Chicken Feathers

NOVA
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

When you heat chicken feathers to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, they become over 200 times more absorbent and can hold hydrogen even without high pressure.

NOVA Image

Putting Energy to Use Old
2m 14s
Air Date: 10/08/12 | Rating: NR

Society has been revolutionized by our ability to convert energy from one form to another.

NOVA Image

Solving the Storage Problem
2m 26s
Air Date: 10/25/12 | Rating: NR

Finding better ways to store electricity is critical for a sustainable energy future.

NOVA Image

Electromagnetic Spectrum
44s
Air Date: 02/28/13 | Rating: TV-G

Satellites use portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that are invisible to our eyes.

NOVA Image

CHNOPS: Ingredients for Life
2m 36s
Air Date: 03/12/13 | Rating: NR

The basic building blocks for life are made of just six elements.

NOVA Image

Rare Earth Elements
4m 17s
Air Date: 04/01/13 | Rating: NR

David Pogue learns about rare earth elements.

NOVA Image

Flu Probabilities
1m 53s
Air Date: 04/16/13 | Rating: NR

What is the chance a new flu strain will jump from birds to people?

NOVA Image

Fertilizing the Amazon
3m 27s
Air Date: 04/21/13 | Rating: NR

Nutrient-rich dust from the Saharan Desert blows across the ocean to the Amazon.

NOVA Image

How the 1918 Flu Infected People
25s
Air Date: 05/13/13 | Rating: NR

The 1918 flu virus infects deep in the lungs, which may have made it more deadly.

NOVA Image

What Made the 1918 Flu So Deadly?
1m 28s
Air Date: 05/13/13 | Rating: NR

The 1918 flu killed at least 50 million people, more than died from battle in World War I.

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_01
35s
Air Date: 05/28/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_01

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_02
31s
Air Date: 05/28/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_02

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_03
1m 41s
Air Date: 05/29/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_03

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_04
1m 43s
Air Date: 05/29/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_04

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_05
1m 4s
Air Date: 05/29/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_05

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_06
40s
Air Date: 05/29/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_06

NOVA Image

CloudLab_Megastorm_07
3m 7s
Air Date: 05/29/13 | Rating: NR

CloudLab_Megastorm_07

NOVA Image

Life on Europa?
2m 25s
Air Date: 06/09/13 | Rating: NR

Europa’s icy surface may cover a salty ocean. Could life lurk in the depths?

NOVA Image

The Making of a Cloud Old
3m 10s
Air Date: 06/30/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

Why So Many Cloud Types?
3m 35s
Air Date: 06/30/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

Clouds and Weather
3m 21s
Air Date: 06/30/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

Severe Storms
3m 37s
Air Date: 06/30/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

The Climate Wild Card
3m 2s
Air Date: 06/30/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

Chemotherapy Goes Small
1m 17s
Air Date: 07/01/13 | Rating: NR

Scientists are using nanoparticles to make more effective chemotherapy treatments.

NOVA Image

sandy-raw-1-2
4s
Air Date: 07/08/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

sandy-raw-5-1
1m 2s
Air Date: 07/08/13 | Rating: NR

Visit NOVA Labs: pbs.org/nova/labs

NOVA Image

Starling 8
44s
Air Date: 07/15/13 | Rating: NR

David Pogue checks out swarming robots.

NOVA Image

Wheat Straw Plastic
1m 4s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

A car company is reducing petroleum use by using wheat straw in their plastic.

NOVA Image

Solar Leaves
53s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

These solar "leaves" can produce more electricity than traditional solar panels.

NOVA Image

Battle Jacket
1m 49s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

This self-sealing material prevents fuel tanks from leaking if they're shot.

NOVA Image

Oobleck
40s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

Non-newtonian fluids are like a liquid and solid in one.

NOVA Image

Magnetic Oobleck
54s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

This fluid becomes more like a solid when a magnetic field is applied.

NOVA Image

Life-Saving Non-Newtonian Fluids
1m 43s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

These materials are used in shock absorbers and to make buildings earthquake resistant.

NOVA Image

Silicon Transistors
50s
Air Date: 08/29/13 | Rating: NR

Silicon is a semiconductor, and makes an excellent transistor in a computer chip.

NOVA Image

Shrinking Chips
1m 6s
Air Date: 09/05/13 | Rating: NR

Silicon transistors allow engineers to shrink a transistor to the size of a few atoms.

NOVA Image

Pizza Transistor
1m 34s
Air Date: 09/05/13 | Rating: NR

Researchers are using nano-wires to cram more transitors into a computer chip.

NOVA Image

Graphene
1m 11s
Air Date: 09/05/13 | Rating: NR

A sheet of graphene one atom thick still conducts electricity.

NOVA Image

Shape Memory Alloys
32s
Air Date: 09/08/13 | Rating: NR

These metals "remember" their original shape and revert to it when heated.

NOVA Image

Jellyfish
38s
Air Date: 09/08/13 | Rating: NR

These buoys can move through the ocean for months with little more than a battery.

NOVA Image

Bird Wings
1m 56s
Air Date: 09/08/13 | Rating: NR

Some day shape memory alloys could help build airplane wings that bend.

NOVA Image

Invisibility Cloak
1m 22s
Air Date: 09/24/13 | Rating: NR

Researchers are bending microwaves to make an invisibility cloak device from radar.

NOVA Image

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
3m 36s
Air Date: 10/07/13 | Rating: NR

Neuroscientists are beginning to understand what happens when a person receives a concussi

NOVA Image

Eye Robot
1m 51s
Air Date: 10/10/13 | Rating: NR

Researchers guide this non-mechanical microrobot through the eye using external magnetics.

NOVA Image

Corkscrew Robot
32s
Air Date: 10/10/13 | Rating: NR

Researchers designed a tiny corkscrew tail for this robot.

NOVA Image

Slow Goldfish
1m 39s
Air Date: 10/10/13 | Rating: NR

Seeing the goldfish in glycerin shows how water feels to a tiny robot.

NOVA Image

Bee Toxin
1m 31s
Air Date: 10/10/13 | Rating: NR

The microscopic nanodevices are designed to carry the bee toxin safely through the body.

NOVA Image

Sneak Peek: Making Stuff Faster
5m 6s
Air Date: 10/15/13 | Rating: NR

David Pogue learns the secrets to running faster.

NOVA Image

David’s Race
1m 28s
Air Date: 10/15/13 | Rating: NR

What has UPS built into its trip-route algorithm to cut fuel and reduced carbon emissions?

NOVA Image

Steffen’s Plan
1m 59s
Air Date: 10/15/13 | Rating: NR

Steffen's plan cut down on boarding time by over 50 percent.

NOVA Image

Traveling Salesman
1m 21s
Air Date: 10/15/13 | Rating: NR

Just 25 drop-off points means more than 15 trillion, trillion possible routes.

NOVA Image

New York City One Year Later: Telecommunications
3m 14s
Air Date: 10/16/13 | Rating: NR

After Sandy nearly wiped out landlines in lower Manhattan, Verizon rebuilds its network.

NOVA Image

Pitcher Plant
1m 48s
Air Date: 10/17/13 | Rating: NR

This pitcher plant-inspired nonstick technology can be used for anti-icing coatings.

NOVA Image

SLIPS
1m 1s
Air Date: 10/17/13 | Rating: NR

The pitchers' tube-shaped leaves have microscopic bumps that hold a thin layer of water.

NOVA Image

Hagfish
51s
Air Date: 10/17/13 | Rating: NR

Researchers are interested in the eel-like hagfish, which produces a slimey goo.

NOVA Image

Hagfish Defense
1m 36s
Air Date: 10/17/13 | Rating: NR

The hagfish protects itself by releasing a mass of slime that chokes the predator.

NOVA Image

Slime Clothes
1m
Air Date: 10/17/13 | Rating: NR

The mucin molecule is made up of a protein backbone with side chains of sugar.

NOVA Image

Virus Battery
2m 21s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Belcher has genetically engineered a virus to get its coat to bond with tiny metal bits.

NOVA Image

Robot Arm
56s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Clunky metal robotic arms can be dangerous for humans to work near.

NOVA Image

Elephant Arm
1m 22s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

The arm is controlled by inflating an accordion-like tube on one side to bend the arm.

NOVA Image

FinGripper
55s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Festo designed its FinGripper based on the movements of a fish tail.

NOVA Image

Sail Wing
1m 2s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Sailboats can actually fly faster than the speed of the wind in their wings.

NOVA Image

Hydrofoil
1m 1s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

The hydrofoil blade at the bottom of the keel is curved.

NOVA Image

Chicken Feathers
1m 56s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

When you heat chicken feathers to 750 degrees F they become over 200 times more absorbent.

NOVA Image

KillaCycle
48s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Lithium batteries hold more energy because smaller atoms allow more flowing electrons.

NOVA Image

How Batteries Work
49s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

To create an electricity-powered vehicle, you need a battery that holds enough energy.

NOVA Image

Muon Detection
1m 52s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

When the muons hit denser material, they are deflected and their angle changes.

NOVA Image

Muons
1m 25s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Early nuclear detectors couldn't pick-up radioactive emissions shielded by lead or steel.

NOVA Image

Plants White
2m 11s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Lead researcher June Medford says her lab programmed the plants by taking control of their

NOVA Image

DNA Patch
1m 19s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

The patch is made up of thin polymer films embedded with a DNA vaccine.

NOVA Image

DNA Vaccine
38s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

For DNA vaccines, researchers extract the particular genes that code for anitgen.

NOVA Image

Earthquake Test
2m 3s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

By retrofitting this building with strong wooden beams that have a bit of give, researcher

NOVA Image

David Drives
1m 27s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Researchers measure a driver's brain activity responding to different driving situations.

NOVA Image

Shelley
2m 7s
Air Date: 10/19/13 | Rating: NR

Self-driving cars use multiple technologies to “see” the road and obstacles along the way.

NOVA Image

Swarming Robots
1m 31s
Air Date: 10/21/13 | Rating: TV-PG

These swarming robots could help us in the future with search and rescue.

NOVA Image

Sneak Peek: Making Stuff Wilder
6m 14s
Air Date: 10/21/13 | Rating: TV-PG

Host David Pogue learns how hagfish slime might be used in the clothing of the future.

NOVA Image

Levitation
50s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: TV-PG

When things get REALLY cold, the laws of physics appear to change.

NOVA Image

Superconductor
1m 47s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: TV-PG

Using helium to cool superconductor electricity lines can greatly reduce energy lost.

NOVA Image

Animal Robot 1
2m 35s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: TV-PG

For the last few years, Raibert has been applying what he's learned to solve a problem.

NOVA Image

Animal Robot 2
2m 2s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: NR

Petman has evolved into Atlas, which has even more mobility.

NOVA Image

Therapeutic Hypothermia
1m 11s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: NR

Some patients previously thought dead have been revived with little brain damage.

NOVA Image

Therapeutic Hypothermia 2
1m 7s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: TV-PG

The procedure that saved her life is called therapeutic hypothermia.

NOVA Image

Therapeutic Hypothermia 3
1m 43s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: TV-PG

They survived because they were able to shut off their body's demand for oxygen.

NOVA Image

Therapeutic Hypothermia 4
2m 1s
Air Date: 10/24/13 | Rating: NR

This innovation could revolutionize ER medicine and save thousands of lives.

NOVA Image

Soft-Story Buildings
7m 36s
Air Date: 11/13/13 | Rating: NR

Engineers are working to prevent buildings from collapsing during earthquakes.

NOVA Image

GM Plants
1m 27s
Air Date: 11/15/13 | Rating: NR

Genetically modified plants.

NOVA Image

Non-Newtonian Gel
1m
Air Date: 11/15/13 | Rating: NR

Non-Newtonian Gel.

NOVA Image

Microneedle
1m 41s
Air Date: 12/30/13 | Rating: NR

The microneedle could save millions of lives around the world.

NOVA Image

How Solar Cells Work
33s
Air Date: 02/26/14 | Rating: NR

Go inside a silicon-based solar cell.

NOVA Image

Solar Power’s Promise
51s
Air Date: 02/26/14 | Rating: NR

Solar power is the poster child for transforming our energy system.

NOVA Image

Cockatoo Excerpt
1m 30s
Air Date: 04/08/14 | Rating: NR

Cockatoo solves lock puzzle

NOVA Image

Dogs’ Sense of Time
1m 28s
Air Date: 04/13/14 | Rating: NR

Dogs' keen sense of smell seems to help them measure the passing of time.

NOVA Image

RNAi Explained
1m 47s
Air Date: 04/22/14 | Rating: NR

An immune response recently discovered in plants and some animals is called RNAi.

NOVA Image

Dolphin Mirror
3m 18s
Air Date: 04/22/14 | Rating: TV-G

Research suggests that dolphins can recognize themselves in the mirror.

NOVA Image

Flatfish Larvae
51s
Air Date: 05/06/14 | Rating: NR

Flatfish larvae require light to swim upright.

NOVA Image

Formation of a Typhoon
1m 34s
Air Date: 06/25/14 | Rating: TV-PG

Formation of a Typhoon

NOVA Image

The Mother of Hubble
2m 28s
Air Date: 04/14/15 | Rating: TV-G

Astronomer Nancy Roman worked on Hubble's design and development for more than 25 years.

NOVA Image

Lethal Seas Excerpt 1
4m 11s
Air Date: 05/12/15 | Rating: TV-PG

Lethal Seas Excerpt 1

NOVA Image

Lethal Seas Excerpt 2
1m
Air Date: 05/12/15 | Rating: TV-PG

Lethal Seas Excerpt 2

NOVA Image

Lethal Seas Excerpt 3
35s
Air Date: 05/12/15 | Rating: TV-PG

Lethal Seas Excerpt 3

NOVA Image

Lethal Seas Excerpt 4
51s
Air Date: 05/12/15 | Rating: TV-PG

Lethal Seas Excerpt 4

NOVA Image

Monument Rocks 1
1m 18s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Monument Rocks.

NOVA Image

Monument Rocks 2
1m 48s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Monument Rocks.

NOVA Image

Exuma Cays 1
1m 26s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Exuma Cays.

NOVA Image

Exuma Cays 3
28s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Exuma Cays.

NOVA Image

Exuma Cays 4
3m 22s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Exuma Cays.

NOVA Image

Gooseberry Falls 1
57s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Gooseberry Falls.

NOVA Image

Gooseberry Falls 2
24s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Gooseberry Falls.

NOVA Image

Gooseberry Falls 3
1m 6s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Gooseberry Falls.

NOVA Image

Gooseberry Falls 4
1m 1s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Gooseberry Falls.

NOVA Image

Mount Kilauea
1m 30s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores Mount Kilauea.

NOVA Image

Grand Canyon 1
1m 19s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores the Grand Canyon.

NOVA Image

Grand Canyon 2
1m 5s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores the Grand Canyon.

NOVA Image

Grand Canyon 3
58s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores the Grand Canyon.

NOVA Image

Grand Canyon 4
19s
Air Date: 08/02/15 | Rating: NR

This video explores the Grand Canyon.

NOVA Image

Rock Time Capsules
1m 18s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

This place is a paradise for geologists and one of our national treasures. It is, of cour

NOVA Image

The Sandstone Top of the Canyon
1m 15s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

This is not the easiest thing to do—especially in a 100 degree heat—but it’s worth it.

NOVA Image

Fossil-Filled Limestone
54s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

340 million years ago, a warm shallow sea covered all of the American Southwest.

NOVA Image

The Grand Canyon’s Oldest Rocks
19s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

“This rock is more than 4000 feet below the rim of the canyon."

NOVA Image

From Lava to Land
2m 14s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: NR

So how did North America and its fellow continents get started?

NOVA Image

Semi-Precious Pebbles
57s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: NR

Where you find agates, volcanoes—the source of the gas bubbles—are usually not far way.

NOVA Image

Five Steps of Volcanic Rock
26s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: NR

These falls are the record of a series of volcanic eruptions that happened in this area.

NOVA Image

Tearing North America Apart
1m 1s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: NR

A map of the Midwest of the United States shows the distribution of basalt flows.

NOVA Image

Fossilized Sand Dunes
1m 15s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

This is Zion Canyon. Its 2000-foot sandstone cliffs are among the tallest of their kind.

NOVA Image

Volcanoes of Sand
1m 33s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

What we found were strangely regular circles in the sandstone.

NOVA Image

Rockies 2.0
2m
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

But why is it that these layers that were once horizontal are now standing on their heads?

NOVA Image

Manhattan Schist
1m 13s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

All over the city you can see outcrops of bedrock. It’s called Manhattan schist.

NOVA Image

From Mud to Rock
1m 36s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: TV-G

It’s the tough Manhattan schist rock that’s allowed the city’s skyscrapers to soar.

NOVA Image

Manhattan Skyline
52s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

It's actually the geology that gives this very American city its very particular look.

NOVA Image

New York’s Mountains
1m 13s
Air Date: 10/21/15 | Rating: TV-G

Today these steel and concrete giants dominate New York’s skyline.

NOVA Image

Finding Stromatolites
1m 23s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

We’re looking for one of the oldest organisms on our planet.

NOVA Image

Stromatolites Were Kings
1m 5s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

When the sand is swept away the stromatolites are vulnerable to the seaweeds.

NOVA Image

A Fourteen-Foot Fish From Kansas
1m 38s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

14-foot-long fish in Kansas? Name me a living 14-foot fish.

NOVA Image

Hell Creek Formation
1m 10s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

These are the North Dakota Badlands… thousands of square miles of arid gullies and buttes.

NOVA Image

No Dinosaurs Above the Line
2m
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

Tyler Lyson is a paleontologist who’s been digging up dinosaur fossils in these badlands.

NOVA Image

Mammal Survivors
1m 40s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

This amazing fossil leaf just popped out of this rock.

NOVA Image

Dinosaur Fossils
1m 53s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

In an empty corner of Utah lies a very special landscape.

NOVA Image

King of Gore
2m
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

When you put flesh on the bones of Lythronax, it looks a lot like T. rex.

NOVA Image

Driving Dinosaur Diversity
1m 47s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

So what is it with all this diversity?

NOVA Image

Pangea
56s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

The rocks here in Zion bear witness to a traumatic phase in our continent’s history.

NOVA Image

Making Granite From Volcanic Rock
2m 16s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

It would take dramatic transformations to turn volcanic islands into the first continents.

NOVA Image

A Massive Volcanic Eruption
1m 14s
Air Date: 10/22/15 | Rating: NR

This rock is what remains from one of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever.

NOVA Image

Treasures Metals Eiffel Tower
2m 9s
Air Date: 12/09/16 | Rating: NR

An excerpt from "Treasures of the Earth: Metals"

NOVA Image

Secrets of the Sky Tombs
28s
Air Date: 01/04/17

Evidence discovered in the world’s highest tombs reveals ancient rituals and beliefs.

Become a PBS KVIE member and watch your favorite PBS programs from any device.

Become a Sponsor