Nova

- Season 47

(2020)

Paleontologist Kirk Johnson explores the polar extremes of the planet, including miles-high ice sheets and warm polar forests brimming with life.

A look at dog domestication, how scientists test wolf intelligence and decode canine DNA, and what science says about a dog's love for humans.

The perplexing behaviors of cats have often raised the question of whether humans ever really domesticated felines.

Scientists study why animals and humans need to sleep, what happens to the brain during sleep, and the role sleep plays in memory, trauma, and emotion regulation.

When the trade embargo left Cuba isolated from medical resources, Cuba was forced to get creative. Now they've developed lung cancer vaccines that show promise, some Americans are defying the embargo and traveling to Cuba for treatment.

The mysteries of fat and its role in hormone production, hunger and pregnancy.

Doctors strategize to stop the spread of COVID-19; researchers work toward finding treatments and vaccines; how the disease emerged, what it does to the human body, and how it became a pandemic.

Up-close footage provides a look at the strength, eyesight and flying skills of an eagle, and reveals the danger and drama of chicks as they struggle to survive.

Scientists study the implications of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Inter-spaced Short Palindromic Repeats: a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of organisms such as bacteria) and how they may change the human race's relationship with nature and what it means for human evolution.

New research on extremely primitive life forms called slime molds, which navigate through life without a brain, could reveal the fundamental rules underlying all decision making.

Researchers uncover the evolution of writing and the story of the alphabet, dating back to millennia, old carvings in an Egyptian turquoise mine.

How the development of writing played a vital role in shaping world history, from the invention of paper to the printed book.

Scientists reintroduce wild dogs to Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park to see if it helps restore balance to the entire ecosystem.

Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx attempts to grab a piece of an asteroid to bring back to Earth so scientists can study it to learn about the planet's origins.

As global temperatures rise, scientists look to geoengineering solutions, from planting trees to sucking carbon out of the air, as a means to cool the planet.

Engineers race to rebuild the roof of the Notre Dame cathedral and secure the medieval structure within five years.

Scientists are beginning to use CRISPR gene-editing technology to treat diseases and alter the human genome. But as research advances, the ethical dilemmas multiply. Which illnesses-and traits-should be eliminated from the human experience?