Nova debuts on public television with an intimate glimpse into the creation of a nature documentary. The Oxford Scientific Films Unit reveals its methods for confronting challenging subjects: capturing a wood wasp depositing its egg within …

NOVA journeys to the heart of the Colorado River, a waterway now essential to the Southwest, supplying water and power to the sprawling farms and cities of California, Nevada, and Arizona. The program investigates the political maneuvering …

NOVA examines the consequences of whaling and the commodities derived from it, juxtaposing them with the inherent grace and beauty of this intelligent creature of the ocean.

The question of life beyond Earth has long captivated humanity. In July of 1976, the Viking lander will descend upon Mars, tasked with seeking an answer to this profound inquiry. NOVA explores the origins of life on our own planet and docum…

The relentless advance of Western civilization casts a long shadow over the Amazon, threatening the existence of its ancient nomadic peoples. *NOVA* explores this complex conflict, examining the perspectives of both the indigenous tribes an…

The nineteenth century witnessed a profound shift in medicine with the advent of anesthesia. Surgery, previously characterized by haste, bloodshed, and limited capacity to address internal ailments, ascended to a position of prominence with…

In the year 1054, observers in China documented the appearance of a star so luminous it illuminated the heavens for three weeks, even in daylight. This remarkable event marked the explosion of a star far larger than our own sun. NOVA delves…

Driven by an instinct for endless warmth, birds undertake remarkable journeys, often traversing distances of up to 20,000 miles annually. Using advanced radar technology, NOVA scientists monitor these nocturnal migrations, studying the int…

Progress in medicine hinges, by necessity, on trials of new procedures performed by human volunteers – whether well or unwell. These trials, however, carry inherent risks and may not always directly benefit those involved. This report exami…

Washoe possessed a remarkable humanity, communicating as much through gesture as through vocalization. Visiting Washoe and her instructors, Professor Allen Gardner and Dr. Trixie Gardner, NOVA sought to understand the intricacies of this ex…

The suicide of Paul Kammerer in 1926 was widely interpreted by his peers in biology as a silent acknowledgment of culpability; a confession that he had fabricated the experiments he claimed demonstrated the inheritance of acquired character…

The pursuit of nuclear fusion holds the tantalizing prospect of an inexhaustible, clean energy supply. Yet, achieving this elusive process has remained among the most formidable challenges for physicists. This account, presented by NOVA, ch…

The builders of North America's earliest urban centers—complex settlements featuring apartment-like dwellings—were the Ancestral Puebloans, a people who inhabited the Southwest for approximately eight to nine thousand years. Around 1300 AD,…