A powerful tornado is a terrifying phenomenon that continues to defy decades of scientific efforts to predict it. During one of the worst tornado seasons on record, a NOVA camera team chased across the Midwest, capturing hair-raising footage of highly destructive twisters in action. But HUNT FOR THE SUPERTWISTER is much more than just another "extreme weather" show. Our story focuses on the efforts of two scientists at the University of Oklahoma to...

Examines the science and politics of global warming and actions that may prevent a catastrophe. Home use only.

This video weighs the risks against the benefits of getting a personal genetic profile; takes a closer look at algae, and asks if it may be our biofuel of the future; explores the undersea Gakkel Ridge, deep in the Arctic Ocean, for clues that one of Jupiter's moons may host life; and profiles Yoky Matsuoka, a leader in the emerging field of neurobotics-the fusion of neuroscience and robotics.

Part 1, "First Steps," examines the factors that caused us to split from the other great apes. The program explores the fossil of "Selam," also known as "Lucy's Child." Paleoanthropologist Zeray Alemseged spent five years carefully excavating the sandstone-embedded fossil. NOVA's cameras are there to capture the unveiling of the face, spine, and shoulder blades of this 3.3 million-year-old fossil child. And NOVA takes viewers "inside the skull" to...

Go on a scientific journey to the beginnings of modern religion, and dig into both the Bible and the history of the Israelites through the artifacts they left behind. The film focuses on the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) as the foundation for the great monotheistic religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This powerful exploration of science, scripture, and scholarship examines the most pressing issues in biblical archaeology.

What killed the mammoths? Near the end of the last ice age 13,000 years ago, these mighty beasts disappeared from North America together with some 35 other groups of mammals. For four decades, debate has raged over the cause of their abrupt demise. NOVA presents an in-depth investigation of a controversial new hypothesis which suggests that a massive impact from space could be the culprit, and also explores alternate theories.

For 45 centuries, the Great Sphinx has cast its enigmatic gaze over Egypt's Giza plateau. The biggest and oldest statue in a land of colossal ancient monuments, its scale is staggering. How was it built, and who or what does it represent? NOVA's expert team of archaeologists carries out experiments that reveal the techniques and incredible labor that was invested in the carving of this gigantic sculpture.

Three centuries of engineering have produced telescopes far beyond Galileo's simple spyglass. Perched on mountaintops, orbiting the Earth, and even circling other planets, these telescopes are revealing the solar system in detail Galileo could only dream of. Get up close with today's most powerful telescopes and embark on a stunning journey to the planets and moons now being imaged as never before.

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson will tackle one of science's major challenges in each video, framed as a simple question that ordinary people wonder and worry about. Neil will guide us as he explores dramatic discoveries and the frontiers of research that connect each central, provocative mystery. Episode includes: 1) Space Dangers - Can we protect Mars-bound astronauts from deadly meteroids and the ill effects of radiation and zero gravity? 2) Next-Generation...

Millions of people around the world live in the shadow of active volcanoes. Under constant threat of massive volcanic eruptions, their homes and their lives are daily at risk from these sleeping giants. From Japan's Mount Fuji to the "Sleeping Giant" submerged beneath Naples to the Yellowstone "Supervolcano" in the United States, NOVA travels with scientists from around the world who are at work on these sites, attempting to discover how likely these...