NOVA

Science and Nature Series / 24 Seasons

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. Visit the official website to watch full-length documentaries, or explore our world through short-form video, on our digital publication NOVA Next.

Watch Latest: S51 E18

53m 40s

Meet Snow Cone the Right Whale and Her Calf

4m 32s

In 2020, the number of North Atlantic right whale calves born in the Southeast was slightly higher than it had been in previous years, but still nowhere near enough to get the population moving in a positive direction.

Saving the Right Whale Preview

27s

The North Atlantic right whale is on the brink of extinction. But a handful of specialists are determined to help save it as they discover new secrets about the lives of these giants of the sea.

Why Induction Stoves Are Better for You and the Environment

2m 56s

These stoves use electricity to create a magnetic field that causes the electrons inside pots and pans that contain iron to vibrate tens of thousands of times. This creates the friction and heat needed for cooking without the energy or fumes from gas stoves.

How Heat Pumps Can Help Cities Lower Carbon Emissions

4m 17s

Heat pumps are a key solution to help reduce carbon emissions. Instead of creating heat, they move heat from one place to another and have a much lower carbon footprint. But can we make them accessible to all?

Hurricanes Are Getting More Destructive

4m 15s

For 100-million Americans living in coastal communities, more destructive storms are an increasing worry. Some are starting to confront the possibility of losing their land entirely.

How Sewage Becomes Drinking Water

2m 51s

Ongoing droughts are straining the supply of clean drinking water. One solution might lie in an unexpected source: wastewater. Through a method of purification called reverse osmosis, Orange County is making millions of gallons of dirty water drinkable again.

Weathering the Future Preview

30s

As extreme weather in the U.S. impacts more people – with longer heat waves, more intense rainstorms, megafires, and droughts – discover how Americans are fighting back by marshaling ancient wisdom and innovating new solutions.

There’s Something Living in Wildfire Smoke

1m 59s

Wildfire smoke can carry thousands of living microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi, across long distances. Some of them could potentially infect humans. With wildfires on the rise, experts are studying the risk this poses to our health.

Soothing Science: The Light You See at Sunset

8m 1s

While a sunset may seem like any other ordinary thing, a number of physical elements had to come together, in just the right way, for you to bear witness to this colorful display.

JWST Searches for Life in Our Solar System

6m 22s

There are three places in our solar system, beyond Earth, that are good candidates to look for life: Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, Enceladus, and Titan, two of Saturn’s moons.

How NASA Colors Images of the Universe

3m 8s

The James Webb Space Telescope detects infrared light, which our eyes can’t see. Data image developers bring those observations into the visible light spectrum, where they take on the colors of the rainbow.

New Eye on the Universe Preview

27s

Join scientists as they use NASA’s brand new James Webb Space Telescope to peer deep in time to hunt for the first stars and galaxies in our universe, and try to detect the fingerprints of life in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets.

Ancient Pyramids Uncovered in the Amazon

3m 56s

The pyramid was built over 5,000 years ago, even before the pyramids of Egypt and Mesopotamia, a time when archeologists had believed the Amazon was populated only by hunter-gatherers.

Ancient Cliff Paintings in the Amazon

3m 20s

Ancient paintings on rock walls feature human figures and animals of today’s rainforest, like deer, tapirs, and jaguars. But they also appear to show animals that went extinct thousands of years ago.

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