Technology reporter David Pogue hosts a 4-part special series exploring the materials that will shape our future. Wednesdays starting January 19, 2011

David Pogue visits DuPont to get a closer look at fireproof clothing.

"Absolute Zero" presents the epic story of humanity's struggle to master extreme cold. This NOVA special re-creates groundbreaking discoveries across four centuries that expanded our knowledge of low temperatures and led ultimately to today's cutting edge "cold technologies."

They've transformed our cities and our lives, but how safe are they?

This film chronicles the fate of the 33 miners trapped in a collapsed Chilean gold and copper mine in August 2010 and investigates the many challenges faced by both the miners and those working around the clock to bring them safely to the surface. NOVA was on-site at the San José mine in Chile by early September.

Learn how medieval builders raised Gothic cathedrals to such spectacular heights.

Investigate the universe’s distant past, and dark matter and dark energy — the unsolved mysteries of the cosmos. 12/5/2012

Get up close with today’s most powerful telescopes. 11/28/2012

A team of intrepid scientists journey into one of Earth's most dangerous and beautiful underwater frontiers.

Why did the Incas abandon their city in the clouds?

Find out what scientists know about dreams: what they are and why we have them. 8/22/2012

Where did we come from? What makes us human? An explosion of recent discoveries sheds light on these questions, and NOVA's comprehensive, three-part special, "Becoming Human," examines what the latest scientific research reveals about our hominid relatives.

NOVA examines the fate of the Neanderthals, our European cousins who died out as modern humans spread from Africa into Europe during the Ice Age. Did modern humans interbreed with Neanderthals or exterminate them? The program explores crucial evidence from the recent decoding of the Neanderthal genome.

NOVA investigates the first skeleton that really looks like us–"Turkana Boy"–an astonishingly complete specimen of Homo erectus found by the famous Leakey team in Kenya. These early humans are thought to have developed key innovations that helped them thrive, including hunting large prey, the use of fire, and extensive social bonds.

First Steps: 6 million years ago, what set our ancestors on the path from ape to human? The first part of NOVA's comprehensive, three-part special "Becoming Human" examines the factors that caused us to split from the other great apes. The television program premiers on PBS on Tuesday, November 3rd.

Bill Nye, TV's "Science Guy," conducts a pasta-making experiment that can save energy.

Is the weather on Mars anything like the weather on Earth? Find out in this video.

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated just 16 minutes before it was due to land. All seven astronauts aboard perished, and the implications for the future of the space shuttle program were enormous. Through interviews with astronauts and their families, and with members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, take a look at the Columbia tragedy — and at NASA itself.

Tom and Ray test out the waters of Iceland's Blue Lagoon while filming "Car of the Future."

Primatologist Brian Hare sees whether a bonobo can solve a puzzle to get a slice of apple.