NaN/100 votes#1 - Hot Enough for You?
Season 16 Episode 1 - Aired 1/17/1989
Was the searing summer of 1988 a taste of things to come? NOVA looks at the greenhouse effect, which portends higher temperatures, rising sea levels and other environmental disasters.
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- 8.2/1015 votes
#2 - The Last Journey of a Genius
Season 16 Episode 2 - Aired 1/24/1989
NOVA looks at the bongo-playing scientist, adventurer, safecracker and yarn-spinner Richard Feynman, most recently famous for his role as gadfly of the Presidential Commission investigating the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
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- 8.3/1019 votes
#3 - The Strange New Science of Chaos
Season 16 Episode 3 - Aired 1/31/1989
NOVA explains "chaos," a new science that is making surprising sense out of chaotic phenomena in nature, from the weather to brain waves.
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- 7.6/1017 votes
#4 - Back to Chernobyl
Season 16 Episode 4 - Aired 2/14/1989
NOVA goes to the Soviet Union for an inside investigation of the world's most catastrophic nuclear power accident with correspondent Bill Kurtis.
Director: N/A
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- 7.4/107 votes
#5 - God, Darwin and the Dinosaurs
Season 16 Episode 5 - Aired 2/21/1989
In an Idaho classroom, teacher Phil Gerrish puts an unorthodox interpretation on the day's biology lesson. As students take notes, he explains that creationism is a valid scientific explanation for the origin on life. Once relying solely on the literal word of the Bible to make their case, creationists now argue that the scientific evidence is on their side. NOVA reports on this new twist in the long-running battle between creationism and evolution.
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- NaN/100 votes
#6 - Adrift on the Gulf Stream
Season 16 Episode 6 - Aired 2/28/1989
NOVA explores the importance of the Gulf Stream to ocean life, climate and human history.
Director: N/A
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- 7.2/107 votes
#7 - Secrets of Easter Island (1)
Season 16 Episode 7 - Aired 3/7/1989
In this two-part series, NOVA investigates the mystery of Easter Island in the South Pacific. Who built its celebrated statues and why?
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- NaN/100 votes
#8 - Legends of Easter Island (2)
Season 16 Episode 8 - Aired 3/7/1989
In the second part of this two-part series, NOVA explores ancient legends hold the clues to the violent history of the South Pacific's Easter Island.
Director: N/A
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- 7.4/107 votes
#9 - The World Is Full of Oil!
Season 16 Episode 9 - Aired 3/21/1989
Scientific detectives test their ingenuity in the effort to find underground oil deposits.
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- NaN/100 votes
#10 - Confronting the Killer Gene
Season 16 Episode 10 - Aired 3/28/1989
Arlo, Nancy and Janice each have a 50/50 chance of developing a devastating nerve disorder. A laboratory test can tell them if in fact they will fall victim. In their shoes, would you take the test? Thousands of others face a similar choice: to know, or not know, if they will carry the genetic time bomb of Huntington's disease. NOVA looks at this incurable disease which affects 20,000 people in the US and threatens tens of thousands of others.
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- 7.7/1010 votes
#11 - The Hidden City
Season 16 Episode 11 - Aired 10/3/1989
Actor Judd Hirsch narrates this behind-the scenes look at what makes New York City tick. Water, power and waste are the critical systems that usually work, but sometimes break down with disastrous consequences.
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- NaN/100 votes
#12 - The Controversial Dr. Koop
Season 16 Episode 12 - Aired 10/10/1989
In this profile of the former Surgeon General, NOVA follows events as they unfold in a unique behind-the-scenes account of a man who speaks his mind on AIDS, smoking and abortion.
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- NaN/100 votes
#13 - Design Wars!
Season 16 Episode 13 - Aired 10/17/1989
Five architects compete for the approval of architecture-obsessed Chicagoans in the contest to build the city's new public library. NOVA looks at the strengths and weakness of each of the suprisingly varied entries.
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- NaN/100 votes
#14 - Echoes of War
Season 16 Episode 14 - Aired 10/24/1989
The atomic bomb might have ended World War II, but radar was the quiet miracle that won battles. NOVA tells the little-known wartime history of radar.
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- NaN/100 votes
#15 - Decoding the Book of Life
Season 16 Episode 15 - Aired 10/31/1989
Biologists around the world gear up to decode the three-billion-letter genetic message that describes how humans are made. Ethicists warn that it may not be such a good idea.
Director: N/A
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- 6.9/1012 votes
#16 - Hurricane!
Season 16 Episode 16 - Aired 11/7/1989
NOVA studies hurricanes—the lurking giants waiting to destroy many coastal areas—by flying straight into one. Scientists hope that such close-up studies will supply the data to make better predictions.
Director: N/A
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- NaN/100 votes
#17 - Will Venice Survive Its Rescue?
Season 16 Episode 17 - Aired 11/14/1989
Increasingly awash in high water, the romantic city of Venice is counting on high-tech floodgates to save it from drowning. Environmentalists worry that the gates may destroy the fragile lagoon that surrounds the city.
Director: N/A
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- 8.2/1012 votes
#18 - What Is Music?
Season 16 Episode 18 - Aired 11/21/1989
East and West came into direct conflict over trade and power in the 19th century. The West won. NOVA explores how Japan was later able to master Western methods, while China was not. Part three of a four part series.
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- NaN/100 votes
#19 - Yellowstone's Burning Question
Season 16 Episode 19 - Aired 12/5/1989
The 1988 Yellowstone fire may have been one of the worst in human memory, but nature has had eons of experience with such events. NOVA accompanies scientists who are studying the suprisingly rapid recovery from the blaze.
Director: N/A
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- NaN/100 votes
#20 - The Schoolboys Who Cracked the Soviet Secret
Season 16 Episode 20 - Aired 12/12/1989
NOVA re-enacts a classic case of classroom detection when English schoolboys track down a secret Soviet launch site. Docudrama.
Director: N/A
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The Best Episodes of NOVA Season 16
Every episode of NOVA Season 16 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of NOVA Season 16!
PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights...
Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS
Season 16 Ratings Summary
"Hot Enough for You?" is the best rated episode of "NOVA" season 16. It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/17/1989. This episode is rated NaN points higher than the second-best, "The Last Journey of a Genius".