NOVA Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
Episode 1 - Making Stuff FasterFrom PBS and NOVA: Are there physical limits to how fast humans can go? David Pogue wants to find out how much we can tweak physiology and engineering to move humans and machines even faster. He investigates everything from lightning-fast electric muscle cars to ultra-sleek sailboats to ultra-fast cameras and quantum teleportation. But faster is also about efficiency and the science of optimization: getting things done in less time. From the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to UPS headquarters and inside a packed 737, Pogue’s quest for ultimate speed limits takes him to unexpected places where he comes face-to-face with the final frontiers of speed. NOVA also explores important questions: Is it possible to go too fast? Have we hit a point where innovation outpaces our ability to keep up?
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Episode 2 - Making Stuff WilderFrom PBS and NOVA: What happens when engineers open up nature’s toolbox? David Pogue explores bold innovations inspired by the Earth’s greatest inventor, life itself. From underwater wi-fi based on dolphin communication, to robotic “mules” and “cheetahs” for the military, to swarms of robotic bees, Pogue travels the world seeing the “wildest” ideas put into action in new inventions and technologies. It is a journey that sees today’s bacteria turned into tomorrow’s metallurgists, viruses building batteries, and even DNA, the Code of Life, put to work in “living” computers. Will the stuff of the future take on a life of its own?
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Episode 3 - Making Stuff ColderFrom PBS and NOVA: Cold. For centuries we’ve fought it, shunned it and huddled against it. Cold has always been the enemy of life, but now it may hold the key to a new generation of science and technology that will improve our lives. David Pogue explores the frontiers of cold science, from saving the lives of severe trauma patients and cooling a warming planet to ultracold physics, where bizarre new properties of matter are the norm and the basis of new technologies like levitating trains and quantum computers. In this brave new world, cold isn’t to be avoided. Cold is the new hot.
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Episode 4 - Making Stuff SaferFrom PBS and NOVA: Is it possible to engineer an absolutely safe world for ourselves? Host David Pogue explores the extent to which science and technology can protect us from monumental forces of nature such as earthquakes and epidemics. He challenges researchers to save us from dangers of our own making, such as traffic accidents and contact sports. Our increasing reliance on the internet makes us vulnerable to new risks: Pogue delves into cyber security, where computer experts work to shield us from attacks from hackers and terrorists. Risk is all around us — but we can be smart about it.
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Episode 6 - The Four-Winged DinosaurLong ago in the age of dinosaurs, a volcano in eastern China erupted and buried a host of strange creatures in ash, creating exquisite fossils that preserved a big surprise—many dinosaurs were covered in feathers. In The Four-Winged Dinosaur, NOVA investigates the most bizarre of these feathered dinosaurs, which has rekindled a fierce, decades-long debate over the origin of bird flight. The central character in this drama is a strange little dinosaur with wings on its legs as well as its arms. The pigeon-sized Microraptor is the smallest adult dinosaur ever found, perhaps the first known tree-dweller. But could it really fly? NOVA assembles a team of top paleontologists, aeronautical engineers, and paleo-artists to reconstruct Microraptor and build a sophisticated model for a wind tunnel experiment. The results have surprising implications for long-accepted ideas about how winged flight began.
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Episode 8 - Marathon ChallengeWhat does it take for the average person to run one of the world's toughest races? NOVA finds out in a program that's both a human story and an intriguing scientific exploration of the way our bodies respond to intense exercise demands. Filmed in cooperation with the Boston Athletic Association, NOVA has been granted unprecedented access to the Boston Marathon course and will take viewers on a unique adventure inside the human body. Every year thousands of athletes from across the globe flock to Boston to run the city's marathon, known worldwide as the ultimate test of stamina and endurance. In the summer of 2006, NOVA began following 13 novices as they took the first step toward completing the 26.2-mile race in April 2007. The group of participants includes a variety of people from diverse backgrounds - a young woman running in memory of her mother, who died in a tragic car accident; a working single mom; even a former NFL linebacker - the unifying element is that not one of them is currently a runner. Over the nine-month training period, exercise and nutrition scientists and doctors at Tufts University use sophisticated technology to monitor the physical transformations that the participants undergo. Intimate interviews reveal the highs and lows along the way. The experience will demand a transformation of mind and body; NOVA cameras will be there, following every step.
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