The Best Episodes of NOVA

#1 Fan Favorite
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8.7/10(44 votes)
#1 - Bioterror
S29:E611/13/2001
The film follows three New York Times reporters as they delve into the murky past of bioweapons research and grapple with the current threat of anthrax and other attacks.
Director:Kirk Wolfinger
Writer:Matthew Collins
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Director:Kirk Wolfinger
Writer:Matthew Collins
8.5/10(102 votes)
#2 - The Planets: Saturn
S46:E158/7/2019
Nasa's Cassini reveals the mysteries of Saturn's rings and new hope for life on one of its moons.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.5/10(90 votes)
#3 - The Planets: Jupiter
S46:E147/31/2019
Jupiter's gravitational force made it a wrecking ball as it barreled through the early solar system, but it also helped shape life on Earth as it brought comets laden with water and possibly the asteroid that put an end to the dinosaurs.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(232 votes)
#4 - Japan's Killer Quake
S38:E163/30/2011
In its worst crisis since World War II, Japan faces disaster on an epic scale: a death toll likely in the tens of thousands, massive destruction of homes and businesses, shortages of water and power, and the specter of nuclear meltdown. With exclusive footage, NOVA captures the unfolding human drama and offers a clear-headed investigation of what triggered the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear crisis. Can science and technology ever prevent devastation in the face of overwhelmingly powerful forces of nature?
Directors:Richard Burke-Ward, Robert Strange
Writer:Unknown
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Directors:Richard Burke-Ward, Robert Strange
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(218 votes)
#5 - How Smart Are Animals?
S38:E182/9/2011
Would you care to match wits with a dog, an octopus, a dolphin, or a parrot? You may think twice after watching the segments in this NOVA scienceNOW episode. While we may not be ready to send pets to Harvard, the remarkable footage and findings presented here demonstrate that many animal species are much smarter than we assume and in ways we had never imagined.
Directors:Rushmore DeNooyer, Julia Cort
Writer:Unknown
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Directors:Rushmore DeNooyer, Julia Cort
Writer:Unknown
8.5/10(80 votes)
#6 - The Planets: Ice Worlds
S46:E168/14/2019
Uranus and Neptune's unexpected rings, supersonic winds and dozens of moons; an up-close view of Pluto before exploring the Kuiper belt.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown

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8.5/10(64 votes)
#7 - Ocean Invaders
S49:E1510/26/2022
Lionfish–long prized in home aquariums–have invaded the Atlantic, and are now one of the ocean’s most successful invasive species, wreaking havoc in waters across the globe. Join ocean explorer Danni Washington on a journey to find out how they took over, why they’re doing so much damage, and what can be done about it.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(107 votes)
#8 - Polar Extremes
S47:E12/5/2020
Following a trail of fossils found in all the wrong places–beech trees in Antarctica, redwoods and hippo-like mammals in the Arctic–NOVA uncovers the bizarre history of the poles, from miles-thick ice sheets to warm polar forests teeming with life.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(101 votes)
#9 - Death Dive to Saturn
S44:E209/13/2017
Aiming to skim less than 2000 miles above the cloud tops, no spacecraft has ever gone so close to Saturn, and hopes are high for incredible observations that could solve major mysteries about the planet’s core. Join NASA engineers for the tense and triumphant moments as they find out if their bold reprogramming has worked, and discover the wonders that Cassini has revealed over the years.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(219 votes)
#10 - Power Surge
S38:E174/20/2011
Can emerging technology defeat global warming? The United States has invested tens of billions of dollars in clean energy projects as our leaders try to save our crumbling economy and our poisoned planet in one bold, green stroke. Are we finally on the brink of a green-energy "power surge," or is it all a case of too little, too late? From solar panel factories in China to a carbon capture-and-storage facility in the Sahara desert to massive wind and solar installations in the United States, NOVA travels the globe to reveal the surprising technologies that just might turn back the clock on climate change. NOVA will focus on the latest and greatest innovations, including everything from artificial trees to green reboots of familiar technologies like coal and nuclear energy. Can our technology, which helped create this problem, now solve it?
Director:Doug Hamilton
Writer:Doug Hamilton
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Director:Doug Hamilton
Writer:Doug Hamilton
8.4/10(57 votes)
#11 - Apollo's Daring Mission
S45:E1712/26/2018
Apollo astronauts and engineers tell the inside story of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon. The U.S. space program suffered a bitter setback when Apollo 1 ended in a deadly fire during a pre-launch run-through. In disarray, and threatened by the prospect of a Soviet Union victory in the space race, NASA decided upon a radical and risky change of plan: turn Apollo 8 from an earth-orbit mission into a daring sprint to the moon while relying on untried new technologies. Fifty years after the historic mission, the Apollo 8 astronauts and engineers recount the feats of engineering that paved the way to the moon.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(56 votes)
#12 - Supersonic Dream
S32:E111/18/2005
A chronicle of the turbulent birth, life and death of the Concorde, the world's first and only supersonic airliner.
Director:Amir Amirani
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Amir Amirani
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(96 votes)
#13 - Doomsday Volcanoes
S40:E61/2/2013
In April, 2010 the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano turned much of Europe into an ash-strewn no-fly zone, stranding millions of travelers. But was Eyjafjallajökull just the start? Now, an even more threatening Icelandic volcano, Katla, has begun to swell and grumble. Two more giants, Hekla and Laki, could erupt without warning. Iceland is a ticking time bomb: When it blows, the consequences could be global. As CGI takes us inside these geological monsters, we meet atmospheric scientists who are working to understand just how devastating an eruption could be—not just for air travel but for the global food supply and for Earth's climate.
Director:Duncan Copp
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Duncan Copp
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(94 votes)
#14 - A to Z: How Writing Changed the World
S47:E129/30/2020
Just as writing changed the course of human history, the evolution of paper and printing revolutionized the spread of information. The printing press kicked off the Industrial Revolution that fast-tracked us to the current digital age. But as the 4,000-year-old tradition of penmanship falls out of favor, should we consider what might be lost in this pursuit of ever more efficient communication? (Premiered September 30, 2020)
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(48 votes)
#15 - Monster of the Milky Way
S34:E410/31/2006
Astronomers are closing in on the proof they've sought for years that one of the most destructive objects in the universe—a supermassive black hole—lurks at the center of our own galaxy. Could it flare up and consume our entire galactic neighborhood? Join NOVA on a mind-bending investigation into one of the most bizarre corners of cosmological science: black hole research. From event horizon to singularity, the elusive secrets of supermassive black holes are revealed through stunning computer-generated imagery, including an extraordinary simulation of what it might look like to fall into the belly of such an all-devouring beast.
Directors:Thomas Lucas, Julia Cort
Writers:Julia Cort, Jonathan Grupper
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Directors:Thomas Lucas, Julia Cort
Writers:Julia Cort, Jonathan Grupper
8.4/10(44 votes)
#16 - The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
S10:E21/25/1983
NOVA captivates a remarkably candid portrait of Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, a man of few pretensions and tremendous personal charm, who speaks with the same passion about a child's toy wagon and the frontiers of subatomic physics.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(67 votes)
#17 - Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?
S40:E91/30/2013
In the aftermath of his 1927 solo transatlantic flight, Colonel Charles Augustus Lindbergh–the Lone Eagle–became the most famous human being on earth. And when he and his lovely wife Anne produced an adorable baby son, Charlie, an eager press quickly dubbed him Little Lindy or sometimes just the Eaglet. But on the evening of March 1, 1932 Lucky Lindy's luck ran out. Bold kidnappers snatched his baby from the family home near Hopewell, New Jersey, while everyone in the house was awake. Negotiations with the kidnappers stretched out for weeks. But Little Charlie never came back. His body was discovered not five miles from Hopewell. Now, NOVA is reopening one of the most intriguing, grisly, and confounding crime mysteries of all time as a team of expert investigators employ state-of-the-art forensic and behavioral science techniques in an effort to determine what really happened to Lindbergh's baby and why.
Director:Larry Klein
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Larry Klein
Writer:Unknown
8.2/10(143 votes)
#18 - Doctors' Diaries Pt.2
S36:E164/14/2009
In 1987, NOVA's cameras began rolling to chronicle the lives of seven young, bright medical students embarking on the longest and most rigorous endeavor in higher education: the years-long journey to become a doctor. From their first days at Harvard Medical School to the present day, none of them could have predicted what it would take, personally and professionally. In "Doctors' Diaries," a two-hour special, NOVA returns to find out what sorts of doctors—and people—the seven young students have become. The program is the latest installment in the longest-running U.S. documentary of its kind.
Director:Michael Barnes
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Michael Barnes
Writer:Unknown
8.5/10(27 votes)
#19 - Ocean Animal Emergency
S36:E711/25/2008
NOVA takes you inside a very special ER to witness the efforts of wildlife veterinarians as they fight to save their animal patients as well as to uncover the cause of a mysterious neurological illness plaguing marine mammals like California sea lions and harbor seal pups. Part emergency room, part rehab facility, and part research lab, the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California means the difference between life and death for sick and injured ocean animals. Not only are the animal patients endearing, they are also sending us an urgent message about the health of our oceans.
Director:Doug Hamilton
Writer:Doug Hamilton
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Director:Doug Hamilton
Writer:Doug Hamilton
8.6/10(21 votes)
#20 - The Plane that Changed the World
S12:E2012/17/1985
NOVA joins the 50th anniversary celebration of the DC-3—the plane that revolutionized commercial air travel, served gallantly in World War II and is called the most important plane ever built.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(56 votes)
#21 - Quest for Solomon's Mines
S38:E611/23/2010
Countless treasure-seekers have set off in search of King Solomon's mines, trekking through burning deserts and scaling the forbidding mountains of Africa and the Levant, inspired by the Bible's account of splendid temples and palaces adorned in glittering gold and copper. Yet to date, the evidence that has claimed to support the existence of Solomon and other early kings in the Bible has been highly controversial. In fact, so little physical evidence of the kings who ruled Israel and Edom has been found that many contend that they are no more real than King Arthur. In the summer of 2010, NOVA and National Geographic embarked on two cutting-edge field investigations that illuminate the legend of Solomon and reveal the source of the great wealth that powered the first mighty biblical kingdoms. These groundbreaking expeditions expose important new clues buried in the pockmarked desert of Jordan, including ancient remnants of an industrial-scale copper mine and a 3,000-year-old message with the words "slave," "king," and "judge."
Director:Graham Townsley
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Graham Townsley
Writer:Unknown
8.2/10(121 votes)
#22 - The Planets: Inner Worlds
S46:E127/24/2019
The rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars all have similar origins, but only one supports life.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.2/10(119 votes)
#23 - Ultimate Space Telescope
S49:E107/13/2022
How did NASA engineers build and launch the most ambitious telescope of all time? Follow the dramatic story of the James Webb Space Telescope—the most complex machine ever launched into space. If it works, scientists believe that this new eye on the universe will peer deeper back in time and space than ever before to the birth of galaxies, and may even be able to “sniff” the atmospheres of exoplanets as we search for signs of life beyond Earth. But getting it to work is no easy task. The telescope is far bigger than its predecessor, the famous Hubble Space Telescope, and it needs to make its observations a million miles away from Earth—so there will be no chance to go out and fix it. That means there’s no room for error; the most ambitious telescope ever built needs to work perfectly. Meet the engineers making it happen and join them on their high stakes journey to uncover new secrets of the universe.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
9.0/10(11 votes)
#24 - Children of Eve
S14:E21/27/1987
NOVA examines a controversial theory that traces our ancestry to a small group of women living in Africa 300,000 years ago.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(33 votes)
#25 - The Perfect Pearl
S26:E1012/29/1998
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.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown