Historians have long speculated that thousands of wooden ships plied a Maritime Silk Route from the Middle East to China, braving long distances on white-capped seas, but time and the deep ocean have destroyed any evidence . . . until now. In 1998 German engineer Tilman Walterfang found a shipwreck from the 9th Century blanketed by intact gold, silver and ceramic items. As we uncover clues and reveal the story of the wreck, reenactments transport us back in time to an age of the legendary Sinbad the Sailor, when vicious seas ravaged wooden boats like matchsticks.

Guantanamo's Secrets reveals the world beyond the headlines, where soldiers are prison guards and a nation struggles with what rights to assign an enemy that wears no uniform, has no address and will declare no armistice.

In Afghanistan, journalists trapped in the crossfire record a rare, uncensored expression of war when captured Taliban fighters overpower their guards, seize weapon and open fire.

Built in the 17th century by the Great Mogul Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was built in honor of the love of his life, Mumtaz Mahal. Built on the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra, it is said to have required over 20,000 workers including the best craftsmen of the Empire. Millions of bricks were baked on site only to disappear forever under flawless white marble. A heavenly memorial to the Queen of the World, or as a poet described it: "A teardrop on the cheek of time". A love poem set in stone and the most perfect building in the world.

Spiders have all the techniques to make them legendary warriors: stealth, speed and a killer instinct. The people of Kajiki, in Southern Japan have harnessed these skills to create one of the world’s strangest martial arts – the combat sport of spider fighting. If you thought spiders were creatures to be feared, wait until you see the clash of Japan’s Samurai spiders! Premiered on National Geographic International.

The 300-bed Tulane University Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana takes in patients from other hospitals during Hurricane Katrina. Relatives of the patients and others also arrive until there are over 2,000 people at the hospital. The hospital is being powered by emergency generators in the basement and has no running water. When the basement starts to flood after the hurricane, the decision is made to evacuate. The patients, staff and everyone else are airlifted from the hospital's car park roof by helicopter.

Would you leave friends and family to voluntarily work in a war zone? Each and every day international security contractors in Iraq run a gauntlet of hidden dangers as they carry out critical missions to safeguard the Iraqi reconstruction effort and protect V.I.P.s.

Find out how a master spy for Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda managed to "triple cross" U.S. intelligence for more than 14 years, aiding the growth of al Qaeda into a worldwide terrorist organization.

As commerce flourished along the Silk Road, Central Asia became a melting pot of cultures. Here on the edges of the Taklmakan Desert, an exotic blend of Indian, Mongol, Chinese, and European influences fueled an astonishing cultural Renaissance. In the 7th century, a Chinese monk, Xuanzang, plunged into the desert while on a Buddhist pilgrimage to India. His descriptions of the oasis-cities he encountered would prove invaluable to another explorer, more than a thousand years later. 20th century archeologist Sir Aurel Stein took on the deadly Taklamakan to prove his own theories about Western China's lost civilization. Again and again Xuanzang's writings led him to archeological treasure - once thriving cities now buried in the sand. On their monk's trail, Stein made his greatest discovery, a thousand-year-old Buddhist library in near-perfect condition.

The USS Ronald Reagan: the world's most powerful aircraft carrier. A floating piece of American territory. And a powerful weapon, swarming with planes, explosives, and thousands of the Navy's best crew. This intimidating marine monster is the world's largest combat airport, perfectly designed for one task: to launch and retrieve legions of strike fighter jets anywhere in the world, on extremely short notice. And the 5000 men and women onboard have to perform this task to perfection. Surrounded by roaring jet engines, explosive jet fuel, and dangerous weapons...

Where did our solar system come from? The advent of space flight and space-based telescopes gave us unexpected clues to how our solar system began.

Using high-tech forensic science, see why some scientists believe that early pioneers, with a sophisticated understanding of engineering, arrived thousands of years earlier than we previously believed.

In South Africa's False Bay, mornings are action-packed - and bloody. Haai, a huge Great White Shark, hunts Cape fur seals who leave their rocky island to fish in what locals refer to as ""The Gauntlet."" Despite her superb senses and incredible weaponry, Haai is so big she can't manoeuvre as well as she used to and is having trouble catching her prey. She has chosen a young fur seal, Rob (the Afrikaans word for seal), for her next meal but Rob is disinclined to play along. The two intelligent, determined creatures enter into a daily battle of wits and abilities. Meanwhile, a giant school of sardines migrates through the Gauntlet, inviting every predator off the coast to a feeding frenzy. When the sardines realise the danger, they disappear back into the open ocean, leaving the predators to prey on each other. With several younger Great White Sharks now threatening Haai's authority, will the big boss of False Bay conclude her hunt and maintain her authority? Can Rob outswim and outsmart the new predators as well as his original nemesis? Who will be left in False Bay at the end of the sardine run and who will survive ""The Gauntlet""?

Ngorongoro Crater is lush, beautiful and rich with residents that graze its volcanic floor. Two thousand foot high cliffs surround the Crater, which is home to over 13,000 herd animals. The Crater is also home to the highest density of large carnivores in Africa. 18 year old Msaka is the Crater's oldest lioness and leads the large Lakette pride. Faced with a food shortage, their chief huntress disappears to seek out sustenance for them all.

It was the largest volcanic eruption in the last two million years -- and may have triggered a human genetic bottleneck, leaving only a few thousand survivors to preserve the human race.

Do the sun's invisible cosmic rays influence our weather? Can solar winds impact Earth? Explore the ways fluctuations in the sun's energy influence our climate.

Since the sudden death of 1,700 people near a lake in Africa, scientists have uncovered terrifying hazards in other lakes around the world -- including Mt. Rainier and Yellowstone.

Imagine a world where melting ice caps have raised sea levels by 20 feet and where the great coastal cities of the world could be under water. It is a nightmare scenario that could one day turn into reality. Now, Naked Science separates fact from fiction to discover the real science behind climate change, the melting ice caps and why powerful hurricanes have doubled in number in the past 30 years.

What begins as a star’s cataclysmic explosion in a violent supernova results in one of the most mysterious phenomena in our universe: a black hole. Black holes are the makings of science fiction, with fantasies of tunnel passageways that travel through space and time dominating the imagination. Nothing survives ablack hole ; its gravitational pull twists space and time into a furious knot so strong that not even light can escape, making the likelihood of locating a passageway inside almost impossible.

We know less about the deep floor of the ocean than the surface of the moon, yet many think it has the potential to power our planet and cure disease. Take a journey to one of our planet's final frontiers - the deep ocean trenches - to investigate the effects of intense pressure on life forms that exist under extreme conditions. Discover how life on earth may have even begun in mysterious "black smokers" on the ocean floor, and explore how what happens at these depths impacts our planet.

Scientists are racing to unlock the secrets of these icy giants because they may tell us how the universe evolved, how the planets formed and how life began on Earth.

Go undercover with National Geographic correspondent Lisa Ling as she journeys into mysterious and reclusive North Korea. Posing as part of an international medical team, Lisa and her camera crew reveal the extraordinary, hidden face of this insular, little-known place, from the powerful control Kim Jong Il exerts over his people to the military powder keg of life along the heavily armed demilitarized zone.

Would you leave friends and family to voluntarily work in a war zone? Each and every day international security contractors in Iraq run a gauntlet of hidden dangers as they carry out critical missions to safeguard the Iraqi reconstruction effort and protect V.I.P.s. The conflict in Iraq has led to an enormous growth in the security business. Private contractors are hired to perform seemingly mundane but definitely dangerous tasks - jobs that were once the exclusive responsibility of the military. But insurgents dont distinguish between civilian contractors and coalition forces. Armed to the teeth the contractors move through the Iraqi roads, often appearing like characters from the movie The Road Warrior. Critics believe contractors simply add to the already chaotic situation in Iraq, a country on the verge of civil war. In Iraq private security contractors are constantly on alert, aware of their grim reality where every mission could be their last.

Scientists are racing to unlock the secrets of these icy giants because they may tell us how the universe evolved, how the planets formed and how life began on Earth.