Nova

- Season 48

(2021)

What can DNA testing companies reveal about our ancestry and health, and at what risk?

The chemical reactions that transform the world, from explosions to photosynthesis; lock-and-key molecules that put the heat in peppers and make venoms useful to medicine.

The potential environmental impact of virtually indestructible versions of glass, rubber and plastic.

The molecules that allowed life on Earth to begin and thrive; how scientists use evolution in chemistry.

Follow along as NASA launches the Mars 2020 mission, perhaps the most ambitious hunt yet for signs of ancient life on Mars.

Women make up less than one-quarter of the amount of people employed in STEM, and the number is even smaller for women of color.

Marine biologists from the Bahamas to Christmas Island to Australia fight against the clock to save the coral reefs from extinction.

Explores barriers to fertility, from the social to the biological, and the state of assisted reproductive technologies.

On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg, the world's largest airship, ignited in a giant fireball as it prepared to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey-a disaster immortalized by searing newsreel footage and Herbert Morrison's unforgettable "Oh, the humanity!" commentary. The chain of events that ignited Hindenburg's hydrogen remains one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. Theories range from deliberate sabotage to sparks generated by static electricity or stormy weather conditions. Now, more than 80 years later, new footage has surfaced: an amateur 8mm film that shows the...

The race to develop a practical and economically-viable electrically-powered airplane.

A newly discovered 500-year-old wreck offers vital clues to the evolution in ship design that made long-distance voyages practical.

Understanding bats, their long life spans and why they are resistant to the very diseases they carry such as Ebola and MERS, as well as other diseases like cancer.

As state-legalized cannabis spreads, NOVA explores its little-known risks and benefits.

An international team studies the neutrino, the most common yet least understood particle in the universe.

Scientists on a daring polar voyage to uncover the Arctic's climate secrets.

Takes a tasty look at insect foods that could benefit our health and our warming planet.

The Hubble Space Telescope and a heat-resistant solar probe reveal new clues about the sun's 5-billion-year history.

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New science and discoveries made possible by ultra sensitive telescopes and detective work transform the search for alien planets from science fiction into fact.

Take a seat on the ultimate thrill ride to explore nature's strangest and most powerful objects. Black holes can reshape entire galaxies, warp the fabric of space and time, and may even be the key to unlocking the ultimate nature of reality. A new generation of high-energy telescopes is bringing these invisible voids to light, showing that "supermassives" millions or billions of times larger than our sun lurk at the center of nearly every galaxy, including our own.

New research and theories offer clues about the Big Bang and what may have existed before the universe's birth.

The science behind the risks of sky-high buildings, from structural limits to threats presented by wind, fire and earthquakes.

Scientists are discovering the secrets of butterflies and using that knowledge to improve technology.

Paleontologists discover that dinosaurs thrived in unlikely places such as the cold and dark Arctic Circle.

Why did the ancient Maya abandon their major cities?

Two leading researchers investigate racial bias built into widely used search engines.