Looking for Life on Mars
NASA launches its most ambitious hunt for traces of life on Mars, landing a car-sized rover in a rocky, ancient river delta. The rover will stow samples for possible return to Earth and test technology that may pave the way for human travel to Mars.
Episodes
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Looking for Life on Mars
S48 E2 - 53m 47s
NASA launches its most ambitious hunt for traces of life on Mars, landing a car-sized rover in a rocky, ancient river delta. The rover will stow samples for possible return to Earth and test technology that may pave the way for human travel to Mars.
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Secrets in our DNA
S48 E1 - 53m 26s
Some 30 million Americans have sent their DNA to be analyzed by companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. But what happens once the sample is in the hands of testing companies, and how accurate are their results? NOVA explores the power of genetic data to reveal family connections, ancestry, and health risks—and even solve criminal cold cases.
Extras + Features
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Fighting for Fertility Preview
S48 E5 - 28s
What causes infertility, and how can assisted reproductive technologies help? Follow the journeys of people navigating fertility challenges from structural inequalities and racism to falling sperm counts, egg freezing, and IVF.
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Reef Rescue Preview
S48 E4 - 28s
If oceans continue to warm at the current pace, coral reefs could be wiped out by the end of the century. But scientists from around the globe are rushing to help corals adapt to a changing climate through assisted evolution.
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Picture a Scientist Preview
S48 E3 - 29s
Women make up less than a quarter of STEM professionals in the United States, and numbers are even lower for women of color. But a growing group of researchers is exposing longstanding discrimination and making science more inclusive.
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Feast Your Eyes on the First-Ever Mars 2020 Mission Videos
S48 E2 - 4m 31s
Get a guided tour of the first Mars rover landing captured on video from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Ian Clark.
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Looking for Life on Mars Preview
S48 E2 - 30s
Follow along as NASA launches the Mars 2020 Mission, perhaps the most ambitious hunt yet for signs of ancient life on Mars. In February 2021, the spacecraft will blaze into the Martian atmosphere at some 12,000 miles per hour and attempt to lower the Perseverance Rover into the rocky Jezero Crater, home to a dried-up river delta scientists think could have harbored life.
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Why NASA is Back on Mars
S48 E2 - 5m 10s
This NASA rover landed on Mars, more than 130 million miles from Earth. It’s task? To continue the search for past life on the red planet.
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This NASA Scientist Helps Prevent Mars from Contamination
S48 E2 - 4m 58s
The spacecraft has to be extremely clean. The entire spacecraft—that includes the rover, the heat shield, the descent stage, and back shell—must contain less than 500,000 bacterial endospores, or spores. Just to give you an idea, a teaspoon of seawater has ten times more bacteria.
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Secrets in our DNA Preview
S48 E1 - 27s
Some 30 million Americans have sent their DNA to be analyzed by companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. But what happens once the sample is in the hands of testing companies, and how accurate are their results? NOVA explores the power of genetic data to reveal family connections, ancestry, and health risks—and even solve criminal cold cases.
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Half Sisters Unite Thanks to DNA Testing
S48 E1 - 4m 19s
Half-sisters share their unlikely story of finding one another through genetic testing, and what they learned about their family history along the way.
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How—and why—DNA Testing Uses Biased Reference Databases
S48 E1 - 5m 20s
Because of the Eurocentric bias of genetic reference databases, DNA ancestry test results for individuals of African and Asian descent are often less detailed than results for individuals of European descent.
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This University Monitors COVID-19 Through Saliva Testing
S48 - 6m 53s
One out of 50 COVID-19 tests in the U.S. are processed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Here's how its researchers are tracking the spread of the coronavirus on campus, and how the University became a model of testing for other flagship universities.
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Lingering Symptoms from COVID-19 are “Unprecedented”
S48 - 5m 5s
The number of COVID long-haulers is unknown, but experts estimate that millions of Americans could be affected by lingering symptoms of the disease.
Schedule
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NOVA
Nature's Fear Factor
Wednesday
Apr 14
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1 Hour
Scientists reintroduce wild dogs to Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park to see if it helps restore balance to the entire ecosystem. -
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NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Wednesday
Apr 14
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2 Hours
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. -
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NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Wednesday
Apr 14
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2 Hours
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. -
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NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Thursday
Apr 15
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2 Hours
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. -
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NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Thursday
Apr 15
Image
2 Hours
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. -
Image
NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Thursday
Apr 15
Image
2 Hours
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. -
Image
NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Friday
Apr 16
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2 Hours
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. -
Image
NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Friday
Apr 16
Image
2 Hours
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. -
Image
NOVA
Picture a Scientist
Sunday
Apr 18
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2 Hours
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. -
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NOVA
Back to the Moon
Monday
Apr 19
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1 Hour
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. -
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NOVA
Making North America: Origins
Monday
Apr 19
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1 Hour
The shaping of North America, including palm trees that once thrived in Alaska and an eruption that nearly tore the Midwest in two. -
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NOVA
Making North America: Life
Tuesday
Apr 20
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1 Hour
The intertwined story of life and the landscape in North America -- from origins to dinosaurs and an ancient primate invasion. -
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NOVA
Making North America: Human
Wednesday
Apr 21
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1 Hour
From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Wednesday
Apr 21
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1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Wednesday
Apr 21
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1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Thursday
Apr 22
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1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Thursday
Apr 22
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1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Thursday
Apr 22
Image
1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Friday
Apr 23
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1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction. -
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NOVA
Reef Rescue
Friday
Apr 23
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1 Hour
Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction.
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