NOVA
Synopsis
PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
Season 16 Episodes
EP 1
Was the searing summer of 1988 a taste of things to come? NOVA looks at the greenhouse effect, which portends higher temperatures, rising s…
EP 2
NOVA looks at the bongo-playing scientist, adventurer, safecracker and yarn-spinner Richard Feynman, most recently famous for his role as g…
EP 3
NOVA explains "chaos," a new science that is making surprising sense out of chaotic phenomena in nature, from the weather to brain waves.
EP 4
NOVA goes to the Soviet Union for an inside investigation of the world's most catastrophic nuclear power accident with correspondent Bill K…
EP 5
In an Idaho classroom, teacher Phil Gerrish puts an unorthodox interpretation on the day's biology lesson. As students take notes, he expla…
EP 6
NOVA explores the importance of the Gulf Stream to ocean life, climate and human history.
EP 7
In this two-part series, NOVA investigates the mystery of Easter Island in the South Pacific. Who built its celebrated statues and why?
EP 8
In the second part of this two-part series, NOVA explores ancient legends hold the clues to the violent history of the South Pacific's East…
EP 9
Scientific detectives test their ingenuity in the effort to find underground oil deposits.
EP 10
Arlo, Nancy and Janice each have a 50/50 chance of developing a devastating nerve disorder. A laboratory test can tell them if in fact they…
EP 11
Actor Judd Hirsch narrates this behind-the scenes look at what makes New York City tick. Water, power and waste are the critical systems th…
EP 12
In this profile of the former Surgeon General, NOVA follows events as they unfold in a unique behind-the-scenes account of a man who speaks…
EP 13
Five architects compete for the approval of architecture-obsessed Chicagoans in the contest to build the city's new public library. NOVA lo…
EP 14
The atomic bomb might have ended World War II, but radar was the quiet miracle that won battles. NOVA tells the little-known wartime histor…
EP 15
Biologists around the world gear up to decode the three-billion-letter genetic message that describes how humans are made. Ethicists warn t…
EP 16
NOVA studies hurricanes—the lurking giants waiting to destroy many coastal areas—by flying straight into one. Scientists hope that such clo…
EP 17
Increasingly awash in high water, the romantic city of Venice is counting on high-tech floodgates to save it from drowning. Environmentalis…
EP 18
East and West came into direct conflict over trade and power in the 19th century. The West won. NOVA explores how Japan was later able to m…
EP 19
The 1988 Yellowstone fire may have been one of the worst in human memory, but nature has had eons of experience with such events. NOVA acco…
EP 20
NOVA re-enacts a classic case of classroom detection when English schoolboys track down a secret Soviet launch site. Docudrama.
