How do elevators work? Are they safe? Why are so many people afraid of them? Across North America, elevators move 325 million passengers every day, and most of the time, people don't give them a second thought. In Trapped in an Elevator, NOVA reveals the secret life of these ubiquitous machines and investigates personal stories of those who have been caught inside when they do fail. NOVA cameras ride the world's fastest elevator to the top of the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, and test whether the Burj's elevator system is ready for the task of moving people to unprecedented heights. On the other side of the world, NOVA follows one of the thousands of elevator maintenance crews in Manhattan that keep New Yorkers moving up and down every day. Then, at the Otis Test Tower-a 28-story high-rise that's the most over-elevatored building in the world-viewers experience a few heart-pumping moments as a test elevator is sent into free fall. Once brawny but simple machines, elevators are getting a brainy makeover. Computer controls, like those in the elevators at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, are getting passengers to their destinations faster and more safely than ever before. But will the elevator-wary be comfortable handing over the reins to computers?

NOVA Season 38 Episodes...

• s38e01 - Building the Great Cathedrals
• s38e02 - Emergency Mine Rescue
• s38e03 - Trapped in an Elevator
• s38e04 - Dogs Decoded
• s38e05 - Secrets of Stonehenge
• s38e06 - Quest for Solomon's Mines
• s38e07 - Secrets Beneath the Ice
• s38e08 - Deadliest Earthquakes
• s38e09 - Making Stuff Stronger (1)
• s38e10 - Making Stuff Smaller (2)
• s38e11 - Making Stuff Cleaner (3)
• s38e12 - Making Stuff Smarter (4)
• s38e13 - Smartest Machine on Earth
• s38e14 - Crash of Flight 447
• s38e15 - Venom: Nature's Killer
• s38e16 - Japan's Killer Quake
• s38e17 - Power Surge

NOVA Show Summary

Seen in more than 100 countries, NOVA is the most watched science based television series in the world and the most watched documentary series on PBS. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won many major television awards, most of them many times over.