X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Nova Season 18 Episodes

19 Episodes 1991 - 1991

Episode 1

Return to Mt. St. Helens

Tue, Jan 8, 1991

NOVA returns to Mount St. Helens a decade after its cataclysmic eruption to learn how nature is recovering from the disaster.

Where to Watch

Episode 2

Con-Fusion in a Jar

Tue, Jan 15, 1991

An experiment that could mean limitless supplies of energy sets the scientific world on its head. NOVA covers the cold fusion controversy.

Where to Watch

Episode 3

The Chip vs. the Chessmaster

Tue, Mar 26, 199160 mins

Will machines be able to beat us at our own game? The computer chess champ matches wits with the human world titleholder.

Where to Watch

Episode 4

The Hunt for China's Dinosaurs (1)

Tue, Feb 5, 1991

NOVA covers the most elaborate expedition ever undertaken in the search for dinosaurs - to China's Gobi desert. Paleontologists brave sandstorms, heat and worse to find their fossils.

Where to Watch

Episode 5

Case of the Flying Dinosaur (2)

Tue, Feb 12, 1991

Are dinosaurs still among us? NOVA looks at the contentious question of whether present-day birds are dinosaurs. Over the years, new fossil discoveries keep amending the answer.

Where to Watch

Episode 6

T. Rex Exposed

Tue, Feb 19, 1991

Tyrannosaurus rex, the terrifying kind of the dinos, recently turned up in a nearly complete skeleton in Montana. NOVA follows the dig to extract the bones and looks at the science and lore of dinosaurs in general.

Where to Watch

Episode 7

Russian Right Stuff: The Invisible Spaceman

Tue, Feb 26, 1991

In the first program of a three-part miniseries on the Soviet space program, NOVA profiles the mysterious genius behind the world's first satellite, the first man to orbit the earth and other early Russian triumphs in space.

Where to Watch

Episode 8

Russian Right Stuff: The Dark Side of the Moon

Wed, Feb 27, 1991

NOVA reveals the details of Moscow's secret plan to reach the moon ahead of the Americans. Was Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" almost upstaged?

Where to Watch

Episode 9

Russian Right Stuff: The Mission

Thu, Feb 28, 1991

In an unprecedented insider's look, NOVA covers the training, flight and recovery of a cosmonaut crew that visits the Soviet space station Mir. Unexpected emergencies show that space travel is still far from routine.

Where to Watch

Episode 10

Swimming with Whales

Tue, Mar 5, 1991

Gregory Peck narrates a scientific voyage around Vancouver Island in search of whales. Humpbacks, Killers, Grays and other whale species make their appearance in spectacular, never-before-seen footage both above and below the waves.

Where to Watch

Episode 11

Sex, Lies and Toupee Tape

Tue, Oct 1, 1991

NOVA covers the causes and attempted cures of baldness. Some men take pride in their bald heads; others will go to great lengths to cover up. Alan "Douglas Brackman" Rachins of NBC's LA Law hosts.

Where to Watch

Episode 12

So You Want to Be a Doctor?

Tue, Oct 8, 1991

NOVA follows seven aspiring doctors through 4 years of medical school. The first examination, the anatomy lab, the first death, the first baby -it's all part of becoming a doctor. Neil Patrick Harris, star of ABC's Doogie Howser, MD hosts.

Where to Watch

Episode 13

Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Tue, Oct 15, 1991

Forty years after they were discovered, the Dead Sea Scrolls have yet to be published in their entirety. NOVA looks at the laborious-some say scandalous-process of compiling and releasing this religious treasure.

Where to Watch

Episode 14

Suicide Mission to Chernobyl

Tue, Oct 22, 1991

The sarcophagus is the giant structure that contains the nuclear reactor that melted down at Chernobyl in 1986. Now, scientists and researchers are attempting to open the sarcophagus to see just how bad the damage really is. This is considered a suicide mission because the reactor is still unstable and could explode at any time.

Where to Watch

Episode 15

Taller Than Everest?

Tue, Nov 5, 1991

The tallest mountain in the world? Think again - cartographers had to when satellite date revealed a peak called "K2" might be the real champ. Which is the world's tallest mountain?

Where to Watch

Episode 16

Fastest Planes in the Sky

Tue, Nov 12, 1991

The fastest machines in the sky are going to be slow stuff when the latest speed demons on the drawing board take to the air. NOVA looks at the intoxicating lure to fly even faster.

Where to Watch

Episode 17

Avoiding the Surgeon's Knife

Tue, Dec 3, 1991

NOVA follows the efforts of four participants in a celebrated California study to unblock arteries without using drugs or surgery before their heart disease becomes fatal.

Where to Watch

Episode 18

Skyscraper! A NOVA Special

Tue, Dec 10, 1991

This 80-minute NOVA pledge special chronicles the building of the Worldwide Plaza, 47-story office tower in midtown Manhattan, from a hole in the ground to a 770-foot skyscraper.

Where to Watch

Episode 19

The Fine Art of Faking It

Tue, Dec 17, 1991

Science comes to the aid of art. Museums now employ scientists to find forgeries and give insight into the process of artist creation. Richard Dreyfuss narrates.

Where to Watch