Birth of Planet Earth

Follows a trail of energy into the power centers of the universe. Each program visualizes these realms based on current scientific data and uses state of the art supercomputer simulations. Dive into the heart of a supermassive black hole, fly down onto the toxic landscapes of alien planets and ride along the roiling surface of a star that's about to explode!

Some believe Mars is the next home for Humanity. But the real "red planet" is a trickster; strikingly beautiful, yet sweetly sinister. Even as a growing armada of instruments arrive, this small cold world conceals its secrets. This film merges the mythic and the scientific to show that Mars may not be what we imagine. Settlers beware: the Red Planet may change us as much as we change it.

Since its launch 25 Years ago, the Hubble Telescope has returned images of unprecedented beauty of a dynamic and changing universe. By looking closely at these images, Hubble's Enduring Legacy reveals the findings of astronomers over its remarkable 25 Year history.

Travel to the edge of space and beyond to discover natures ultimate abyss black holes. Explore where they are found, how they begin, and how it may be possible to harness and use the power they produce. In Monster Black Holes, scientists steadily piece together the complex dynamics of a black holes birth and are also examine the growth of a select few black holes to super massive proportions that dominate the centers of galaxies. As a monster black hole swallows everything in its path, it generates energy that shapes the universe around it in powerful ways. Journey into the heart of a black hole and explore what happens to matter when it falls into a black hole, and whether the Milky Way galaxy will one day come to an end when the black hole at the galaxy's center explodes.

What can the giant planet Jupiter tell us about the birth of our solar system five billion years ago? Drawing on new findings from NASA's Juno mission, scientists are peering into Jupiter's stormy heart to reveal the very origins of our solar system: a chaotic early time when smaller planets were flung space or sent into shattering collisions, and the fate of planet Earth hung in the balance.

Cutting-edge stories about the origins of the universe, black holes, exploding stars, the search for ET life, and the nature of the planets. How did the universe begin? Where will it end? Are there other worlds like Earth?

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.

The remarkable synergy between biology and technology is blurring the line between man and machine. We are at a critical juncture in our evolution: as technology continues to progress, humans are becoming more machine-like and machines are becoming more human. With striking 3D animation and special effects, Beyond Human joins inventors, scientists and philosophers for an unprecedented voyage into the future of bioengineering and robots.

“Faster Than Light” explores the longstanding quest to develop spacecraft with enough power and speed to reach the stars. The film asks: What will it take to reach a newly discovered planet circling our Sun’s nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri? Based on real science and engineering, “Faster Than Light” takes audiences on a thrilling journey into the future, aboard laser-driven space sails, antimatter engines, and even warp drive – right out of science fiction. “Who can say how far, and how fast, our technology will one day take us?” said director Thomas Lucas.

The search for planets beyond our solar system has brought an historic discovery: a planet slightly larger than Earth orbiting a star called Proxima Centauri. At just over 40 trillion kilometers from the Sun, Proxima Centauri is our closest stellar neighbor. Does its planet have a climate, or even life?

Billions of years ago, Venus may have harbored life-giving habitats similar to those on the early Earth. Today, Earth's twin is a planet knocked upside down and turned inside out. Its burned-out surface is a global fossil of volcanic destruction, shrouded in a dense, toxic atmosphere. Scientists are now unveiling daring new strategies to search for clues from a time when the planet was alive.

Follow a group of researchers traveling to Darin Island determined to track sharks and learn their migration patterns. To do so, they must strategically place tracking devices on the beasts, which proves to not always be easy. Dangerous currents intervene and the sharks can deliver bone-crushing swipes with their tails. Find out how the sharks and scientists fare! Distributed by XiveTV.

The causes and consequences of solar weather.

Uncover clues about the origins of our galaxy with a team of astronomers and scientists as they strive to locate a strange presence hidden deep in the core of the galaxy. Learn how this mysterious realm harbors clues to the origin of the world and probes the future course of our galaxy and universe.

A fleet of high-tech telescopes, led by the NASA and ESA Hubble Space Telescope, has delivered an unprecedented chain of discoveries about how galaxies like the Milky Way took shape, how stars live and die, the influence of black holes, and the birth of the planets and the solar system. In this new age of astronomy, scientists are testing topics from the origin of life to Einstein's theories.