Operation Bridge Rescue
Follow engineers and woodworkers as they rebuild and transport an iconic American covered bridge.
Search Results
Sort By:
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:30
Operation Bridge Rescue
Follow the race to rebuild the Old Blenheim Bridge in New York State, an icon of 19th century American engineering, destroyed by Hurricane Irene in 2011. Watch a team of elite craftsmen faithfully reproduce the massive, intricate wooden structure under grueling time pressure as flooding threatens their worksite. In China, witness craftsmen restoring thousand-year-old covered bridges based on ingenious frameworks of woven timber beams. Discover how Chinese artisans are keeping traditional skills alive to ensure the survival of these stunning ancient structures.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:37
Volcano on Fire
Climb with volcano experts to the summit of Nyiragongo, a highly active volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Twice in recent memory it has erupted, devastating Goma, a neighboring city of one million people. To investigate when it might erupt next, scientists climb into its crater toward a bubbling lava lake to deploy sensors and monitor the volcano’s activity.
Volcano on Fire
Climb into the crater of Nyiragongo, a seething and active African volcano.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:37
Volcano on the Brink
Explore Nyamuragira in central Africa, one of the world’s most active and mysterious volcanoes. Decades of civil strife have prevented scientists from investigating the volcano, but a brief pause allows an international team of experts to fly by helicopter to the summit to investigate. Discover the volcano’s hidden dangers, and probe whether magma pressure is building up to threaten another eruption.
Volcano on the Brink
Explore Africa’s sleeping giant—Nyamuragira, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:43
Transplanting Hope
NOVA takes you inside the operating room to witness organ transplant teams transferring organs from donors to recipients. Meet families navigating both sides of a transplant, and researchers working to end the organ shortage. Their efforts to understand organ rejection, discover ways to keep organs alive outside the body, and even grow artificial organs with stem cells, could save countless lives.
Transplanting Hope
Witness organ transplants as they unfold, and meet patients awaiting lifesaving donations.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:06
Rise of the Superstorms
In just one devastating month, Houston, Florida, and the Caribbean were changed forever. In summer 2017, three monster hurricanes swept in from the Atlantic one after another, shattering storm records and killing hundreds of people. First, Harvey brought catastrophic rain and flooding to Houston, causing $125 billion in damage. Less than two weeks later, Irma lashed the Caribbean with 180 mile per hour winds—and left the island of Barbuda uninhabitable. Hot on Irma’s heels, Maria intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in just 30 hours, then ravaged Puerto Rico and left millions of people without power. As the planet warms, are these superstorms the new normal? How well can we predict them? And as the U.S. faces the next hurricane season, does it need to prepare for the reality of climate refugees? NOVA takes you inside the 2017 superstorms and the cutting-edge research that will determine how well equipped we are to deal with hurricanes in the future.
Rise of the Superstorms
Witness the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:43
Can We Build a Brain?
Artificially intelligent machines are taking over. They’re influencing our everyday lives in profound and often invisible ways. They can read handwriting, interpret emotions, play games, and even act as personal assistants. They are in our phones, our cars, our doctors’ offices, our banks, our web searches…the list goes on and is rapidly growing ever longer. But how does today’s A.I. actually work—and is it truly intelligent? And for that matter, what is intelligence? The world’s brightest computer programmers are trying to build brighter machines by reverse-engineering the brain and by inventing completely new kinds of computers, with exponentially greater speed and processing power. NOVA Wonders looks at how far we’ve come and where machines are headed as their software becomes ever more…cerebral. How close are we from a world in which computers take over—from diagnosing cancer to driving our cars to targeting weapons? If we place more and more of our lives under the control of these artificial brains, what are we putting at risk?
Can We Build a Brain?
How does today’s artificial intelligence actually work—and is it truly intelligent?
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:46
Can We Make Life?
"It's alive!" Since Dr. Frankenstein spoke those famous words, we've been alternately enthralled and terrified by the idea of creating life in the lab. Now, a revolution in genetic engineering and thrilling innovations in synthetic biology are bringing that dream—or nightmare, as the case may be—closer to reality. New tools allow researchers to use cells to create their own DNA and edit it into existing genomes with more ease and less cost than ever before. Along with renewed hopes for treating some genetic diseases, there's serious talk of using the newest technologies to bring long-extinct animals back from the dead – like the team hoping to resurrect the woolly mammoth. Science fiction is quickly becoming science fact. Another daring genetic experiment to bioengineer animals could prevent Lyme disease. But the power to make life comes with deep ethical questions. What are the potential rewards—and dangers—of tinkering with nature? NOVA Wonders explores the benefits and the burden of risk surrounding the controversial new technology.
Can We Make Life?
A revolution in gene editing enables scientists to create and edit DNA like never before.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:11
What's the Universe Made Of?
The universe is hiding something. In fact, it is hiding a lot. Everything we experience on Earth, the stars and galaxies we see in the cosmos—all the “normal” matter and energy that we understand—make up only 5% of the known universe. The other 95% is made up of two mysterious components: “dark matter” and “dark energy.” We can’t see them, but we know they’re there. And what’s more—these two shadowy ingredients are locked in an epic battle to control the very fate of the universe. Now, scientists are trying to shed light on the so-called “dark sector” as the latest generation of detectors rev up, and powerful telescopes peer deeper into space than ever before to observe how it behaves. Will the discoveries help reveal how galaxies formed? In the series finale, NOVA Wonders journeys to the stars and back to investigate what we know—and don’t know. Find out how scientists are discovering new secrets about the history of the universe, and why they’re predicting a shocking future.
What's the Universe Made Of?
Peer into the universe’s deep unknowns to explore the mysteries of dark matter and energy.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:38
Are We Alone?
The search for extraterrestrial life is an age-old quest. But recent breakthroughs make today an era like no other in the history of astronomy. From the exhilarating probing of our own solar system and the Kepler mission’s astounding discovery of thousands of extrasolar planets, to the next-generation telescopes under development, the prospects for finding life beyond Earth have never been stronger. Still, daunting hurdles remain. How can we study anything light years away, let alone a little planet? In the vast universe, where should we even start to look? Is our failure to hear any other voices in the galaxy a sign that we are special? NOVA Wonders joins leading explorers now searching the galaxy for life and intelligence on other planets—and asks, if we do find other life in the universe…what would that mean?
Are We Alone?
Hunt for clues in the universe to answer one of humanity's biggest questions: Are we alone?
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 52:57
What Are Animals Saying?
From singing whales and squeaking bats to thumping spiders and clicking dolphins, the world is filled with the exotic sounds of our fellow creatures. What are they saying? While we believe language sets us apart, some animals demonstrate they can learn our language—like Chaser the dog, who recognizes hundreds of words, and Kanzi the bonobo, who appears to have a sophisticated understanding of spoken English. But can we decode their own communications? NOVA Wonders follows researchers around the globe who are deciphering an amazing array of clues that reveal how animals share information critical to their survival. Will we one day be able to write the bat dictionary or decode the hidden sign language of chimps? And what can these findings tell us about the roots of our own language?
What Are Animals Saying?
Can we crack the code of animal communication?
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 53:40
What's Living in You?
Whether they make you fat, fart, or freak out, microbes play a central role in your life. Right beneath your nose—on your face, in your gut, and everywhere in between—trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi are so abundant in your body, they outnumber your human cells. But these aren’t just nasty hitch-hikers. Many are crucial to your survival. Evidence suggests that a diverse microbiome can keep you healthy and, conversely, a damaged one could kill you. NOVA Wonders peers into this microscopic world to discover the fascinating, bizarre, and downright surprising secrets of the human microbiome, including the world’s largest stool bank, which transforms raw stool into life-saving poop pills.
What's Living in You?
Discover how a world of microbes living in and on you can make you sick-and keep you healthy.
- Video
- Format:
- Full Episode
- Running Time:
- 01:53:21
Decoding the Weather Machine
Disastrous hurricanes. Widespread droughts and wildfires. Withering heat. Extreme rainfall. It is hard not to conclude that something’s up with the weather, and many scientists agree. It’s the result of the weather machine itself—our climate—changing, becoming hotter and more erratic. In this two-hour documentary, NOVA will cut through the confusion around climate change. Why do scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, and that human activity is causing it? How and when will it affect us through the weather we experience? And what will it take to bend the trajectory of planetary warming toward more benign outcomes? Join scientists around the world on a quest to better understand the workings of the weather and climate machine we call Earth, and discover how we can be resilient—even thrive—in the face of enormous change.
Decoding the Weather Machine
Discover how Earth’s intricate climate system is changing.
Narrow Results
Add filters to refine your search
Format
NOVA Topics
- Ancient Worlds (15)
- Body & Brain (15)
- Evolution (9)
- Military & Espionage (13)
- Nature (8)
- Physics & Math (16)
- Planet Earth (32)
- Space & Flight (12)
- Tech & Engineering (18)
Subjects
- Anthropology (7)
- Archeology (5)
- Earth Science (14)
- Engineering (11)
- Environmental Science (7)
- Forensic Science (2)
- Geography (3)
- Health Science (7)
- History (10)
- Life Science (8)
- Math (1)
- Physical Science (13)
- Science & Society (23)
- Space Science (12)
- Technology (16)
Media Type
- Video (138)
Year
Haven't found what you're looking for on NOVA? Search all
