MUMBAI: Discovery has announced that its show Atlas 4D will return for a new season later this year in 3D for the first time.

Atlas 4D transports viewers through millions of years of evolving geology and climate - past, present and future. In this three hour special event, dynamic regions are featured and explained, including the African Great Rift Valley, the Mediterranean and the islands of Hawaii. Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) is producing the original three-part special for Discovery.
 
Atlas 4D travels across time to tell the science and history of each locale, uncovering connections between the landscape, natural history and indigenous peoples. Previously unknown connections include how the spread of Islam sparked the Italian Renaissance, how an ancient ice age provided Polynesian settlers in Hawaii with a breakthrough technology and how the formation of the Rift Valley forced a crucial evolutionary step for humankind.

Discovery Channel president, GM Clark Bunting says, "Atlas 4D is going to amaze viewers as they see the ‘how‘ and ‘why‘ of some of the globe‘s most riveting locales. We believe that ‘discovery‘ is not just our name, it is our overarching mission. "The 4D time-machine is an extremely innovative filmmaking technique and Darlow Smithson is leading the pack in this field. This type of creative tool enables us to tell science and history stories and enhances John Hendrick‘s vision of telling the world‘s stories in a new and riveting way." 
 
Atlas first premiered in 2006. The brainchild of Discovery founder and chairman John Hendricks, the broadcaster says that the show was the most ambitious high-definition television project ever to go into production.

The special event series combined photography and special effects to paint a record of civilizations and geographies. Hendricks‘ on-air vision grew into robust educational offerings with teaching materials and resources still being used in classrooms around the world.