Building Stuff: Change It!
Humans have been altering Earth’s environment for thousands of years. And now, from electric planes to artificial noses, engineers are inventing new ways to preserve our planet.
Episodes
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A.I. Revolution
S51 E5 - 53m 30s
A.I. tools like ChatGPT seem to think, speak, and create like humans. But what are they really doing? From cancer cures to Terminator-style takeovers, leading experts explore what A.I. can – and can’t – do today, and what lies ahead.
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Hunt for the Oldest DNA
S51 E4 - 53m 10s
For decades, scientists have tried to unlock the secrets of ancient DNA. Follow the dramatic quest to recover DNA millions of years old and reveal a lost world from before the last Ice Age.
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Building the Eiffel Tower
S51 E3 - 53m 29s
Explore the revolutionary engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark. Completed in 1889, the iron tower smashed the record for the tallest structure on Earth, ushering in a new age of global construction that reached for the skies.
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Easter Island Origins
S51 E2 - 53m 17s
The giant stone heads of Easter Island have inspired theories for centuries. Now, new research reveals intriguing evidence of the origins and inspirations of the ancient Rapanui people who created the iconic monoliths.
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When Whales Could Walk
S51 E1 - 53m 31s
A spectacular fossil graveyard reveals a 43-million-year-old whale that had four legs and could walk. Follow scientists as they search for new clues to how mammals moved from land into the sea to become the largest animals on Earth.
Extras + Features
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Can Technology Detect Deepfakes Better Than Humans Can?
S51 - 7m 9s
Researchers are trying to develop tools to thwart deep fakes in several different ways — from before they are even made, to detecting them once they are out on the internet.
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Solar System: Storm Worlds Preview
S51 E9 - 30s
Out in the solar system, the weather gets wacky – with globe-spanning dust storms, monsoons of liquid methane, and lightning 10 times stronger than here on Earth. Discover the forces driving the dramatic weather on neighboring planets and moons.
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What Happened to the Hole in the Ozone Layer?
S51 - 3m 13s
The extreme thinning of the Ozone layer threatened to bring on a global crisis from destroying plants and ecosystems to sky-high skin cancer rates. So, what happened?
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A Hidden Cause of Sinkholes Is Lurking Underground
S51 - 2m 21s
Sinkholes can form either really quickly, or really slowly over a long period of time – and they don’t always come with warning signs.
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Ozempic's Surprising Real Power
S51 - 3m 51s
Scientists thought Ozempic, and other similar drugs, helped people lose weight by working primarily in the gut. But now it's looking like it's real power could be in the brain.
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What Dating Apps Know About You
S51 - 2m 51s
You might sign up for a dating app to find the love of your life. But while you’re swiping, these apps are collecting all kinds of information about you. What do you they know about you? And what are they doing with your data?
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These cheeses are at risk of going extinct
S51 - 1m 11s
Don’t fret – at-risk cheeses are not going to disappear instantly but they getting much harder to make.
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First ape ever seen using medicinal plant to treat wound
S51 - 1m 58s
Scientists say they have, for the first time, observed a primate in the wild treat an open wound with a medicinal plant.
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Total Eclipse in the Heart of Texas Hill Country
S51 - 6m 41s
In the hill country of Texas, the solar eclipse struck wonder and awe.
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The Deepest Underground Lab in the U.S.
S51 E8 - 1m 44s
Invisible and mysterious, dark matter shapes the cosmos, but scientists are still trying to figure out what exactly it is.
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How Vera Rubin broke barriers in astronomy
S51 E8 - 4m 4s
In the past 50 years, thanks to Vera Rubin and others, dark matter has become an essential scientific building block, at the foundation of our understanding of the universe.
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Are Your Online Passwords as Safe as You Think?
S51 E7 - 2m 22s
Hackers can crack a 7-character password in seconds. But it can take 100 years to crack a 12-character one when it has letters, numbers and symbols. Here's one strategy to make one.
Schedule
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Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Wednesday
Dec 4
1 Hour 30 Minutes
Jupiter's gravitational force made it a wrecking ball as it barreled through the early solar system, but it also helped shape life on Earth as it brought comets laden with water and possibly the asteroid that put an end to the dinosaurs. -
Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Wednesday
Dec 4
1 Hour 30 Minutes
Jupiter's gravitational force made it a wrecking ball as it barreled through the early solar system, but it also helped shape life on Earth as it brought comets laden with water and possibly the asteroid that put an end to the dinosaurs. -
Image
NOVA
The Planets: Jupiter
Wednesday
Dec 4
1 Hour 30 Minutes
Jupiter's gravitational force made it a wrecking ball as it barreled through the early solar system, but it also helped shape life on Earth as it brought comets laden with water and possibly the asteroid that put an end to the dinosaurs. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Wednesday
Dec 11
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Thursday
Dec 12
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Thursday
Dec 12
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Sunday
Dec 15
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Sunday
Dec 15
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Tuesday
Dec 17
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Wednesday
Dec 18
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Wednesday
Dec 18
1 Hour
A team of engineers, masons and timber workers restore France's Notre Dame Cathedral following the April 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
Wednesday
Dec 18
1 Hour
Scientists and historians study remains found in caskets under Notre-Dame de Paris' stone floor following the 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
Wednesday
Dec 18
1 Hour
Scientists and historians study remains found in caskets under Notre-Dame de Paris' stone floor following the 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
Thursday
Dec 19
1 Hour
Scientists and historians study remains found in caskets under Notre-Dame de Paris' stone floor following the 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
Thursday
Dec 19
1 Hour
Scientists and historians study remains found in caskets under Notre-Dame de Paris' stone floor following the 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
Thursday
Dec 19
1 Hour
Scientists and historians study remains found in caskets under Notre-Dame de Paris' stone floor following the 2019 fire. -
Image
NOVA
Lost Tombs of Notre Dame
Thursday
Dec 19
1 Hour
Scientists and historians study remains found in caskets under Notre-Dame de Paris' stone floor following the 2019 fire.
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