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Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance genius. Not only did he paint masterpieces of art, but he was an obsessive scientist and inventor, dreaming up complex machines centuries ahead of his time, including parachutes, armored tanks, hang gliders, and robots. On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, with the help of biographer Walter Isaacson, NOVA investigates the secrets of Leonardo’s success. How did his scientific curiosity, from dissections of cadavers to studies of optics, shape his genius and help him create perhaps the most famous painting of all time, the "Mona Lisa"? (Premiered November 13, 2019)

Discover the science behind Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces—and Mona Lisa's iconic smile.

Decoding da Vinci

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US, US Territories, Canada

Picture of the original construction of the Eiffel Tower

Explore the revolutionary engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark. Completed in just over two years for the 1889 World’s Fair, the iron tower smashed the record for the tallest structure on Earth, ushering in a new age of global construction that reached for the skies. How did the engineers do it? Follow the innovations, successes, and failures that made one of the most famous buildings on the planet possible. (Premiered February 14, 2024 at 9 pm on PBS)

Explore the engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark, the tallest structure of its time.

Building the Eiffel Tower

The ancient ancestors of today’s Maya people thrived in large sophisticated cities across Central America for centuries. Why, around 750 CE, did they begin to abandon many of their major cities? Archaeologists investigate dramatic new evidence of the catastrophic droughts and instability that pushed cities beyond their limits. The evidence also testifies to the survival and resilience of the Maya people, whose traditions and creativity continue to enrich the world today.

Explore ancient Maya cities and learn why their inhabitants abandoned them

Ancient Maya Metropolis

(This program is no longer streaming). Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs in a fiery global catastrophe. But we know little about how their successors, the mammals, recovered and took over the world. Now, hidden inside ordinary-looking rocks, an astonishing trove of fossils reveals a dramatic new picture of how rat-sized creatures ballooned in size and began to evolve into the vast array of species—from cheetahs to bats to whales to humans—that rule our planet today.

Amazing fossils reveal how mammals took over after an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.

Rise of the Mammals

A skeleton of a whale in a desert-like area.

In Egypt’s Sahara Desert, massive skeletons with strange skulls and gigantic teeth jut out from the sandy ground. This fossil graveyard, millions of years old, is known as the “Valley of the Whales.” Now, paleontologists have unearthed a whole new species of ancient whale dating to 43 million years ago, and this predator wasn’t just able to swim – it also had four legs and could walk. Follow scientists as they search for new clues to the winding evolutionary path of mammals that moved from the land into the sea to become the largest animals on Earth. (Premiered January 31, 2024 at 9 pm on PBS.)

Giant fossils uncovered in the Sahara Desert reveal new secrets of how whales evolved.

When Whales Could Walk

General - US & Territories

Contrary to popular belief, dinosaurs never went extinct. They’re still alive among us – in the form of birds! Birds are the only dinosaurs that survived the cataclysmic mass extinction caused by an asteroid the size of Mt. Everest crashing into Earth about 66 million years ago. The big question is: How? How did birds manage to not only live through the apocalypse, but also go on to diversify and populate every corner of our planet? Now, rare fossil discoveries are revealing the secrets of bird evolution going back more than 100 million years, telling the story of how some resilient feathered dinos persevered and transformed into the vast array of colorful bird species that fill our skies today. (Premiered February 5, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Fossils reveal how birds survived the killer asteroid and became today’s only living dinosaurs.

Dino Birds

Where do we come from? To find out, journey back to a time when multiple human species walked the earth. Discover how radical fossil finds in Morocco rewrote the history of our origins – suggesting we did not have a single birthplace, but that modern Homo sapiens emerged from a mosaic of prehistoric, early human communities. Explore the tools, language, and rituals that bound us together, and the setbacks that nearly destroyed us. (A 5-part series premiering September 17, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Trace the remarkable origin story of Homo sapiens and the crucial moments that shaped our species.

Human: Origins

NOVA revolves around a simple premise: the world of science is exciting! For NOVA viewers, science means adventure and exploration--because from ants to aliens, this weekly documentary series probes the far reaches of earth, sea and stars.  NOVA proves that science is neither secret lore nor sacred ritual but rather, at its heart, a lifelong journey of discovery.

You might sign up for a dating app to find the love of your life. But while you’re swiping, these apps are collecting all kinds of information about you. What do you they know about you? And what are they doing with your data?

You might be collecting matches, but dating apps are collecting your data.

What Dating Apps Know About You

Don’t fret – at-risk cheeses are not going to disappear instantly but they getting much harder to make.

The culprit is a lack of microbial biodiversity in the mold used to make iconic French cheeses.

These cheeses are at risk of going extinct

In California an AI tool uses more than a thousand mountaintop surveillance cameras to look for early signs of wildfires.

Firefighters are using AI to find wildfires before they explode.

How A.I. is fighting wildfires

A product you were just talking about pops up in an online ad. How? Advertising algorithms are so good that they may know what you want even before you do.

It doesn’t have to – advertisers may already have all the information they want to know about you.

Is your phone listening to you?

Invisible and mysterious, dark matter shapes the cosmos, but scientists are still trying to figure out what exactly it is.

A team of researchers hunt for dark matter deep underground in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The Deepest Underground Lab in the U.S.

Algorithms are designed to make medicine more accurate. But when race is factored in, they can worsen inequality.

Clinical algorithms are meant to guide doctors toward better care – but do they?

How Algorithms Decide Who Gets a Kidney

From the time humans arose in Africa, they have been on the move – but one species, Homo sapiens, has journeyed farther than any other. Follow in our ancestors’ footsteps as they travel the globe, and meet the mysterious hobbit-like humans they may have encountered along the way. How did Homo sapiens manage to thrive across the planet? And how did our drive to explore shape us and the world as we know it today? (Premiering September 24, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Follow Homo sapiens as they venture out of Africa and spread farther than any other human species.

Human: Journeys

Close-up of neanderthal with sun in the background

For hundreds of thousands of years, Neanderthals thrived across Europe. Then, Homo sapiens arrived. Explore the surprising encounters between these two human species, including evidence of interbreeding that has reshaped our understanding of early human history. As a brutal ice age descended, both groups were pushed to their limits. Uncover the latest archaeological and genetic breakthroughs revealing the surprising truth behind the Neanderthals' mysterious disappearance. How did Homo sapiens manage to survive and outlast our remaining human cousins? And how did our time together – written in our DNA – leave a lasting impact on us? (Premiering October 1, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Discover how Homo sapiens outlasted Neanderthals – and how they helped make us who we are today.

Human: Neanderthal Encounters

Journey back to when humans first ventured into the Americas, a world teeming with colossal megafauna and dramatic climate shifts. Witness their ingenious survival tactics against formidable predators, and uncover the mystery of ancient footprints in the desert of White Sands. See how these pioneers transformed from nomads to living in rooted communities, forever altering our world. (Premiering October 8, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Follow ancient humans’ journey into an icy and perilous new land.

Human: Into the Americas

What caused humans to stop roaming and start building? How did we transform from a tiny, fragile population of Homo sapiens into the 8 billion strong, globally interconnected species we are today? Discover pivotal moments that set humanity on a new path – toward cities and modern civilizations. What role did the domestication of plants and animals play in this transformation? And how did the invention of writing begin to reshape how we shared knowledge and organized society? From ancient temples like Göbekli Tepe in Turkey to the Egyptian Empire that built the Pyramids along the banks of the Nile, witness the birth of cities, the dawn of communication, and the inherent human drive to build, connect, and thrive against all odds. (Premiering October 15, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Discover how two revolutionary ancient inventions changed the course of humanity forever.

Human: Building Empires

Across the Arabian Desert lie colossal, enigmatic structures, some stretching for miles, visible only from the sky. Rediscovered a century ago and once believed to be defensive or ritualistic in nature, new technology is finally uncovering their true purpose and the secrets of the Stone Age people who engineered them. What were these immense, sophisticated constructions used for? Join scientists as they unearth groundbreaking clues, including evidence of a previously unknown culture and their astonishing methods for survival, revealing a monumental story etched into the very stones of the desert. (Premiering October 22 at 9 pm on PBS)

Explore mysterious 9,000-year-old Stone Age megastructures found in the Arabian Desert.

Ancient Desert Death Trap

Massive flood going through road and cars

The deadly flash floods in Texas over the 2025 Fourth of July weekend were just the latest reminder of an alarming new reality: Once-rare "superfloods" are striking with unprecedented ferocity, devastating communities around the globe. Join investigators as they piece together a moment-by-moment account of the Asheville, North Carolina disaster in 2024, when Hurricane Helene triggered flash floods and mudslides in a city 2,000 feet above sea level and more than 250 miles inland. Discover how hidden atmospheric phenomena, combined with a warming planet, are creating a new era of risk. Can science offer a lifeline to communities facing an increasingly dangerous future? (Premiering October 29, 2025)

Find out why deadly flash floods are on the rise and how we can protect ourselves from them.

Superfloods

Witness an unprecedented feat of engineering: the construction of the International Space Station, a habitable space lab hurtling around Earth at 17,000 mph. Every step of this ambitious project unfolds against the backdrop of a merciless vacuum, dangerous radiation, and extreme temperatures. Experience high-stakes drama as astronauts confront life-threatening malfunctions, including a toxic ammonia leak during a critical spacewalk. And see how each time, a combination of quick thinking and nerves of steel help the crew survive and thrive in a hostile environment – a testament to international collaboration and the relentless pursuit of scientific discovery. (Episode one of a two-part series, premiering November 5, 2025 at 9 pm on PBS)

Astronauts and Mission Control relive terrifying moments during construction of the ISS.

Operation Space Station: High-Risk Build

International Space Station floating above the Earth

Imagine a place where more than 280 people have defied Earth's gravity, risking their lives to do science 250 miles above us. Here, on the International Space Station, unexpected challenges are a daily threat, from an astronaut's helmet filling with water on a spacewalk, to the entire station spinning out of control. Witness the ingenuity, courage, and international cooperation required to overcome these life-threatening emergencies. And discover how this unique orbiting laboratory continues to push the boundaries of science, uniting humanity in a shared pursuit of knowledge beyond our planet, even as its own incredible journey approaches its fiery conclusion. (Episode two of a two-part series premieres November 12 at 9 pm on PBS.)

See how ingenuity and teamwork keep the crew alive and doing science 250 miles above Earth.

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Human: Origins

Upcoming Schedule

Human: Journeys

Human: Neanderthal Encounters

Human: Into the Americas

Episodes

Decoding da Vinci

Building the Eiffel Tower

Ancient Maya Metropolis

Rise of the Mammals

When Whales Could Walk

Dino Birds

Shorts

What Dating Apps Know About You

These cheeses are at risk of going extinct

How A.I. is fighting wildfires

Is your phone listening to you?

The Deepest Underground Lab in the U.S.

How Algorithms Decide Who Gets a Kidney

Watch Page

Hero Area

Human: Origins

Upcoming Schedule

Human: Journeys

Human: Neanderthal Encounters

Human: Into the Americas

Episodes

Decoding da Vinci

Building the Eiffel Tower

Ancient Maya Metropolis

Rise of the Mammals

When Whales Could Walk

Dino Birds

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Shorts

What Dating Apps Know About You

These cheeses are at risk of going extinct

How A.I. is fighting wildfires

Is your phone listening to you?

The Deepest Underground Lab in the U.S.

How Algorithms Decide Who Gets a Kidney