Season 16
20 episodes · Jan 17, 1989
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- S16E1
Hot Enough for You?
Jan 17, 198955mWas the searing summer of 1988 a taste of things to come? NOVA looks at the greenhouse effect, which portends higher temperatures, rising sea levels and other environmental disasters.
- S16E2
The Last Journey of a Genius
Jan 24, 198955mNOVA looks at the bongo-playing scientist, adventurer, safecracker and yarn-spinner Richard Feynman, most recently famous for his role as gadfly of the Presidential Commission investigating the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
- S16E3
The Strange New Science of Chaos
Jan 31, 198955mNOVA explains "chaos," a new science that is making surprising sense out of chaotic phenomena in nature, from the weather to brain waves.
- S16E4
Back to Chernobyl
Feb 14, 198955mNOVA goes to the Soviet Union for an inside investigation of the world's most catastrophic nuclear power accident with correspondent Bill Kurtis.
- S16E5
God, Darwin and the Dinosaurs
Feb 21, 198955mIn an Idaho classroom, teacher Phil Gerrish puts an unorthodox interpretation on the day's biology lesson. As students take notes, he explains that creationism is a valid scientific explanation for the origin on life. Once relying solely on the literal word of the Bible to make their case, creationists now argue that the scientific evidence is on their side. NOVA reports on this new twist in the long-running battle between creationism and evolution.
- S16E6
Adrift on the Gulf Stream
Feb 28, 198955mNOVA explores the importance of the Gulf Stream to ocean life, climate and human history.
- S16E7
Secrets of Easter Island (1)
Mar 7, 198955mIn this two-part series, NOVA investigates the mystery of Easter Island in the South Pacific. Who built its celebrated statues and why?
- S16E8
Legends of Easter Island (2)
Mar 7, 198955mIn the second part of this two-part series, NOVA explores ancient legends hold the clues to the violent history of the South Pacific's Easter Island.
- S16E9
The World Is Full of Oil!
Mar 21, 198955mScientific detectives test their ingenuity in the effort to find underground oil deposits.
- S16E10
Confronting the Killer Gene
Mar 28, 198955mArlo, Nancy and Janice each have a 50/50 chance of developing a devastating nerve disorder. A laboratory test can tell them if in fact they will fall victim. In their shoes, would you take the test? Thousands of others face a similar choice: to know, or not know, if they will carry the genetic time bomb of Huntington's disease. NOVA looks at this incurable disease which affects 20,000 people in the US and threatens tens of thousands of others.
- S16E11
The Hidden City
Oct 3, 198955mActor Judd Hirsch narrates this behind-the scenes look at what makes New York City tick. Water, power and waste are the critical systems that usually work, but sometimes break down with disastrous consequences.
- S16E12
The Controversial Dr. Koop
Oct 10, 198955mIn this profile of the former Surgeon General, NOVA follows events as they unfold in a unique behind-the-scenes account of a man who speaks his mind on AIDS, smoking and abortion.
- S16E13
Design Wars!
Oct 17, 198955mFive architects compete for the approval of architecture-obsessed Chicagoans in the contest to build the city's new public library. NOVA looks at the strengths and weakness of each of the suprisingly varied entries.
- S16E14
Echoes of War
Oct 24, 198955mThe atomic bomb might have ended World War II, but radar was the quiet miracle that won battles. NOVA tells the little-known wartime history of radar.
- S16E15
Decoding the Book of Life
Oct 31, 198955mBiologists around the world gear up to decode the three-billion-letter genetic message that describes how humans are made. Ethicists warn that it may not be such a good idea.
- S16E16
Hurricane!
Nov 7, 198955mNOVA studies hurricanes—the lurking giants waiting to destroy many coastal areas—by flying straight into one. Scientists hope that such close-up studies will supply the data to make better predictions.
- S16E17
Will Venice Survive Its Rescue?
Nov 14, 198955mIncreasingly awash in high water, the romantic city of Venice is counting on high-tech floodgates to save it from drowning. Environmentalists worry that the gates may destroy the fragile lagoon that surrounds the city.
- S16E18
What Is Music?
Nov 21, 198955mEast and West came into direct conflict over trade and power in the 19th century. The West won. NOVA explores how Japan was later able to master Western methods, while China was not. Part three of a four part series.
- S16E19
Yellowstone's Burning Question
Dec 5, 198955mThe 1988 Yellowstone fire may have been one of the worst in human memory, but nature has had eons of experience with such events. NOVA accompanies scientists who are studying the suprisingly rapid recovery from the blaze.
- S16E20
The Schoolboys Who Cracked the Soviet Secret
Dec 12, 198955mNOVA re-enacts a classic case of classroom detection when English schoolboys track down a secret Soviet launch site. Docudrama.