Science and Nature

NOVA

NOVA brings you stories from the frontlines of science and engineering, answering the big questions of today and tomorrow, from how our ancestors lived, to whether parallel universes exist, to how technology will transform our lives. Visit the official website to watch full-length documentaries, or explore our world through short-form video, on our digital publication NOVA Next.

Great American Eclipse

53m 34s

Explore the spectacular cosmic phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. In April 2024, the Moon’s shadow is sweeping from Texas to Maine, as the U.S. witnesses its last total eclipse until 2044, and scientists scramble to unlock the secrets of our Sun.

Episodes

  • The Cannabis Question: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Cannabis Question

    S48 E11 - 53m 36s

    As state-legalized cannabis spreads, NOVA investigates the latest scientific evidence for its potential benefits and risks, and how criminalization has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

  • Bat Superpowers: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Bat Superpowers

    S48 E10 - 53m 13s

    Bats have been implicated in deadly epidemics such as COVID-19 and Ebola, yet scientists are discovering evidence that they may hold a key to a longer and healthier life. From caves in Thailand and Texas to labs around the globe, NOVA meets the scientists who are decoding the superpowers of the bat.

  • Ship That Changed the World: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ship That Changed the World

    S48 E9 - 53m 12s

    The Age of Exploration and Europe’s imperial colonization of far-off lands was launched by a revolution in ship design that made long-distance voyages practical. A newly discovered 500-year-old wreck offers vital clues to this momentous innovation.

  • Great Electric Airplane Race: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Great Electric Airplane Race

    S48 E7 - 53m 7s

    Can new emission-free electric planes replace our polluting airliners and revolutionize personal transportation in our cities? NOVA takes a ride in some quiet, energy-efficient, prototypes that are vying for success as electric flight takes off.

  • Hindenburg: The New Evidence: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Hindenburg: The New Evidence

    S48 E6 - 53m 13s

    80 years after the world’s largest airship ignited in a giant fireball, newly discovered footage sparks a reinvestigation of what exactly caused the Hindenburg disaster.

  • Fighting for Fertility: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fighting for Fertility

    S48 E5 - 53m 6s

    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.

  • Reef Rescue: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Reef Rescue

    S48 E4 - 54m 6s

    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.

Extras + Features

  • Search Engine Breakdown: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Search Engine Breakdown

    S48 E101 - 20m 37s

    Why does a widely used internet search engine deliver results that can be blatantly racist and sexist? Two leading information researchers investigate their discoveries of hidden biases in the search technology we rely on every day.

  • Picture a Scientist Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    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.

  • The Big Lie about Monarch Butterflies: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Big Lie about Monarch Butterflies

    S48 - 9m 25s

    Discover a piece of false information about monarch butterflies and Mexico’s Indigenous Purépecha community, and why tourism may be partly to blame.

  • Looking for Life on Mars Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    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.

  • Why NASA is Back on Mars: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    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.

  • This NASA Scientist Helps Prevent Mars from Contamination: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    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.

  • Dream Hacking: Decisions, Addictions, and Sleep: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Dream Hacking: Decisions, Addictions, and Sleep

    S48 - 14m 34s

    Neuroscience is beginning to demystify such feelings. Our agency and decisions, it turns out, can be measurably influenced by events that evade the conscious part of our brains. We’ll see three groundbreaking experiments that illustrate that influences we are unaware of in our waking life, during dreamless sleep, or even in our dreams can impact our memory and behavior.

  • Why Misinformation Matters: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Why Misinformation Matters

    S48 - 2m 41s

    Learn the science behind misinformation–how it’s shared, why it's believed, and what we can do to address it.

Schedule

  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Life

    Tuesday
    Apr 30

    1 Hour

    The intertwined story of life and the landscape in North America -- from origins to dinosaurs and an ancient primate invasion.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Banner-L1

    NOVA

    Wednesday
    May 1

    1 Hour

    This long-running, award-winning documentary series focuses on science, its many applications, speculation, history and researchers. Inspired by the BBC documentary program "Horizons, " the U.S. series frequently features interviews with scientists directly involved in the topic at hand, and sometimes even boasts footage of a particular discovery.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Life

    Wednesday
    May 1

    1 Hour

    The intertwined story of life and the landscape in North America -- from origins to dinosaurs and an ancient primate invasion.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Wednesday
    May 1

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Wednesday
    May 1

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Thursday
    May 2

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Thursday
    May 2

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Friday
    May 3

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Sunday
    May 5

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Sunday
    May 5

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Sunday
    May 5

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Tuesday
    May 7

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Wednesday
    May 8

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Making North America: Human

    Wednesday
    May 8

    1 Hour

    From Ice Age to the oil boom, humans face challenges and uncover wealth hidden in North America's landscape.
  • Image
    NOVA: Why Bridges Collapse: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Why Bridges Collapse

    Wednesday
    May 8

    1 Hour

    The 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy; bridge collapses in the U.S.; engineering techniques that can make bridges safer and prevent them from breaking down.
  • Image
    NOVA: Why Bridges Collapse: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Why Bridges Collapse

    Wednesday
    May 8

    1 Hour

    The 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy; bridge collapses in the U.S.; engineering techniques that can make bridges safer and prevent them from breaking down.
  • Image
    NOVA: Why Bridges Collapse: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Why Bridges Collapse

    Thursday
    May 9

    1 Hour

    The 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy; bridge collapses in the U.S.; engineering techniques that can make bridges safer and prevent them from breaking down.
  • Image
    NOVA: Why Bridges Collapse: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Why Bridges Collapse

    Thursday
    May 9

    1 Hour

    The 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy; bridge collapses in the U.S.; engineering techniques that can make bridges safer and prevent them from breaking down.
  • Image
    NOVA: Why Bridges Collapse: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Why Bridges Collapse

    Friday
    May 10

    1 Hour

    The 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy; bridge collapses in the U.S.; engineering techniques that can make bridges safer and prevent them from breaking down.
  • Image
    NOVA: Why Bridges Collapse: TVSS: Iconic

    NOVA

    Why Bridges Collapse

    Sunday
    May 12

    1 Hour

    The 2018 collapse of a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy; bridge collapses in the U.S.; engineering techniques that can make bridges safer and prevent them from breaking down.

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