Upcoming Episodes

Reach It! From the time our species first evolved, we’ve been on the move. Not content to stay in one place, we’ve schemed and invented and built our way from one place to the next. From affordable deep sea subs to flying taxis to next-gen space habitats, see how today’s engineers are designing and building creative new ways for us to get all around — and even off — our planet.
  • Original11/20/2024
  • NOVA5116
Change It! For as long as humans have been around, we’ve been altering the spaces around us to better suit our needs. From accessing ancient wisdom to build a better water filter to designing a robot that uses acoustics to monitor coral reef health, see how today’s engineers are applying their craft to reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments to enhance our lives in amazing ways.
  • Airdate Wednesday, November 27, 2024 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Original11/27/2024
  • NOVA5117
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame Mysterious bodies are found under one of the world’s most famous cathedrals.
  • Airdate Wednesday, December 18, 2024 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Original12/18/2024
  • NOVA5118
What Are UFOs Unidentified Flying Objects have long captivated the imagination of the public, but for decades most scientists treated the subject as taboo. Now, these mysterious phenomena are moving out of the shadows and into the light, as NASA pledges to study them scientifically.
  • Airdate Wednesday, January 22, 2025 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Original1/22/2025
  • NOVA
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Episodes

Can We Cool The Planet? Scientists look to geoengineering and other methods to cool the planet.
  • NOVA4716
Secrets in Our DNA What can DNA testing companies reveal about our ancestry and health, and at what risk?
  • NOVA4801
Emperor’s Ghost Army

Investigate how and why life-sized terracotta statues were made for Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China.

  • Original11/12/2014
  • NOVA4120
First Man on the Moon

View an intimate portrait of Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon.

  • Original12/3/2014
  • NOVA4122
Arctic Ghost Ship

Unravel the greatest mystery in Arctic exploration: the fate of the Franklin Expedition.

  • Original9/23/2015
  • NOVA4216
Operation Lighthouse Rescue

Join engineers as they race to rescue a historic Martha’s Vineyard lighthouse from certain doom.

  • Original5/4/2016
  • NOVA4313
Super Tunnel

Join engineers as they build a massive new subterranean railway deep beneath the streets of London.

  • Original10/12/2016
  • NOVA4317
Einstein's Quantum Riddle Join scientists as they grab light from across the universe to prove quantum entanglement is real.
  • Original1/9/2019
  • NOVA4602
Kīlauea: Hawaiʻi on Fire Scientists journey to Kīlauea volcano to investigate the eruptions that shook Hawaiʻi in 2018.
  • Original1/23/2019
  • NOVA4603
Dog Tales Follow the epic journey of dog domestication and see what science says about dogs’ love.
  • Original2/12/2020
  • NOVA4702
Cat Tales Goddess, demon, house pet? What does science say about the human relationship with cats?
  • Original2/19/2020
  • NOVA4703
Secrets in the Scat Join biologists on an ingenious hunt for the clues hidden in animal poop.
  • Original2/9/2022
  • NOVA4902
Great Mammoth Mystery Sir David Attenborough explores a site with traces of ancient mammoths and Neanderthals.
  • Original2/16/2022
  • NOVA4903
Augmented An ingenious new technology allows prosthetic legs to move and feel like the real thing.
  • Original2/23/2022
  • NOVA4904
Determined: Fighting Alzheimer's Follow three women enrolled in a groundbreaking study to try to prevent Alzheimer’s.
  • Original4/6/2022
  • NOVA4905
Why Ships Crash How could a single ship cause a major supply-chain crisis around the globe?
  • Original5/18/2022
  • NOVA4909
Ultimate Space Telescope Discover how NASA engineers built and launched the most ambitious telescope of all time.
  • Original7/13/2022
  • NOVA4910
Zero to Infinity Discover how the concepts of zero and infinity revolutionized mathematics.
  • Original11/16/2022
  • NOVA4918
High-Risk High-Rise Can skyscrapers be made safer, more efficient, and livable in our rapidly growing cities?
  • Original12/9/2022
  • NOVA4808
London Super Tunnel Thousands race to build Europe's biggest construction project–London's new railroad.
  • Original2/1/2023
  • NOVA5001
Star Chasers of Senegal A visionary scientist investigates the deep history of astronomy in West Africa.
  • Original2/8/2023
  • NOVA5002
Ancient Builders of the Amazon Archaeological discoveries reveal traces of ancient civilizations in the Amazon.
  • Original2/15/2023
  • NOVA5003
Weathering the Future Americans use ancient wisdom and new technology to fight extreme weather.
  • Original4/12/2023
  • NOVA5005
Chasing Carbon Zero Here’s how the U.S. could reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
  • Original4/26/2023
  • NOVA5006
Saving the Right Whale Follow scientists determined to save the critically endangered right whale.
  • Original5/3/2023
  • NOVA5007
Into the Megavolcano Investigate one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history.
  • Original5/10/2023
  • NOVA5008
Your Perception Deception Neuroscientists discover the tricks and shortcuts the brain takes to help us survive.
  • Original5/17/2023
  • NOVA5009
Who's In Control Dive into the subconscious to see what’s really driving the decisions you make.
  • Original5/24/2023
  • NOVA5010
Birth of the Sky See how Earth transformed from a barren hellscape to a planet capable of sustaining life.
  • Original10/4/2023
  • NOVA5011
Frozen How did life survive on a planet covered in ice from pole to pole?
  • Original10/11/2023
  • NOVA5012
Life Rising See how life made the leap to land, turning a barren landscape into a lush, green world.
  • Original10/18/2023
  • NOVA5013
Inferno How did life bounce back after a cataclysmic extinction wiped out some 90% of all species?
  • Original10/25/2023
  • NOVA5014
Inside China's Tech Boom The inside story of China’s meteoric rise to the forefront of global innovation.
  • Original11/8/2023
  • NOVA5016
The Battle to Beat Malaria Follow the quest to create a lifesaving malaria vaccine.
  • Original11/15/2023
  • NOVA
Lee and Liza's Family Tree A family turns to science in their struggle to rediscover a history obscured by slavery.
  • Original11/22/2023
  • NOVA5018
When Whales Could Walk Giant fossils uncovered in the Sahara Desert reveal new secrets of how whales evolved.
  • Original1/31/2024
  • NOVA
Great American Eclipse Explore the spectacular cosmic phenomenon of a total solar eclipse.
  • Original3/1/2024
  • NOVA5106
A.I. Revolution Explore the promise, perils, and possible future of new A.I. technologies taking the world by storm.
  • Original3/27/2024
  • NOVA
Secrets in Your Data Find out who’s using your data and what you can do about it.
  • Original5/15/2024
  • NOVA5107
Bounty (Episode 1) Discover the lasting impact of how international trade forever changed the Gulf of Maine’s bounty.
  • Original7/24/2024
  • SCGM101
Peril (Episode 2) Explore Cashes Ledge, a part of the Gulf of Maine that helps power the Gulf’s more than 3,000 species.
  • Original7/31/2024
  • SCGM102
Survival (Episode 3) Meet the people leading new efforts to shape the future of the Gulf of Maine and our oceans.
  • Original8/7/2024
  • SCGM103
Storm Worlds Discover the dramatic forces creating spectacular weather on neighboring planets and moons.
  • Original10/2/2024
  • NOVA5109
Strange Worlds What are the weirdest worlds in our solar system, and how did they come to be?
  • Original10/9/2024
  • NOVA5110
Volcano Worlds Discover the powerful volcanic eruptions that have shaped worlds across our solar system.
  • Original10/16/2024
  • NOVA5111
Icy Worlds Visit strange, frozen worlds to discover the bizarre ice that forms beyond Earth.
  • Original10/23/2024
  • NOVA5112
Wandering Worlds Meet the surprising, oddball worlds moving around our solar system.
  • Original10/30/2024
  • NOVA5113
Quantum Dive into the universe at the tiniest – and weirdest – of scales.
  • Original11/6/2024
  • NOVA5114
Boost It! Around the world, engineers are finding ingenious ways to amplify our abilities and senses – allowing us to access and shape the world way beyond our natural abilities. From helping a blind man see without the use of his eyes to building a sling so powerful it can shoot rockets into space, see why engineering just might be the closest thing to a superpower we humans have.
  • Original11/13/2024
  • NOVA5115
Reach It! From the time our species first evolved, we’ve been on the move. Not content to stay in one place, we’ve schemed and invented and built our way from one place to the next. From affordable deep sea subs to flying taxis to next-gen space habitats, see how today’s engineers are designing and building creative new ways for us to get all around — and even off — our planet.
  • Original11/20/2024
  • NOVA5116
Change It! For as long as humans have been around, we’ve been altering the spaces around us to better suit our needs. From accessing ancient wisdom to build a better water filter to designing a robot that uses acoustics to monitor coral reef health, see how today’s engineers are applying their craft to reshape the natural world and create new human-made environments to enhance our lives in amazing ways.
  • Airdate Wednesday, November 27, 2024 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Original11/27/2024
  • NOVA5117
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame Mysterious bodies are found under one of the world’s most famous cathedrals.
  • Airdate Wednesday, December 18, 2024 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Original12/18/2024
  • NOVA5118
What Are UFOs Unidentified Flying Objects have long captivated the imagination of the public, but for decades most scientists treated the subject as taboo. Now, these mysterious phenomena are moving out of the shadows and into the light, as NASA pledges to study them scientifically.
  • Airdate Wednesday, January 22, 2025 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  • Original1/22/2025
  • NOVA
Easter Island Origins New evidence reveals the real story of Easter Island and the ancient builders of its iconic stone heads.
  • Original2/7/2025
  • NOVA5102