪ Yes, I think to myself ♪
…we call home.
♪ What a wonderful world ♪
A story that is still being written.
[whooshing]
[dramatic music playing]