NOVA: Season 37

Season 37 overview

The season opens with Darwinian evolution, a failing space telescope, monitor lizards, and the fossil record of human origins. These episodes frame science as a method for explaining adaptation, ancestry, and survival.

Key story beats

  1. Darwin's Theory Revealed — A scripted drama presents the story behind the unveiling of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
  2. Hubble Faces Failure — The Hubble Space Telescope is endangered by failing gyroscopes and sensors, depleted batteries, and dead instruments.
  3. A Dangerous Rescue — A highly dangerous mission becomes the only hope of saving Hubble after an earlier rescue attempt was cancelled as too risky.
  4. Intelligent Monitor Lizards — The program examines monitor lizards, emphasizing their large size, acute intelligence, and apparent ability to plan.
  5. Selam and Human Origins — The fossil known as Selam is used to investigate early development and the split between human ancestors and chimpanzees.
  6. Turkana Boy Examined — Forensic examination of Turkana Boy explores the first skeleton that strongly resembles modern humans and the development of Homo erectus.
  7. Humanity Leaves Africa — New evidence places the roots of Homo sapiens in southern Africa roughly 200,000 years ago and suggests an earlier exodus from Africa.
  8. Investigating Dreams — Researchers investigate dreams through studies involving narcolepsy, sleepwalking, recurrent nightmares, and people who cannot dream.
  9. Genes Revisit Darwin — Research from the Galapagos Islands to the Arctic connects genetic discoveries with Darwin's insights into life's diversity.
  10. Arizona Underwater Clues — Underwater investigation at Pearl Harbor traces new clues about the sinking of the USS Arizona during World War II.
  11. Pharaoh's Ship Rebuilt — Archaeologists and boat builders reconstruct a vessel depicted at an Egyptian temple and launch it into the Red Sea.
  12. The Sphinx's Construction — Experiments investigate the techniques, labor, builders, and purposes involved in creating the Sphinx.
  13. Machu Picchu Excavations — A new generation of archaeologists probes areas of Machu Picchu that had remained untouched since the time of the Incas.
  14. Blue Hole Exploration — An interdisciplinary team enters dangerous blue holes in the Bahamas and discovers evidence connected to early human history.
  15. Pluto Reclassified — The program examines the controversy caused when Pluto was reclassified and explores why the distant icy object inspires strong public attachment.

Seasons

Interactive Features

Episode Guide

Content sources

Plot analysis generated from content on Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related entry on Wikidata (Q3071768), public domain (CC0).