Presents the story behind the Apollo space program, including the historic walk on the moon in 1969.

In early January 2004, two spacecraft carrying identical robotic explorers will touch down on the surface of Mars. On that day, NOVA will present a special television event that climaxes with live coverage as NASA/JPL scientists await the first critical signals confirming that the rovers have landed safely. The show features a gripping behind-the-scenes glimpse of the design, testing, and launch of the mission. The engineers face a tense deadline...

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.

A team of NASA scientists who will smash two SUV-sized rockets onto the lunar surface and unleash a debris cloud to study data that could provide the key to understanding how to build a permanent base on the moon; microbiologist Jack Griffith, who made a phenomenal discovery - the oldest known organic molecules on earth; research on an Australian songbird called the zebra finch, shedding light on the neuronal processes that lead from understanding...

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.

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.

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...

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) Magic and the Brain - Neuroscientists join Penn and Teller to explore why humans are so easily fooled by magic tricks. 2) Can Machines...

Hosted by The New York Times technology columnist David Pogue, this groundbreaking series will focus on the personal qualities that underlie the process of invention — the visionary talent, sheer luck and dogged determination that turn a wild idea into a cutting-edge material.

In Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs revealed his genius. In The Soft Machine he begins an adventure that will take us even further into the dark recesses of his imagination, a region where nothing is sacred, nothing taboo. Continuing his ferocious verbal assault on hatred, hype, poverty, war, bureaucracy, and addiction in all its forms, Burroughs gives us a surreal space odyssey through the wounded galaxies in a book only he could create.