Tonight on NOVA

“Next on NOVA: NOVA scienceNOW

http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow

Tuesday, July 3 at 8PM ET/PT on PBS
Check your local listings as dates and times may vary.

Host and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson examines doomsday
asteroids, the genetics behind overeating, the quest to create a new
element, and an MIT roboticist who also writes award-winning fiction.

Asteroid
Will a doomsday rock the size of the Rose Bowl hit Earth in 2036?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/01.html

Island of Stability
Follow the decades-long quest to create the elusive element 114.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/02.html

Obesity
Examine the biology behind the compulsion to eat.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/03.html

Profile: Karl Iagnemma
An innovative MIT roboticist is also an acclaimed fiction writer.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/04.html

The journey continues on the NOVA scienceNOW Web site. Watch the
entire hour-long episode. Try out some "what-if" scenarios if an
asteroid hit the Earth today, take an "elemental" quiz, learn how the
hormone leptin affects your appetite, listen to Karl Iagnemma talk
about his secret to success, and much more.

http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow”

“Crap ... I have a rehearsal tonight!”

“Put it all together and you get a roboticist with a weight problem who is writing Science Fiction about an undiscovered element in his spare time while living on a killer asteroid with a Swedish diplomat.”

“Now that's a film I'd like to see!”

“Well, this guy 'yan-YEM-ma' is already halfway there, it would appear.”

“I watched all this yesterday. Interesting.

To me, if one is to consider the survival of humans from the impact of a killer asteroid, the best course of action is aggressive space exploration & colonization of other planets. Just think of the backpacking possibilities.”

“Valles Marinaris on Mars makes the Grand Canyon look like a crack in the sidewalk!  It's thousands of miles long and 5 times as deep.  Water might be a problem, though.

By the time we have regular trips there, we should have the technology to reduce gravity over an extremely localised area... I'm thinking of a 100 kilo pack that feels like 2,   [VBG]”

“






”

“
Next on NOVA: "Sputnik Declassified"


http://www.pbs.org/nova/sputnik

SPUTNIK DECLASSIFIED

Tuesday, November 6 at 8 p.m.
Check your local listings as dates and times may vary.
(Broadcast in High Definition where available.)

On October 4, 1957, the Space Age dawned with the red hue of the
Communist flag when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial
satellite. Sputnik I stunned the world and spurred a surge in science
education and innovation that changed our world forever. But was
Sputnik I really a shock to America's leaders, and how close was the
U.S. to getting into space first?

In "Sputnik Declassified," NOVA probes the prehistory of the Space
Age, examining what makes Earth orbit so difficult to achieve; why
the superpower rivalry in the wake of World War II made spaceflight
attainable for the first time in history; and counters the popular
view that President Dwight Eisenhower and the American science and
defense establishments were caught completely off guard.

"Sputnik Declassified" draws on previously classified documents to
tell the real story behind the opening chapter in the space race.

Here's what you'll find on the companion Web site:

Space Race Time Line
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/timeline.html
Examine turning points in the Cold War competition to
dominate space.

A Tainted Legacy
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/vonbraun.html
How should Wernher von Braun be remembered -- as a Nazi engineer
or a space visionary?

A Blow to the Nation
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/nation.html
The launch of Sputnik came as a shock to Americans long
accustomed to being number one.

Build a Rocket
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/v2.html
Learn more about how the innovative German V-2 rocket worked by
assembling it yourself.

What Satellites See
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sputnik/satellite.html
Images from near-Earth orbit can tell us a lot about our world.

Also, Links and books, a Teacher's Guide, the program transcript,
and more:

http://www.pbs.org/nova/sputnik

”

“
"Absolute Zero: the Conquest of Cold"

http://www.pbs.org/nova/zero

Tuesday, January 8 at 8 p.m.
Broadcast in High Definition where available. Check your local
listings as dates and times may vary.

Air-conditioning, refrigeration, and superconductivity are just some
of the ways technology has put cold to use. But what is cold, how do
you achieve it, and how cold can it get? NOVA explores these and
other facets of the frigid in two one-hour programs.

NOVA follows the quest for cold from the unlikely father of
air-conditioning, the 17th century court magician of King James I of
England, to today's scientists pioneering superfast computing in the
quantum chill near absolute zero -- the ultimate extreme of cold at
minus nearly 460 F.

Here's what you'll find online:

Watch the Program
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/program.html
Absolute Zero: The Conquest of Cold will be available to view
online starting January 9.

Absolute Hot
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/hot.html
Is there an opposite to absolute zero?

A Sense of Scale
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/scale.html
Travel from absolute zero to what may be the highest temperature
of all.

Milestones in Cold Research
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/research.html
From Galileo's thermoscope to a recent experiment that reached
less than a billionth of a degree above absolute zero

The Conquest of Cold
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/conquest.html
In the U.S., refrigeration played a key role in the rise of
cities -- and the final subjugation of native cultures in
the West.

Ultracold Atoms
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/atoms.html
Physicist Luis Orozco on enigmatic substances called BECs that
form just above absolute zero

How Low Can You Go?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/howlow.html
In our virtual lab, use the "cascade" process to achieve
dramatically lower temperatures.

States of Matter
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/matter.html
Adjust temperature and pressure, and watch as gases become
liquids, liquids harden into solids, and more.

A Matter of Degrees
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/degrees.html
Create your own temperature scale, then see how it compares to
those of Fahrenheit and Celsius.

Anatomy of a Refrigerator
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/refrigerator.html
You likely have one, but do you know how it works?

The Ice Trade
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/trade.html
In this game, dispatch 10 ships loaded with natural ice to
Florida, Brazil, or India. Can you make a profit?

Also, Links & Books, a Teacher's Guide, the program transcript
and more:

http://www.pbs.org/nova/zero

”

“I think I'll wear a sweater for this one.

BTW, that's a lot of viewing for one evening.”

“i saw a report last summer (i think) that there was a global conference of scientists that voted on the best developments in science of the last century...over all the vaccinations, medical procedures, and advances in technology they picked the invention of air conditioning as the one thing that helped man kind the most”

“Yeah, I think the temp in here dropped about five degrees while I was reading that,     < G >”

“Sheeyat, I'm gonna watch Obama dust the competition :)”

“where can i get a sleeping bag rated at minus 460? slumberjack? big agnes?”

“One of those NASA contractors..... Rockwell, etc.

Gots ta have an SB with that wicked gold foil on the outside and stuff.”

“Actually watched it last night. Told the 4yo "we're going to watch a show about ice."

She stayed interested through the old experiment reenactments but then said "Daddy, I thought this show was going to show people ON ice, like Disney on Ice!"

Mentioning the two laws of thermodynamics set her on a crying jag (she does have a bad filling and the dentist is on vacation so I think that's really what the cry was for).

Then Mommy got home and she said: "Daddy told me there would be a show about ice but it's about thermodynamics!"”

“LOL!”

“LOL, KiOeh!”

“Next on NOVA: "The Four-Winged Dinosaur"

http://www.pbs.org/nova/microraptor

Tuesday, February 26 at 8 p.m.
Broadcast in High Definition where available. Check your local
listings as dates and times may vary.

In 2002, the discovery of a beautiful and bizarre fossil astonished
scientists and reignited the debate over the origin of flight. With
four wings and superbly preserved feathers, the 130 million-year-old
creature was like nothing paleontologists had ever seen before.

In this program, NOVA travels to the Chinese stone quarry where the
fossil was discovered -- a famed fossil treasure-trove -- and teams
up with the world's leading figures in paleontology, biomechanics,
aerodynamics, and scientific reconstruction to perform an unorthodox
experiment: a wind tunnel flight test of a scientific replica of the
ancient oddity.

Here's what you'll find online:

Watch the Program
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/program.html
"The Four-Winged Dinosaur" will be available to view online
starting February 27.

The Producer's Story
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/producer.html
Mark Davis has been tracking the controversial case of the flying
dinosaur for almost 20 years.

Microraptor's World
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/fossils.html
See the perfectly preserved fossils of plants and animals that
lived alongside feathered dinosaurs.

Built to Fly
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/skeletons.html
Compare the anatomy of the oldest known bird and its dinosaur
cousins.

Wind Tunnel Test
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/liftdrag.html
How did Microraptor use its second pair of wings to glide? See
for yourself in this virtual experiment.

Also, a video preview, Links & Books, the Teacher's Guide, and more:

http://www.pbs.org/nova/microraptor”

“Cool thanks.”