NOVA

NOVA and National Geographic present exclusive access to an astounding discovery of ancient fossil human ancestors. Deep in a South African cave, a special team of experts has brought to light an unprecedented wealth of fossils belonging to a crucial gap in the record of our origins that spans the transition between the ape-like australopithecines (such as the famous Lucy) and the earliest members of the human family. At the center of the discovery is paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, a character brimming with enthusiasm and opinions, whose claims have stirred long controversy in the contentious field of human origins. Join NOVA to solve a two million year-old “crime scene” and dig into extraordinary new clues about what made us human.

160 years ago, the Franklin Expedition to chart the Northwest Passage vanished. NOVA is on board as a Canadian team makes a breakthrough discovery of one of Franklin's lost ships--a vital new clue to the fate of the ill-starred expedition.

Using instructions from an intriguing, 3,700 year-old inscription, a team of historians and expert boat builders investigates a fascinating flood legend and sets out to rebuild a tantalizing, ancient forerunner of the Ark.

Thanks in part to the documents released by Edward Snowden, the true scale of the National Security Agency's scope and power is coming to light. Besides spending billions to ingest and analyze the worlds' electronic communications, the NSA has set out to dominate a new battlefield – cyberspace. NOVA examines the science and technology behind cyber warfare and asks if we are already in the midst of a deadly new arms race.

On November 15th, 1915, Einstein published his greatest work: general relativity. The theory transformed our understanding of nature’s laws and the entire history of the cosmos, reaching back to the origin of time itself. Now, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s achievement, NOVA tells the inside story of Einstein’s masterpiece. The story begins with the intuitive thought experiments that set Einstein off on his quest and traces the revolution in cosmology that is still playing out in today’s labs and observatories. Discover the simple but powerful ideas at the heart of relativity, illuminating the theory—and Einstein’s brilliance—as never before. From the first spark of an idea to the discovery of the expanding universe, the Big Bang, black holes, and dark energy, NOVA uncovers the inspired insights and brilliant breakthroughs of “the perfect theory.”

During World War I, the Allies devised a devastating attack, planting 600 tons of explosives in secret tunnels driven under the German trenches. NOVA uncovers traces of the operation and why it failed to break the lethal deadlock of trench warfare.

Four and a half billion years ago, the young Earth was a hellish place—a seething chaos of meteorite impacts, volcanoes belching noxious gases, and lightning flashing through a thin, torrid atmosphere. Then, in a process that has puzzled scientists for decades, life emerged. But how? NOVA joins mineralogist Robert Hazen as he journeys around the globe. From an ancient Moroccan market to the Australian Outback, he advances a startling and counterintuitive idea—that the rocks beneath our feet were not only essential to jump-starting life, but that microbial life helped give birth to hundreds of minerals we know and depend on today. It's a theory of the co-evolution of Earth and life that is reshaping the grand-narrative of our planet's story.

Krill are tiny, shrimp-like creatures crucial to the Antarctic ecosystem and, maybe, to the future of all oceans. Join the research ship Polarstern in the vast Antarctic ice pack in search of ice caves and juvenile krill.

On April 25, 2015 a devastating earthquake rocked Nepal, wiping out villages and leaving thousands dead. Through eyewitness footage, expert interviews, and stunning graphics, NOVA reveals the anatomy of this megaquake while scientists race to answer urgent questions: Is another big one coming?

NOVA and National Geographic take a dazzling dive to explore how and why so many of the ocean's creatures light up-revealing a hidden undersea world where creatures flash, sparkle, shimmer, or simply glow.