As autumn arrives, NOVA returns to Ground Zero to witness the concluding act of a profound narrative: one of engineering, innovation, and the enduring strength of the human spirit. "Ground Zero Supertower" explores the ascent of One World T…

In October of 2012, Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Caribbean and the East Coast, claiming hundreds of lives and inflicting tens of billions of dollars in damage. A year later, NOVA revisits the pivotal questions raised by this historic event,…

From the moment our ancestors first walked upright, a fundamental drive has propelled us toward greater velocity. But are there inherent physical boundaries to human speed? In "Making Stuff Faster," David Pogue seeks to answer this question…

What occurs when scientists delve into nature's vast repertoire of solutions? In "Making Stuff Wilder," David Pogue investigates daring innovations sparked by the Earth's most ingenious creator: life itself. From robotic "mules" and "cheeta…

A curious shift has occurred: cold is now considered desirable in our modern age. For countless generations, we have battled it, avoided it, and sought warmth in its absence. Traditionally, cold has been perceived as an adversary to life it…

Humanity has long navigated a world fraught with peril. How, then, do we improve our chances of weathering the storms? In *Making Stuff Safer*, David Pogue delves into the pioneering work of scientists and engineers dedicated to minimizing …

The assassination of John F. Kennedy has cast a long shadow over the decades, nurturing persistent rumors of conspiracy and questions surrounding the handling of evidence. Fifty years on, NOVA poses a crucial question: Could today’s investi…

Between the boundless blue of the sky and the endless black of space lies a frontier that scientists are only now beginning to explore. In "At the Edge of Space," NOVA invites viewers on a breathtaking journey to the Earth-space boundary, a…

The Siberian impactor, which wounded over a thousand people and damaged structures in six cities, served as a stark reminder that our planet is vulnerable to the hazards of the cosmos. These celestial bodies, ranging in size from a football…

The search for worlds beyond our own has entered a golden age. NASA's Kepler mission has cataloged over 3,500 potential planets circling stars other than our Sun. Among these, some – such as Kepler-22b – possess characteristics that sugges…

NOVA delves into the technological heart of the aerial warfare waged during World War One, focusing on the colossal zeppelins that dominated the skies and the ingenious weaponry developed to combat them.

Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013, remains the most powerful cyclone ever to make landfall. The storm unleashed winds exceeding 200 miles per hour upon the low-lying, densely populated islands, and a devastati…

In the undulating hills of County Tipperary, Ireland, a peat harvester halts his machinery, alerted by the discovery of a body's remains. He has stopped just in time to reveal a remarkably preserved, headless torso, darkened to a deep brown…

Hidden beneath the bustling streets of Rome lies a city of the dead: the Catacombs, a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels stretching for hundreds of miles. These passages are lined with the orderly tombs of ancient Romans. In the year 2002, main…

The dome crowning Florence’s magnificent cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore—the Duomo—remains a towering testament to Renaissance ingenuity and an enduring enigma. Even after more than six centuries, it is the largest masonry dome in the wo…

For centuries, humanity has relentlessly hunted, trapped, and killed the wild animals that once dominated their habitats. Bears, wolves, and large cats now retreat further into dwindling territories, and an increasing number of scientists a…

Humans possess, without a doubt, the most developed intellect among the animal kingdom. But what distinguishes us? Is it our capacity for tool creation, complex problem-solving, or foresightful planning? While these abilities once seemed un…

For centuries, humanity has pondered a fundamental question: what is it like to inhabit the world as a dog, a shark, or a bird? Now, scientists studying animal senses are giving this inquiry serious consideration. Our senses shape our perce…

What confers intelligence upon an animal? What evolutionary pressures have shaped the development of more intricate brains? A growing number of scientists suggest the answer resides in social connection. Across the animal kingdom, some of t…

Australia has recently experienced an unsettling increase in fatal shark attacks, with five deaths occurring in just ten months. Simultaneously, great white sharks are increasingly sighted along the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts – a reg…

Colditz Castle, a notorious prisoner of war camp in Nazi Germany, was engineered to be escape-proof. Yet, in the waning days of World War II, a band of British officers conceived a daring final gambit: within a hidden attic workshop, they f…

On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces initiated the largest naval deployment in history, aiming to seize the beaches of Normandy and liberate Europe from Nazi occupation. Within a single day, over five thousand vessels traversed the English Ch…