Nova
Science documentaries about various topics.
Genre: Documentary
Cast:Jay O. Sanders , Craig Sechler , Stacy Keach , Lance Lewman , Eric Meyers , Will Lyman , Neil Ross , Liev Schreiber , Peter Thomas , David Pogue , Talithia Williams , David Ogden Stiers , Gene Galusha , Don Wescott , Neil deGrasse Tyson , David Attenborough , Miles O'Brien , Sylvester James Gates Jr.
S1.E1 ∙ The Making of a Natural History Film
NOVA premieres on public television with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a nature film. Oxford Scientific Films Unit shows how it tackles such problems as filming a wood-wasp laying its egg inside trees, etc.
S1.E2 ∙ Where Did the Colorado Go?
This episode takes a look at the Colorado River and its impact on the lives of the people living in the Southwestern states. The story also looks at how human development has caused environmental degradation of the river such that the once mighty river doesn't drain into the sea anymore.
S1.E6 ∙ Strange Sleep
The story honored the men who revolutionized medicine in the 19th century by the discovery of anesthesia.
S3.E17 ∙ Death of a Disease
The true story of smallpox and the successful campaign to eradicate the virus from the world. Telling the story of the long history of smallpox. How vaccination using Cowpox was started in England in the 1790s. Using circular vaccination in the 1970s to stop and eliminate the last outbreaks of the disease. With help from the World Health Organization (WHO), the last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977. The World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980.
S4.E4 ∙ The Sunspot Mystery
Is the sun static or does it vary, and if it varies how does that affect the Earth and its climate? Studying sunspots and other solar phenomena may provide the answers.
S5.E7 ∙ The Great Wine Revolution
The century old tradition of folding two-dimensional paper into three-dimensional shapes is now at the heart of a scientific revolution. Engineers and designers are discovering how, by adopting the principles of origami, they are able to reshape the world around us... and even within us. The rules of folding are at the heart of many natural phenomena, from how leaves blossom to how beetles fly. But now, origami is being adopted in designing new drugs, micro-robots, even future space missions! With this burgeoning field of origami-inspired-design, the questions is: can the mathematics of origami be boiled down to one elegant algorithm - a fail-proof guidebook to make any object out of a flat surface, just by folding? And if so, what, what would that mean for the future of design? Explore the high-tech future of this age-old art as NOVA unfolds the secrets of Origami.
S5.E13 ∙ Road to Happiness
Documentary about the life of American industrialist Henry Ford. Using Newsreels, dramatic films and documentaries to tell the story of his life from boyhood until his death in 1947.
S5.E19 ∙ A Whisper from Space
While testing the The Holmdel Horn Antenna in New Jersey in 1965, a constant background radiation of 3.5 Kelvin was discovered in every direction the telescope was aimed. The scientist assumed there was a fault in the equipment, they went to the extremes of covering their giant Horn Radio Telescope in foil and removing every trace of bird droppings from this giant instrument. Still the telescope continued to pickup a background radiation reading of 3.5K, no matter where the telescope was aimed. This is believed to be residual radiation from the Big Bang, the creation of the universe itself, some 15 billions years ago. This episode of NOVA traces this discovery and how it may help confirm Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
S6.E6 ∙ The Invisible Flame
Explores the uses of hydrogen as a possible fuel source.
S6.E15 ∙ All Part of the Game
Nova examines sports injuries and the science of sports medicine.
S7.E7 ∙ A Mediterranean Prospect
The Mediterranean Sea faces terminal pollution unless action is taken. The efforts of nations as diverse as Yugoslavia, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, and Greece to deal with the pollution are explored.
S7.E12 ∙ Do We Really Need the Rockies?
Can the mining of oil shale in the west solve the United States' energy crisis?
S7.E20 ∙ It's About Time
Dudley Moore hosts a lighthearted but deep look at the history of time-- how it began, how it's perceived, and how it will end. Along the way he has conversations with St. Augustine, Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov (the real one), and other experts, as well as playing multiple roles (including identical twins and an entire family) while a narrator explains using amusing animated asides like the Twin Paradox and musing about whether time is predetermined or has an infinite number of "futures".
S8.E4 ∙ Anatomy of a Volcano
This 16mm film documentary sees the monster eruption of Mount St. Helens in May 1980 mostly through the eyes of the geologists who gathered at the site to learn what they could. Despite their expertise and experience, none predicted that a massive landslide would uncork the eruption sideways, devastating 24 square miles of forested land and killing 57 people.Geologists are shown doing their best to answer the public clamor for information and prediction as the eruption and earthquake sequence continued over the following months. The film concludes with an expedition into the blast zone, as biology begins its slow recovery.
S8.E8 ∙ The Asteroid and the Dinosaur
Today most scientists accept that a large asteroid impact killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But this was not always the case. For decades, experts felt that what dinosaur extinction was a complete mystery. Watch the clues unfold as a talented group scientists chase the first lead, as the idea develops that we now accept today. Regarded by many as one of the most important dinosaur discoveries ever, and one of the best NOVA episodes of the eighties.
S9.E7 ∙ Life: Patent Pending
Supreme Court ruling on the patentability of life in the context of the recombinant DNA controversies, and possible ramifications.
S9.E19 ∙ The Making of a Natural History Film
To celebrate its 10th broadcast season, NOVA repeats the very first NOVA program every aired, a fascinating and delightful program about how wildlife films are made.
S10.E2 ∙ The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
Theoretical physicist Richard Feynman tells his story.
S10.E8 ∙ Sixty Minutes to Meltdown
90-minute documentary about the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear power station incident.
S10.E10 ∙ The Artificial Heart
When retired dentist Barney Clark received a total artificial heart in December 1982, it made medical history because there was no realistic prospect that it would ever be replaced with a biological transplant. Clark would be connected to a dishwasher-sized power and control unit for life. He lived 112 days.This film tells the story of artificial hearts and ventricular assists, featuring the Clark story and interviews with his surgeon, William DeVries and also heart surgery pioneers Adrian Kantrowitz and Denton Cooley.
S10.E14 ∙ A Magic Way of Going: The Story of Thoroughbreds
Nova takes a look at the science of thoroughbred horses, including breeding, genetics, and the evolution of the modern horse. The great Secretariat is highlighted here.
S10.E17 ∙ Twenty-Five Years in Space
This retrospective starts with the space program just prior to Sputnik, mainly the X-15 space plane, and then follows the pop culture view of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, using a combination of news footage, archives from NASA and the BBC, and other related film archives. Contemporary pop music, including Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, David Bowie, and others are highlights on the soundtrack. Contemporary commentary from the likes of Walter Cronkite and James Burke.
S10.E18 ∙ Nuclear Strategy for Beginners
Will nuclear weapons deter World War III or only make it more likely? NOVA explores the military strategies of the nuclear age, now that the challenge may no longer be to win global war but to prevent it.
S12.E10 ∙ Monarch of the Mountains
Wildlife documentary about the Wyoming Rockies elk, following their migrations for a full year.
S12.E20 ∙ The Plane that Changed the World
This episode describes the history of the DC-3 aircraft. It follows its genesis as a passenger plane and shows current, as of filming in 1985, users of the plane, from cargo to short hop passenger service. It also shows interviews with people who were involved in the plane's design. The producers talk to designers of the DC-3 and its predecessors in the 1930s. Also, a test pilot is interviewed talking about the plane succeeding in passing a test of crossing the Rockies with one engine turned off. The producers also talk to stewardesses from American Airlines who flew in the aircraft during the 1930s, and described the meals served. They also visit Basler Airlines, who restore DC-3s to flying condtion for various customers. They visit Salair in Alaska, who used the planes for shipping freshly caught fish to Anchorage from remote coastal villages, and remark about how the DC-3s ability to operate from short rough airstrips make it ideal for the job. They conclude with PBA airlines, a commuter service in Boston, that used the DC-3 for service to the islands off New England, and the pilot of one plane, which was the oldest DC-3 still in service at the time of filming, said it was a plane one needed to fly all the way to the gate, since it was at the mercy of winds and jet wash.
S13.E12 ∙ The Search for the Disappeared
Shows the exhumation and study of the frozen remains of expedition members found in arctic graves. Speculates on lead poisoning as the cause of the expedition's tragic failure. Plays the Stan Rogers tune "Northwest Passage" during the opening sequence.
S13.E15 ∙ Can AIDS Be Stopped?
Alzheimer's disease ravages the minds of over 40 million victims worldwide. The cause of Alzheimer's and whether it can be stopped is one of the greatest medical mysteries of our time. Join courageous patients participating in clinical trials, and then go behind the scenes of the major drug trials to see how researchers target and test therapies that may slow and even prevent Alzheimer's.
S14.E3 ∙ Why Planes Crash
Commercial airplanes have become much more reliable, but since 1975 the fatality rate has stopped falling and has leveled off. From 60 to 80 percent of all plane crashes are now blamed on cockpit (pilot) error. This NOVA episode examines the causes and possible solutions for flight crew miscommunication and procedural errors. One factor may be the 'macho' or 'go-it-alone' attitudes of pilots originally trained to fly single-seat military fighter jets. Another factor is "automation complacency", where a highly-automated cockpit environment leads to reduced piloting skills and a false sense of security. One promising program being developed by aviation psychologists is Cockpit Resource Management (CRM), which trains crew members to work and communicate as a team. To illustrate the deadly results of human-factors failures, three recent airline crashes are reviewed in detail: the 1982 Air Florida Flight 90 crash into the 14th Street Potomac River Bridge; the 1972 Eastern Flight 401 crash into the Florida Everglades; and the 1985 Delta Flight 191 crash near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
S14.E5 ∙ Freud Under Analysis
Discusses Freud's methods of analysis, free association, transference, seduction theory and other causes of neuroses such as sexuality. Also covers discussions on Freud's self analysis.
S14.E7 ∙ Confessions of a Weaponeer
A very revealing interview of President Eisenhower's former science adviser George Kistiakowski by America's national scientist & author Carl Sagan.
S14.E14 ∙ The Hidden Power of Plants
Plants produce some of the world's most potent chemicals in the fight against disease. NOVA follows the urgent efforts to track down new medicines in nature.
S15.E9 ∙ The Man Who Loved Numbers
NOVA explores the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor clerk from India who astounded mathematicians in the 1910s with his brilliant insight into the world of numbers.
S15.E21 ∙ The All-American Bear
The life of the shy, intelligent black bear in the wild-foraging, mating, playing and constantly preparing for its remarkable hibernation-is captured for the first time on film by NOVA.
S16.E11 ∙ The Hidden City
This is a documentary about New York City's four primary utilities: Water, Electricity, Sewer and Trash Hauling.
S17.E1 ∙ Poison in the Rockies
Poison in the Rockies is focused on the damage that decades of mining operations in the Rockies have inflicted on the local environment. It covers other problems such as the acid rain that afflicts the region, but concentrates on the harmful chemicals entering the surrounding states' water supplies from mining drainage.
S17.E5 ∙ The Big Spill
The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill takes a center stage when NOVA heads to Alaska to find out how technology contributed to one of the world's largest oil spills. Cameras board the Valdez with expert scientists to film the supertanker's instruments and to get opinions on how some advanced gadgets, which were designed to protect the ship, failed in preventing the disaster.
S17.E10 ∙ The KGB, the Computer and Me
Astronomer-turned-computer system administrator Clifford Stoll discovers a hacker in his system at Lawrence Berkeley Lab. The trail leads him from California, across the United States, and eventually to Germany, where the hacker is discovered to be selling secrets to the KGB.
S18.E3 ∙ The Chip vs. the Chessmaster
A look at the event where the world champion in chess, Kasparov, played against a computer, Deep Thought, what led up to this event and what the implications might be.
S18.E13 ∙ Suicide Mission to Chernobyl
The sarcophagus is the giant structure that contains the nuclear reactor that melted down at Chernobyl in 1986. Now, scientists and researchers are attempting to open the sarcophagus to see just how bad the damage really is. This is considered a suicide mission because the reactor is still unstable and could explode at any time.
S19.E15 ∙ This Old Pyramid
Dr Mark Lehrer attempts to explain how ancient Egyptians moved the stone blocks used to make the Great Pyramid by building a 6 metre tall facsimile.
S20.E5 ∙ In the Path of a Killer Volcano
This documentary shows the pre and post events of the eruption of Mt Pinatubo in the Philippines.
S20.E6 ∙ Can Science Build a Champion Athlete?
Higher Further Faster - What are the limits of human performance and can science help us push them?
S20.E7 ∙ Diving for Pirate Gold
These days, piracy on the high seas often involves sonar, metal detectors and other high-tech equipment for finding and plundering sunken ships. NOVA explores the swashbuckling seafaring pirates of old and their present-day successors.
S20.E12 ∙ Secrets of the Psychics
Stage magician and scientific skeptic James Randi recounts his cases debunking claims of the supernatural around the world.
S20.E16 ∙ Roller Coaster!
Meet Ron Toomer the worlds most prolific roller coaster designer and watch his creations come to life. Then take a look at where Walt Disney and his successors are taking amusement park rides into the future.
S21.E15 ∙ The Tribe That Time Forgot
For nearly 400 years, a group known as the Arara Indians, or the Jaguar People, have lived throughout the Amazon Basin. These indigenous people have defended their livelihood, culture, and beliefs against the Portuguese, Brazilians, and, until recently, North Americans. The Arara have managed to avoid contact with other groups and have protected themselves from extinction by constantly moving throughout the rain forest.This episode of NOVA follows a two-man crew, equipped only with specialized camera equipment, on a journey into the Brazilian Amazon to explore the mysteries of the Arara.
S22.E3 ∙ Little Creatures Who Run the World
Edward O. Wilson's show-and-tell about ants. He takes us to jungles, deserts, and grasslands to show how these social insects master their world, through warfare, agriculture, animal husbandry, construction.
S22.E11 ∙ The Universe Within
An incredible voyage into the microworld of the human body.
S22.E15 ∙ Venus Unveiled
Venus is a world of innumerable secrets that it only reluctantly reveals. Nova reviews the many decades of frustrating exploration that finally revealed a world that is beyond belief.
S22.E19 ∙ Hunt for the Serial Arsonist
Suspicious fires have broken out in Southern California and the fires have been set by a serial arsonist.
S23.E6 ∙ Kidnapped by UFOs? The True Story of Alien Abductions
Debunking the alien abduction concepts and practices for more earth bound common sense explanations in a format of critical analysis that in the end lets you decided. Are alien abduction's plausible in light of these new findings?
S23.E15 ∙ Top Gun Over Moscow
Nova contrasts the philosophies of Russian and American fighter commands and how they influence aircraft design, operation and tactics.
S24.E1 ∙ Kaboom!
This program traces the history of the development of explosives focusing on gunpowder, nitroglycerin and efforts, particularly by Alfred Nobel, to make them safe to handle. Commentary examines the fascination with explosives, the guilt of explosives developers and the fallacy of the doomsday weapon that would put an end to wars.
S24.E2 ∙ Titanic's Lost Sister
An account of Dr. Robert D. Ballard's exploration of the wreck of the Britannic in Sept 1995. Britannic, the sister-ship of the Titanic, was sunk after a mysterious explosion while serving as a hospital ship during World War One.
S24.E3 ∙ Secrets of Lost Empires: Stonehenge (1)
Nova shows how the giant sarsen stones used in Stonehenge might be moved 20 miles without using wheels and how might they have been moved upright with the lintels successfully raised to rest atop and astride them.
S24.E4 ∙ Secrets of Lost Empires: Inca (2)
Nova examines how the Inca could construct magnificently engineered citadels and an extensive system of roads at the top of the rugged Andes Mountains without metal tools, wheels, mathematics or writing.
S24.E6 ∙ Secrets of Lost Empires: Colosseum (4)
Nova shows how a roof to shade the Roman Colosseum's audience might have been achieved.
S24.E11 ∙ Coma
Coma explores the latest medical developments in the treatment of comas.
S24.E16 ∙ Super Bridge
The problems and challenges in building a new highway bridge, of innovative cable-stayed design, across the mighty Mississippi River at Alton, Illinois.
S25.E6 ∙ Everest: The Death Zone
Because it is there is the reason so many men and women have risked death to climb Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth. NOVA follows a scientific investigation of high-altitude physiology in Everest: The Death Zone.
S25.E11 ∙ Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude
A technical problem so complex that it challenged the best minds of its time, a problem so important that the nation that solved it would rule the world's economy. The problem navigation by sea, how to know where you were when you sailed.
S25.E16 ∙ Ice Mummies: The Return of the Iceman
Conclusion. In "Return of the Iceman," archaeologist Konrad Spindler investigates the discovery of the frozen remains of a 5300-year-old man in the Alps. Studies of the man's bones reveal his age and physical condition at the time of death. Also: an examination of his garments and tools.
S26.E1 ∙ The Beast of Loch Ness
An account of Dr. Robert Rines' expedition during the Summer of 1997 to find the elusive Loch Ness Monster and his attempt to counter the scepticism surrounding his famous "Flipper" and "Gargoyle Head" photographs taken in 1972 and 1975. Meanwhile, photographic experts set out to investigate the credibility of the "Surgeon's Photograph" of April 1934, the most famous picture ever taken of the Monster.
S26.E11 ∙ To the Moon
The mission was impossible. The odds were astronomical. The results were spectacular. "Nova" shares the fascinating inside story behind "one giant leap for mankind." This expanded two-hour special shares vivid recollections of astronauts and legendary flight directors, as well as many of the unsung heroes of the Apollo missions. Rare interviews and amazing footage capture America's full-throttle effort to be the first to the moon.
S26.E13 ∙ Time Travel
A discussion of whether or not time travel is possible and the mechanisms that may allow it or prevent it.
S26.E14 ∙ The Killer's Trail: The Story of Dr. Sam Sheppard
The real case what inspired one of the more famous TV series of all times, "The Fugitive".
S27.E1 ∙ Tales from the Hive
Amazingly up-close footage filmed with specially developed macro lenses brings the viewer the most intimate and spectacular portrayal of a working bee colony. Fly along on the high-speed mid-air "wedding flight" of a drone and his queen. Realize that it takes nectar from 10 million flowers to create a single liter of honey. Witness the life-and-death battle between a pair of freshly emerged rival queens. Amaze to the attack of a bee eater bird's feast on a hive's foraging fleet.
S27.E6 ∙ Trillion Dollar Bet
For over a hundred years economists had dreamed of a way of reducing risk in the stock market. Two Nobel Prize winning economists found a formula which it seemed did exactly that- only for a roiling crisis to sweep through the markets, leaving their new hedge fund almost broke
S27.E15 ∙ Lincoln's Secret Weapon
This is the story of an armored combat vessel that opened up an entirely new chapter in naval warfare. At a critical moment of the American Civil War in 1861, the Navy commissioned the USS Monitor to test a daring idea-that a mechanical fighting machine could inflict a crushing defeat on Confederate forces. Not long after its legendary confrontation with the ironclad Merrimack, the Monitor sank in stormy seas off Cape Hatteras. Almost a century and a half after these stirring events, NOVA's cameras follow the Navy's risky efforts to salvage the secrets of the Monitor as it lies rusting on the ocean bottom.
S27.E16 ∙ Holocaust on Trial
An account of Holocaust denier David Irving, and his 1999 libel trial against historian Deborah Lipstadt who challenged his deceptions.
S27.E18 ∙ Runaway Universe
Nova follows cosmologists as they make the inconceivable discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. This new reality forces the astronomical community to deal with the likelihood that the universe is composed primarily of dark energy.
S27.E20 ∙ Dying to Be Thin
Anorexia Nervosa and bulimia and our nation's obsession with the perfect body are analyzed by experts and those who have been inflicted with eating disorders.
S28.E4 ∙ Lost King of the Maya
A group of archaeologists explore the early history of the Maya by examining excavations and hieroglyphs at the Mayan city of Copán.
S28.E9 ∙ Cracking the Code of Life
The effort to decipher the 3-billion-letter human genome is one of the biggest stories in the history of science. In this collaborative production with WGBH's NOVA, host Robert Krulwich of ABC's Nightline follows the highly-publicized race between two teams-The Human Genome Project and Craig Venter's Celera-to accomplish this monumental deciphering, and then moves beyond that milestone to consider the profound medical and social implications it will bring.
S28.E10 ∙ Harvest of Fear
A two hour joint report by Frontline and Nova on genetically-modified (GM) food crops.
S28.E13 ∙ Secrets of the Mind
A man who can "see" without seeing; amputees who feel pain in limbs that are gone; a man who believes his parents are impostors; and an epileptic who believes he is God: a neuroscientist gives the viewer insight into these strange cases.
S28.E16 ∙ Bioterror
Three New York Times reporters studying biological weapons before, during and after 9/11, end up being the target of an actual anthrax attack.
S28.E17 ∙ Life's Greatest Miracle
Sequel to "Miracle of Life" Trace human development from embryo to newborn through the stunning microimagery of photographer Lennart Nilsson. John Lithgow narrates.
S29.E1 ∙ Death Star
Astronomers struggle for decades to determine where gamma ray bursts are coming from unsure whether they are nearby or half way across the universe. Once that is pinned down an even bigger question arises, what could possibly produce them.
S29.E2 ∙ Neanderthals on Trial
Examining the anthropological controversy surrounding Neanderthals, who died out almost 30,000 years ago. Were they our ancestors, or were they an evolutionary dead end?
S29.E3 ∙ Fireworks!
This explosive NOVA presents the colorful history of pyrotechnics and reveals how hi-tech firing systems are transforming public displays into a dazzling, split-second science.
S29.E4 ∙ Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies
Chronicling the lives and covert activities of the so-called "atom spies" in the 1940's, including the big one that got away, Theodore Alvin Hall.
S29.E5 ∙ The Missing Link
A paleontological tour-de-force and suspenseful scientific detective story, the program documents the search for the ancestor of all four-limbed animals, including humans.
S29.E6 ∙ Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance
Charting the 21-month ordeal of Ernest Shackleton and his 27-man crew off Antarctica in 1915 and 1916, after their ship (prophetically named Endurance) was crushed by an ice pack, stranding them.
S29.E7 ∙ Why the Towers Fell
Film on the mechanism of collapse of the World Trade Center.
S29.E8 ∙ Fire Wars
Following smoke jumpers and "hotshots" as they fight forest fires during 2000---"the fire summer from hell," says Bruce Babbitt, the secretary of the interior at the time.
S29.E9 ∙ Killer Disease on Campus
Exploring meningococal disease, which strikes mostly young children and young adults. It's rare (just 3000 cases a year in the U.S.) but it can be deadly.
S29.E10 ∙ Mysterious Life of Caves
Following spelunking scientists as they look for evidence of how caves in New Mexico, Wyoming and Mexico were formed---and what that might say about extraterrestrial life.
S29.E11 ∙ Lost Roman Treasure
Experts rescue priceless mosaics from an ancient city that is about to disappear beneath a reservoir.
S29.E12 ∙ Galileo's Battle for the Heavens
Galileo's struggle to convince Roman Catholic Church authorities that Earth revolves around the sun. Why the headstrong Galileo (1564-1642) didn't succeed is explored in interviews with scientists.
S29.E13 ∙ Volcano's Deadly Warning
Explores a seismic shift in the way scientists predict eruptions. The new method: reading seismic signals indicating magma and gas buildup in active volcanoes.
S29.E14 ∙ Sinking City of Venice
Experts struggle to save the City of Canals before it vanishes beneath the waves.
S29.E15 ∙ The Orchid Hunter
"Orchid Hunter" explores the appeal of the world's largest plant family by following a young Englishman as he risks life and limb in Indonesian jungles to find a new species to name after his grandmother.
S30.E1 ∙ Spies That Fly
Nova recounts the history of the development of military unmanned aerial vehicles along with the opportunities and challenges they present.
S30.E2 ∙ Last Flight of Bomber 31
Exploring what might have happened to a U.S. Navy bomber that disappeared over the Bering Sea during World War II.
S30.E3 ∙ Ancient Creature of the Deep
Following scientists' pursuit of a big, ugly and very ancient (400 million years old) fish called the coelacanth, a "living fossil" that is thought to be a "missing link" between sea and land animals.
S30.E4 ∙ Battle of the X-Planes
Nova takes an inside look at a competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin to develop the next generation of American fighter aircraft.
S30.E5 ∙ Mountain of Ice
An expedition to Mount Vinson, in Antarctica, one of the highest peaks of the World, offers a real awareness of the increasing fragility of the best preserved places far from our daily life.
S30.E6 ∙ Lost Treasures of Tibet
Nova follows a group of art conservationists to the ancient Buddhist Temples of the Mustang. There they attempt to restore artwork that has been slowly deteriorating with time.
S30.E7 ∙ Dirty Bomb
Exploring dirty bombs (including how they differ from conventional nuclear bombs), and how terrorists can acquire the materials to create one, then build and detonate it.
S30.E8 ∙ Deep Sea Invasion
Charting the alarming growth of the invasive alga caulerpa taxifolia through the Mediterranean.
S30.E9 ∙ Secret of Photo 51
This Nova special tells the story of Roselynne Franklin, concentrating on her breakthrough discovery of the structure of DNA, and how her discoveries were used without her permission by Watson, Crick, and Wilkens.
S30.E10 ∙ Infinite Secrets
An ancient Archimedes Manuscript is discovered over written by a medieval prayer book. Program follows the effort to recover the lost text an the implications of its loss to history.
S30.E11 ∙ Who Killed the Red Baron?
Who killed Baron Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron)? Forensic evidence and recently discovered papers hold clues about why the celebrated WWI German air ace met his fate on April 21, 1918.
S30.E12 ∙ The Elegant Universe: Einstein's Dream (1)
From Newton to String Theory Nova chronicles the progress toward a unified theory of everything.
S30.E13 ∙ The Elegant Universe: String's the Thing (2)
In order to solve some of the deepest mysteries of the universe, the rules that govern large objects like galaxies must be combined with the rules that govern small objects like subatomic particles.
S30.E14 ∙ The Elegant Universe: Welcome to the 11th Dimension (3)
String theory is radically changing our ideas about the nature of space, opening up the possibility that extra dimensions, rips in the fabric of space, and parallel universes actually exist.
S30.E15 ∙ Wright Brothers' Flying Machine
Nova looks at how the Wright brothers made their first powered flight through the efforts of enthusiasts to replicate the Wright's early gliders and airplanes.
S30.E16 ∙ Magnetic Storm
Is the magnetic field protecting Earth from deadly radiation about to reverse direction or even disappear?
S30.E17 ∙ Volcano Above the Clouds
An expedition to Mount Kilimandjaro, in Africa, one of the highest peaks of the World, offers a real awareness of the increasing fragility of the best preserved places far from our daily life.
S31.E1 ∙ Mars Dead or Alive
NOVA goes behind the scenes at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to offer a look at the construction and launch of two Martian exploratory rovers: "Spirit" and "Opportunity".
S31.E2 ∙ Secrets of the Crocodile Caves
Tracking the wildlife in Ankarana northern Madagascar, where jagged, 1000-foot ridges wall off lush forests. The rulers of Ankarana: Nile crocodiles, sun lovers that nonetheless live in caves that honeycomb the ridges.
S31.E3 ∙ Dogs and More Dogs
Nova explores ideas, many of them speculative, about how dogs became domesticated from wolves and how, under human influence, their great diversity of 600 breeds arose. Finally, the challenges many dogs face fitting into modern human society are examined.
S31.E4 ∙ Descent Into the Ice
A scientist scuba dives a flooded ice cave searching for a hidden lake under the Mount Blanc glacier. Such a lake burst its ice dam in 1892 causing a flash flood that killed hundreds.
S31.E5 ∙ Crash of Flight 111
"Disaster detectives" from Canada's Transportation Safety Board are followed as they piece together the reason why a Swissair flight from JFK to Geneva crashed off Nova Scotia in 1998, killing all 229 aboard.
S31.E6 ∙ Life and Death in the War Zone
Nova examines the practice of wartime medicine by taking an inside look into the medical care offered to injured US troops during the Iraq War.
S31.E7 ∙ Hunt for the Supertwister
Tornado-chasing scientists with an eye to better forecasting risk their lives to plumb the secrets of nature's most terrifying killer.
S31.E8 ∙ World in the Balance: The People Paradox
Examining the "demographic divide" between developed and underdeveloped nations. Visits to India, Japan and Kenya explore problems caused by too many people in the underdeveloped world and too few in many industrialized nations.
S31.E9 ∙ World in the Balance: China Revs Up
Reviewing upsides and downsides of China's economic "binge" of the last quarter century. "The world has never seen a country get so rich so fast," says narrator Oliver Platt. One telling statistic: 200,000 cars in 1995; 30 million in 2004.
S31.E10 ∙ Battle Plan Under Fire
A report (produced with the New York Times) on how military technology was tested during the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the occupation that followed.
S31.E11 ∙ Origins: Earth Is Born
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson measures Earth's 4.5 billion year history in terms of one 24-hour day. And covers the first hour, when, he says, the planet was "beaten, bombarded, mangled and melted" for several hundred million years.
S31.E12 ∙ Origins: How Life Began
Following the formation of the Earth, life didn't waste any time getting started. Scientists explore the evidence and conduct experiments to determine how life could form on the inhospitable early Earth then change to cover the entire Earth.
S31.E13 ∙ Origins: Where Are the Aliens?
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explores whether life is unique to Earth. "The elements essential to life as we know it are widespread throughout the universe," Tyson says, but no extraterrestrial life has yet been found. Why?
S31.E14 ∙ Origins: Back to the Beginning
Scientists discover and explore the the cosmic microwave background and with it, the big bang and understanding of the first stars and the formation of the elements.
S31.E15 ∙ The Most Dangerous Woman in America
Documents the emerging science of public health and the social, ethical, and legal dilemmas it posed at the turn of the 20th century concerning Mary Mallon, AKA: Typhoid Mary, who was identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid fever,
S31.E16 ∙ America's Stone Age Explorers
Who were the first Americans? Where did they come from? Archaeologists thought they were a culture of prehistoric big game hunters that came over a land bridge from Asia. But new clues are forcing scientists to rewrite an epic story.
S31.E17 ∙ History's Great Escapes
"Great Escape" follows archaeologists---and original escapees---as they retrace the daring World War II POW escape dramatized in the 1963 Steve McQueen movie.
S31.E18 ∙ Ancient Refuge in the Holy Land
Nova follows an archaeological expedition into the Cave of Letters and examines the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire.
S32.E1 ∙ Welcome to Mars
NOVA follows a team of scientists as the monitor the Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit runs into some problems, but Opportunity takes a photograph that may confirm the existence of water on Mars.
S32.E2 ∙ The Boldest Hoax
Chronicles English fossil hunter Charles Dawson's 1912 discovery of the "missing link" between apes and humans---and the discovery that this "Piltdown Man" was a fraud some 40 years later.
S32.E3 ∙ Supersonic Dream
Chronicles the short history of the Concorde, from the drawing board in the 1950s to its final flight in 2003. Literally faster than a speeding bullet, the elegant SST was popular among jet-setters who could afford its high fares.
S32.E5 ∙ The Viking Deception
Since its sensational unveiling by Yale University in 1965, the Vinland Map has been a lightning rod for debate, yet from the outset scholars in these disciplines pointed out glaring anomalies in the case for the Vinland Map's authenticity
S32.E6 ∙ Saving the National Treasures
Follows the restoration and re-encasement of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights between 2001 and 2003.
S32.E7 ∙ A Daring Flight
Chronicles Frenchman Louis Bleriot's English Channel crossing in 1909, the first ever, and charts his grandson's attempt to re-create it in one of Bleriot's original planes.
S32.E11 ∙ Mystery of the Megaflood
Scientists now think that the Scablands' gorges, dry waterfall beds, scattered boulders and "potholes" were formed some 15,000 years ago when a natural ice dam holding an ancient lake burst.
S32.E12 ∙ Sinking the Supership
A modern team of divers sets out to learn the secrets of the super battleship Yamato, the greatest ship of the Second World War.
S32.E13 ∙ E=mc²: Einstein's Big Idea
E = mc2 is not about an old Einstein, it's about a young, energetic, dynamic, even a sexy Einstein.
S32.E15 ∙ Volcano Under the City
Volcanologists climb into the caldera of Mount Nyiragongo, an active and unstable volcano, to collect samples the will help determine when, where and how it is likely to erupt next. Two million souls in the nearby city of Goma depend on the results.
S32.E16 ∙ Hitler's Sunken Secret
Explores the Nazi quest for atomic weapons as it follows a mission to recover barrels of heavy water bound for Berlin from a Norwegian hydroelectric plant.
S32.E17 ∙ Newton's Dark Secrets
The auction of some of Newton's papers early in the 20th century uncovers the fact that he had a side other than the genius mathematician and visionary the world knew him as.
S32.E18 ∙ Storm That Drowned a City
An exploration of the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina details failures of levees and disaster-relief planning; why the city was unprepared; and what made Katrina so powerful.
S33.E5 ∙ Jewel of the Earth
This program examines and the many subtle secrets that scientists have teased out of insects trapped in amber.
S33.E9 ∙ The Great Robot Race
Nova follows a group of teams as they construct driverless vehicles for a 130-mile race across the Mojave Desert.
S33.E10 ∙ Voyage to the Mystery Moon
Nova follows the Cassini probe on it's voyage to Saturn's moon Titan. Along the way it examines a variety of other wonders of the solar system before attempting to land and photograph the surface of Titan.
S33.E11 ∙ Dimming the Sun
The scientific community took some time to accept the evidence that the level of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface had declined in recent decades because, from a narrow minded perspective, it seemed to contradict the phenomenon of global warming. Nova follows the scientists working to find the cause of global dimming but the emphasis of the program is a stern warning about global worming.
S33.E13 ∙ Mystery of the Megavolcano
An eruption of a megavolcano may be the most likely cataclysmic event the earth faces in the present day. Four scientists independently uncover evidence of such an eruption just 75,000 years ago that radically altered the global climate for a millennium and probably disrupted human colonization of the earth.
S33.E17 ∙ Wings of Madness
Nova reviews the contribution of Alberto Santos Dumont in the early days of aircraft development and his uncanny ability to abandon one line of endeavor for a technology with better long term potential.
S34.E2 ∙ Forgotten Genius
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian was a trailblazing chemist whose discoveries improved and saved countless lives. The grandson of slaves, Julian grew up at a time when African Americans faced extraordinary obstacles. Yet Julian refused to let racism prevent him from becoming one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century, as well as a leader in business and civil rights.
S34.E4 ∙ Kings of Camouflage
Marine biologists examine an animal that looks alien enough to be from another planet. Through their studies the scientist learn how cuttlefish make their skin flash like a neon sign, the secrets of their mating behavior and if they are poisonous. But they have barely scratched the surface to understand their intelligence.
S34.E5 ∙ First Flower
Episode examines two topics in the study of plants: the evolution of ancient flowers found in the geological record, and the noteworthy biodiversity of plants in a section of China.
S34.E6 ∙ Saved by the Sun
As the Earth heats up at a dangerous rate and fossil fuels become scarcer, ordinary citizens and businesses are bypassing the federal government to lead the way in exploring a clean, renewable source of power: the sun.
S34.E7 ∙ Pocahontas Revealed
Pocahontas. She was the daughter of a powerful Indigenous American chieftain, who saved an English settler from death and who was later captured and sent to Britain. Centuries after she died, she has been romanticized in culture, from countless works of art to Disney's 1995 hit film. But what is the truth behind the legend?
S34.E9 ∙ Bone Diggers
Nova follows the excavation of a paleontologist's gold mine, an Australian cave containing fossils of eight new species of kangaroo, and the ultimate prize, a complete skeleton of the marsupial lion, thylacoleo carnifex, previously know only from fragments. The complete skeleton enables scientists to predict the animals appearance, method of locomotion and hunting behavior.
S34.E10 ∙ The Great Inca Rebellion
Recent archaeological research begins to reveal how a small number of Spanish fortune hunters could conquer the mighty Inca Empira. The evidences calls into question the accepted story of the conquest recorded by Spanish scribes. More likely, the Spanish were aided by native allies rebelling against Inca rule.
S34.E11 ∙ Nova scienceNow
Sleep's link to learning and memory is examined in visits to research labs at Harvard, MIT and Penn; the Large Hadron Collider, a 16-mile-long particle accelerator nearing completion at the international particle-physics lab CERN in Geneva; the phenomenon of emergence (coordinated mass movement, such as a flock of birds or a school of fish); University of Oregon archaeologist Julie Schablitsky on Chinese railroad laborers in Oregon.
S34.E12 ∙ Nova scienceNow
A look at how environment may affect DNA, turning on and off specific genes; the "Kryptos" sculpture at CIA headquarters, which contains coded messages; homemaker-turned-paleontologist Mary Schweitzer, who discovered spongy tissue in a 68 million-year-old T. rex; Duke mathematics and physics professor Arlie Petters, who is working to prove the "braneworld" theory of gravity, which posits that there are five dimensions (four spatial, plus time).
S34.E13 ∙ Secrets of the Samurai Sword
Nova follows the creation of a katana from raw iron ore to finished masterpiece, through the hands of fifteen master artisans as scientists explain the chemistry and physics at each step that makes it a superb piece of engineering.
S34.E14 ∙ Ghost in Your Genes
Following the mapping of the human genome scientists discovered there is a huge new chapter in the genetics story. Dubbed epigenetics, it involves the chemical markers on DNA that effectively turn genes on or off dramatically influencing growth and development. The markers vary widely from person to person and tissue to tissue and are influenced not just by the environment but by experiences. Most remarkably the markers can be inherited generation after generation.
S34.E15 ∙ Marathon Challenge
What does it take for the average person to run one of the world's toughest races? NOVA finds out in a program that's both a human story and an intriguing scientific exploration of the way our bodies respond to intense exercise demands. Filmed in cooperation with the Boston Athletic Association, NOVA has been granted unprecedented access to the Boston Marathon course and will take viewers on a unique adventure inside the human body. Every year thousands of athletes from across the globe flock to Boston to run the city's marathon, known worldwide as the ultimate test of stamina and endurance. In the summer of 2006, NOVA began following 13 novices as they took the first step toward completing the 26.2-mile race in April 2007. The group of participants includes a variety of people from diverse backgrounds - a young woman running in memory of her mother, who died in a tragic car accident; a working single mom; even a former NFL linebacker - the unifying element is that not one of them is currently a runner. Over the nine-month training period, exercise and nutrition scientists and doctors at Tufts University use sophisticated technology to monitor the physical transformations that the participants undergo. Intimate interviews reveal the highs and lows along the way. The experience will demand a transformation of mind and body; NOVA cameras will be there, following every step.
S34.E16 ∙ Sputnik Declassified
Nova examines the goals of the highly secretive American space program prior to Sputnik. The Eisenhower Administration's covert objectives in space gave the impression that the Soviets had a commanding lead in space technology.
S34.E17 ∙ Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial
The account of the legal battle in Dover, Pennsylvania over the required teaching of the religious-based "intelligence design" as supposedly a legitimate scientific alternative to evolution in the local public school.
S34.E19 ∙ Missing in MiG Alley
Nova reviews the air war between Russian Mig 15s and American F86 Sabres over Korea. With the Russians anxious for information about American aerial combat tactics and the F86, many people speculate that some American pilots who are still MIA were taken to Russia for interrogation. Their families hope they may still be alive.
S35.E1 ∙ Absolute Zero: The Conquest of Cold
Our mastery of cold is something we take for granted, whether it s air conditioning and frozen food or the liquefied gases and superconductivity at the heart of cutting-edge technology. But what is cold? How do you achieve it, and how cold can it get?
S35.E2 ∙ Absolute Zero: The Race for Absolute Zero
Nova examines scientific efforts to produce colder and colder temperatures.
S35.E3 ∙ Secrets of the Parthenon
A highly sophisticated restoration team is painstakingly reassembling the Parthenon of Athens-a classic Greek building that has suffered from wars, earthquakes, and disastrous previous restoration attempts.
S35.E4 ∙ Astrospies
This documentary investigates the background of a secret 1960s USAF space project named MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) and its Russian counterpart ALMAZ.
S35.E6 ∙ The Four-Winged Dinosaur
A Chinese paleontologist flies into controversy when he discovers a four winged dinosaur and claims it is the missing link between dinosaurs and birds rather than evolving from reptiles. Opposing sides in the controversy prepare skeletal reproductions to demonstrate their position but neither can figure out how the creature could possibly fly, leading to the creation of a detailed, poseable scale model for wind tunnel testing.
S35.E7 ∙ Cracking the Maya Code
Nova examines the fascinating history behind the scientific effort to decode the Mayan writing system.
S35.E8 ∙ Car of the Future
Click and Clack from NPR's Car Talk look at the future of motor vehicle transportation. New designs, new construction materials and new fuel sources are all discussed. Social and Political issues are also touched on lightly.
S35.E9 ∙ A Walk to Beautiful
A difficult journey that begins in loneliness and shame for thousands of Ethiopian women ends in a productive new life and hope for the future in this award-winning film. Shot against a starkly beautiful landscape, A Walk to Beautiful shares the inspiring stories of three women, rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, who leave home in search of treatment for obstetric fistula. In a courageous attempt to reclaim their lives, these women embark on a remarkable journey.
S35.E10 ∙ Lord of the Ants
Narrated by Harrison Ford. At age 78, E.O. Wilson is still going through his 'little savage' phase of boyhood exploration of the natural world. NOVA profiles this soft-spoken Southerner and Professor Emeritus at Harvard, who is an acclaimed advocate for ants, biological diversity, and the controversial extension of Darwinian ideas to human society.
S35.E11 ∙ Arctic Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are generally considered tropical animals. So what are their fossils doing north of the arctic circle? Paleontologists battle the fierce climate to find out if the arctic was warmer then than it is now, or the arctic was farther from the North Pole, or the dinosaurs were migratory animals, or if they warm blooded.
S35.E12 ∙ Space Shuttle Disaster
A look at the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003. It includes interviews with shuttle astronauts, family members, flight control personnel, administrators and investigators. Also included is a brief history of the space shuttle program.
S35.E14 ∙ Hunting the Hidden Dimension
A look at fractal geometry, and how it is found just about everywhere in everything, and how the mathematics of fractals can be used to model and measure such things as mountains, coastlines, telephone line noise and heart rhythm. It also shows how they are used in animation, communications and textile design.
S35.E15 ∙ Alien from Earth
NOVA investigates the furious scientific debate raging over what "Hobbit" bones represent.
S35.E16 ∙ The Bible's Buried Secrets
A powerful partnership between science and scholarship breaks exciting new ground in investigating the origins of the ancient Israelites, their faith in a single, omnipotent God and the creation of the Bible.
S35.E17 ∙ Ocean Animal Emergency
San Francisco veterinarian Dr. Frances Gulland is committed to saving sick marine mammals, but she's also desperately trying to figure out what's killing them.
S35.E19 ∙ The Big Energy Gamble
Nova investigates California's aggressive pro-environment energy policies and examines whether such policies will be good or bad for business.
S36.E1 ∙ The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies
NOVA flies along with the monarch butterflies, visiting the spectacular locations they call home and meeting the dangers they encounter along the way.
S36.E2 ∙ The Spy Factory
Nova examines the clandestine practices of the National Security Agency and investigates changes in the Agency that are the result of 9/11.
S36.E3 ∙ Rat Attack
Every 48 years, swarms of rodents invade homes and attack crops in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram. Nova follows investigators as they try to determine why.
S36.E4 ∙ Extreme Ice
Nova offers a glimpse at the breathtaking wonders of the extreme North. The time-lapsed images collected by photojournalist James Balog show the alarming effects of climate change.
S36.E5 ∙ Megabeasts' Sudden Death
Thirteen thousand years ago a great tragedy in North American history caused the extinction of 35 species of large mammals. Scientists are divided on whether the cause was climate change or human predation. Nova follows the investigation of the evidence supporting a third controversial hypothesis; comet impact.
S36.E6 ∙ Doctors' Diaries: Part One
NOVA returns one last time to get an update on the seven doctors they've documented since 1987.
S36.E10 ∙ Darwin's Darkest Hour
NOVA and National Geographic Television co-present a two-hour drama on the crisis that compelled Darwin to publish his theory of evolution.
S36.E11 ∙ Hubble's Amazing Rescue
Nova takes an inside look at space shuttle mission STS-125 and the efforts to service the almost two decade old Hubble Space telescope.
S36.E12 ∙ Lizard Kings
This program reviews the monitor lizard genus which, dispute the incredible diversity between species, share common traits such as the ability to count, that lead biologists to peg them as the most evolutionarily advanced of the lizards. Dr. Eric Pianka, who studied lizards for forty years in Australia, serves as guide. Program concludes with the customary, trite comment on human impact on climate change and the environment.
S36.E13 ∙ Becoming Human: First Steps
Nova examines the early ancestors of mankind and considers whether climate change was the driving force behind our early evolution.
S36.E14 ∙ Becoming Human: Birth of Humanity
Nova examines the ancestors of man by attempting to to reconstruct what they look like, what tools they used, and how they lived. Special focus is given to Homo erectus.
S36.E15 ∙ Becoming Human: Last Human Standing
Nova examines the early ancestors of mankind and examines why Homo sapiens won out over Neanderthals in the evolutionary race.
S36.E16 ∙ What Are Dreams?
Nova examines the science of dreams by investigating what dreams are and why we have them.
S36.E17 ∙ What Darwin Never Knew
A look at Charles Darwin, his book On The Origin of Species, and how his theory of evolution is explained. It includes Darwin's observations through work on the Human Genome Project.
S37.E1 ∙ Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor included five midget submarines. Four of the submarines failed in their mission being destroyed or captured. Nova follows the investigation of a mysterious ship wreck to determine if it is the fifth submarine, if it successfully launched its torpedoes and if so did it succeed in in attacking any ships.
S37.E2 ∙ Building Pharaoh's Ship
Nova explores ancient Egyptian techniques of ship building by following a team of archaeologist as they construct a ship based on ancient designs.
S37.E3 ∙ Riddles of the Sphinx
Nova investigates the Great Sphinx of Egypt in an attempt to understand its origin, creation, and purpose.
S37.E4 ∙ Ghosts of Machu Picchu
Nova examines the ruins of Machu Picchu and tries to unravel what happened there.
S37.E5 ∙ Extreme Cave Diving
A team of scientists and divers explore blue holes, submerged caves in the Bahamas to uncover the history of the islands and clues to the Earth's climate changes. In the process they experience many perils.
S37.E6 ∙ The Pluto Files
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson gives the facts on Pluto and examines the controversy over whether it is a planet.
S37.E7 ∙ Hunting the Edge of Space: The Mystery of the Milky Way
Nova examines the physics of telescope design. Following the development of the telescope over several centuries the program explains the challenges that the major design innovations solved and the inevitable major discoveries they produced.
S37.E8 ∙ Hunting the Edge of Space: The Ever-Expanding Universe
This program describes the most remarkable, perspective changing discoveries in the field of cosmology in the last 100 years. Each discovery was made by scientists working with a radically new telescope.
S37.E9 ∙ Mind Over Money
Nova examines the science behind making financial decisions and investigates why economists did not anticipate the 2008 financial crisis.
S37.E10 ∙ Mt. St. Helens Back from the Dead
Nova examines the Mount St. Helens volcano and investigates whether it is soon due for another eruption.
S37.E11 ∙ Building the Great Cathedrals
Gothic cathedrals are marvels of human achievement and artistry. On this journey inside the jewels of Gothic architecture, discover how medieval builders, drawing from hidden formulas in the Bible itself, reached such spectacular heights.
S37.E12 ∙ Emergency Mine Rescue
Chronicling the fate of the 33 miners trapped in a collapsed Chilean gold and copper mine in August 2010 and investigates the many challenges faced by both the miners and those working around the clock to bring them safely to the surface.
S37.E13 ∙ Trapped in an Elevator
In TRAPPED IN AN ELEVATOR, NOVA reveals the secret life of these ubiquitous machines. Once brawny but simple machines, elevators are getting a brainy makeover.
S37.E14 ∙ Dogs Decoded
Nova examines the special relationship that exists between human beings and dogs.
S37.E15 ∙ Secrets of Stonehenge
A look at new attempts by archaeologists to understand Stonehenge by excavating in the area around the site. Included is an explanation of previous excavations at the site as well as how the site compares to other stone and timber circles around the British Isles. Also, experiments are conducted to show how various components may have been brought together.
S37.E16 ∙ Quest for Solomon's Mines
Archeologists seek the truth about the Bible's most famous king and his legendary riches.
S37.E17 ∙ Secrets Beneath the Ice
What happens when the ice melts and the sea levels rise? Scientists study Antarctica in an effort to understand possible climate change through geologists looking at ancient landscapes, paleobotany, drilling, and diving.
S38.E1 ∙ Deadliest Earthquakes
In 2010, several epic earthquakes delivered one of the worst annual death tolls ever recorded. The deadliest strike, in Haiti, killed more than 200,000 people and reduced homes, hospitals, schools, and the presidential palace to rubble.
S38.E2 ∙ Making Stuff: Stronger
David Pogue hosts this examination of what makes material strong. He looks at the underlying material science behind steel, Kevlar, glass, chalk, carbon nanotubes, and spiderwebs.
S38.E3 ∙ Making Stuff: Smaller
David Pogue hosts this examination of miniaturization. He looks at what it takes to make things smaller focusing nanotechnology and micro-robots that one day may be used to save lives.
S38.E4 ∙ Making Stuff: Cleaner
This program looks at cleaner ways to generate power principally in our cars and electrical power plants. It reviews alternatives for all the steps in the fuel generation, storage and distribution processes with a particular emphasis on how unwanted waste products can play a significant role.
S38.E5 ∙ Smartest Machine on Earth
Watson, an IBM computer with a brain the size of 2,400 home computers and a database of 10 million documents, competes on the game show Jeopardy! (1984) against champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Will Watson win?
S38.E6 ∙ Making Stuff: Smarter
Making stuff smarter isn't about artificial intelligence. It's more about engineering materials at the microscopic level to behave in specific ways. Today is it possible to create materials with clever designs or micro structures that permit control of a material's ability to self-heal, stick and release, self-clean, prevent disease, alter their shape and other properties. This program explains where several of these materials came from, how they work and how they are put to practical use.
S38.E7 ∙ Crash of Flight 447
Forensic investigators reconstruct the final moments of the Air France disaster.
S38.E8 ∙ Venom: Nature's Killer
Nova and National Geographic follow researchers collecting venom from the world's most dangerous snakes, spiders, lizards and other creatures. The program explains why the researchers do it and what is known about how venom works and why some animals are especially dangerous.
S38.E9 ∙ Japan's Killer Quake
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan resulting in waves up to 130 ft. (40 m.) that devastated coastal villages and initiated meltdowns, gas explosions and the release of radioactive materials at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
S38.E11 ∙ Engineering Ground Zero
On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, NOVA presents an epic story of engineering, innovation and the perseverance of the human spirit.
S38.E13 ∙ Finding Life Beyond Earth: Are We Alone?
Scientists are on the verge of answering one of the greatest questions in history: Are we alone? Finding Life Beyond Earth immerses audiences in the sights and sounds of alien worlds, while top astrobiologists explain how these places are changing how we think about the potential for life in our solar system.
S38.E14 ∙ Finding Life Beyond Earth: Moons and Beyond
Conclusion. The effort to locate life elsewhere in the universe is examined. It's a difficult task due to the many planets that could theoretically support life.
S38.E20 ∙ Iceman Murder Mystery
An autopsy on the 5000-year-old remains of Otzi the Iceman, the mummified corpse recovered from a glacier in the Italian Alps in 1991.
S38.E21 ∙ The Fabric of the Cosmos: What is Space?
Simple, obvious, ever-present aspects of our daily lives give scientists fits trying to understand them. One of these aspects is space which physicists are convinced is something more than nothing. This program explains the experiments that are giving scientists hints about what space is.
S38.E22 ∙ The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time
This program challenges our traditional questions about time such as; does it flow in one direction or does it flow at all? Does everyone experience the same now? Is time travel possible? Will time come to an end?
S38.E23 ∙ The Fabric of the Cosmos: Quantum Leap
This program explains some of the weirdest aspects of quantum mechanics: uncertainty and entanglement. Despite the absurdity of these behaviors they have been confirmed time and again and have never been refuted. Lastly the theory that suggests the possibility that teleportation and quantum computers may be possible are examined.
S38.E24 ∙ The Fabric of the Cosmos: Universe or Multiverse?
Hard as it is to swallow, cutting-edge theories are suggesting that our universe may not be the only universe. Instead, it may be just one of an infinite number of worlds that make up the multiverse. In this show, Brian Greene takes us on a tour of this brave new theory at the frontier of physics, explaining why scientists believe it's true and showing what some of these alternate realities might be like.
S39.E1 ∙ Deadliest Volcanoes
Examining the work of scientists who are studying active volcanoes in an attempt to learn how likely they are to erupt, when eruptions might happen and how deadly they could be.
S39.E2 ∙ Bombing Hitler's Dams
The physics and design of the World War II Dambuster attack are examined and recreated.
S39.E3 ∙ 3D Spies of WWII
The story of British aerial military photographic reconnaissance and analysis using stereoscopic viewing techniques during World War II.
S39.E4 ∙ Mystery of a Masterpiece
NOVA meets a new breed of experts who are approaching "cold case" art mysteries as if they were crime scenes, determined to discover "who committed the art," and follows art sleuths as they deploy new techniques to combat the multi-billion dollar criminal market in stolen and fraudulent art.
S39.E5 ∙ Ice Age Death Trap
In a race against developers in the Rocky Mountains, archaeologists uncover a unique fossil site packed with astonishingly well-preserved bones of mammoths, mastodons, and other giant extinct beasts. The discovery opens a highly focused window on the vanished world of the Ice Age in North America.
S39.E6 ∙ Separating Twins
Witness the extraordinary surgery that will allow twin girls, born joined at the head, to live separate lives.
S39.E7 ∙ Cracking Your Genetic Code
The ability for people to have their genetic codes analyzed is examined, as are the moral aspects that come with access to such information.
S39.E8 ∙ Hunting the Elements
Where do nature's building blocks, called the elements, come from? They're the hidden ingredients of everything in our world, from the carbon in our bodies to the metals in our smartphones. Watch as David Pogue unlocks their secrets.
S39.E9 ∙ Deadliest Tornadoes
Scientists strive to understand what caused the devasting tornado outbreak of April 2011. Could their research improve future tornado prediction?
S39.E10 ∙ Why Ships Sink
NOVA looks at questions about cruise ship safety and the science of the ships' buoyancy
S39.E11 ∙ Secrets of the Sun
Nova reviews what scientists have learned in recent years about the sun's behavior and how it works. Most significantly, astronomers are at last beginning to understand the the solar phenomenon that impact our civilization; solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
S39.E12 ∙ Secrets of the Viking Sword
The Vikings were the most ferocious warriors of the Middle Ages. Especially fearsome were the select few who wielded a formidable weapon: a light, razor sharp, virtually indestructible sword with its maker's name, ULFBERHT, inlaid along the blade.
S39.E13 ∙ Forensics on Trial
An examination of modern forensic science. Of the more than 200 inmates exonerated by DNA testing since 2000, more than half were initially found guilty in part due to invalid and/or improperly utilized forensic science.
S39.E14 ∙ Mystery of Easter Island
Easter Island has mystified the world ever since the first Europeans arrived in 1722.
S39.E15 ∙ Ultimate Mars Challenge
NOVA will be there for the exhilarating moments after Curiosity's landing on Mars --and for the spectacular discoveries sure to come.
S39.E16 ∙ Inside the Megastorm
Inside the Megastorm takes viewers moment by moment through Hurricane Sandy, its impacts and the future of storm protection.
S40.E1 ∙ Doomsday Volcanoes
Iceland is a ticking time bomb: When it blows, the consequences will be global. What can we do to prepare for the coming disaster?
S40.E2 ∙ Decoding Neanderthals
What happened when the first modern humans encountered the Neanderthals? Did they make love or war?
S40.E3 ∙ Rise of the Drones
Discover the cutting-edge technologies that are propelling us toward a new chapter in aviation history.
S40.E4 ∙ Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?
NOVA reopens one of the most confounding crime mysteries of all time in an effort to determine what really happened to Charles Lindbergh's baby and why.
S40.E5 ∙ Building Pharaoh's Chariot
A team of archaeologists, engineers, woodworkers, and horse trainers join forces to build and test two highly accurate replicas of Egyptian royal chariots.
S40.E6 ∙ Earth from Space
EARTH FROM SPACE is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet.
S40.E8 ∙ Meteor Strike
Scientist relish the wealth of data available from the Chelyabinsk meteor impact to determine, for the first time, the physical details of a large meteor strike.
S40.E9 ∙ Ancient Computer
Examining an ancient Greek astronomical calculator and eclipse predictor that is believed to be from the workshop of Archimedes.
S40.E10 ∙ Australia's First 4 Billion Years: Awakening
This four part series describes the origins and diversification of life on earth with Australia as a microcosm. This episode describes the history of Earth from its initial formation through the Cambrian explosion using Australian geological formations as examples.
S40.E11 ∙ Australia's First 4 Billion Years: Life Explodes
In the early Paleozoic Australia is a coastal region of the super-continent Gondwana making it the scene of life's invasion of the land. But not all the action was on land as fish began to dominate the oceans and Australia has a wealth of superb fossils of early fish and other sea creatures.
S40.E12 ∙ Australia's First 4 Billion Years: Monsters
Until recently there were very few known dinosaur fossils in Australia. But there are highways full of footprints which along with the recently found skeletal fossils tell uniquely Australian stories of plants, mammals, dinosaurs and other creatures.
S40.E13 ∙ Australia's First 4 Billion Years: Strange Creatures
The Paleogene opens with the dinosaurs extinct and much of the world's water freezing out in Antarctica as Australia breaks free of Gondwana to chart it's own course. As in the rest of the world mammals, birds and grasses rise to prominence but with an uniquely Australian flavor. Then the first placental mammals arrive.
S40.E14 ∙ Oklahoma's Deadliest Tornadoes
On May 20th 2013, a ferocious F5 tornado over a mile wide tore through Moore, Oklahoma, inflicting 24 deaths and obliterating entire neighborhoods. It was the third time an exceptionally violent tornado had struck the city in 14 years. Yet predicting when and where these killer storms will hit still poses a huge challenge.
S40.E15 ∙ Manhunt: Boston Bombers
How did investigators transform the chaos of the Boston Marathon Bombing into a coherent trail of clues, pointing to the accused killers?
S40.E16 ∙ Ground Zero Supertower
From PBS - NOVA returns to Ground Zero to witness the completion of One World Trade Center.
S40.E17 ∙ Megastorm Aftermath
In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy cut a path of devastation across the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States, killing hundreds and causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.
S40.E18 ∙ Making Stuff Faster
Part 1 of 4. New York Times technology reporter David Pogue explores things that may change the way people live, beginning with efforts to tweak physiology and engineering in order to move people and machines faster.
S40.E19 ∙ Making Stuff Wilder
Part 2 of 4. A look at innovations inspired by life, including underwater Wi-Fi based on how dolphins communicate; robotic "mules" and "cheetahs" for the military; robotic bees; virus-built batteries; and "living" computers made from DNA.
S40.E20 ∙ Making Stuff Colder
Part 3 of 4. An examination of cold science, including its use in saving the lives of trauma patients and possibly cooling a warming planet. Also: ultracold physics, which may lead to levitating trains and benefit quantum computers.
S40.E21 ∙ Making Stuff Safer
Part 4 of 4. A look at efforts to engineer a safer world, including protecting people from earthquakes; epidemics; traffic accidents; and sport injuries. Also: cyber security.
S40.E22 ∙ Cold Case JFK
The 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy is re-investigated using modern technology and contemporary scientific techniques. Included: ballistics experts reconstruct the shooting in a test of the "single bullet theory".
S40.E23 ∙ At the Edge of Space
A high-flying weather observation plane skirts the earth-space boundary zone in a search for sprites, which are fleeting flashes that flicker upwards from thunderstorms for a split-second.
S40.E24 ∙ Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday?
The dichotomy that surrounds asteroids is examined. On the one hand, a large asteroid could end life on Earth. On the other hand, however, some asteroids could provide a massive payday for intrepid entrepreneurs.
S41.E1 ∙ Alien Planets Revealed
A look at new worlds uncovered by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Telescope, including whether any are like Earth and the type of life they might support.
S41.E2 ∙ Zeppelin Terror Attack
A look at the enormous, hydrogen-filled dirigibles that Germany used during World War I to bomb Britain, as well as the defense systems that Britain developed in an attempt to neutralize them.
S41.E3 ∙ Killer Typhoon
A look at Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands and left millions homeless when it struck the Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, with 200-mph winds and a two-story-high storm surge.
S41.E4 ∙ Ghosts of Murdered Kings
The discovery of a prehistoric torso in a dried-up bog in Ireland leads archaeologists and forensic experts to investigate the find, which is dated to the Bronze Age.
S41.E5 ∙ Roman Catacomb Mystery
An investigation of a mass grave found in the catacombs beneath the streets of Rome sheds insight into ancient Romans' daily lives and health.
S41.E6 ∙ Great Cathedral Mystery
Examining the 15th-century dome that crowns the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. Known as the Duomo, it consists of four million bricks, is taller than the Statue of Liberty and weighs about the same as a cruise ship.
S41.E7 ∙ Wild Predator Invasion
The effort to return apex predators-such as coyotes, bears and panthers-to the wild in order to restore the natural balance to off-kilter ecosystems is detailed.
S41.E8 ∙ Inside Animal Minds: Bird Genius
An examination of the mental prowess of birds. Included: a wild crow focused on an eight-step puzzle; and a raven that can solve a puzzle box so fast that high-speed photography is needed to document it.
S41.E9 ∙ Inside Animal Minds: Dogs & Super Senses
How animals use their senses. Included: the differences between wolves and dogs in how they interpret visual information and smells, as well as why they differ; and the ways in which animal brains process information provided by the senses
S41.E10 ∙ Inside Animal Minds: Who's the Smartest?
An examination of animal intelligence. Scientists have observed that many clever creatures live in complex social groups, including apes, dolphins and elephants.
S41.E11 ∙ Why Sharks Attack
Shark experts in Australia and the U.S. investigate the hunting instincts of the great white shark.
S41.E12 ∙ Escape from Nazi Alcatraz
Aero engineers and carpenters attempt to replicate an ingenious escape plan from Oflag IV-C, a POW camp at Colditz Castle in Germany that held Allied officers during World War II, to see if it would have succeeded.
S41.E13 ∙ D-Day's Sunken Secrets
Submersibles, underwater robots and 3D mapping tools are used to discover, identify and plot the relics on the sea floor near Normandy, France, the site of the Allies' D-Day invasion during World War II.
S41.E14 ∙ Vaccines - Calling the Shots
The science of vaccination, and the personal medical consequences when too many people decline to cooperate in the public health measure.
S41.E15 ∙ Rise of the Hackers
The experts battling to protect data from hackers are spotlighted. Included: the men who discovered an advanced cyber weapon; the computer expert who figured out how to hack ATMs.
S41.E16 ∙ Why Planes Vanish
An examination of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and how airplane tracking systems could be improved to prevent a similar occurrence.
S41.E17 ∙ Surviving Ebola
A recounting of the 2013-15 West African Ebola epidemic and the efforts to contain it.
S41.E18 ∙ Ben Franklin's Balloons
The daring aeronauts of 18th-century Paris, who took flight in hot-air and gas balloons are recalled. Included: recreations of key flights, including the first manned voyage on November 21, 1783.
S41.E19 ∙ First Air War
An exploration of the development of aerial warfare in World War One.
S41.E20 ∙ Bigger Than T. Rex
A team of palaeontologists led by Nizar Ibrahim go in search of Spinosaurus, a giant meat eater believed to be even larger than Tyrannosaurus rex.
S41.E21 ∙ Emperor's Ghost Army
Nova's examination or how thousands to terra cotta soldiers in Qin dynasty's terra cotta army were created digresses into reviews of Qin history and technology.
S41.E22 ∙ Killer Landslides
Scientists examine the causes of the 2014 Oso, Washington, landslide, the worst in decades.
S41.E23 ∙ First Man on the Moon
A look inside the life of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
S42.E1 ∙ Big Bang Machine
CERN scientists prepare to restart the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It is to run it at a higher energy than before, when it detected a subatomic particle that may be the elusive Higgs boson.
S42.E2 ∙ Sunken Ship Rescue
The effort to salvage the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground and capsized off the coast of Italy on January 13, 2012, killing 32 people, is chronicled.
S42.E3 ∙ Sinkholes-Buried Alive
Sinkholes are examined. The collapses can be gradual or sudden; and occur when carbon dioxide in the air dissolves in rainwater and forms an acid that weakens limestone and other water-soluble rocks beneath the soil.
S42.E4 ∙ Colosseum: Roman Death Trap
Archaeologists and engineers employ ancient Roman techniques to build an elevator and trap-door system similar to those used in the Colosseum, where wild animals emerged, as if by magic, from beneath the floor.
S42.E5 ∙ Petra: Lost City of Stone
A look at the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, which was carved from stone and possessed an ingenious water-conduit system. Archaeologist and sculptors join forces to carve a temple-tomb to learn how the people of Petra built the city.
S42.E6 ∙ Hagia Sophia: Istanbul's Mystery
Architects and engineers investigate the secrets behind Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, which has survived on one of the world's most active seismic faults since it was built in 537 A.D.
S42.E7 ∙ The Great Math Mystery
An exploration of mathematics, including where it comes from and why it explains the physical world; and whether it's a human invention or a hidden language of the universe.
S42.E8 ∙ Invisible Universe Revealed
The story of the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched into orbit in 1990. It since has provided stunning images; helped astronomers determine the age of the universe; and advanced the understanding of dark energy and cosmic expansion
S42.E9 ∙ Nazi Attack on America
The wreckage of WWII-era German submarine U-166, which sank in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942, is examined. The U-boat was part of Operation Drumbeat, a Nazi operation that targeted East Coast cities and merchant ships.
S42.E10 ∙ Lethal Seas
How carbon emissions are impacting the world's oceans. Included: a coral garden in Papua New Guinea that could offer a preview of what the seas will be like in a half-century.
S42.E11 ∙ Chasing Pluto
NOVA captures New Horizons' historic flyby of Pluto, the culmination of the spacecraft's nine-year, three-billion-mile journey to reveal the first ever detailed images of this strange, icy world at the very edge of our solar system.
S42.E12 ∙ Nuclear Meltdown Disaster
Four years after one of history's worst nuclear accidents, NOVA reveals the minute-by-minute story of the Fukushima nuclear crisis and its ongoing aftermath, told by the brave workers who stayed behind as an earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant.
S42.E13 ∙ Dawn of Humanity
Deep in a South African cave, an astounding discovery reveals clues to what made us human.
S42.E14 ∙ Arctic Ghost Ship
160 years ago, the Franklin Expedition to chart the Northwest Passage vanished. NOVA is on board as a Canadian team makes a breakthrough discovery of one of Franklin's lost ships--a vital new clue to the fate of the ill-starred expedition.
S42.E15 ∙ Secrets of Noah's Ark
A new version of the biblical flood story includes instructions for assembling an ark.
S42.E16 ∙ Cyberwar Threat
Cyber weapons have the ability to inflict physical damage on factories, power plants and pipelines.
S42.E17 ∙ Animal Mummies
Animal mummies from the Egyptian catacombs are examined. Also discussed, the role of animals in Egyptian beliefs.
S42.E18 ∙ Making North America: Origins
The shaping of North America, including palm trees that once thrived in Alaska and an eruption that nearly tore the Midwest in two.
S42.E19 ∙ Making North America: Life
How life emerged in North America; and why the continent was home to many iconic dinosaurs, including the T. rex. Included: a trip to the Badlands of North Dakota and desert wilderness of southern Utah highlights dinosaur discoveries.
S42.E20 ∙ Making North America: Human
The influence of geology on the human occupation of North America is described.
S42.E21 ∙ Inside Einstein's Mind
An examination of how Albert Einstein developed the theory of general relativity, which reshaped the understanding of gravity, space and time.
S43.E1 ∙ Secret Tunnel Warfare
To avoid trampling historical "World War I trench warfare tunnels" in Belgium archaeologists were brought to clear a path for the construction of a pipeline.
S43.E2 ∙ Life's Rocky Start
Mineralogist Robert Hazen explores the role that rocks may have played in the creation of life on Earth.
S43.E3 ∙ Mystery Beneath the Ice
What happened to a quarter quadrillion krill and what does it mean for some of our favorite animals; penguins, whales and seals. Scientists are determined to find out if we should relax, worry or panic.
S43.E4 ∙ Himalayan Megaquake
The earthquake that rocked Nepal in April 2015 is examined. Included: why it was so devastating; how the victims are rebuilding; and whether another earthquake is in the offing.
S43.E5 ∙ Creatures of Light
Deep-sea scientists study the undersea world of creatures that flash, sparkle, shimmer or glow.
S43.E6 ∙ Memory Hackers
An examination of how memory works. Included: research being done by neuroscientists, who've studied everyone from an 11 year old with extraordinary recall to a woman who had false memories implanted in her mind.
S43.E7 ∙ Iceman Reborn
Murdered more than 5,000 years ago, Otzi the Iceman is the oldest human mummy on Earth. Now, newly discovered evidence sheds light not only on this mysterious ancient man, but on the dawn of civilization in Europe.
S43.E8 ∙ Rise of the Robots
Machines with human-like capabilities have long been the stuff of science fiction. Until now. Meet the world's most advanced humanoid robots as they leave the lab, battle real-world challenges, and endeavor to become part of our everyday lives.
S43.E9 ∙ Vikings Unearthed
They were pioneering warriors, expert seafarers, and colonists of the North Atlantic realm. The Vikings even claimed in their sagas to have reached America. Now, renowned archaeologist Sarah Parcak uncovers new clues about their legendary expeditions and settlements.
S43.E10 ∙ Can Alzheimer's Be Stopped?
The work of scientists to determine the cause of Alzheimer's disease is detailed. Included: major drug trials aimed at discovering therapies to slow and even prevent the disease.
S43.E11 ∙ Wild Ways
From Yellowstone to the Yukon, to Southern Africa's elephant highways stretching across five nations, explore how newly established wildlife corridors may offer a glimmer of hope to some of our planet's most cherished-but endangered-species.
S43.E12 ∙ Operation Lighthouse Rescue
Engineers work to save historic Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard, which is falling victim to the ocean's erosion of the island's cliffs.
S43.E13 ∙ Bombing Hitler's Supergun
Historians and engineers investigate how Allied forces conspired to destroy Hitler's "supergun".
S43.E14 ∙ 15 Years of Terror
Investigate the psychology of a terrorist and examine how radical organizations have grown to make use of modern propaganda and social media tools in order to cultivate an army of self-radicalized killers.
S43.E15 ∙ School of the Future
How the science of learning may change education for all children.
S43.E16 ∙ Great Human Odyssey
Scientists are using archaeological and cultural findings to map humans' exodus from Africa and identify the adaptive skills required for the journey.
S43.E17 ∙ Super Tunnel
Follow an army of engineers and designers as they tackle the complex challenge of building Crossrail, a massive new subterranean railway deep beneath the streets of London.
S43.E18 ∙ Treasures of the Earth: Gems
This program explains the formation, chemistry, variations and allure of the most notable gemstones; diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, jade and opals.
S43.E19 ∙ Treasures of the Earth: Metals
History's most important metals and how they advanced civilization.
S43.E20 ∙ Treasures of the Earth: Power
An examination of fossil fuels. Included: modern-day oil prospecting in California; and a utility company that struggles to keep the lights on during hot summer days.
S44.E1 ∙ Secrets of the Sky Tombs
Evidence discovered in the world's highest tombs reveals ancient rituals and beliefs.
S44.E2 ∙ The Nuclear Option
A look at the future of nuclear power, which was called into question by the Fukushima disaster. Included: new nuclear technologies that could prevent meltdowns.
S44.E3 ∙ Search for the Super Battery
David Pogue investigates how batteries work and what the future may hold for technical innovation.
S44.E4 ∙ Ultimate Cruise Ship
The building of the Seven Seas Explorer cruise ship, which weighs some 54,000 gross tons and is longer than two football fields, is chronicled.
S44.E5 ∙ The Origami Revolution
The centuries old Japanese art form has gone high tech. Building with examples in biology and applying sophisticated mathematics, computer software and good old fashion imagination it looks like any structure can be folded and practical applications are everywhere.
S44.E6 ∙ Why Trains Crash
A look at several recent train crashes, their causes and a technological solution which should make such events occur much less often.
S44.E7 ∙ Holocaust Escape Tunnel
An international team of archaeologists is excavating the remains of Vilna's Great Synagogue in Lithuania and searching for a lost escape tunnel dug by Jewish prisoners inside a Nazi execution site.
S44.E8 ∙ Building Chernobyl's Megatomb
An international team of engineers races to construct a gargantuan dome to contain the lingering radioactive materials and crumbling remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, decades after being the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.
S44.E9 ∙ Chinese Chariot Revealed
Experts reconstruct and test China's first super-weapon, the chariot, which dominated the battlefields for more than 1000 years.
S44.E10 ∙ Poisoned Water
An investigation of what happened in Flint, Mich., when officials changed the city's water source to save money, but overlooked a critical treatment process.
S44.E11 ∙ Eclipse Over America
Scientists and citizens alike observe the first total solar eclipse to traverse the U.S. mainland in more than a generation. Included: the storied history of eclipse science; and cutting-edge research into the solar corona.
S44.E12 ∙ Death Dive to Saturn
For over a decade, the Cassini space probe has been sending dazzling images of Saturn's breathtaking rings and mysterious moons. Join Nova on a suspenseful ride during Cassini's final hours as it dives into Saturn's atmosphere.
S44.E13 ∙ Secrets of the Shining Knight
Discover what it was like to be a knight in shining armor and follow the historic manufacturing process. Master armorers re-engineer the Greenwich armor - considered some of the greatest armor ever made - and then put it to the test.
S44.E14 ∙ Ghosts of Stonehenge
Who built Stonehenge and why? Groundbreaking archaeological digs have revealed major new clues about Britain's enigmatic 5,000-year-old site and the people who constructed it.
S44.E15 ∙ Secrets of the Forbidden City
The architectural design of Beijing's ancient complex of palaces and temples enabled it to survive centuries of earthquakes.
S44.E16 ∙ Killer Volcanoes
Volcanologists search for an elusive volcanic mega-eruption that plunged the medieval earth into a deep freeze. Investigate the geologic evidence from Greenland all the way to Antarctica to identify the 750-year-old culprit.
S44.E17 ∙ Killer Hurricanes
The Great Hurricane of 1780, which took nine days to blast its way across the Caribbean and killed at least 20,000, is reconstructed in an attempt to learn what made it so devastating.
S44.E18 ∙ Killer Floods
Geologists examine extreme terrain on Iceland, the Scablands in Washington State, and submerged in the English channel to see if they were created by the same process, a sudden titanic flood.
S44.E19 ∙ Extreme Animal Weapons
Why some animals have extreme armaments, including claws, horns, fangs and stings.
S44.E20 ∙ Bird Brain
Join NOVA to witness the brainpower of birds. Long mocked as empty-headed, our feathered friends hide surprisingly acute intelligence. But how smart are they? Watch as scientists test avian aptitude and challenge our basic notions of intelligence.
S44.E21 ∙ Day the Dinosaurs Died
Investigate how an asteroid vanquished the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Join scientists as they drill into the impact crater and, for the first time, reconstruct the hell on earth that unfolded in the minutes, hours and months after the impact.
S45.E1 ∙ Black Hole Apocalypse
Astrophysicist Janna Levin explores black hole science.
S45.E2 ∙ The Impossible Flight
Two pilots fly a solar-powered airplane around the world.
S45.E3 ∙ First Face of America
The remains of a 13,000-year-old skeleton of a prehistoric teenager are located in an underwater cave in Mexico.
S45.E4 ∙ Great Escape at Dunkirk
Archaeologists and divers recover remains of ships and planes that were lost in Dunkirk, France during World War II.
S45.E5 ∙ Prediction by the Numbers
A look at why some predictions fail while others succeed at forecasting the future.
S45.E6 ∙ Decoding the Weather Machine
Scientists around the world strive for a better understanding of the workings of the weather and climate machine known as Earth.
S45.E7 ∙ Rise of the Superstorms
In just one devastating month, Houston, Florida, and the Caribbean were changed forever. In summer 2017, three monster hurricanes swept in from the Atlantic one after another, shattering storm records and killing hundreds of people.
S45.E8 ∙ Transplanting Hope
A look at transplanting organs; organ donation/availability and the scientific solutions being developed.
S45.E9 ∙ Operation Bridge Rescue
Follow the race to rebuild the Old Blenheim Bridge in New York State, an icon of 19th century American engineering, destroyed by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
S45.E10 ∙ Volcano on Fire
Climb with volcano experts to the summit of Nyiragongo, a highly active volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Twice in recent memory it has erupted, devastating Goma, a neighboring city of 1 million people.
S45.E11 ∙ Volcano on the Brink
Explore Nyamuragira, one of the world's most active and mysterious volcanoes in Africa.
S45.E12 ∙ Addiction
Discover how opioid addiction affects the brain and how evidence-based treatments are saving lives.
S45.E13 ∙ Flying Supersonic
Archival and 3-D imagery of the supersonic aircraft and its structure reveal how the dream of building the airliner became reality.
S45.E14 ∙ The Last B-24
Underwater archaeologists and technical divers excavate the wreckage of the B-24 Liberator bomber Tulsamerican in hopes of finding out what happened to the three airmen who went missing when the plane crashed off the coast of Croatia in 1944.
S45.E15 ∙ Thai Cave Rescue
Rescue workers race against the clock to save twelve boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave system in Thailand.
S45.E16 ∙ World's Fastest Animal
The peregrine falcon reaches high speeds to become the world's fastest animal; bird trainer Lloyd Buck attempts to get his peregrine, Moses, to go faster.
S45.E17 ∙ Apollo's Daring Mission
Astronauts and engineers of Apollo 8 explain the inside story of the first mission to circumnavigate the moon.
S45.E101 ∙ NOVA Wonders: What Are Animals Saying?
From singing whales and squeaking bats to thumping spiders and clicking dolphins, the world is filled with the exotic sounds of our fellow creatures. What are they saying? Can we decode their own communications?
S45.E102 ∙ NOVA Wonders: What's Living in You?
Microbes play a central role in your life. Right beneath your nose-on your face, in your gut, and everywhere in between-trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi are so abundant in your body, they outnumber your human cells.
S45.E103 ∙ NOVA Wonders: Are We Alone?
The search for extraterrestrial life is an age-old quest. But recent breakthroughs make today an era unlike any in the history of astronomy. The prospects for finding life beyond Earth have never been stronger.
S45.E104 ∙ NOVA Wonders: Can We Build a Brain?
Artificially intelligent machines are taking over. They're influencing our everyday lives in profound and often invisible ways. They can read handwriting, interpret emotions, play games, and even act as personal assistants.
S45.E105 ∙ NOVA Wonders: Can We Make Life?
A revolution in genetic engineering and thrilling innovations in synthetic biology are bringing that dream-or nightmare, as the case may be-closer to reality. New tools allow researchers to use cells to create their own DNA.
S45.E106 ∙ NOVA Wonders: What's The Universe Made Of?
The universe is hiding something. In fact, it is hiding a lot. Everything we experience on Earth, the stars and galaxies we see in the cosmos-all the "normal" matter and energy that we understand-make up only 5% of the known universe.
S46.E1 ∙ Pluto and Beyond
Follow the New Horizons spacecraft as it makes its historic flyby of one of the furthest objects in the solar system. Follow as they plan and execute maneuvers to allow the spacecraft to target a Kuiper Belt object known as Ultima Thule.
S46.E2 ∙ Einstein's Quantum Riddle
In an effort to disprove quantum mechanics, Albert Einstein proposes one of its strangest features: quantum entanglement.
S46.E3 ∙ Kilauea: Hawai'i on Fire
An investigation into the increased activity at the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, and look at why these geologically distinctive volcanoes formed in the middle of the Pacific.
S46.E4 ∙ Decoding the Great Pyramid
Archaeological research by Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass shed light on some of the mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids.
S46.E5 ∙ Rise of the Rockets
Private companies develop new ways to allow for more human activity in space; NASA builds a rocket that goes far beyond Earth.
S46.E6 ∙ The Next Pompeii
Assessing the risk of a potential eruption of an ancient supervolcano under the Italian city of Naples.
S46.E7 ∙ Saving the Dead Sea
Scientists, engineers, and political leaders devise a plan to save the Dead Sea, whose level has declined by more than 65 feet since 1976.
S46.E8 ∙ Inside the Megafire
Scientists try to determine the cause for the increasing megafire threat by exploring the physics of fire, how firestorms move and travel, and by analyzing aerial drone and satellite data to catch fires before they start.
S46.E9 ∙ First Horse Warriors
The advent of horse riding changed the course of human history and the genetic makeup of humankind.
S46.E10 ∙ Lost Viking Army
Bioarchaeologists investigate a ninth-century mass grave in a rural English village. Will the remains unlock the mystery of the "Great Heathen Army," a legendary Viking fighting force that once invaded England?
S46.E11 ∙ Back to the Moon
Fifty years after humans first stepped foot on the moon, engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs engage in new discoveries to make life on the moon a reality.
S46.E12 ∙ The Planets: Inner Worlds
The rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars all have similar origins, but only one supports life. Was it always this way?
S46.E13 ∙ The Planets: Mars
The dry, red planet Mars was once a blue water world studded with active volcanoes. But if it once had many of the ingredients necessary to form life, how far along might that process have gotten?
S46.E14 ∙ The Planets: Jupiter
Jupiter's gravitational force made it a wrecking ball as it barreled through the early solar system, but it also helped shape life on Earth as it brought comets laden with water and possibly the asteroid that put an end to the dinosaurs.
S46.E15 ∙ The Planets: Saturn
NASA's Cassini probe explores Saturn's icy rings and moons, capturing ring-moon interactions and revealing ingredients for life on the moon Enceladus.
S46.E16 ∙ The Planets: Ice Worlds
Uranus and Neptune's unexpected rings, supersonic winds and dozens of moons; an up-close view of Pluto before exploring the Kuiper belt
S46.E17 ∙ Why Bridges Collapse
Examines if new engineering techniques can help prevent deadly bridge collapses by looking at the 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy and collapses in the USA.
S46.E18 ∙ Look Who's Driving
Exploring the possibility of self-driving cars, including whether they could really be safer than human drivers.
S46.E19 ∙ Rise of the Mammals
A new trove of fossils reveals how mammals took over after an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
S46.E20 ∙ Dead Sea Scroll Detectives
New technologies help scientists decipher the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls and newly surfaced fragments.
S46.E21 ∙ Decoding da Vinci
A visit to Florence, Italy to explore how Leonardo da Vinci used science, from human dissections to innovative painting techniques, to create his artwork.
S46.E22 ∙ The Violence Paradox
A journey through history and the human mind to explore violence, and how a more peaceful world can be achieved.
S46.E23 ∙ Animal Espionage
Camera traps and drones offer an up-close look at animals without disturbing them, providing insight into the secret world of animals such as whales, tigers, and giant armadillos.
S46.E101 ∙ Black Hole Universe
Take a seat on the ultimate thrill ride to explore nature's strangest and most powerful objects. Black holes can reshape entire galaxies, warp the fabric of space and time, and may be the key to unlocking the ultimate nature of reality.
S47.E1 ∙ Polar Extremes
Paleontologist Kirk Johnson explores the polar extremes of the planet, including miles-high ice sheets and warm polar forests brimming with life.
S47.E2 ∙ Dog Tales
A look at dog domestication, how scientists test wolf intelligence and decode canine DNA, and what science says about a dog's love for humans.
S47.E3 ∙ Cat Tales
The perplexing behaviors of cats have often raised the question of whether humans ever really domesticated felines.
S47.E4 ∙ Mysteries of Sleep
Scientists study why animals and humans need to sleep, what happens to the brain during sleep, and the role sleep plays in memory, trauma, and emotion regulation.
S47.E5 ∙ Cuba's Cancer Hope
When the trade embargo left Cuba isolated from medical resources, Cuba was forced to get creative. Now they've developed lung cancer vaccines that show promise, some Americans are defying the embargo and traveling to Cuba for treatment.
S47.E6 ∙ The Truth About Fat
The mysteries of fat and its role in hormone production, hunger and pregnancy.
S47.E7 ∙ Decoding COVID-19
Doctors strategize to stop the spread of COVID-19; researchers work toward finding treatments and vaccines; how the disease emerged, what it does to the human body, and how it became a pandemic.
S47.E8 ∙ Eagle Power
Up-close footage provides a look at the strength, eyesight and flying skills of an eagle, and reveals the danger and drama of chicks as they struggle to survive.
S47.E9 ∙ Human Nature
Scientists study the implications of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Inter-spaced Short Palindromic Repeats: a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of organisms such as bacteria) and how they may change the human race's relationship with nature and what it means for human evolution.
S47.E10 ∙ The Secret Mind of Slime
New research on extremely primitive life forms called slime molds, which navigate through life without a brain, could reveal the fundamental rules underlying all decision making.
S47.E11 ∙ A to Z: The First Alphabet
Researchers uncover the evolution of writing and the story of the alphabet, dating back to millennia, old carvings in an Egyptian turquoise mine.
S47.E12 ∙ A to Z: How Writing Changed the World
How the development of writing played a vital role in shaping world history, from the invention of paper to the printed book.
S47.E13 ∙ Nature's Fear Factor
Scientists reintroduce wild dogs to Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park to see if it helps restore balance to the entire ecosystem.
S47.E14 ∙ Touching the Asteroid
Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx attempts to grab a piece of an asteroid to bring back to Earth so scientists can study it to learn about the planet's origins.
S47.E15 ∙ Can We Cool the Planet?
As global temperatures rise, scientists look to geoengineering solutions, from planting trees to sucking carbon out of the air, as a means to cool the planet.
S47.E16 ∙ Saving Notre Dame
Engineers race to rebuild the roof of the Notre Dame cathedral and secure the medieval structure within five years.
S48.E1 ∙ Secrets in Our DNA
What can DNA testing companies reveal about our ancestry and health, and at what risk?
S48.E2 ∙ Beyond the Elements: Reactions
The chemical reactions that transform the world, from explosions to photosynthesis.
S48.E3 ∙ Beyond the Elements: Indestructible
The potential environmental impact of virtually indestructible versions of glass, rubber and plastic.
S48.E4 ∙ Beyond the Elements: Life
The molecules that allowed life on Earth to begin and thrive; how scientists use evolution in chemistry.
S48.E5 ∙ Looking for Life on Mars
Follow along as NASA launches the Mars 2020 mission, perhaps the most ambitious hunt yet for signs of ancient life on Mars.
S48.E6 ∙ Picture a Scientist
Women make up less than one-quarter of the amount of people employed in STEM, and the number is even smaller for women of color.
S48.E7 ∙ Reef Rescue
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction.
S48.E8 ∙ Fighting for Fertility
Explores barriers to fertility, from the social to the biological, and the state of assisted reproductive technologies.
S48.E9 ∙ Hindenburg: The New Evidence
80 years after the world's largest airship ignited in a giant fireball, newly discovered footage sparks a re-investigation of what exactly caused the Hindenburg disaster.
S48.E10 ∙ Great Electric Airplane Race
The race to develop a practical and economically-viable electrically-powered airplane.
S48.E11 ∙ Ship That Changed the World
A newly discovered 500-year-old wreck offers vital clues to the evolution in ship design that made long-distance voyages practical.
S48.E12 ∙ Bat Superpowers
Understanding bats, their long life spans and why they are resistant to the very diseases they carry such as Ebola and MERS, as well as other diseases like cancer.
S48.E13 ∙ The Cannabis Question
As state-legalized cannabis spreads, NOVA explores its little-known risks and benefits.
S48.E14 ∙ Particles Unknown
An international team studies the neutrino, the most common yet least understood particle in the universe.
S48.E15 ∙ Arctic Drift
Scientists on a daring polar voyage to uncover the Arctic's climate secrets.
S48.E16 ∙ Edible Insects
Takes a tasty look at insect foods that could benefit our health and our warming planet.
S48.E17 ∙ Universe Revealed: Age of Stars
The Hubble Space Telescope and a heat-resistant solar probe reveal new clues about the sun's 5-billion-year history.
S48.E18 ∙ Universe Revealed: Milky Way
The Milky Way reminds us of our place in the galaxy we call home. But what shaped this giant spiral of stars and what will be its destiny? NOVA travels back in time to unlock the turbulent story of our cosmic neighborhood.
S48.E19 ∙ Universe Revealed: Alien Worlds
New science and discoveries made possible by ultra sensitive telescopes and detective work transform the search for alien planets from science fiction into fact.
S48.E20 ∙ Universe Revealed: Black Holes
Discover new science showing how black holes reshape entire galaxies, warp the fabric of space and time, and might even be portals to another universe.
S48.E21 ∙ Universe Revealed: Big Bang
New research and theories offer clues about the Big Bang and what may have existed before the universe's birth.
S48.E22 ∙ High-Risk High-Rise
The science behind the risks of sky-high buildings, from structural limits to threats presented by wind, fire and earthquakes.
S48.E23 ∙ Butterfly Blueprints
Scientists are discovering the secrets of butterflies and using that knowledge to improve technology.
S48.E24 ∙ Alaskan Dinosaurs
Paleontologists discover that dinosaurs thrived in unlikely places such as the cold and dark Arctic Circle.
S48.E25 ∙ Ancient Maya Metropolis
Why did the ancient Maya abandon their major cities?
S48.E101 ∙ Search Engine Breakdown
Two leading researchers investigate racial bias built into widely used search engines.
S49.E1 ∙ Arctic Sinkholes
Long-frozen permafrost is melting. How does the resulting release of methane affect us now and what will be the future effects?
S49.E2 ∙ Secrets in the Scat
Scott Burnett is "Scatman"- an Australian ecologist on the trail of the secrets of poop. By identifying and analyzing animal scat for DNA and hormones, he discovers essential details of their behavior and how to protect them.
S49.E3 ∙ Great Mammoth Mystery
A unique site in southern England preserved rare traces of ancient ice age mammoths and Neanderthals; host David Attenborough.
S49.E4 ∙ Augmented
An inventor of bionic limbs, Hugh Herr, works with an injured climber and a surgeon to test a new amputation technique that allows prosthetic limbs to move and feel like the real thing.
S49.E5 ∙ Determined: Fighting Alzheimer's
Three women enroll in trials at the University of Wisconsin in hopes of finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
S49.E6 ∙ Dinosaur Apocalypse: The New Evidence
In North Dakota, scientists use new fossils to reconstruct what life might have been like just before an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. The site reveals evidence, including the unhatched egg of a pterosaur, a huge flying reptile.
S49.E7 ∙ Dinosaur Apocalypse: The Last Day
Sir David Attenborough explores fossils from a North Dakota site that could reveal what happened to the animals here the day an asteroid struck Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs.
S49.E8 ∙ Why Ships Crash
When the Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal, it triggered a global crisis. Using eye-witnesses speaking for the first time, This investigation aims to find out what really happened.
S49.E9 ∙ Ice Age Footprints
A look at what thousands of prehistoric footprints in New Mexico's White Sands National Park might reveal about the peopling of the Americas.
S49.E10 ∙ Ultimate Space Telescope
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, from its conception to completion.
S49.E11 ∙ Saving Venice
Water is the lifeblood of Venice, but it also threatens its foundations. During the pandemic, experts and inhabitants were able to combine their know-how to repair their city and prepare it for the next floods.
S49.E12 ∙ Ending HIV in America
Explores the scientific progress that has been made in the fight against HIV, highlights the activism and commitment of communities that are still hard hit by the virus, and reveals how close we may be to the ending of HIV in America.
S49.E13 ∙ Computers v. Crime
The hidden biases, privacy risks and design flaws of the artificial intelligence programs relied on by police departments and the courts.
S49.E14 ∙ Can Psychedelics Cure?
Scientists discover that psychedelics can have positive clinical impacts, helping patients with afflictions ranging from addiction to depression to PTSD.
S49.E15 ∙ Ocean Invaders
In the Atlantic, the lionfish is an invasive species with no predator to keep it in check. Another invasive species, the Asian giant hornet is featured.
S49.E16 ∙ Nazca Desert Mystery
Discoveries of long-hidden lines and figures etched into the Peruvian desert offer new clues to the origins and purpose behind the Nazca Lines.
S49.E17 ∙ Crypto Decoded
Unraveling the social and technological underpinnings of cryptocurrency, from bitcoin to NFTs.
S49.E18 ∙ Zero to Infinity
Explains where 0 came from & how to work with and think about infinity.
S49.E19 ∙ Rebuilding Notre Dame
Remarkable relating of the technical aspects and problems of restoring the Notre Dame cathedral to its glory prior to the fire. Includes fascinating revelations about the artistic and technical skill of the original builders.
S49.E101 ∙ Predicting My MS
The filmmaker looks back on his life, trying to understand why he contracted a rare form of Multiple Sclerosis: Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.
S50.E1 ∙ London Super Tunnel
Thousands race to build Europe's biggest construction project--London's new subway line.
S50.E2 ∙ Star Chasers of Senegal
Senegalese astronomer Maram Kaire, takes viewers on a journey to investigate his nation's rich and deep history of astronomy, reaching back thousands of years - and the promising future ahead.
S50.E3 ∙ Ancient Builders of the Amazon
Recent discoveries in archaeology are exploding the myth of the Amazon as a primeval wilderness, revealing traces of ancient civilizations that flourished for centuries, with populations numbering in the millions.
S50.E4 ∙ New Eye on the Universe
See the latest stunning images and discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope.
S50.E5 ∙ Weathering the Future
Americans use ancient wisdom and new solutions to fight against extreme weather, from intense rainstorms to megafires and droughts.
S50.E6 ∙ Chasing Carbon Zero
Can the U.S. reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and avoid the biggest impacts of climate change? Experts say it can be done. Here's the technology that could get us there.
S50.E7 ∙ Saving the Right Whale
Specialists discover new secrets about the life of the North Atlantic right whale.
S50.E8 ∙ Hidden Volcano Abyss
Geologists investigate the January 2022 volcanic eruption that rocked the Pacific islands of Tonga and sent shock waves around the world.
S50.E9 ∙ Your Brain: Perception Deception
Is what you see real? Join neuroscientist Heather Berlin's quest to understand how your brain shapes your reality, and why you can't always trust what you perceive. Learn surprising tricks and shortcuts the brain takes to help us survive.
S50.E10 ∙ Your Brain: Who's in Control?
Are you in control of your brain, or is your brain controlling you? Dive into the latest research on the subconscious with neuroscientist Heather Berlin to see what's really driving the decisions you make.
