There's a new series of environmental programming on Sundance Channel called The Green, and it's all about ways that people can reduce their impact on the earth. I caught a preview of one show, called Big Ideas for a Small Planet last weekend on Discovery Channel and found it to be interesting stuff. The episode I saw focused on modular homes that take fewer resources to build than on-site homes. They look pretty rad, too, and kind-of break the mold of the old trailer park home that is not sustainable.

The approach that the producers seem to be taking in this series is not at all preachy or meant to cause you to feel guilt. I was very impressed by the way it focused more on the innovative technology and out-of-the-box thinking by the designers of the eco-friendly modular homes, rather than hammering me with statistics about how many resources our homes consume.

Tonight starting at 8:00pm, the Discovery Channel will look fifty years into the future with a three-part series called 2057. The series will mix speculation from leading scientists with dramatic storytelling to try and envision how our world will change over the next few decades. One of the questions, of course, is whether or not we'll have flying cars, and more importantly, will Martian hookers be both plentiful and affordable? Okay, the second one is my own personal preference, but I think it's worth looking into.

The first part of the series, "The Body" airs at 8:00pm and looks at modern technology and what it holds for human health and longevity in the future: things like robotic surgery and custom-built organs. At 9:00pm, "The City," the second part in the series, will look at advances in robotics, automobiles and surveillance systems. Finally, at 10:00pm, "The World" will examine how technology will help transfer more information even faster than before, and the possibilities of space travel for average folks like us.

You can watch clips from the series here.