Arizona State University

University of Southern California

Fermilab

Author, Is God a Mathematician?

Space Telescope Science Institute

MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering

Science Writer

Tufts University

Princeton University

Author, Our Mathematical Universe

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Time Dilation and Intergalactic Travel

Could You Upload Your Brain?

A new model suggests that the early universe may have contracted and expanded&mdash;at the same time.

A new model suggests that the early universe may have contracted and expanded—at the same time.

Do We Live in an Anamorphic Universe?

What is The Nature of Reality? It’s a blog, and it’s pretty much the biggest question we could think of. We can’t promise that we’ll answer the question once and for all – in fact, we can pretty much guarantee that we won’t – but we promise a space that welcomes big ideas about space, time, and the universe; where we take questions as seriously as we take answers; where physics is about way more than inclined planes and levers and pulleys. Stick around; we just might expand your cosmic horizons.

What is The Nature of Reality? It’s a blog, and it’s pretty much the biggest question we could think of.

The Nature of Reality

What is The Nature of Reality? It’s a blog, and it’s pretty much the biggest question we could think of.

<div class="rich-text">
	The slime mold Physarum polycephalum is a single cell without a brain, yet it can make surprisingly complicated decisions. In this animated video short, watch as a slime mold navigates through a maze and solves a civil engineering problem.

	Learn more about slime molds at <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=brainless-slime-molds">Scientific American</a>.
</div>

<div class="rich-text">Slime molds may be brainless, but they aren't stupid.</div>

Slime Mold Smarts

<div class="rich-text">
	Cosmic rays are inescapable in space. They can rip right through an astronaut, damaging DNA and possibly causing cancer and memory loss over the long-term. But recent research shows that antioxidants, found in certain berries and fruit, may decrease the effects of this type of radiation.
</div>

<div class="rich-text">Berries and other foods containing antioxidants may alleviate cellular damage caused by cosmic radiation.</div>

Cosmic Ray Danger

Unravelling Bolero

The National Science Foundation

Koch Foundation

NOVA Science Trust Logo

The Alfred Sloan P. Foundation

NOVA ScienceNOW

Being with Jane Goodall

Barrington Irving: 30S on Flying Around the World Solo

Rudy Tanzi: A Scientist Gets Transcendent

The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers

The Law all Languages Obey

US & Territories

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?

Hunt for clues in the universe to answer one of humanity&#x27;s biggest questions: Are we alone?

Are We Alone?

<div class="rich-text">Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that invades the brains of mice and organs of cats, resulting in a disease called toxoplasmosis. This parasite can also infect humans by way of cat feces. Although Toxoplasma research is still in its early stages, scientists estimate that one-third of the human population has been infected.
</div>

<div class="rich-text">Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that invades the brains of mice and organs of cats.</div>

Can Cat Poop Make You Crazy?

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

The John Templeton Foundation

Draper

NOVA Wonders takes viewers on a journey to the frontiers of science, where researchers are tackling some of the biggest questions about life and the cosmos. From the mysteries of astrophysics to the secrets of the body to the challenges of inventing technologies that could rival—and even surpass—the abilities of the human mind, these six hours reveal how far we’ve come in our search for answers, how we managed to get here, and how scientists hope to push our understanding of the universe even further. Along the way, we meet the remarkable people who are transforming our world and our future.

A 6-part series exploring the biggest questions on the frontiers of science.

NOVA Wonders

A 6-part series exploring the biggest questions on the frontiers of science.

The NOVA Science Studio is a new program aspiring to change the face of STEM by championing young diverse voices in science communication. Credit: Pekic/iStockphoto

This fall, we are excited to take the NOVA Science Studio to the national stage with a virtual launch of our program that will engage students across the country.

Apply to Join the NOVA Science Studio

To diversify the voices we hear in science communication, NOVA has created a program where access meets opportunity for underrepresented youth

To diversify the voices we hear in science communication, NOVA has created a program where access meets opportunity for underrepresented youth.

Introducing: NOVA Science Studio

Students Razan Mohammed and Ayan Jama pose for the camera at the NOVA Science Studio event in June. (Photo by: Meredith Nierman)

With a goal to empower youth to tell stories about the world in new ways, NOVA Science Studio was able to give students exposure to a wide range of careers in STEM, journalism, and media production.

Science As Told by Teens: Reflecting on the Pilot of NOVA Science Studio

The NOVA Science Studio empowers students with the skills to tell engaging stories about science through text journalism and short-form video and creates a platform to amplify the voices of young people who have been traditionally underrepresented in science communication.

The NOVA Science Studio empowers students with the skills to tell engaging stories about science through text journalism and short-form video and creates a platform to amplify the voices of young people who have been traditionally underrepresented in science communication.

NOVA Science Studio

For something we use every day, energy is a pretty mysterious concept. This Lab investigates what energy is, how it can be converted into useful forms, and why some sources are running low.

Energy Lab

Fossils: Rocking the Earth

Cybersecurity Lab Lesson Plan - Hero Image

Take cybersecurity into your own hands. In this Lab, you’ll defend a company that is the target of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks.

Cybersecurity Lab

NOVA Labs

Light calligraphy in Australia. Image courtest of Karim Jabbari

Equipped with a light and a camera, Karim Jabbari hopes his work can serve as a link between conservative traditional calligraphy and our augmented reality.

A calligrapher writes with light to keep tradition alive

Ecologist Dominique Gonçalves observes a female lead elephant in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park. Image courtesy of Dominique Gonçalves

Scientists use animals’ “landscapes of fear” to set limits and reestablish balance in Gorongosa National Park, where top predators were wiped out.

The secret to peace between elephants and farmers in Mozambique? Bees

Image Credit: Thomas James Caldwell, Flickr

We use emoji in texts and other messaging to set a tone, maintain relationships, and show solidarity. But are they also changing the way we think?

The evolving, unexpected power of the emoji

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.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.If you’re a journalist and have an idea for a story, send it our way.

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

NOVA Next

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

One tablespoon of olive oil is dropped into a lake, and after ten minutes, a half-acre of waves are gone. How could the oil spread so far, and why does it calm the waves? Find out in this episode of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj1gfrsi8H8zTrmR0ft1Kjw">What The Physics?!</a>

One tablespoon of olive oil destroys half an acre of waves on this lake. What The Physics?!

Lake vs. Olive Oil

These three things have been said to go faster than light, but do they? Find out in this episode of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj1gfrsi8H8zTrmR0ft1Kjw">What The Physics?!</a>

These three things have been said to go faster than light, but do they?

3 Things "Faster Than Light"

How can you train yourself to be a quantum detector? You can detect quantum mechanics all over—if you know how to look for it. In this episode of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj1gfrsi8H8zTrmR0ft1Kjw/">What the Physics?!</a> find out how simply squinting at a lamp reveals the quantum nature of light.

Simply squinting at a lamp highlights the quantum nature of light.

See Quantum with the Naked Eye

What is &quot;What The Physics?!&quot;Each episode explores something surprising or really interesting related to physics. Like the science behind the movie “Interstellar”… Or exploring what real parallel universes might be like… basically, things that make you go, “What The Physics?!” Visit our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj1gfrsi8H8zTrmR0ft1Kjw/featured">YouTube channel</a> for more.

What the Physics?!

What is &quot;What The Physics?!&quot;

The World's Most Expensive Fungus

4 Deadly Carnivorous Plants

Three Facts About Periods

Bizarre stories from the slimy, smelly, creepy world of science. GROSS SCIENCE from NOVA is produced by WGBH for PBS Digital Studios. See more on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHiZFOa_ZrLwYmxbTaUaKEA">Youtube</a>.

Bizarre stories from the slimy, smelly, creepy world of science.

Gross Science

Bizarre stories from the slimy, smelly, creepy world of science.

Australia, the smallest of the seven continents, is the world capital of two of the three types of mammal on Earth: the marsupials, like the kangaroo and koala, which nourish their young in pouches, and the monotremes, featuring the platypus and the echidnas, which nourish their young in eggs. (The third variety, placentals, include all the rest of us—from mice to whales to people—which nourish their young in an advanced placenta.)

How did Australia come to be marsupial heaven?

Evolution Down Under

Nova

Join scientists on a quest to discover what Earth’s climate was like in the past — and where we might be headed in the NOVA Polar Lab

NOVA Labs Intern Chloe Nosan reflects on her experience working on the platform&#x27;s newest resource on global climate change: The Polar Lab.

Experiencing Extremes: Plunging into Polar Pasts with NOVA to Reveal Future Climates

Grapefruit-mint-marmalade chocolate lava mini cakes with fresh mint ricotta. Image Credit: Annie Wu

Use these NOVA resources to introduce students to neuroscience, chemistry, and biology concepts that explain the science behind flavor, and how smell, sight, and sound can influence the experience.

Bring the Science of Taste into the Classroom with NOVA Resources

A bubble freezing on a block of ice inside of a freezer. Image Credit: Farzad Ahmadi and Christian Kingett

Freezing soap bubbles look like snow globes. This whimsical effect could help us improve biological freezing techniques—and is incredibly fun to watch.

The physics of freezing soap bubbles is cooler than you’d think

The Tongass National Forest’s trees hold about 650 million tons of carbon, which convert to about half of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions in 2017. Image Credit: Phillip Gladkov

Opening up the Tongass National Forest to additional logging and development could have serious implications for both the environment and the Alaska Native communities that depend on it.

Opening up the Tongass National Forest to additional logging and development could have serious implications for both the environment and the Alaska Native communities that depend on it.

Tongass National Forest is 'America's Last Climate Sanctuary'

Where We Learn Science May Be Different Than You Think

For the past 100 years we&rsquo;ve come to believe that the words &ldquo;learning,&rdquo; &ldquo;education,&rdquo; and &ldquo;school&rdquo; were synonymous&ndash;that education only happens at school. But perhaps surprisingly, today&rsquo;s learners learn only a small fraction of what they know about science in a classroom.

For the past 100 years we’ve come to believe that the words “learning,” “education,” and “school” were synonymous–that education only happens at school. But perhaps surprisingly, today’s learners learn only a small fraction of what they know about science in a classroom.

NOVA Education tailors NOVA&#x27;s digital resources for educators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Our free educator library is produced according to teaching standards and includes videos, audio segments, lesson plans, and interactives designed to facilitate effective classroom integration. Please let us know how we&#x27;re doing and what you might like to see. NOVA Education is committed to creating digital learning resources that work for you.

NOVA Education supports STEM education and engagement nationwide through the creation of resources from NOVA's broadcast and digital productions.

NOVA Education

NOVA Education supports STEM education and engagement nationwide through the creation of resources from NOVA&#x27;s broadcast and digital productions.

Northern Mariana Islands

United States

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

U.S. Virgin Islands

Guam

American Samoa

Puerto Rico

Scientists and engineers fight to save Notre Dame Cathedral after the 2019 fire.

Saving Notre Dame

Hagia Sophia: Istanbul's Ancient Mystery Hero

How has this unique structure, built on a seismic fault, survived centuries of quakes?

Hagia Sophia: Istanbul's Mystery

How did early engineers carve tombs into rock cliffs and funnel water to this desert city?

Petra: Lost City of Stone

1500 years ago, how did the Romans engineer bloody spectacles and reenact sea battles?

Colosseum: Roman Death Trap

From the PBS science series NOVA, a biweekly podcast digging into the science behind the headlines. Alok Patel takes you behind the scenes with the people—scientists, engineers, technologists, mathematicians and more—working to understand our world. Now it’s more critical than ever to distinguish fact from fiction and find science-based answers to the most pressing questions of our time.

NOVA Now Podcast

When the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral erupted in flames in April of 2019, firefighters battled for nine grueling hours to save the historic landmark. Still, Paris came alarmingly close to losing more than 800 years of history. Now engineers are in a different race against time: to rebuild the roof and secure the medieval structure of Notre Dame. Underneath the charred scaffolding and vaulted ceilings of the cathedral, scientists study the components of Notre Dame’s iconic structure to puzzle out how best to repair it. (Premiered November 25, 2020)

NOVA revolves around a simple premise: the world of science is exciting! For NOVA viewers, science means adventure and exploration--because from ants to aliens, this weekly documentary series probes the far reaches of earth, sea and stars.  NOVA proves that science is neither secret lore nor sacred ritual but rather, at its heart, a lifelong journey of discovery.

Babies might cry in the middle of the night to prevent their mothers from getting pregnant again.

Babies Might Cry At Night to Prevent Siblings

A crowd looks on while excavator operator Jamie Bollinger raised the skull from the pit.

The incredibly intact skull of a mammoth shows signs of human hunting or scavenging at what appears to be a surprisingly early date.

Mammoth Discovery Could Revise Earliest Date of Humans in the Americas

An aggregation of bombardier beetles. Though they look very similar, there are six species of Brachinus in this photo. Photo Credit: Chip Hedgcock, University of Arizona

These bugs, which are known for spraying their noxious beetle juice when attacked, huddle in clusters that seem to break the rules of biology.

These Butt-Blasting Beetles Love to Cuddle

A replica of the Kebara 2 skeleton, which boasts the most complete thorax of any Neanderthal remains discovered to date. Kebara 2 was about 30 years old when he died, approximately 60,000 years ago. Photo Credit: Nicolas Perrault III, Wikimedia Commons

Researchers used modern technology to virtually reconstruct a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal rib cage, potentially shedding light on how these hominids interacted with their environment.

Reconstructed Rib Cage Offers Clues to How Neanderthals Breathed and Moved

A swingset near Buffalo's abandoned grain silos

In Western New York, public health officials have organized a task force that’s giving people who suffer from opiate use disorder a new beginning.

Restoring Hope: Fighting the Opioid Crisis in Buffalo

<div class="rich-text">Crows can remember the face of their captors&mdash;even after generations.
</div>

<div class="rich-text">Crows can remember the face of their captors—even after generations.</div>

Do Birds Remember Faces?

Xenopus_laevis_TimVickers_WikimediaCommons.JPG

Adult African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) usually develop spike-like structures at sites of limb amputation. But researchers can now equip these frogs with bioreactors that help them partially regenerate their hind legs. Photo Credit: TimVickers, Wikimedia Commons

Twenty-four hours of the hormone progesterone can kickstart over nine months of limb regeneration in amphibian amputees.

A Progesterone-Pumping Device Helps Frogs Regenerate Lost Limbs

Why Addiction Stigma Stops Patients from Seeking Treatment Hero

Nearly 20 million Americans are struggling with addiction, yet over 90% of them will not receive treatment, in large part due to the stigma surrounding the disease. One way to destigmatize addiction is to change the language that we use to describe it, starting now.

Over 20 million Americans struggle with addiction—and social stigma is partially to blame.

Why Addiction Stigma Stops Patients from Seeking Treatment

In this two-hour special, renowned paleontologist Kirk Johnson takes us on an epic adventure through time at the polar extremes of our planet. Following a trail of strange fossils found in all the wrong places—beech trees in Antarctica, hippo-like mammals in the Arctic—Johnson uncovers the bizarre history of the poles, from miles-high ice sheets to warm polar forests teeming with life. What caused such dramatic changes at the ends of the Earth? And what can the past reveal about our planet’s climate today—and in the future? (Premiered February 5, 2020)

Paleontologist Kirk Johnson explores the dynamic history—and future—of ice at the poles.

Polar Extremes

Something big is happening to Earth’s climate, and the polar regions hold the key to understanding it. Join top scientists on the hunt for clues that tell a surprising story about our planet’s past...and preview where we might be headed.

The Polar Lab

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.

Discover how Earth’s intricate climate system is changing.

Decoding the Weather Machine

Planet Earth

The 6 million-ton Great Pyramid of Giza is the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. How did the Egyptians engineer the mighty pharaoh Khufu’s tomb so precisely, with none of today’s surveying and power tools? And who were the thousands of laborers who raised the stones? Were they slaves or volunteers, and how were they housed, fed, and organized? &quot;Decoding the Great Pyramid&quot; presents the latest evidence from groundbreaking archaeological research that has transformed our understanding of the ancient world’s most ambitious engineering project, revealing a “lost city&quot; and intimate details of the lives of the laborers and officials who toiled on the vast construction. Amazingly, French archaeologists recently found the logbook of a labor team that delivered limestone blocks to build the Great Pyramid, yielding crucial insights into the planning and logistics behind the operation. Beyond these construction secrets, &quot;Decoding the Great Pyramid&quot; traces how mobilizing the colossal labor and resources invested in the monument transformed ancient Egypt, uniting a nation behind the common goal of ensuring eternity for the pharaoh and continuing prosperity for everyone in this life and the next. (Premiered February 6, 2019)

New archeological evidence sheds light on the stunning engineering of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Decoding the Great Pyramid

Explore the intimate connections between the landscape, the colonizing of the continent, and the emergence of our industrial world. Beginning with Native American ancestors who crafted hunting weapons from stone traded across hundreds of miles, the program shows how pre-Columbian civilizations developed an expert knowledge of the landscape and its resources. With the arrival of Europeans, North America’s hidden riches became to key to prosperity, from the gold rush to today’s oil and gas boom. As a result, human activity has transformed the continent on a scale that rivals the geological forces that gave birth to it billions of years before. Yet, scientists warn of sleeping giants like the Cascadia fault, and the earthquake/tsunami one-two punch it could unleash on the Pacific Northwest. Even as we re-mold the continent to suit our needs, geologic processes inexorably continue, and they raise potential risks of catastrophe to our human civilization.

How has the land shaped our lives, from the arrival of the first Americans to today?

Making North America: Human

Our ancient human ancestors once lived only in Africa, in tiny bands of a few thousand hunter-gatherers. Then we moved out of our African cradle, spreading rapidly to every corner of the planet. How did we acquire the skills, technology and talent to thrive in every environment on earth? How did our prehistoric forebears cross the Sahara on foot, survive frigid ice ages, and sail to remote Pacific islands? “Great Human Odyssey” is a spectacular global journey following their footsteps out of Africa along a trail of fresh scientific clues. With unique glimpses of today’s Kalahari hunters, Siberian reindeer herders, and Polynesian navigators, we discover amazing skills that hint at how our ancestors survived and prospered long ago. (Premiered October 5, 2016)

Follow our ancient ancestors’ footsteps out of Africa and into every corner of our planet.

Great Human Odyssey

Ancient Worlds

Jupiter is not just the oldest planet orbiting the sun—it’s also the largest. So when the young gas giant went on a rampage through the inner solar system, it shaped the fate of everything in its path. Speeding towards the Sun, Jupiter’s massive gravitational force hurled debris into interstellar space, stunting the growth of would-be planets. Earth might have been doomed had Saturn not pulled Jupiter back. Today, Jupiter resides in the outer solar system, where its gravity bends the paths of asteroids and stokes volcanic activity on its moon Io. But it could one day wreak havoc again. (Premiering July 31 at 9 pm on PBS)

Jupiter&#x27;s massive gravitational force has made it both a wrecking ball and a protector of Earth.

The Planets: Jupiter

Rockets are becoming cheaper and more powerful than ever before thanks to stunning new technologies. As companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic make space more accessible, and NASA returns to crewed spaceflight, a new era of space exploration seems to be on the horizon. But will this seeming rocket Renaissance become more than just hype? NOVA explores the latest rocket technologies and the growing role private citizens may have in space. (Premiered February 13, 2019)

With new technologies, NASA and private companies are promising a new renaissance in space travel.

Rise of the Rockets

Black holes are the most enigmatic and exotic objects in the universe. They’re also the most powerful, with gravity so strong it can trap light. And they’re destructive, swallowing entire planets, even giant stars. Anything that falls into them vanishes…gone forever. Now, astrophysicists are realizing that black holes may be essential to how our universe evolved—their influence possibly leading to life on Earth and, ultimately, us. In this two-hour special, astrophysicist and author Janna Levin takes viewers on a journey to the frontiers of black hole science. Along the way, we meet leading astronomers and physicists on the verge of finding new answers to provocative questions about these shadowy monsters: Where do they come from? What’s inside? What happens if you fall into one? And what can they tell us about the nature of space, time, and gravity? (Premiered January 10, 2018)

Take a mind-blowing voyage to the most powerful and mysterious objects in the universe.

Black Hole Apocalypse

Space & Flight

US, US Territories, Canada, Mexico

(This program is no longer available for online streaming.) A sequel to one of the most popular NOVAs of all time, &quot;Miracle of Life,&quot; this Emmy Award-winning program tracks human development from embryo to newborn using the extraordinary microimagery of Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson.

Trace human development from embryo to newborn through the stunning microimagery of photographer Lennart Nilsson.

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Saving Notre Dame

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Petra: Lost City of Stone

Colosseum: Roman Death Trap

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