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NOVA brings you stories from the frontlines of science and engineering, answering the big questions of today and tomorrow, from how our ancestors lived, to whether parallel universes exist, to how technology will transform our lives.
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21 this season · 1035 totals26e01 Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude 1998-10-07 01:00
Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude
In 1714, following a maritime disaster, British Parliament offers £20,000 for the first reliable method of determining longitude on a ship at sea. It's known that longitude can be found by comparing a ship's local time to the time at the port of origin. The challenge is finding a clock—a chronometer—that can keep time at sea, where temperature changes, humidity, gravity and a ship's movement affect accuracy. NOVA chronicles the seventeenth-century journey to determine longitude.
s26e02 Chasing El Niño 1998-10-14 01:00
s26e03 Terror in Space 1998-10-28 02:00
s26e04 Special Effects: Titanic and Beyond 1998-11-04 02:00
s26e05 Deadly Shadow of Vesuvius 1998-11-11 02:00
s26e06 Ice Mummies (1): Frozen in Heaven 1998-11-25 02:00
s26e07 Ice Mummies (2): Siberian Ice Maiden 1998-11-25 02:00
s26e08 Ice Mummies (3): Return of the Iceman 1998-11-25 02:00
s26e09 Leopards of the Night 1998-12-02 02:00
Leopards of the Night
Night stalkers by nature, leopards are observed both by night and day, using state-of-the-art camera equipment, to reveal never before seen hunting behavior. Filmed in the Luangua Valley in Zambia, Leopard reveals the challenges and dangers faced daily by these beautiful animals. Shadowed by hungry hyenas in pursuit of leftovers, and stalked by lumbering crocodiles hoping to tackle a lone leopard on a kill, how can they hope to challenge such beasts?
s26e10 The Perfect Pearl 1998-12-30 02:00
The Perfect Pearl
The pearl. The only gem produced by a living animal, has long carried a certain allure. Yet the best mollusk for making this gem, the pearl oyster doesn't always produce a pearl, and even then, the pearls are rarely perfectly round. It wasn't until the late nineteenth century, when a Japanese scientist discovered a technique to incite oysters to produce these gems, that an industry was formed. Inducing an oyster to create a pearl is only half the battle—the oyster then needs a nutrient-rich, open environment in which to grow. This NOVA program looks at the science of pearl farming, follows efforts of oyster farmers trying to cope with growing problems of pollution and overcrowding, and considers the shifting sands of dominance within the pearl industry.
s26e11 The Beast of Loch Ness 1999-01-13 02:00
The Beast of Loch Ness
Is it just a fairy tale, or could a primeval beast lurk in the deep, dark waters of a Scottish lake? Since it was first reported more than 60 years ago, hundreds claim to have witnessed the Loch Ness Monster, while one scientist after another has brought the latest technology to the loch to probe the phenomenon. Twenty-five years after their first, groundbreaking expedition to Loch Ness, NOVA joins two American scientists as they return to Scotland for one last go at Nessie. During a three-week expedition, they use state-of-the-art sonar and sensitive underwater cameras in an attempt to track down and identify the elusive beast. Biologists study the ecosystem of the loch to determine if it could support a large animal. Geologists study its history, looking for clues about what kind of creature might have colonized it, and when. NOVA examines the photographic evidence in the case. And eyewitnesses vividly recount their sightings. Could this legendary creature be real, perhaps a relic from the time of dinosaurs? Or is it a shared illusion—a product of myth, mirage and wishful thinking?
s26e12 Submarines, Secrets & Spies 1999-01-20 02:00
Submarines, Secrets & Spies
Explorer Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, investigates the wrecks of two Cold War-era nuclear submarines.
s26e14 Surviving AIDS 1999-02-03 02:00
Surviving AIDS
Molecular biologists, immunologists, geneticists, and physicians pool their expertise in search of an AIDS vaccine.
s26e15 Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Fire (1) 1999-02-17 02:00
Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Fire (1)
In this four part series, engineers learn from past disasters to make fires along with car, plane, and ship accidents increasingly survivable. (Part 1 of 4)
s26e16 Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Car Crash (2) 1999-02-17 02:00
s26e17 Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Plane Crash (3) 1999-02-18 02:00
s26e18 Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Abandon Ship (4) 1999-02-18 02:00
s26e19 Battle Alert in the Gulf 1999-02-24 02:00
Battle Alert in the Gulf
At the height of tensions in the Middle East, the United States placed a huge armada at ground zero in the Persian Gulf. This strategic move was without precedent during peace time operations—a big stick waved at a defiant Saddam Hussein. In an ironic twist of timing, at the center of this massive military force was the Navy's oldest and most celebrated aircraft carrier, the USS Independence, on her final voyage, and the newest, the highly sophisticated nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, on her maiden voyage. Join NOVA as it moves with exclusive access throughout the fleet, from carriers and cruisers to submarines and jet fighters. Follow the strategy makers, fighter pilots, Aegis cruiser captains and fast attack submarine crews as they contend with a hostile Iraq and a new battlefield. NOVA examines up-close a new and powerful technology, tasked with a new assignment, a Blue Water force designed for global confrontation in a post-Cold War scenario. Has US war capability and technology kept pace with a changing battlefield?
s26e20 Volcanoes of the Deep 1999-03-31 02:00
Volcanoes of the Deep
NOVA follows a team of scientists as they journey to the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the Pacific Ocean to study and raise hydrothermal vent structures from the ocean floor.
s26e21 To the Moon 1999-07-14 01:00
To the Moon
In 1968, men first left the earth for the moon. Millions of people watched their journey on television. But scarcely a handful knew how it really began. The mission seemed impossible, the odds astronomical, but the results were spectacular. NOVA presents the fascinating story behind the Apollo space program, including the historic walk on the moon in 1969, in a two-hour special. Meet unsung heroes, experience the dangers, and discover new Apollo perspectives through rare footage, little-known facts, and interviews with NASA scientists, engineers, geologists, and the astronauts themselves.
s26e13 Everest: The Mystery of Mallory and Irvin 1999-10-07 01:00
Everest: The Mystery of Mallory and Irvin
A 1986 report tracing a mysterious 1924 attempt to climb Mount Everest. Britons George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were spotted less than 1000 feet from the summit, but were never seen alive again (Irvine's body has never been found; Mallory's was, in 1999). The hour speculates on whether they got to the top before they died. Interviewees include two members of the expedition, Noel Odell and John Noel; and Sir Edmund Hillary, who managed to get to the summit in 1953.