Former Digital Production Assistant at NOVA

Bright stars in a royal blue triangular opening in deep red and purple dust clouds.

The Tarantula Nebula’s chemical composition is remarkably like the conditions in the Milky Way billions of years ago, during peak star formation. This composite of X-ray and infrared observations uses chromatic ordering to show both supernova explosion remnants (royal blue and purple) and clouds of gas (red and orange). Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al.; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/JWST ERO Production Team

<p>The James Webb Space Telescope only captures infrared light, but imaging developers can convert the invisible into something both beautiful and scientifically accurate.</p>

How NASA makes those spectacular space images

Two tusked mastodons walk through a puddle in a lush green landscape with geese and a hare, as the sun sits on the horizon

An artist’s impression of the Kap København formation 2 million years ago, when the temperature was significantly warmer than northernmost Greenland today. Image Credit: Beth Zaiken

<p>The oldest DNA ever retrieved, preserved in sediments in northern Greenland, reveals that Arctic and temperate species once commingled in an ecosystem unlike anything that exists today.</p>

2-million-year-old DNA reveals surprising Arctic ecosystem

A man in a white shirt and black pants, standing knee-deep in water, seen from behind as he looks toward a dolphin with is upper body above the water, nose pointed up

A dolphin gives a cue to a fisher at Praia da Tesoura in Laguna, Brazil. Image Credit: Bianca Romeu, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

<p>A new study shows just what dolphins get out of cooperating with fishers in Brazil (besides lunch).</p>

When wild dolphins help humans fish, both benefit

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<p>NOVA Next is NOVA’s award-winning digital publication that provides answers from the cutting edge of science and technology. Launched in 2012, we feature in-depth articles and commentaries from some of the most respected journalists, scientists, and engineers. NOVA Next explores the ideas that are changing the future, from the frontiers of synthetic biology to the politics of personalized medicine.</p><p>Let us know what you think. We’re listening on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/NOVAonline">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/novapbs">Twitter</a>, and email.</p><p>If you’re a journalist and have an idea for a story, send it our way.</p>

NOVA Next is NOVA’s award-winning digital publication that provides answers from the cutting edge of science and technology.

NOVA Next

<p>NOVA Next is NOVA’s award-winning digital publication that provides answers from the cutting edge of science and technology.</p>

How Do Wind Turbines Work?

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<p>For millennia, humans have harnessed the power of wind. Wind fueled the boats of the Egyptians, the irrigation of the Babylonians, and the grain-grinding windmills of the Persians. Today, modern wind turbines have amped up wind’s potential even more. Now, wind power can be directly converted into clean, usable electricity for our cities and homes.</p><p>Where does wind come from? As the sun beams solar radiation toward the Earth, different areas warm up at different rates. In the areas that absorb more heat, hot air begins to rise. This creates a gap of lower pressure, which cooler air quickly rushes in to fill. That’s wind!</p><p>Once gusts reach about seven to eleven mph, the rotor of a wind turbine can capture the wind’s kinetic energy. A rotor usually has three massive blades, each on average about as long as the width of a U.S. football field. Rather than being pushed like sails, wind turbine blades act more like airplane wings. They’re shaped so that wind flows at different speeds above and below them. As a result, there’s a pressure difference on each side, which “lifts” the blades toward the low-pressure area and makes the rotor begin spinning.</p>
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<p>Kinetic energy has been transformed into mechanical energy. But one more conversion is needed. How do you change the mechanical energy into electric energy, a.k.a. electricity?</p><p>The key is a generator, which uses the properties of electromagnetic induction. In wind turbines, the rotor is connected to a shaft, which in turn enters an electrical generator made out of an assembly of magnets and a coil of wire.</p><p>When the rotor spins the shaft, the shaft then spins the assembly of magnets. This generates a voltage in the coil of wire. Voltage, a difference in electrical charge, drives a current. As a result, electrical current comes out from the generator. Then, the electricity can be funneled through power lines for distribution.</p><p>With turbines both on land and in the sea, wind energy is now the largest source of renewable energy in the United States. It’s only poised to grow more: as long as the sun shines, wind will blow, and we can continue to power the grid.</p>
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<p data-block-key="a4zeu">How wind turbines convert wind power into clean, usable electricity.</p>

How Do Hurricanes Form?

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<p>Few things beat a hurricane when it comes to showcasing nature’s fury. A hurricane’s gales alone can churn out about half as much energy as the global electrical generating capacity — not to mention the torrential flooding it leaves in its wake. But before a hurricane can grow to such a beastly size, its birth first requires a specific set of conditions.</p><p>Hurricanes, which scientists call “tropical cyclones,” vary in name by region: they're hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, but cyclones and typhoons elsewhere.</p><p>A tropical wave often kickstarts the whole process. These formations are not ocean waves, but instead an area of low atmospheric pressure that rolls off the African coast and moves westward through the tropics. They normally develop when hot air from the Sahara clashes with cooler, more humid air from the forested central Africa. Sometimes, thunderstorms follow.</p><p>The next ingredient is warm ocean water. As the tropical wave travels over waters above 26.5°C (about 80°F), warm, moist air starts rising upwards. This movement means there’s less air left near the surface — in other words, lower air pressure. Air molecules move from high to low pressure as they look for the path of least resistance, and as they do, the air from nearby areas with higher air pressure rushes in. Then, the new air becomes warm and moist and rises too.</p>
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<p>Up in the sky, the water in the moist air cools off and condenses into clouds. The process releases heat, further powering the growing tempest. This happens over and over again until giant cumulonimbus clouds emerge. As long as winds near the top of the system are not too strong — which could scatter the structure of the blooming clouds — an epic storm will begin to brew. Once the storm’s winds exceed 74 mph, it’s officially a tropical cyclone.</p><p>But why do hurricanes rotate? That’s due to something called the Coriolis effect. As Earth spins on its axis, an object on the equator must move much faster than an object by the poles. Rather than traveling in a straight line, winds coming to and from the poles are diverted. When different winds collide, they begin swirling. As a result, hurricanes spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern. In the center is the eye, an open area around which the rest of the storm rotates.</p><p>As long as hurricanes have warm ocean water to feed on, they will continue to amass speed and strength. Once they hit land, they can dump many inches of rain, down trees, and trigger dangerous storm surges, until eventually, a lack of fuel on land causes the hurricane to finally splutter out.</p>
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<p data-block-key="bg6ct">Warm ocean waters fuel some of the most violent storms on Earth.</p>

Engineers working on Farringdon Station in London's Victoria Tunnel

Building Stuff: 7 NOVA Documentaries on Feats of Engineering

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<p>From towering skyscrapers that redefine city skylines to intricate bridges spanning vast waterways, these documentaries offer a behind-the-scenes look at the ingenuity and creativity that drive humanity forward.</p><p>Here are some of our favorite NOVA documentaries about feats of engineering.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/london-super-tunnel/"><b>London Super Tunnel (2023)</b></a></h3>
<p>For over a decade, more than 10,000 engineers and construction workers race to build a brand-new subterranean railroad under London— the Elizabeth Line—London’s new Underground. One of Europe’s biggest engineering projects, the construction teams confront immense challenges, from building platforms and concourses the size of aircraft carriers hidden under London’s busiest shopping venue, Oxford Street, to designing, outfitting, and testing a fleet of 70 new high-speed trains from scratch in just two years. Facing delays and cost overruns worsened by the pandemic, the engineers and technicians race to create 10 new stations, learn to operate the new trains, and test out new 13-mile twin tunnels under London. Drawing on more than 1,500 hours of footage, NOVA provides intimate glimpses of the challenges, setbacks, and ingenious solutions that lead to ultimate success, as the Queen finally opens the Elizabeth Line on May 24, 2022.</p>
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<h3><br/><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/building-the-eiffel-tower/"><b>Building the Eiffel Tower (2024)</b></a></h3>
<p>Explore the revolutionary engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark. Completed in just over two years for the 1889 World’s Fair, the iron tower smashed the record for the tallest structure on Earth, ushering in a new age of global construction that reached for the skies. How did the engineers do it? Follow the innovations, successes, and failures that made one of the most famous buildings on the planet possible.</p>
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<h3><br/><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/ultimate-space-telescope/"><b>Ultimate Space Telescope (2022)</b></a></h3>
<p>How did NASA engineers build and launch the most ambitious telescope of all time? Follow the dramatic story of the James Webb Space Telescope—the most complex machine ever launched into space. This new eye on the universal peers deeper back in time and space than ever before to the birth of galaxies, and it may even be able to “sniff” the atmospheres of exoplanets as we search for signs of life beyond Earth. But getting it to work was no easy task. The telescope is far bigger than its predecessor, the famous Hubble Space Telescope, and it needs to make its observations a million miles away from Earth—so there was no chance to go out and fix it. That meant there was no room for error; the most ambitious telescope ever built had to work perfectly. Meet the engineers who made it happen and join them on their high stakes journey to uncover new secrets of the universe.</p>
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<h3><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/augmented/"><b>Augmented (2022)</b></a></h3>
<p>Follow the dramatic personal journey of Hugh Herr, a biophysicist working to create brain-controlled robotic limbs. At age 17, Herr’s legs were amputated after a climbing accident. Frustrated by the crude prosthetic limbs he was given, Herr set out to remedy their design, leading him to a career as an inventor of innovative prosthetic devices. Now, Herr is teaming up with an injured climber and a surgeon at a leading Boston hospital to test a new approach to surgical amputation that allows prosthetic limbs to move and feel like the real thing. Herr’s journey is a powerful tale of innovation and the inspiring story of a personal tragedy transformed into a life-long quest to help others.</p>
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<h3><br/><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/high-risk-high-rise/"><b>High-Risk High-Rise (2022)</b></a></h3>
<p>Skyscrapers are gleaming symbols of prestige, and an ingenious way to save space in dense urban areas. But as buildings rise ever higher, what are the risks of these architectural behemoths? Do we truly know how they will hold up in earthquakes, fires, and other potential disasters? What have--or haven’t—we learned from past tragedies?</p>
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<h3><br/><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/rebuilding-notre-dame/"><b>Rebuilding Notre Dame (2022)</b></a></h3>
<p>Following the April, 2019 fire that almost destroyed Paris’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, a team of engineers, masons, and timber workers set out on the daunting challenge of restoring France’s historic landmark. The program traces the dramatic human and technical challenges of the project’s first three years, going behind-the-scenes with carpenters shaping lumber for the new roof and spire, stone masons repairing gaping holes in the vault, and artisans who use traditional techniques to restore stained glass windows. A symbol of the nation’s identity and resilience, Notre Dame gradually rises from the ashes, thanks to a restoration project like no other.</p>
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<h3><br/><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/why-bridges-collapse/"><b>Why Bridges Collapse (2019)</b></a></h3>
<p>In 2018, Italy’s Morandi Bridge collapsed, tragically killing 43 people. For 50 years, the iconic bridge had withstood the elements—and stress from ever-increasing traffic. What went wrong that fateful day? And how can new engineering technology protect bridge infrastructure to prevent such tragic failures in the future? Through eyewitness testimony, expert interviews, and dramatic archival footage, NOVA investigates the Morandi disaster and other deadly bridge collapses.</p>
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<h4><br/><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/building-stuff/">WATCH THE BUILDING STUFF SERIES &gt;&gt;</a></h4>
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<p data-block-key="mdkai">Dive into the stories of engineering accomplishments throughout history.</p>

5 Fun Ideas to Discuss at Your Thanksgiving Table

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<p>Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkey and pumpkin pie—it’s also a perfect time to share interesting stories with friends and family. This year, bring a little science, nature and intrigue to the table with these five fascinating conversation starters.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/venus-the-planet-with-battery-acid-clouds/"><b>What would happen if you went skydiving on Venus?</b></a></h3>
<p>Have some daredevils in your family? If skydiving has been checked off their bucket list here on Earth, you may want to warn them not to take their ambitions to other planets.</p>
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<p>The surface of Venus is comparable to the bottom of Earth’s oceans with one major difference: Venus has the hottest planetary surface in the solar system. Learn more about Venus <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/facts-hot-volcanic-venus/">here</a>.</p>
<h3><b><br/></b><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/these-cheeses-are-at-risk-of-going-extinct/"><b>Some cheeses are at risk of going extinct.</b></a></h3>
<p>With a table full of delicious food, you’re bound to have some cheese-lovers in the crowd. Hopefully they won’t be too disappointed to discover that some of their favorite iconic French cheeses may be in danger of going extinct.</p>
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<h3><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/brown-fat-cold-weather/"><b>You produce a special kind of fat in the winter.</b></a></h3>
<p>Have you ever wondered why the first cold day of fall feels so much colder than a day with the exact same temperature at the end of the winter? Drop some facts about how our bodies help us get through the cold winter months.</p>
<h4><a href="/wgbh/nova/article/brown-fat-cold-weather/"><b>READ THE ARTICLE &gt;&gt;</b></a></h4>
<h3><b><br/></b><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/how-did-whales-evolve-from-land-mammals/"><b>The whale’s closest living relative may surprise you.</b></a></h3>
<p>Make this into a fun guessing game. The person who guesses which animal whales are most closely related to gets a prize!</p>
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<h3><b><br/></b><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/why-the-sky-changes-colors-at-sunset/"><b>Why does the sky change colors at sunset?</b></a></h3>
<p>Have you noticed that winter sunsets tend to be the most vibrant? There’s a reason for that. Wow the crowd with this fun fact.</p>
<h4><a href="/wgbh/nova/article/why-the-sky-changes-colors-at-sunset/"><b>READ THE ARTICLE &gt;&gt;</b></a></h4>
<p><b><br/><br/>Happy Thanksgiving from the NOVA family to yours.</b></p>
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<p data-block-key="jarcv">For moments when you may need to change the subject.</p>

Why the Sky Changes Colors at Sunset

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<p>There’s truly nothing like a pretty sunset. As the sun sets, the heavens above are like cotton candy: lighting up with a beautiful display of deep reds, vibrant oranges, and intense pinks. Simply put, the sky seems to be on fire.</p><p>The reason we see different colors at different times has to do with the physics of light.</p><p>Visible light travels in electromagnetic waves, which we see as the colors of the rainbow.</p><p>Different colors have different wavelengths of light. Violet and blue have the shortest wavelengths, whereas red and orange have the longest. Gas molecules in the atmosphere are even smaller than the wavelengths of light. When light enters the atmosphere, it gets scattered by molecules like nitrogen and oxygen. And because blue wavelengths are the shortest, they get scattered more, resulting in a blue sky.</p><p>During a sunset, however, light scattering works differently. The sun’s light has a lot further to travel. Blue wavelengths are filtered out, and so the red and orange wavelengths peer through the atmosphere. In fact, everyone who is in the same latitude is looking at the same rays of light, it just appears like different colors because of the atmospheric scattering.</p><p>And while some believe that extremely bright and beautiful sunsets are a result of dust and pollution, that isn’t the case. If that were true, cities with high levels of pollution like New York and Los Angeles would constantly have colorful sunsets. Dust and pollution <i>could</i> potentially influence a sunset’s vibrancy, but most of the scattering happens at the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere.</p>
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<p>That being said, there are some reasons why a sunset might be brighter than others. Temperature is one major factor at play, as winter sunsets tend to be more vibrant. Cold air has less water vapor, which can cling to particles in the air like dust and pollen, causing them to block sunlight. Not to mention, colder air typically comes from areas like the Arctic, where there are fewer trees and less pollution to create the particles that would block light.</p><p>Clouds also affect what a sunset will look like. If the sky is full of clouds and overcast, from the ground you won’t see that pretty of a sunset. But if you hopped on a plane, crossing the boundary layer of the atmosphere, you would probably get to see a more colorful display.</p><p>Not all clouds block sunset light though. The wispy and feathery cirrus clouds are high enough that they reflect the last red orange rays of a setting sun back to the ground.</p><p>Finally, weather can also influence the sunset. The contiguous United States is situated under a jet stream, or a band of air that flows from west to east. Certain weather patterns, such as rain showers or blizzards, affect that jet stream. If the disturbances happen in the east, the cooler air will worsen weather conditions. But on the western side, the air will clear and dry, allowing for a nice sunset. This is why there is often a beautiful sunset after a storm.</p>
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<p data-block-key="f80np">What causes those beautiful reds, oranges, and pinks at sunset?</p>

How Was the Great Pyramid Built?

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<p>The last surviving wonder of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Giza has mystified archeologists for decades. But archeological evidence gives clues as to how ancient Egyptians were able to construct something of that scale and complexity. These papyri, which were excavated at the site Wadi al-Jarf, have information about times, dates, and cargo deliveries––almost like an Excel spreadsheet of what the workers received.</p><p>To build the pyramid some 4500 years ago, Egyptians needed high quality tools to cut the massive stones. They imported copper mined from the Sinai and sent across the Red Sea to Wadi al-Jarf.</p><p>The Great Pyramid required three different types of stone. The exterior was made of high-quality limestone, the inner core consisted of a more common limestone, and the chambers for the sacred tomb of the king were made of granite. While the limestones were sourced locally, the granite stones proved more difficult. They came from a quarry in Aswan, 500 miles south of Giza.</p>
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<p>The millions of tons of stone required were brought to the site on boats sailing the Nile. The Egyptians used systems of basins and waterways to deliver the stone directly to the construction site, about 100 feet higher.</p><p>“The major influx of materials– both gigantic stones, timber, wood, grain to feed the people––happened during the flood season, when the Nile rose and covered the valley and filled the deep channel,” says archeologist Mark Lehner.</p><p>To raise the blocks up the sloping sides of the pyramids, they used ramps and embankments. This was before the days of the wheel, but Egyptians used sledges to carry large rocks up.</p><p>While thousands of laborers helped build the pyramid, records reveal there was one man in charge of the successful operation: Ankh-haf. The half brother of the pharaoh, he was essentially the chief of the administration and big boss for building the pyramid. He and the many workers who contributed to the project pulled off one of the greatest feats in archaeological history–a wonder of the world that still stands today.</p>
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<p data-block-key="a10we">Records show how the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid more than 4500 years ago.</p>

What Does 5G Really Mean?

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<p>You might have heard people talking about “5G,” but what does it actually mean?</p><p>The network of cell towers and mobile devices that makes life in the Internet Age possible is less than fifty years old. And about once per decade since it was first built, the telecommunications industry has announced plans for an upgrade. “5G” is just the latest iteration: It refers to the coordinated effort to develop and install a new “generation” of wireless communications technologies throughout the 2020s.</p><p>Each iteration gets more advanced, and the earliest versions made possible basic capabilities that we now take for granted. The first commercial cellular network could only support voice calls, and it was launched in Tokyo in 1979 by a company called Nippon Telegraph &amp; Telephone. By the mid-1980s, the technology used to create this network — later dubbed “1G” — had been adopted worldwide. Newly-built cell towers relayed calls made from devices like the Motorola DynaTAC, the first commercially-available (and extremely expensive) cell phone.</p><p>Later generations of mobile technologies improved on the basics. Cell phones became smaller and now function more like mini-computers than telephones. Download speeds also became much faster. New generations introduced functions like text messaging and internet-browsing — added in 2G and 3G, respectively — which are now standard features of phones, tablets, and other mobile technologies.</p>
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<p>The technologies considered to be part of 5G, the fifth generation, were first introduced in South Korea in 2019, and advances continue to be made by companies like Huawei in China. Download speeds for 5G can be as high as 10 to 20 gigabits-per-second — about 100 times faster than 4G download speeds and many orders of magnitude faster than 1G, which was about 2.4 kilobits-per-second. 5G also supports many times more users than 4G, allowing for up to 1 million devices per square kilometer.</p><p>In order to make 5G a reality, existing infrastructure will need to be replaced. Cell towers, for example, will need to be retrofitted with new antennas and other components, and new towers will need to be built. 5G’s higher speeds are made possible in part by transmitting data in a band of higher radio frequencies. Because these signals are easily blocked by surrounding objects, companies are installing smaller towers called “small cells” to provide more precise coverage at a higher band. The 5G system is smart enough to automatically switch to the band that will give you the best performance and speed, even if that’s not the highest frequency band.</p><p>This hardware update is already well underway in some locations, most of which are cities, and China has deployed the technology at a greater scale than any other country so far.</p><p>The scale required is part of the challenge. Worldwide, the number of devices connected to the Internet is predicted to reach 50 billion sometime this decade. As mobile technology finds its way into everything from your watch to your car to your refrigerator, 5G will need to be powerful enough to support a massive new generation of internet users.</p>
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<p data-block-key="4os6l">The next generation of wireless communication technology is much more advanced, but it requires a lot of new infrastructure.</p>

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