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NOVA airs Wednesday nights at 9PM on most PBS stations. See the national schedule or check local listings.

Cuba's Cancer Hope

When the U.S. trade embargo left Cuba isolated from medical resources, Cuban scientists were forced to get creative. Now they’ve developed lung cancer vaccines that show so much promise, some Americans are defying the embargo and traveling to Cuba for treatment. In an unprecedented move, Cuban researchers are working with U.S. partners to make the medicines more widely available. (Premiered April 1, 2020)

Can Cuba&#x27;s innovative lung cancer vaccines give new hope to patients across the world?

Transplanting Hope Hero

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. (Premiered September 26, 2018)

Witness organ transplants as they unfold, and meet patients awaiting lifesaving donations.

Transplanting Hope

Japan's Killer Quake Hero

In its worst crisis since World War II, Japan faces disaster on an epic scale: a death toll likely in the tens of thousands, massive destruction of homes and businesses, shortages of water and power, and the specter of nuclear meltdown. With exclusive footage, NOVA captures the unfolding human drama and offers a clear-headed investigation of what triggered the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear crisis. Can science and technology ever prevent devastation in the face of overwhelmingly powerful forces of nature?

An eyewitness account and investigation of the epic earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis

Japan's Killer Quake

The Truth about Fat

Do we control our fat, or does it control us? For generations, overweight individuals have been stigmatized and cast as lazy. But scientists are coming to understand fat as a fascinating and dynamic organ—one whose size has more to do with biological processes than personal choices. Through real-life stories of hunter-gatherers, sumo wrestlers, and supermodels, NOVA explores the complex functions of fat and the role it plays in controlling hunger, hormones, and even reproduction. (Premiering April 8 at 9 pm on PBS)

Could it be that body fat has more to do with biological processes than personal choices?

The Truth About Fat

Killer Floods Hero

All over the world, scientists are discovering traces of ancient floods on a scale that dwarfs even the most severe flood disasters of recent times. What triggered these cataclysmic floods, and could they strike again? In the Channeled Scablands of Washington State, the level prairie gives way to bizarre, gargantuan rock formations: house-sized boulders seemingly dropped from the sky, a cliff carved by a waterfall twice the height of Niagara, and potholes large enough to swallow cars. Like forensic detectives at a crime scene, geologists study these strange features and reconstruct catastrophic Ice Age floods more powerful than all the world’s top ten rivers combined. NOVA follows their efforts to uncover the geologic fingerprints of other colossal megafloods in Iceland and, improbably, on the seabed of the English Channel. There, another deluge smashed through a land bridge connecting Britain and France hundreds of thousands of years ago and turned Britain into an island for the first time. These great disasters ripped through terrain and transformed continents in a matter of hours—and similar forces reawakened by climate change are posing an active threat to mountain communities throughout the world today.

Discover how colossal floods transformed the ancient landscape.

Killer Floods

Poisoned Water Hero

Water. Turn on the faucet and it’s always there. Without it we perish. But how safe is our tap water? In this special report narrated by Joe Morton, NOVA investigates what happened in Flint, Michigan, when local officials changed the city’s water source to save money, but overlooked a critical treatment process. As the water pipes corroded, lead leached into the system, exposing the community—including thousands of children—to dangerous levels of poison. NOVA uncovers the science behind this manmade disaster— from the intricacies of water chemistry to the biology of lead poisoning to the misuse of science itself. NOVA follows ordinary citizens and independent scientists who exposed the danger lurking in Flint’s water and confronted those who turned a blind eye. And discover the disturbing truth that reaches far beyond Flint—water systems across the country are similarly vulnerable. How can we protect ourselves from poisoned water?

What exactly went wrong in Flint—and what does it mean for the rest of the country?

Poisoned Water

Eagle Power

Eagles dominate the skies. But what makes these predators so special? Researchers study one special bird—and stunning up-close footage reveals her exceptional strength, eyesight, and flying skills. With intimate access to a new bald eagle family, NOVA takes you into the nest to witness the drama of chicks struggling to survive. (Premiering May 13 at 9 pm on PBS)

Follow eagles from the nest to the skies to see what makes these predators so remarkable.

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