Episode 1
Top Gun and Beyond
55m
Today's sophisticated fighter jets can almost fly themselves, but well-trained pilots are still needed to win air battles. NOVA looks at how planes and pilots are adapting to high technology.
Where to watch NOVA
TV series
NOVA
1974TV-PG53 seasons7.0 / 10
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.
Streaming, rental and purchase options
Where to watch in United States
Checked Sep 1, 2026
NOVA is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Hoopla, Prime Video, and YouTube TV in United States. You can also rent or buy it from Google Play, Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.
Synopsis
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.
Season 15 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 2
How to Create a Junk Food
55m
Julia Child introduces NOVA's behind-the-scenes look at how science aids in the creation of snack foods.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 3
Buried in Ice
55m
Scientists investigate the frozen remains of members of the 19th century Franklin Expedition to the Canadian Arctic and ask why all perished.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 4
Why Planes Burn
55m
Airplane fires are often deadly. NOVA looks at efforts to make fires aboard planes less likely and more survivable.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 5
Battles in the War on Cancer: A Wonder Drug on Trial
55m
In part one of a two-part special presentation, NOVA reports on the trials to determine whether the new drug Interleukin-2—the first to make use of the body's own disease-fighting strategy—will live up to its promise as a pivotal cancer breakthrough. Jane Pauley of NBC News hosts and narrates.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 6
Battles in the War on Cancer: Turning the Tide
55m
Breast cancer claims the lives of four American women every hour. Jane Pauley of NBC News hosts and narrates this NOVA report on stepped-up efforts to reduce the death rate from this all-too-common killer.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 7
The Mystery of the Master Builders
55m
Princeton professor and author Robert Mark tracks down the engineering secrets of some of the beautiful buildings in the world including Notre Dame in Paris, St. Paul in London and the Roman Pantheon.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 8
Whale Rescue
55m
It was a blustery day in December 1986, and the New England Coast was in the midst of a winter storm, accompanied by strong on-shore gales and an unusually high tide—conditions perfect for stranding whales in the confined shallows of Cape Cod. NOVA recounts this tragic episode and the happy suprise ending for the young whales who survived after being nursed back to health by the New England Aquarium in Boston.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 9
The Man Who Loved Numbers
55m
NOVA explores the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor clerk from India who astounded mathematicians in the 1910s with his brilliant insight into the world of numbers.
Episode credits
Guest stars Will Lyman, Martin Jarvis, Shankara Murthi, A. Tarcisius, Gregory Harris
Episode 10
Race for the Superconductor
55m
NOVA charts an electronics revolution in the making as Japan and the United States race to develop a material that will conduct electricity at room temperature with zero resistance.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 11
Can You Still Get Polio?
55m
Most cases of polio in this country are caused by the vaccine designed to prevent it. NOVA examines the controvery surrounding the nation's vaccine policy.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 12
Pioneers of Surgery: The Brutal Craft
55m
Part one of a four-part series on the pioneers of modern surgery relives the early days, when surgery was practiced without the benefit of anaesthesia or antisceptics and patients usually died.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 13
Pioneers of Surgery: Into the Heart
55m
Once unthinkable, open-heart surgery is now an everyday miracle. NOVA looks at the brave doctors and patients who make it possible.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 14
Pioneers of Surgery: New Organs for Old
55m
From kidneys to hearts, NOVA examines the daring attempts to replace diseased organs with transplanted ones.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 15
Pioneers of Surgery: Beyond the Knife
55m
Surgeons have always been eager to help patients, even at the risk of killing them. NOVA looks at some of the excesses of surgery, and at how new drugs and technologies are rendering some operations obsolete.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 16
Can the Vatican Save the Sistine Chapel?
55m
Science meets art in the controversial effort to restore Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel frescoes.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 17
Can the Next President Win the Space Race?
55m
Thirty years after Sputnik, the United States space program is mired in uncertainty, while the Russians, Europeans, Japanese and others sprint onward and upward.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 18
Do Scientists Cheat?
55m
NOVA examines the troubling question of scientific fraud: How prevalent is it? Who commits it? And what happens when the perpetrators are caught?
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 19
Who Shot President Kennedy?
55m
Using previously unavailable technology, NOVA probes the available evidence surrounding the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 20
The Light Stuff
55m
Reliving a Greek myth takes an effort of mythic proportions, as NOVA reveals in its behind-the-scenes report of a human powered-flight across the Aegean Sea, a journey that symbolically recreated the mythical flight of Daedalus. NOVA follows the epic journey of the human-powered plane Daedalus 88 from the early prototypes to its dramatic landing in the surf after a 74-mile flight from the island of Crete to Santorini.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 21
The All-American Bear
55m
The life of the shy, intelligent black bear in the wild—foraging, mating, playing and constantly preparing for its remarkable hibernation—is captured for the first time on film by NOVA.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 22
Can We Make a Better Doctor?
55mfinale
NOVA embarks on a 10-year project to profile—in its entirety—the education of a doctor. In the premiere episode, we follow a handful of students as they start their freshman year at Harvard Medical School under a revolutionary program emphasizing early clinical contact with patients.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode information updated Sep 2, 2026
More about NOVA
Cast
Corey JohnsonNarrator
Jay O. SandersSelf - Narrator (voice)
Demetri GoritsasNarrator
Richard SmithHost
Lance LewmanNarrator (voice)
Ted MarcouxNarrator
Peter ThomasNarrator
Brian GreeneHostProduction details
- Status
- Returning Series
- Series type
- Documentary
- Episodes
- 1,025
- Original language
- English
Networks & production
PBSUnited States
GBHUnited States
Themes
candiddramaticfactualinspirationalinstructivenature
