National Geographic Explorer: Science of Dogs

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

This acclaimed Emmy Award-winning anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers and featuring unforgettable stories about a unique individual, community or moment in history.

A team of scientists clambers down into the steep crater of an active volcano in central Africa, a lake of molten lava seething far below. The team's mission is to explore this deadly mountain up close to find out when and why it is likely to erupt next. the lives of half a million people living directly in its shadow are at stake. In January 2002, the ground close to the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo split open and rivers of lava swept through entire neighborhoods, killing some 100 people and leaving 120,000 homeless. The volcano towering over the city, Mount Nyiragongo, had awoken again. Now French volcanologist Jacques Durieux and his team worry that, next time, deadly lava could erupt from cracks directly under the city itself.

East of Salinas takes us to the heart of California’s “Steinbeck Country,” the Salinas Valley, to meet a bright boy and his dedicated teacher — both sons of migrant farm workers. With parents who are busy working long hours in the fields, third grader Jose Ansaldo often turns to his teacher, Oscar Ramos, for guidance. But Jose is undocumented; he was born in Mexico. Like many other migrant children, he is beginning to understand the situation — and the opportunities that may be lost to him through no fault of his own.

Three documentaries about astonishing buildings.