NOVA Season 23, Episode 13: Plague Fighters

Anastasia Dead or Alive?

Investigate the massacre of Tsar Nicholas and his family, and evaluate whether modern science has resolved the mystery surrounding Princess Anastasia.

55 min

Venus Unveiled

Venus reveals its true face, recorded in detail for the first time by the radar spacecraft Magellan. Our next-door planetary neighbor turns out to be one of the most bizarre places in the solar system.

55 min

Hawaii Born of Fire

From their blistering beginnings as molten rock, the Hawiian islands have grown into a verdant paradise of unique lifeforms.

55 min

The Doomsday Asteroid

Is there an asteroid or comet out there with our name on it? NOVA scans the skies and the geological record on Earth, for evidence that giant rocks from outer space have struck before and will eventually plow into our planet again.

55 min

Lightning!

55 min

Hunt for the Serial Arsonist

In the spring of 1991, a rash of suspicious store fires in Los Angeles set fire investigators on the trail of a serial arsonist. Using ingenious techniques to "read" burn patterns and reconstruct the chain of events at each fire, the team uncovered a crucial clue—a fingerprint on a crude incendiary device. Eight months later, the team closed in on their chief suspect and revealed the shocking truth behind his identity. A classic scientific detective story with a final twist that will keep viewers guessing until the end.

55 min

Treasures of the Great Barrier Reef

Recording sights that will astonish even experienced divers, NOVA documents an extraordinary day in the life of the largest coral reef in the world, capturing for the first time the annual spawning of coral and other unusual creatures of the reef.

55 min

Race to Catch a Buckyball

55 min

Can Buildings Make You Sick?

A search for the causes of Sick Building Syndrome. Experts look at various problem buildings, inspecting their air conditioning, lights and carpets for clues to the mysterious maladies afflicting the workers inside.

55 min

Terror in the Mine Fields

55 min

The Day the Earth Shook

55 min

B-29 Frozen in Time

Travel on a perilous mission to repair and refly a rare B-29 bomber stranded on a Greenland icecap for almost 50 years.Gleaming like a jewel this well preserved bomber from World War II rests on the Arctic tundra where it was abandoned when it crash landed in 1947. This plane has long been a legend and now facing incredible hardship a team of adventurers struggle to bring the frozen warbird back to life.NOVA follows bold pilot Darryl Greenamyer and his team on two expeditions to revive Kee Bird and make it fly again in one of the most isolated and harshest environments on Earth. Despite severe weather illness and difficulties with the shuttle plane in 1994 Greenamyer returns in May 1995 with a larger crew a more reliable shuttle plane and a new plan to bring Kee Bird back to life and back home.

55 min

War Machines of Tomorrow

55 min

Kidnapped by U.F.O.'s?

Carl Sagan and other scientists investigate claims that people have been visited or abducted by aliens.

55 min

Flood!

The Great Flood of 1993 leaves a wake of destruction across the Midwest. Can rivers ever be contained?

55 min

Dr. Spock the Baby Doc

55 min

Warriors of the Amazon

Explore the unique culture of the Yanomami, an isolated tribe living deep in the Amazonian rainforest.

55 min

Bombing of America

Bombing is on the rise across the United States. But science is fighting back. Hidden within the chaos of a crime scene lie clues that can solve the case. Can science help stop the "Bombing of America"?

55 min