NOVA

Season 29

TV-PG

A weekly documentary series, each episode providing an in-depth look at a different subject of scientific research. Subjects examined by this show have included the cutting edge of theoretical physics, a return to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, the long-term effects of Amazon deforestation, and the development of life-saving medical techniques.

Where to Watch Season 29

17 Episodes

Search for a Safe Cigarette
E1
Search for a Safe CigaretteThe program chronicles the tobacco industry's decades long effort to create a "safer" cigarette.
18 Ways to Make a Baby
E2
18 Ways to Make a BabyEver since the birth in 1978 of Louise Brown, the first baby conceived outside the womb, the science of assisted reproduction has burgeoned beyond belief. NOVA investigates this brave new world and what's to come.
Secrets of the Mind
E3
Secrets of the MindThis NOVA program delves into the mind-tingling efforts of neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran to discover how the brain works.
Sex: Unknown
E4
Sex: UnknownMany babies are born inter-sex with genitals that did not fully develop in the womb. In such situations, most doctors quickly move to operate in an effort to "fix" the child. NOVA delves into the complex world of gender identity.
Russia's Nuclear Warriors
E5
Russia's Nuclear WarriorsNOVA takes an intimate look at the men who are in control of Russia's nuclear missiles, standing just a heartbeat from the top Russian politicians and Armageddon. Hosted by Vladimir Pozner, Russia's top television journalist, this startling film shows that despite low pay and the tedious existence that these soldiers and their families live with, these men are motivated by a strong sense of patriotic duty and responsibility for the ultimate powers of destruction at their fingertips, in a job that requires complete perfection.
Bioterror
E6
BioterrorThe film follows three New York Times reporters as they delve into the murky past of bioweapons research and grapple with the current threat of anthrax and other attacks.
Life's Greatest Miracle
E7
Life's Greatest MiracleA sequel to the most popular NOVA of all time, "Miracle of Life," the program once again uses the extraordinary microimagery of Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson to track human development from embryo to newborn.
Methuselah Tree
E8
Methuselah TreeMarked by striking imagery and a poetic style, the film dramatizes the life cycle of the world's oldest living thing, the bristlecone pine of California's White Mountains.
Flying Casanovas
E9
Flying CasanovasWhen a naturalist first found small thatched huts in the rain forest of New Guinea in the late 19th century, he thought they were homes of an unknown tribe of pygmies. NOVA leads viewers into this little-known world of avian architecture.
Death Star
E10
Death StarAstronomers struggle for decades to determine where gamma ray bursts are coming from unsure whether they are nearby or half way across the universe. Once that is pinned down an even bigger question arises, what could possibly produce them.
Neanderthals on Trial
E11
Neanderthals on TrialThe film probes the enigma of our Neanderthal cousins and the roots of our own ancestry.
Fireworks
E12
FireworksThis explosive NOVA presents the colorful history of pyrotechnics and reveals how hi-tech firing systems are transforming public displays into a dazzling, split-second science.
Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies
E13
Secrets, Lies, and Atomic SpiesThe program chronicles the lives and covert activities of the so-called "atom spies" in the 1940's, including the big one that got away, Theodore Alvin Hall.
The Missing Link
E14
The Missing LinkA paleontological tour-de-force and suspenseful scientific detective story, the program documents the search for the ancestor of all four-limbed animals, including humans.
Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance
E15
Shackleton's Voyage of EnduranceIn late 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth for Antarctica with 27 men, determined to be the first man to cross the continent from coast to coast. His ship, the Endurance, became trapped in pack ice just short of the continent. When the ice crushed their ship to splinters, they were left stranded on the ice floes. Shackleton resolved to rescue each and every man, and turned disaster into one of the greatest survival stories of all time.
Why the Towers Fell
E16
Why the Towers FellNOVA follows a blue-ribbon team of forensic engineers and presents their conclusions in the most definitive explanation yet seen by the American public of how and why the World Trade Center towers collapsed.
Fire Wars
E17
Fire WarsIn the program, NOVA accompanies the men and women of a wildland firefighting crew known as the Arrowhead Hotshots as they battle one of the most destructive wildfire seasons ever, the summer of 2000.