NOVA
Season 24

s24e01 / Einstein Revealed

2nd Oct '96 - 1:00am
Einstein Revealed Summary

This two-hour program chronicles Albert Einstein's life and scientific achievements from his birth in 1879 to his passing in 1955. The first hour follows Einstein in his quest to understand the nature of light. Graphics depict some of Einstein's famous thought experiments, including his eventual understanding of the interplay between the speed of light and time and his development of the special theory of relativity. The program also goes into great depth about Einstein's personal life, including his romance with and marriage to fellow student Mileva Maric and the passing of his father.

87 have watched this episode

s24e02 / Lost City of Arabia

9th Oct '96 - 1:00am
Lost City of Arabia Summary

Helped by remote sensing, an expedition searches Oman's vast al-Khali desert for the lost city of Ubar.

85 have watched this episode

s24e03 / Three Men and a Balloon

16th Oct '96 - 1:00am
Three Men and a Balloon Summary

One of the final aeronautics challenges left in the world today does not involve the use of a plane, a rocket, or even an engine. No one has yet been able to circumnavigate the earth in a balloon. Any team attempting the feat would have to fly higher than most planes ever fly and would need a passenger capsule that could both offer protection from extreme cold and carry the proper navigation and life support equipment. Depending on the powerful jet stream to propel them, crew members would have to plot their course carefully and plan their schedule to coincide with the most advantageous winds. Even landing would be a risky venture. This program follows a team of three adventurers as they attempt to make just such a journey.

85 have watched this episode

s24e04 / Secrets of Making Money

23rd Oct '96 - 1:00am
Secrets of Making Money Summary

With a radically redesigned bill, the U.S. Treasury fights back against a new breed of counterfeiters.

86 have watched this episode

s24e05 / Top Gun Over Moscow

13th Nov '96 - 2:00am
Top Gun Over Moscow Summary

Flights in Russia's powerful fighter jets are for sale to foreign travelers. So is the Russian Air Force still in the game?

85 have watched this episode

s24e06 / Shark Attack

20th Nov '96 - 2:00am
Shark Attack Summary

Sharks are known as the "perfect predators", but sometimes they slip up and attack the wrong prey-people.

85 have watched this episode

s24e07 / Odyssey of Life: The Ultimate Journey (1)

25th Nov '96 - 2:00am
Odyssey of Life: The Ultimate Journey (1) Summary

NOVA explores the links between our individual development and the evolution of life itself.

85 have watched this episode

s24e08 / Odyssey of Life: The Unknown World (2)

26th Nov '96 - 2:00am
Odyssey of Life: The Unknown World (2) Summary

This program reveals some of the billions of practically invisible organisms that live on, in, and around us.

85 have watched this episode

s24e09 / Odyssey of Life: The Photographer's Secrets (3)

27th Nov '96 - 2:00am
Odyssey of Life: The Photographer's Secrets (3) Summary

Coming Soon...

85 have watched this episode

s24e10 / Cracking the Ice Age

1st Jan '97 - 2:00am
Cracking the Ice Age Summary

Did the crash of continents that produced the Himalayan Mountains also trigger the Ice Age?

85 have watched this episode

s24e11 / Kaboom!

15th Jan '97 - 2:00am
Kaboom! Summary

An in-depth and heart stopping look at the ultimate chemical reaction - the explosion. Using high speed photography and dramatic reconstruction, the film will chart the tarnished history of explosives: the terrible accidents, the scientific ingenuity and ultimately, the carnage of war and terrorism.

85 have watched this episode

s24e12 / Titanic's Lost Sister

29th Jan '97 - 2:00am
Titanic's Lost Sister Summary

Few realize that the Titanic had two nearly identical sister ships, the Olympic and the Britannic. The Olympic had a successful career as a liner until she was broken up in 1935, but the Britannic met with a fate nearly as unlucky as that of the Titanic. Serving as a hospital ship in the Aegean, it was either torpedoed or the victim of a mine on November 21, 1916, and sank within an hour. Thirty out of its crew died. Robert Ballard will search for the wreck of the Britannic and explore the evidence surrounding its dramatic end.

87 have watched this episode

s24e13 / Secrets Of Lost Empires (1): Stonehenge

12th Feb '97 - 2:00am
Secrets Of Lost Empires (1): Stonehenge Summary

A distinctive feature of this stone site are the trilithons, which consist of two upright stones topped by a horizontal lintel stone. In this program, the NOVA team considers how to transport and raise the massive stones, as well as how to place the lintel stone on top. By comparing different strategies and adapting ramps, levers, and other tools that might have been available to the ancient builders, the team works to meet the challenge.

86 have watched this episode

s24e14 / Secrets Of Lost Empires (2): Inca

12th Feb '97 - 2:00am
Secrets Of Lost Empires (2): Inca Summary

Even without such technological advances as wheels, arches, draft animals, iron tools, or a system of writing, the Inca-utilizing a tradition of shared labor-achieved a number of engineering feats. The NOVA team explores both stonework and bridge building, experimenting with dragging and fitting huge stones, and working with the people of an Andean village to create a suspension bridge made only of grass ropes.

86 have watched this episode

s24e15 / Secrets Of Lost Empires (3): Obelisk

13th Feb '97 - 2:00am
Secrets Of Lost Empires (3): Obelisk Summary

Pharaohs who built magnificent temples to preserve their names for eternity often graced temple gates with pairs of obelisks, four-sided shafts of granite that taper gently upward until the sides meet at the top to form a pyramid shape. NOVA's team of experts attempts to build, transport, and raise a scale model obelisk using those materials available to ancient Egyptian engineers: rope, dirt, sticks, and stones.

86 have watched this episode

s24e16 / Secrets Of Lost Empires (4): Colosseum

13th Feb '97 - 2:00am
Secrets Of Lost Empires (4): Colosseum Summary

Citizens of Rome came to the Colosseum to behold free entertainment that usually came in the form of unhappy war games and bloody battles between humans and animals. This structure's most impressive feature was a massive canopy that provided shade from the hot sun. In order to investigate the possible forms the roof may have taken, NOVA's team constructs models at a smaller arena in Spain.

86 have watched this episode

s24e17 / Hunt for Alien Worlds

19th Feb '97 - 2:00am
Hunt for Alien Worlds Summary

Astronomers discover planets beyond our solar system. But is there life on them?

85 have watched this episode

s24e18 / Curse of T.rex

26th Feb '97 - 2:00am
Curse of T.rex Summary

The show takes a look at a Federal case involving ownership of a valuable dinosaur fossil unearthed in South Dakota in 1991.

85 have watched this episode

s24e19 / Cut to the Heart

9th Apr '97 - 1:00am
Cut to the Heart Summary

Ever since World War II, physicians have struggled to find ways to treat heart failure, the biggest hugger in the modern world.

85 have watched this episode

s24e20 / Kingdom of the Seahorse

16th Apr '97 - 1:00am
Kingdom of the Seahorse Summary

The world's leading sea horse biologist journeys to Australia and the Philippines to explore the secret lives of these extraordinary fish.

85 have watched this episode
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