Episodes
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Ancient Maya Metropolis
S48 E22 - 53m 31s
The ancient ancestors of today’s Maya people thrived in large sophisticated cities across Central America for centuries. Why, around 750 CE, did they begin to abandon many of their major cities? Archaeologists investigate dramatic new evidence of the catastrophic droughts and instability that pushed cities beyond their limits.
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Alaskan Dinosaurs
S48 E21 - 53m 21s
A team of intrepid paleontologists discovers that dinosaurs thrived in the unlikeliest of places—the cold and dark of winter in the Arctic Circle. How did they survive year-round and raise their young in frigid and dark winter conditions?
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Butterfly Blueprints
S48 E20 - 53m 20s
The hidden scientific secrets of butterflies reveal them to be more inventive and resilient than we ever imagined. Follow their extraordinary life cycle and migrations to tropical rainforests, windswept prairies, and even inside a cocoon as it’s being spun.
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High-Risk High-Rise
S48 E8 - 52m 36s
Gleaming symbols of prestige, skyscrapers are an ingenious way to save space in dense urban areas. But even as we devise ways to defend them against fires, wind, and earthquakes, can we also make them more livable, interactive, and eco-friendly?
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NOVA Universe Revealed: Big Bang
S48 E19 - 53m 16s
The Big Bang is when the cosmos started and time itself began. With stunning animation based on space telescope images, NOVA winds back the ages to discover new clues about this ultimate genesis and what happened in the universe’s first few seconds.
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NOVA Universe Revealed: Black Holes
S48 E18 - 53m 16s
Take a seat on the ultimate thrill ride to explore nature’s strangest and most powerful objects. 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.
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NOVA Universe Revealed: Alien Worlds
S48 E17 - 53m 17s
Ultra-sensitive telescopes have transformed alien planet-hunting from science fiction into enthralling hard fact. Join NOVA on a visit to exotic worlds orbiting distant suns to answer an age-old question with thrilling new science: are we alone?
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NOVA Universe Revealed: Milky Way
S48 E16 - 53m 17s
Straddling the night sky, 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.
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NOVA Universe Revealed: Age of Stars
S48 E15 - 53m 17s
The sun is our life-giving source of light, heat, and energy, and new discoveries are unraveling its epic history. Join NOVA on a spectacular voyage to discover its place in a grand cycle of birth, death and renewal that makes this the age of stars.
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Edible Insects
S48 E14 - 53m 28s
From crunchy crickets to nutty fly grubs, NOVA takes a tasty look at insect foods and how they could benefit our health and our warming planet.
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Arctic Drift
S48 E13 - 53m 31s
Join scientists on the biggest Arctic research expedition of all time. Facing hungry polar bears, perilous sea ice cracks, and brutal cold, the team strives to understand the forces that are changing the region—and the world—forever.
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Particles Unknown
S48 E12 - 53m 28s
Outnumbering atoms a billion to one, neutrinos are the universe’s most common yet most elusive and baffling particle. NOVA joins an international team of neutrino hunters whose discoveries may change our understanding of how the universe works.
Extras + Features
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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.
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New COVID-19 Variants Spread More Easily
S48 - 7m 15s
Discover how new coronavirus variants formed around the world, and whether personal protective equipment and the new vaccines will successfully work against them.
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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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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.
Schedule
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NOVA
Making North America: Life
Sunday
Apr 28
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: Life
Sunday
Apr 28
1 Hour
The intertwined story of life and the landscape in North America -- from origins to dinosaurs and an ancient primate invasion. -
Image
NOVA
Making North America: Life
Sunday
Apr 28
1 Hour
The intertwined story of life and the landscape in North America -- from origins to dinosaurs and an ancient primate invasion. -
Image
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
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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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
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
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. -
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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
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
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. -
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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
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.
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