Enjoy a celebration of the senses. Hearing visits the quietest place on earth, the music-rich Maori and a deaf woman regaining her hearing. Smell samples a huge spectrum of smells, from the world’s largest perfumery to sweaty t-shirts. Taste savors the miracle of great cooking and eating. Touch discovers that touching is a potent tonic. And Vision explores how art and science enhance our most magical sense. A mysterious perfume. A mouth-watering meal. An ardent kiss. A stirring song. A radiant painting. Our senses are a source of inexhaustible pleasure as well as endless information. Inspired by the bestseller A Natural History of the Senses by poet, author, adventurer and sensory epicure Diane Ackerman, Mystery of the Senses is a vivid blend of science and imagery, literature and folklore, history and personal adventure. In five one-hour programs, this special NOVA miniseries celebrates each of the five senses – hearing, smell, taste, touch and vision – through Ackerman’s unique perspective. “To really have a full ‘sense’ of life,” Ackerman insists, “we need to understand how our senses work- their purpose, range and richness- and think about how they reveal the world to us and fill us with endless pleasures.”
Grade levels: Adult
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Mystery of the Senses: Hearing
Enjoy a celebration of the senses- a vivid blend of science and imagery. Visit the quietest place on earth, the music-rich Maori and a deaf woman regaining her hearing.
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Mystery of the Senses: Touch
Enjoy a celebration of the senses-a vivid blend of science and imagery. Discover how touching is a potent tonic.
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Mystery of the Senses: Vision
Enjoy a celebration of the senses- a vivid blend of science and imagery. Explore how art and science enhance vision, our most magical sense.
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Monster of the Milky Way
Join NOVA on a mind-bending hunt for a monster lurking at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers are closing in on one of the most destructive objects in the universe – a supermassive black hole – and it’s hiding right in the center of our own galaxy. Eventually, it will blast jets of radiation millions of miles its space, incinerating everything in its neighborhood, including planet Earth. For a long time, black holes were dismissed as pure science fiction. Even Albert Einstein could not bring himself to accept them, despite pioneering the theory of relativity that predicted their existence. But recently, scientists have found convincing evidence that black holes are not only real but are crucial to the life and death of galaxies everywhere in the cosmos. From the explosive birth of a black hole to its cannibalistic death throes, NOVA investigates one of the universe’s darkest secrets. With striking special effects, Monster of the Milky Way takes viewers on a scientifically accurate voyage into the belly of a supermassive black hole. When will it erupt and destroy the Milky Way?
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Wings of Madness
A century ago, Europe’s most acclaimed celebrity was a fashionable, frail, Brazilian-born aviator named Alberto Santos-Dumont. The first to fly an airplane in Europe, he also pioneered the first practical dirigibles, or powered balloons, and his daring exploits captivated the public. A fearless test pilot and innovator, Santos-Dumont pursued a unique vision of the flying machine as a personal vehicle-he delighted in steering his airship down the Paris boulevards and dropping in at cafes and garden parties. But his burst of glory was short-lived. When the Wright Brothers finally unveiled their airplane – in France – they instantly eclipsed Santos-Dumont’s fame. Eventually, Santos-Dumont slipped into illness and despair, tormented by the knowledge that the airplane, which he believed to be his invention, had become a lethal weapon of war. Based on the acclaimed biography by Paul Hoffman, Wings of Madness tells the colorful and tragic life of this neglected pioneer and brilliant technical improviser, who cut a dashing figure in turn-of-the-century Paris.
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Family That Walks on all Fours
An intense scientific debate has ignited around an extraordinary family living in rural Turkey with five adults who walk with their feet and the palms of their hands. The five siblings were first “discovered” in 2005 by scientist Uter Tan, who created a media sensation by suggesting that the handwalkers might be “genetic throwbacks,” offering clues to our early human ancestors. Intrigued by Tan’s theory, German geneticist Stephan Mundlos is searching for a genetic mutation that could be connected to why early humans first stood upright. But many leading biologists and anthropologists believe that to view these family members as a kind of missing link is both deeply insulting and scientifically incorrect. Since walking upright has long been considered a key milestone in the story of human origins, the discovery of this family raises fascinating questions about genes, social upbringing, and the evolution of our species. Is this the anthropological find of the millennium, or simply a unique medical case? NOVA reveals the touching plight of a family whose unusual handicap has thrust them into the scientific and media spotlight.
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Origins (A Science Odyssey)
The earthquake that shatters San Francisco in 1906 opens a century of explosive discoveries and debates in the earth sciences. See the Earth through the eyes of Alfred Wegener, who struggles to convince the scientific establishment that continents move. Watch as radiodating techniques increase Earth’s estimated age – sometimes inspiring skepticism if not outrage. Meanwhile, a parallel upheaval rumbles the life sciences, where new evidence of our primate ancestors and the discovery of DNA’s structure stir up controversies of their own. Ancient fossils and living cells give up their secrets to change our view of our species and the mechanics of life.
Highlights include: Age and origins of the Earth. Volcanoes. Earthquakes. Alfred Wegener. Continental drift. Harry Hess. Plate tectonics. The Himalayas. The formation of mountains. Religion, myth, and science. Human origins. The Scopes trial. The legacy of Charles Darwin. Mutation and adaptation. Paleoanthropology. Louis and Mary Leakey. Donald Johanson and “Lucy.” Primordial soup. DNA. Origins of life. -
Descent into the Ice
Mont Blanc is one of the world’s most popular destinations for Alpine climbers and scientists: no other peak has such a long record of mountaineering and glaciology. But 200 years of winter sports, science, and tourism have done nothing to tame this mountain. The hazards generated by rock falls, ice avalanches, and sudden flooding are still poorly understood and almost impossible to control. We follow a team of daring ‘glacionauts’ as they descend into a labyrinth of unexplored ice caves to find trapped flood water that menaces the populated valleys below. Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; closed captions; and video descriptions.
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A Science Odyssey Educational Set
Includes the complete 10-hour A Science Odyssey series, plus Short Trips- a special DVD just for educators that encourages kids to think abour big ideas that impact science and society. (620 min on 6 DVDs)