Who were the first Americans and where did they come from? The conventional view is that they arrived here around 13,500 years ago, but startling new archaeological discoveries suggest it may have been long before that. And experts are testing contentious theories regarding how they got here, including the idea of a dangerous canoe-born voyage from Asia down the west coat of the Americas, or even across the Atlantic from Europe.
Grade levels: Adult
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Tsunami – The Wave that Shook the World (DVD)
On December 26, 2004, a series of tidal waves killed hundreds of thousands and devastated communities around the Indian Ocean. With around 100 tsunamis striking the world’s coastlines each decade, NOVA investigates what made the recent event so powerful and catastrophic. In a special report shot within days of this shocking disaster, NOVA’s Tsunami: The Wave That Shook The World presents a clear explanation and analysis of the tragedy, revealing exactly how these deadly waves were triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded this century.
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The Unknown World
They’re hiding in your closet. They’re lurking in your bed. They’re all over you–snacking on your skin, burrowing through your scalp, munching on your mascara. They’re the creepy crawlers of the unknown world, and now–thanks to micro-photographer Lennart Nilsson, who brought us The Miracle of Life–you can (shudder) catch these critters in the act, magnified to monster size.
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The World in the Balance (DVD)
It took all of human history until 1800 for the world’s population to reach its first billion. Now we add a new billion nearly every dozen years. Over the next half century, 98 percent of that growth will take place in our planet’s poorest regions. And as the global total swells to nearly 9 billion by 2050, the social and environmental strains will be enormous. Through vivid personal stories, The Population Paradox reveals many startling trends. In this groundbreaking, worldwide investigation of humanity’s future, NOVA shows how decisions made now will change the fate of everyone over the next fifty years.
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Secrets of Lost Empires Set – 1
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to five archaeological sites where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Stonehenge watches a band of experts move, raise and cap a structure like the mysterious Stonehenge– armed with Stone Age tools. Inca explores magnificent mountainside citadels– and marvels as villagers create a 150-foot suspension bridge using nothing but grass. Obelisk faces the challenge of quarrying, chiseling, hauling and mounting an obelisk— using stones, ropes, logs and dirt. Colosseum tries out two possible designs for the canopy that once covered the Colosseum– one of them borrowed from ancient ships. Pyramid joins the race to erect an 18-foot stone pyramid in three weeks– while testing out some clever construction theories.
Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators, access to the NOVA Web site, scene selections and closed captions. 300 min on 3 DVDs -
Secrets of Lost Empires – Colosseum and Stonehenge
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to an archaeological site where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Watch a band of experts move, raise, and cap a structure like the mysterious Stonehenge– armed with Stone Age tools.
Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators, access to the NOVA Web site, scene selections and closed captions. 120 min on 1 disc -
Secrets of Lost Empires – Inca
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to an archaeological site where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Explore the magnificent mountainside citadels– and marvel as villagers create a 150-foot suspension bridge using nothing but grass. Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators, access to the NOVA Web site, scene selections and closed captions.
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Great Escape
The movie “The Great Escape,” starring Steve McQueen, was based on fact – on the most daring and technically ingenious prison escape of World War II. The location was a remote, high-security internment camp for Allied airmen. Known as Stalag Luft III, the camp was at Sagan in present-day Poland. The escape emerged from a stunningly ambitious plan: Allied POWs set out to dig three tunnels more than three hundred feet long and thirty feet below ground, which they nicknamed ‘Tom,’ ‘Dick,’ and ‘Harry,’ so that if the Germans discovered one tunnel there would still be a fallback. NOVA follows a team of archaeologists on a hunt for the single surviving tunnel, ‘Dick,’ that the Germans never found. Accompanying the team was a group of three of the original escapers, who returned to the scene of their daring escapade for the first time in sixty years. The film shows the ingenious methods and devices improvised by the prisoners: how they surveyed the tunnels, disguised the entrance traps, and engineered an amazing air pump and railway system, all from materials scavenged from the camp. But when the time for the breakout came, the thrill of the escape would take an unexpected and tragic turn.
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Ancient Refuge in the Holy Land
Nearly 2,000 years ago, a dark, inhospitable cave located in a canyon near the Dead Sea was a secret refuge for Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives from the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. In 1960, archaeologists discovered dramatic letters written by Bar-Kokhba, the heroic Jewish rebel who led a guerrilla uprising against the Romans. Could the cave conceal more historical treasure from that desperate time? Armed with high-tech equipment, a new team led by archaeologist Richard Freund returns to explore a place that has intrigued the experts for decades. With the help of ingeniously improvised devices, they unearth long-lost artifacts and relics that provide tantalizing clues to turbulent times of messianic fervor, oppression, and revolt. The team’s discoveries lead Freund to a radical new theory that he hopes will rewrite Holy Land history-could the treasure concealed in the cave be a long-lost relic of the Great Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans? Join NOVA for a fascinating detective story that will immerse you in the strong currents of archaeological controversy.
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A Daring Flight
On the morning of July 25, 1909, Louis Bleriot set out on his epic flight across the English Channel, marking the first long-distance flight over water and the first air crossing of a national boundary. Bleriot’s triumph came after years of experiments with primitive flying machines and innumerable crashes-a story of perseverance and ingenuity as memorable as that of his competitors, the Wrights. A Daring Flight dramatizes Louis Bleriot’s colorful story through the present-day quest of his grandson to relive his family heritage and repeat the heroic cross-channel flight-a quest that will prove both dangerous and elusive.