January - December 2003
Spies That Fly
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In the air war in Afghanistan, a 50-foot-wingspan plane known
as the Predator flew high over Taliban positions, enabling
U.S. commanders to direct lethal fire with pinpoint accuracy.
What's different about Predator is that it flies by remote
control, with no pilot on board to get in harm's way. In the
wake of its success, the military is developing an incredible
range of "smart" robotic planes, from tiny flyers that can fit
in a pocket to soaring jets that fly halfway around the world.
The next generation of pilotless planes will be capable of far
more than aerial spying and in time may revolutionize the way
we fight all future wars. In "Spies That Fly," NOVA presents
the latest hot designs - including those from footage freshly
released by the Pentagon - and reveals some newly declassified
chapters from the exciting history of airborne spying.
Original broadcast date: 1/7/2003
Last Flight of Bomber 31
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A U.S. military team discovers the wreckage of a World War II
bomber on the edge of a volcano in the remote wilderness of
Kamchatka, Russia. Nearby are the remains of some of its crew.
Who were these men and what was their role in the war? Is
there any explanation for the crash? And what became of the
missing crew members, listed as missing in action since 1944?
Their families have had to live with decades of burning
questions about the fate of their courageous sons—until
now. Against a wild and hostile Russian wilderness, a team of
aviation experts and forensic scientists sets out to reclaim
an important piece of history and bring some much needed
closure to seven American families.
Original broadcast date: 1/14/2003
Ancient Creature of the Deep
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The most famous "living fossil" is the coelacanth, a huge
primitive fish once thought to have died out before the
dinosaurs. NOVA tells the amazing story of its rediscovery in
1938, how live specimens were captured on video, and how new
colonies of the ancient fish have recently been found, raising
hopes for its continuing survival.
Original broadcast date: 1/21/2003
Battle of the X-Planes
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Two aviation giants, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, compete to
build the next-generation fighter jet and win the largest
government contract ever awarded. For more than five years,
with unprecedented access from the Pentagon, NOVA followed the
trials and tribulations of this neck-and-neck design war. The
program gives a unique inside perspective on every phase of
the competition, from design and assembly to the thrilling
test flights and finally to the Pentagon's stunning
announcement of the winner.
Original broadcast date: 2/4/2003
Mountain of Ice
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Mountaineers and scientists battle the snowy precipices of
Antarctica's highest peak, the Vinson Massif. The film, shot
in high-definition, is told through the voice of Jon Krakauer,
mountaineer and bestselling author of
Into Thin Air. His high-risk expedition to scale the
icy peak is interwoven with the epic story of Scott and
Amundsen's race to reach the South Pole in 1912. Krakauer
examines why one team failed and the other succeeded, even as
he battles with the challenge of conquering the unpredictable
slopes of the southern continent's mightiest summit.
Original broadcast date: 2/11/2003
Lost Treasures of Tibet
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Mustang is a tiny kingdom barely touched by time, hemmed in by
the world's tallest peaks along the northern border of Nepal.
This speck of neglected land conceals a spectacular treasure
from the past—the monastery of Thubchen, decorated with
astonishingly intricate and expressive medieval wall
paintings. Severely damaged by a leaking roof and stained by
soot from the butter lamps of devout monks, the paintings are
crumbling fast. Can a crack team of architects and art
conservators save these priceless gems of Tibetan Buddhist
art? Many local people want the images to be totally
repainted, an act that they believe will restore their
spiritual power. Shot inside a Shangri-La kingdom that has
kept its secrets for centuries, this program explores the
clash between the values of Western conservation and the
beliefs that inspired the paintings.
Original broadcast date: 2/18/2003
Dirty Bomb
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This summer, an American Al Qaeda sympathizer, Jose Padilla,
was arrested on suspicion of planning a "dirty bomb" attack on
the United States. Suddenly, one of the ultimate nightmare
terrorist scenarios seemed a step closer to reality. But few
know what a dirty bomb really is or what devastation it could
cause. In this important and timely film, NOVA explores beyond
the alarming headlines to answer crucial questions: How easy
is it to acquire materials and manufacture a dirty bomb? How
does it differ from a conventional nuclear bomb, and how
destructive would it be? And how can lives be saved if one
should explode? The program dramatizes two credible attack
scenarios based on sophisticated models developed by radiation
experts. These models are then played out in two major cities,
Washington and London, with results that are both frightening
and sobering.
Original broadcast date: 3/25/2003
Deep Sea Invasion
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French biologist Alexandre Meinesz was diving in the
Mediterranean when he spotted a strange blanket of bright
green plants on the seabed. Meinesz was alarmed to find that
the plants were toxic algae that were decimating marine life
in the Mediterranean, but his findings were ignored for years
by the scientific establishment. Nicknamed "killer algae,"
these organisms have since taken over thousands of acres of
seabed, and no one knows how to stop them. Recently they
appeared for the first time off the coast of California, and
now U.S. officials are struggling to contain their spread up
the coast of California.
Original broadcast date: 4/1/2003
Secret of Photo 51
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April 2003 marks the 50th anniversary of one of science's
great milestones - the discovery of the double-helix structure
of DNA. This "cracking" of life's essential molecular
"cookbook" was credited to three British scientists, James
Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. But their
breakthrough would have been impossible without the work of a
brilliant molecular biologist and crystallographer named
Rosalind Franklin. In 1962, when the three men were awarded a
Nobel Prize for their discovery, Franklin's name wasn't even
mentioned. Tragically, she had died of cancer four years
earlier at age 37. The cancer was probably the result of
radiation exposure she suffered while taking the X-ray
photographs of the DNA that were directly responsible for
decoding its structure. NOVA investigates the life of Rosalind
Franklin and her unsung contribution to one of science's
greatest discoveries. Through eyewitness accounts and the
replication and re-enactments of numerous experiments, viewers
will see the tragic story of a brilliant young woman and the
male-dominated race to find the scientific secret of life.
Original broadcast date: 4/15/2003
Infinite Secrets
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Christie's, New York, 1998: in a blaze of publicity, an
extraordinary item was put up for sale. To the untrained eye,
it was nothing more than a small and unassuming Byzantine
prayer book, yet it sold for over $2 million. Its real value
lay not in the prayers but in a much earlier, spidery script
that lay hidden almost invisibly beneath them. This turned out
to be the oldest and most authentic copy of a compendium of
works by the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes. Lost for over a
thousand years, scientists are now using cutting-edge imaging
techniques to unlock the secrets of this time capsule, and
gain a unique insight into one of the greatest minds the world
has ever known. One of four programs in NOVA's
Lives in Science biography project.
Original broadcast date: 9/30/2003
Who Killed the Red Baron?
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On April 21st, 1918, Manfred von Richthofen, Germany's most
feared fighter ace known as the "Red Baron," took off on
patrol over the Somme valley with his notorious red-painted
"Flying Circus." What happened next has divided historians and
air buffs for decades. NOVA's exciting new investigation of
the Red Baron's death presents newly discovered documents that
overturn the conventional theory of von Richthofen's demise.
In accounting for the Baron's singular success, NOVA explores
the origins of the first fighter planes and the evolution of
aerial tactics. The show features thrilling re-enactments of
hair-raising duels between the fragile fighters of World War
I.
Original broadcast date: 10/7/2003
The Elegant Universe
(Special 3-Hour Mini-Series with Host Brian Greene)
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String theory: It's the Holy Grail of physics—the search
for ultimate law and order in the universe. And in the last
few years, excitement has grown among scientists as they've
pursued a revolutionary new approach to unifying nature's
forces. To the uninitiated, it's totally mind-boggling. But
physicist Brian Greene has a rare gift for conveying physics
in vivid everyday images, a gift that has turned his recent
book, The Elegant Universe, into a mighty bestseller.
Now Greene brings his talent, youth, and vitality to
television for the first time. A highly innovative,
Matrix-like production style makes the surreal world of
string theory spring to life on the screen.
Original broadcast dates:10/28/2003 and 11/4/2003
Wright Brothers' Flying Machine
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December 17, 2003, marks the centennial of the world's first
powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. To celebrate
this milestone, NOVA presents the definitive documentary on
the invention of the airplane. While many shows have retold
the Wright brothers' personal story, no program has properly
explored the astonishing inventiveness that they applied to
the problem of powered flight. NOVA reveals the popular image
of the Wrights as amateur bicycle mechanics who tinkered their
way into the sky to be a total myth. The program features
exhilarating footage of flights by exclusively commissioned
replicas that use the same original materials and the only
existing Wright engine for the frail craft that first
propelled humans toward the clouds. Watch as the triumph of
powered flight comes alive once more in NOVA's epic
documentary.
Original broadcast date: 11/11/2003
Magnetic Storm
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On March 13th, 1989, the lights went out all across Canada and
the eastern seaboard of the United States as far south as New
York. The most serious power grid failure in American history
was caused by a magnetic storm in the Earth's upper
atmosphere, itself triggered by the eruption of a huge flare
from the surface of the Sun. Unusual as this event may seem,
many scientists today are beginning to worry that it may be a
harbinger of things to come, and that changes to the planet's
magnetic field could make us ever more vulnerable to deadly
radiation from space. This film explores one of the least
known but most serious threats to life on Earth.
Original broadcast date: 11/18/2003
Volcano Above the Clouds
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Just 200 miles south of the equator, Kilimanjaro has both
equatorial and arctic conditions. Five distinct climatic zones
inhabit the slopes of this 19,340-foot peak. It is a
botanist's dream—rain forests rise out of the savanna,
giving way to moorlands and alpine meadows where rare giant
high-altitude plants thrive. Atop this peak, a young female
geologist takes viewers back to the dawn of time and the
formation of the African continent. (This program is part of
NOVA's High Adventure series)
Original broadcast date: 11/18/2003