A simple experiment with a bicycle pump shows us how rocket launchers work. Even though rockets were invented for war and for fireworks, they are also used for peaceful purposes.

Astronaut Luca Parmitano talks to us from the Columbus European Space Laboratory. He explains why tadpoles can help us learn a lot about the weightless conditions of outer space.

This segment is all about so-called "Near-Earth Objects," called "NEOs" for short. They are comets, asteroids, metors and man-made objects, as well. What have they done in the past, and what might they do in the future?

This segment talks about the difference between an asteroid and a comet. Important work is being done with the Hera and Dart missions to study how to deviate an asteroid, thus avoiding possible great damage to our beloved planet

In August of 2014, the European Space Agency Rosetta probe reached the comet 67/P. This mission allowed for the collection of a great deal of data about comets. In fact, in this episode, a comet will be fashioned out of fairly common ingredients in a normal kitchen. That's pretty exciting.

Writer and scholar Fulvio Benelli shows us a part of Rome that tourists always flock to: Piazza Navona. But he tells us the fascinating story of how it came to be.

Fulvio shows us one of the most enigmatic monuments of all Rome, the Pantheon. He gives us some history, some interesting facts, and a legend, as well.

In 1749, King Charles of Bourbon (Charles III of Spain) or Carlo Terzo di Borbone, who was King of Naples at the time, commissioned an important campaign of archeological digs in an area near that city. Marika tells us the story.

After Stabiae was razed to the ground in a war, the Romans decided to build some luxury villas in the area. Luckily, some archeological digs led by archeologist Libro D'Orsi were effectuated in the 1950s, and 3 villas came to light.

The Villa San Marco is an amazingly well-preserved luxury villa from the Augustan period, with a wonderful panoramic view of Vesuvius and the gulf of Naples. Marika shows us around the four nuclei of the villa.

The name of the villa was inspired by the story of Dionysus who watched Ariadne while she slept. It was excavated first by the Bourbons but was buried again. Later in the 50s, digs were resumed and now, it can be visited in all its glory.

The last stop on the trip to Castellammare di Stabia is the seafront, called il lungomare in Italian. There's a great panorama, a lovely sea breeze, and it's a great place to just walk around. Marika mentions the famous natural spring water of Castellammare, both for thermal baths and for drinking.

Fulvio shows tells us the story of a door, a very famous door, called the Alchemist's Door, also called the Magic Door, or the Door to Heaven, a monument built by Massimiliano Savelli Palombara, Marquis of Pietraforte on the grounds of his villa in Rome.

Take your time with this episode about Rome because it is chock full of information. Il Campidoglio, also called Monte Capitolino, is the smallest of the seven hills of Rome, but it's the most important because that's where the mayor's office is, as well. Where did the word "capitol" come from? Fulvio has the answer. He also talks about where the word "money" comes from. And you will recognize the name of the architect who designed the piazza and its surrounding buildings.

Fulvio describes the monument we look at in this segment before telling what it is. The story has some pretty surprising aspects.

Fulvio tells us plenty of interesting things about the history of one of the symbols of Rome, the Colosseum. To begin with, it wasn't always called the "Colosseum."

To take a break from the hustle and bustle of Rome, there is a place waiting for you, just 40 minutes away, where horses and cows graze in the wild, and where there is plenty of interesting flora and fauna to observe: The Sorbo Valley.

The first place we visit is practically a theater on a mountain, designed and built to replicate places with religious significance in the Holy Land. The mountain, aptly named, is Sacro Monte (sacred or holy mountain) and is located in Piemonte, to the northwest of Milan.

We visit the 28th chapel where the scene of Jesus before Pontius Pilate is depicted. We also learn a little secret about how these statues were created.

Vennai is the most important marble quarry in Carrara. Luigi Pasquale talks about when he started working there at about 14 years of age.

A quarryman has to have a passion for his work. Every block of marble is a challenge and has to be observed on all sides and many times to make sure it is good. But succeeding in cutting it and taking it out is an enormous satisfaction.

Le Cinque Terre — a place so many visitors from other countries put on their must-see lists — is the topic of this segment. It's a marvelous example of the relationship between humankind and nature.

One way for Le Cinque Terre to accommodate refugees landing in Lampedusa has been to teach them how to build dry-stone walls. This is a much-needed skill in the area and therefore the project is an advantage all around.

People who want a spiritual but active way to see Italy often choose la via francigena (the road from France), the Italian pilgrimage route from France to Rome that corresponds to the perhaps more famous "Camino de Santiago" from Paris to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.