NOVA: Season 45

Season 45 overview

The season opens with explorations of black holes, a solar-powered flight around the world, and ancient remains found in a Mexican underwater cave. It also revisits the rescue of Allied troops at Dunkirk and examines the limits of prediction.

Key story beats

  1. Black Hole Apocalypse — Astrophysicist and novelist Janna Levin discusses black holes and their importance to the universe.
  2. The Impossible Flight — Two pilots fly a solar-powered airplane around the world for the first time.
  3. First Face of America — The episode explores the discovery of the remains of a teenager in an underwater cave in Mexico.
  4. Great Escape at Dunkirk — The episode examines how courage and ingenuity helped save Allied troops during the 1940 Dunkirk operation.
  5. Prediction by the Numbers — Experts consider why some predictions succeed while others fail as they forecast the future.
  6. Decoding the Weather Machine — A two-hour documentary examines a changing climate, including rising heat and increasingly erratic weather, and addresses confusion around climate change.
  7. Rise of the Superstorms — The episode follows three major Atlantic hurricanes in the summer of 2017 and asks whether warming could make such storms more common and how well they can be predicted.
  8. Transplanting Hope — Transplant teams transfer organs from donors to recipients while families and researchers confront the challenges of transplantation and organ shortages.
  9. Operation Bridge Rescue — Craftsmen race to reproduce the Old Blenheim Bridge after its destruction by Hurricane Irene, while flooding threatens their worksite.
  10. Volcano on Fire — Volcano experts descend toward Nyiragongo's lava lake to deploy sensors and investigate the volcano's activity and possible future eruption.
  11. Volcano on the Brink — An international team reaches Nyamuragira by helicopter during a brief pause in civil strife to investigate its dangers and whether magma pressure is building.
  12. Addiction — People struggling with addiction share their experiences as researchers investigate addiction as a chronic, treatable medical condition.
  13. Flying Supersonic — The episode recounts the international effort to design and build Concorde and follows its legacy among innovators pursuing supersonic passenger travel.
  14. Last B-24 — Underwater archaeologists, the Department of Defense, and the Croatian Navy investigate the wreckage of a B-24 bomber located in 2010.
  15. Thai Cave Rescue — An international team of cave divers undertakes the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach, with scientific ingenuity helping make the operation possible.

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).