Building Stuff: Reach It!
Born to explore, we’re constantly inventing new ways to go beyond our comfort zones. From deep sea subs to next-gen space habitats, see how engineers are building the tools humans need to go where we’ve never gone before.
Episodes
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Hunt for the Oldest DNA
S51 E4 - 53m 10s
For decades, scientists have tried to unlock the secrets of ancient DNA. Follow the dramatic quest to recover DNA millions of years old and reveal a lost world from before the last Ice Age.
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Building the Eiffel Tower
S51 E3 - 53m 29s
Explore the revolutionary engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark. Completed in 1889, the iron tower smashed the record for the tallest structure on Earth, ushering in a new age of global construction that reached for the skies.
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Easter Island Origins
S51 E2 - 53m 17s
The giant stone heads of Easter Island have inspired theories for centuries. Now, new research reveals intriguing evidence of the origins and inspirations of the ancient Rapanui people who created the iconic monoliths.
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When Whales Could Walk
S51 E1 - 53m 31s
A spectacular fossil graveyard reveals a 43-million-year-old whale that had four legs and could walk. Follow scientists as they search for new clues to how mammals moved from land into the sea to become the largest animals on Earth.
Extras + Features
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Building Stuff: Change It! Preview
S51 E17 - 30s
Humans have been altering Earth’s environment for thousands of years. And now, from electric planes to artificial noses, engineers are inventing new ways to preserve our planet.
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Building Stuff: Reach It! Preview
S51 E16 - 30s
Born to explore, we’re constantly inventing new ways to go beyond our comfort zones. From deep sea subs to next-gen space habitats, see how engineers are building the tools humans need to go where we’ve never gone before.
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Creating a Robotic Double Dutch Machine
S51 E15 - 5m 8s
Double Dutch is a jump rope game that requires two people spinning ropes in opposite directions and at least one person to jump. Engineers Tahira Reid Smith and Sky Leilani are building a machine that would allow a single person to play whenever they wanted.
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Building Stuff: Boost It! Preview
S51 E15 - 30s
How are leading innovators supercharging our natural abilities? From slingshots that can throw rockets into space to the latest in artificial sight, see how engineers are amplifying the human body’s powers.
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Decoding the Universe: Quantum Preview
S51 E14 - 30s
When we look at the world at the tiniest scales, things get very weird. Take a wild ride through the quantum world, from the discoveries that reveal its strange rules to the amazing technologies it unlocks – with more powerful possibilities to come.
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Sir Arthur C. Clarke's Vision of the Computer-Dominated Future
S51 - 1m 39s
Sir Arthur C. Clarke was a British science-fiction author who co-wrote the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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How Do Hurricanes Form?
S51 - 1m 2s
Scientists predict that our increasingly warmer atmosphere and oceans will feed these hurricanes — we may not see more of them that we used to, but the ones we do see are likely to get more and more intense.
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How Medieval Armorers Made Knights Bulletproof
S51 - 2m 15s
A select few suits of armor were crafted with secret techniques that made them stronger than others, possibly even bulletproof. Historians and ballistics experts reconstructed the amor of an elite knight and tested its strength by shooting it with a musket.
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Solar System: Wandering Worlds Preview
S51 E13 - 30s
From meteorites that impact Earth, to a moon that orbits backwards, to an imposter lurking in the asteroid belt, a variety of strange, wandering worlds are rewriting what we know – and even how we think about – our solar system.
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Could Mars Have a Ring Around It One Day?
S51 E13 - 2m 16s
Phobos, one of Mars' moons, has an uncertain origin, but its surface grooves show that tidal forces are pulling it apart. In time, Mars' gravity will shatter it entirely, creating a ring of debris around the planet.
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Cameras Capture Earthbound Meteorite
S51 E13 - 1m 39s
In 2021, cameras recorded the fall of the Winchcombe meteorite, allowing scientists to trace its cosmic origin.
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This Moon May Have the Ingredients for Life
S51 E12 - 2m 14s
Europa is such a strong candidate for life that NASA launched a mission to explore the moon.
Schedule
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Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Thursday
Nov 21
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Thursday
Nov 21
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Thursday
Nov 21
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Thursday
Nov 21
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Sunday
Nov 24
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Sunday
Nov 24
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Sunday
Nov 24
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Tuesday
Nov 26
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Wednesday
Nov 27
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Reach It!
Wednesday
Nov 27
1 Hour
Engineers design and build creative new ways to get around, from affordable deep-sea subs to flying taxis. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Change It!
Wednesday
Nov 27
1 Hour
From building new water filters to a robot that uses acoustics to revive coral reefs, engineers reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments that align with society's needs. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Change It!
Wednesday
Nov 27
1 Hour
From building new water filters to a robot that uses acoustics to revive coral reefs, engineers reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments that align with society's needs. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Change It!
Thursday
Nov 28
1 Hour
From building new water filters to a robot that uses acoustics to revive coral reefs, engineers reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments that align with society's needs. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Change It!
Thursday
Nov 28
1 Hour
From building new water filters to a robot that uses acoustics to revive coral reefs, engineers reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments that align with society's needs. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Change It!
Sunday
Dec 1
1 Hour
From building new water filters to a robot that uses acoustics to revive coral reefs, engineers reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments that align with society's needs. -
Image
NOVA
Building Stuff: Change It!
Sunday
Dec 1
1 Hour
From building new water filters to a robot that uses acoustics to revive coral reefs, engineers reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments that align with society's needs. -
Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Tuesday
Dec 3
1 Hour 30 Minutes
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. -
Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Wednesday
Dec 4
1 Hour 30 Minutes
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. -
Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Wednesday
Dec 4
1 Hour 30 Minutes
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. -
Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Wednesday
Dec 4
1 Hour 30 Minutes
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.
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