Nova Season 28 Episodes

Episode 1

Sultan's Lost Treasure

Tue, Jan 16, 2001

NOVA follows a French-led expedition to recover thousands of porcelain and other artifacts from a centuries-old Chinese shipwreck off the coast of Brunei.

Episode 2

Vanished!

Tue, Jan 30, 200160 mins

NOVA investigates the mysterious disappearance -and, half a century later, reappearance- of Stardust, a civilian aircraft that crashed in the Andes in 1947.

Episode 3

Nazi Prison Escape

Tue, Feb 6, 2001

NOVA documents a series of spectacular escape attempts made at Colditz Castle, the Nazi's most impregnable prison.

Episode 4

Lost King of the Maya

Tue, Feb 13, 200155 mins

NOVA follows the work of archaeologists who are using new excavations and hieroglyphic translations to interpret the early history of Copán, a Classic Maya site in northern Honduras.

Episode 5

Cancer Warrior

Tue, Feb 27, 2001

NOVA follows the odyssey of surgeon-turned-researcher Dr. Judah Folkman, who, together with colleagues at Children's Hospital in Boston, has spent over 30 years searching for ways to curb cancer by cutting off blood flow to tumors.

Episode 6

Survivor M.D.: Tattooed Doctor

Tue, Mar 27, 2001

Episode 7

Survivor M.D.: Second Opinions

Tue, Apr 3, 2001

Episode 8

Survivor M.D.: Hearts & Minds

Tue, Apr 10, 2001

Episode 9

Cracking the Code of Life

Tue, Apr 17, 2001120 mins

The effort to decipher the 3-billion-letter human genome is one of the biggest stories in the history of science. In this collaborative production with WGBH's NOVA, host Robert Krulwich of ABC's Nightline follows the highly-publicized race between two teams-The Human Genome Project and Craig Venter's Celera-to accomplish this monumental deciphering, and then moves beyond that milestone to consider the profound medical and social implications it will bring.

Episode 10

Harvest of Fear

Tue, Apr 24, 2001120 mins

FRONTLINE and NOVA explore the intensifying debate over genetically-modified (gm) food crops. This two-hour report presents both sides of the debate, exploring the risks and benefits, the hopes and fears, of this new technology.

Episode 11

Search for a Safe Cigarette

Tue, Oct 2, 2001

NOVA gains unprecedented access to tobacco research and manufacturing facilities and asks the question: Can science help create a safer cigarette?

Episode 12

18 Ways to Make a Baby

Tue, Oct 9, 2001

Ever since the birth in 1978 of Louise Brown, the first baby conceived outside the womb, the science of assisted reproduction has burgeoned beyond belief. NOVA investigates this brave new world and what's to come.

Episode 13

Secrets of the Mind

Tue, Oct 23, 2001

Graham Young has a condition called "blindsight" that allows him to "see" things others can't see. Derek Steen and James Peacock are amputees with "phantom limb syndrome", which causes each of them to feel pain in a missing arm. John Sharon is an epileptic whose seizures give him overwhelming spiritual feelings, and sometimes even delude him into believing he is God. David Silvera suffers from a rare condition called the capgras delusion, which causes him to believe that his parents are impostors, his home is an exact duplicate of the real thing and even that he is a copy of his real self. Dr. V.S. Ramachandran, a neuroscientist, has investigated these cases and explains to the viewer what neuroscience can tell us about them and what these rare brain conditions can tell us about the normal brain.

Episode 14

Sex: Unknown

Tue, Oct 30, 2001

Many babies are born inter-sex with genitals that did not fully develop in the womb. In such situations, most doctors quickly move to operate in an effort to "fix" the child. NOVA delves into the complex world of gender identity.

Episode 15

Russia's Nuclear Warriors

Tue, Nov 6, 2001

NOVA chronicles the extraordinary lives of Russia's roketchiki, the missile-men who stand ready to push the nuclear button at a special command from Moscow.

Episode 16

Bioterror

Sun, Nov 11, 200190 mins

NOVA follows three New York Times reporters as they delve into the murky past of bio-weapons research and grapple with the current threat of anthrax and other attacks.

Episode 17

Life's Greatest Miracle

Tue, Nov 20, 2001

Sequel to "Miracle of Life" Trace human development from embryo to newborn through the stunning microimagery of photographer Lennart Nilsson. John Lithgow narrates.

Episode 18

Methuselah Tree

Tue, Dec 11, 2001

Ten thousand feet up in California's White Mountains lives the oldest living thing on Earth. It is a bristlecone pine that was around when the Egyptian Pyramids were built.

Episode 19

Flying Casanovas

Tue, Dec 25, 2001

When a naturalist first found small thatched huts in the rain forest of New Guinea in the late 19th century, he thought they were homes of an unknown tribe of pygmies. NOVA leads viewers into this little-known world of avian architecture.