More Human Body Episodes

Episode 3: "Sensation"
Premieres Sunday March 9, at 9 p.m. ET/PT

Less than one-twentieth of an inch below the surface of the skin are the "antennae" that allow us to sense the world around us. This vital layer is the gateway to the original information superhighway -- the nervous system. Millions of nerves carry sensations across the body and up to the brain at hundreds of miles an hour. But our nervous system also has abilities almost beyond imagining. Here is the story of the human body's crucial communications network as never seen before:

• When a father and daughter are stranded without water in the scorched Australian outback, a countdown to their death begins until their nerves trigger hidden survival systems.
• Rapid response wiring in his body allows a Coast Guard helicopter pilot to control his machine with amazing precision, even in storm-strength winds.
• A life of intense training and mental discipline allows Shaolin monks to endure powerful blows to their bodies without even blinking.

Plus, how can we move our fingers faster than we can think? How can you master the polygraph? What exactly is pain, and how do some control it?

Episode 4: "Brain Power"
Premieres Sunday March 9, at 10 p.m. ET/PT

The driving force behind every one of us is the most powerful organ in the natural world: the human brain. Our central processing unit generates as many electrical impulses in a single day as all the telephones in the world combined. With new state-of-the-art imagery of this complex, mysterious machine, we reveal how our brain accelerates when faced with intense stress or danger, and taps into its deepest layers to unlock prehistoric survival instincts.

• NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer tells us about making split-second decisions in the heat and stress of a 400-lap race.
• Desperate firefighters, trapped by the intense heat of a forest fire, find out how the brain can take charge without waiting for conscious control.
• A lone explorer, piloting a balloon over the Arctic, pushes himself to the limits of sleep deprivation. It nearly costs him his life.

Plus, learn about the extraordinary ways our brains can re-tune our system when starvation threatens, and how sleep and dreams can unleash unseen powers in our mind.