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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Can Technology Detect Deepfakes Better Than Humans Can?
S51 - 7m 9s
Researchers are trying to develop tools to thwart deep fakes in several different ways — from before they are even made, to detecting them once they are out on the internet.
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Solar System: Storm Worlds Preview
S51 E9 - 30s
Out in the solar system, the weather gets wacky – with globe-spanning dust storms, monsoons of liquid methane, and lightning 10 times stronger than here on Earth. Discover the forces driving the dramatic weather on neighboring planets and moons.
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What Happened to the Hole in the Ozone Layer?
S51 - 3m 13s
The extreme thinning of the Ozone layer threatened to bring on a global crisis from destroying plants and ecosystems to sky-high skin cancer rates. So, what happened?
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A Hidden Cause of Sinkholes Is Lurking Underground
S51 - 2m 21s
Sinkholes can form either really quickly, or really slowly over a long period of time – and they don’t always come with warning signs.
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Ozempic's Surprising Real Power
S51 - 3m 51s
Scientists thought Ozempic, and other similar drugs, helped people lose weight by working primarily in the gut. But now it's looking like it's real power could be in the brain.
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What Dating Apps Know About You
S51 - 2m 51s
You might sign up for a dating app to find the love of your life. But while you’re swiping, these apps are collecting all kinds of information about you. What do you they know about you? And what are they doing with your data?
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These cheeses are at risk of going extinct
S51 - 1m 11s
Don’t fret – at-risk cheeses are not going to disappear instantly but they getting much harder to make.
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First ape ever seen using medicinal plant to treat wound
S51 - 1m 58s
Scientists say they have, for the first time, observed a primate in the wild treat an open wound with a medicinal plant.
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Total Eclipse in the Heart of Texas Hill Country
S51 - 6m 41s
In the hill country of Texas, the solar eclipse struck wonder and awe.
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How Vera Rubin broke barriers in astronomy
S51 E8 - 4m 4s
In the past 50 years, thanks to Vera Rubin and others, dark matter has become an essential scientific building block, at the foundation of our understanding of the universe.
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The Deepest Underground Lab in the U.S.
S51 E8 - 1m 44s
Invisible and mysterious, dark matter shapes the cosmos, but scientists are still trying to figure out what exactly it is.
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Are Your Online Passwords as Safe as You Think?
S51 E7 - 2m 22s
Hackers can crack a 7-character password in seconds. But it can take 100 years to crack a 12-character one when it has letters, numbers and symbols. Here's one strategy to make one.
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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