Nova (Television program)

NOVA's expert team looks for the signature of a volcanic eruption big enough to have blasted a huge cloud of ash and sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. Killer Volcanoes spotlights the search for the mystery volcano that plunged the globe into a deep freeze and inflicted famine on medieval Europe.

Nova takes viewers on a fascinating quest with a group of pioneering mathematicians determined to decipher the rules that govern fractal geometry. Their remarkable findings are deepening our understanding of nature and stimulating a new wave of scientific, medical and artistic innovation, stretching from the ecology of the rainforest to fashion design.

He's been dead for more than 5,000 years and poked, prodded, and probed by scientists for the last 20. Yet Otzi the Iceman, the famous mummified corpse pulled from a glacier in the Italian Alps, continues to keep many secrets. Now, through an autopsy like none other, scientists will attempt to unravel mysteries about the ancient mummy, revealing not only the details of Otzi's death but also an entire way of life.

"When a dreaded outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus swept through a remote region of Zaire in May 1995, Nova was the only film crew premitted into the "hot zone." Spending a total of four weeks in the quarantined city of Kikwit, the result is unprecedented journalistic coverage of this grim battle against one of the world's most lethal diseases. The Ebola plague kills a very high percentage of its victims (77% in Kikwit), often by dissolving their internal organs and connective tissue. Learn how disease specialists traced the origins of the outbreak by compiling a complete "chain of death" of the epidemic, and why they fear a mutation of Ebola will emerge that is even more difficult to contain."--Container.

Explores how animals understand the world around them through the eyes of three iconic creatures: dogs, birds, and dolphins. As we discover how scientists are pushing the animal mind to its limits, we'll uncover surprising similarities to, and differences from--the human mind.

Features members of U.S. aerobatics teams and discusses history of aerobatics.

Presents three sixty-minute NOVA programs that explore the human body, looking at conception and prenatal development, the immune system, digestion, and muscle physiology. Includes a teacher's guide.

Explores two competing concepts of how the ancient Romans were able to construct a canopy over the Colosseum.