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Nova scienceNow Season 4 Episodes
Season 4 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2009 - 2009
Episode 1
Episode 1 - Diamond Factory
Tue, Jun 30, 2009 57 mins
The season opener examines artificial diamonds that are indistinguishable from the real "girl's best friend"; how researchers determined the source of the anthrax used in the 2001 anthrax attacks; the pitch-correction software Auto-Tune. Also: a profile of computer scientist Luis von Ahn (Carnegie Mellon), who trains computers using games and developed ReCAPTCHA to decipher unidentified words in digitalized books.
Episode 2
Episode 2 - Autism Genes
Tue, Jul 7, 2009 57 mins
The search for Earth-like planets using the Kepler telescope; neurologist Rudy Tanzi's efforts to discover the cause of autism; whether a computer can identify a forged painting; biologist Maydianne Andrade's studies of the Australian redback spider (the female eats the male after mating).
Episode 3
Episode 3 - Rocket Scientist Franklin Chang-Diaz
Tue, Jul 14, 2009 57 mins
Drugs that may aid children with muscular dystrophy; the northern lights. Also: paleontologist George Poinar, who's discovered clues about parasitic pandemics that may have decimated the dinosaurs; rocket scientist-astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz.
Episode 4
Episode 4 - Capturing Carbon
Tue, Jul 21, 2009 57 mins
The sense of taste; synthetic trees that can cleanse the air of carbon dioxide; what the study of walruses and sea lions reveals about the evolutionary roots of human language. Also: medical engineer Sangeeta Bhatia, the director for multi-scale regenerative technology at MIT, is profiled.
Episode 5
Episode 5 - Climate Scientist Lonnie Thompson
Tue, Jul 28, 2009 57 mins
A team of NASA scientists who are studying how to build a permanent base on the moon; the role that the zebra finch, an Australian songbird, played in understanding the neuronal processes behind sound. Also: microbiologist Jack Griffith, who discovered the oldest known organic molecules on Earth; climate scientist Lonnie Thompson.
Episode 6
Episode 6 - Algae Fuel
Tue, Aug 18, 2009 57 mins
The implications of personal genetic profiles, which predict the likelihood of people contracting serious diseases; a Texas algae farm where researchers work to turn algae into biofuel; Gakkel Ridge, which lies deep beneath the Arctic Ocean. Also: roboticist Yoky Matsuoka is profiled.
Episode 7
Episode 7 - Saving Hubble
Tue, Aug 25, 2009 57 mins
The 2009 mission to repair the Hubble space telescope, which required intensive spacewalks; the whys of the cowbird, which lays its eggs in other birds' nests. Also: a profile of Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon who illegally entered the U.S. in 1987 in search of farm work; and the story of Henry Molaison, who suffered severe short-term memory impairment after having part of his brain removed during an experimental procedure to stop severe epileptic seizures.
Episode 8
Episode 8 - Earthquakes in the Midwest
Tue, Sep 1, 2009 57 mins
How and why earthquakes occur in the heartland; the role sleep plays in memories and learning; paleontologist Jonathan Bloch's search for the pre-primate missing link. Also: South Korean geophysicist Sang-Mook Lee, who is paralyzed from the neck down, is profiled.
