What do movie special effects, the stock market, and heart attacks have in common? They are connected by a revolutionary new branch of math called fractals, which changed the way we see the world and opened up a vast new territory to scientific analysis and understanding. Meet the mathematicians who developed fractals from a mere curiosity to an approach that touches nearly every branch of understanding, including the fate of our universe.
Languages: English
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Last Extinction
What killed the mammoths? Near the end of the last ice age 13,000 years ago, these mighty beasts disappeared from North America together with some 35 other groups of mammals. For four decades, debate has raged over the cause of their abrupt demise. NOVA presents an in-depth investigation of a controversial new hypothesis which suggests that a massive impact from space could be the culprit, and also explores alternate theories.
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Riddles of the Sphinx – Home Use
For 45 centuries, the Great Sphinx has cast its enigmatic gaze over Egypt’s Giza plateau. The biggest and oldest statue in a land of colossal ancient monuments, its scale is staggering: the mighty head towers as tall as the White House while its body is nearly the length of a football field. This strange half-human, half-lion image has inspired countless fantastic theories about its origins. How was it built, and who or what does it represent? Surprisingly, the scribes of the period when it was built-during Egypt’s Old Kingdom-passed over it in silence. Adding to the mystery, archaeologists found that its creators abruptly discarded their tools and abandoned the structure when it was nearly complete. Searching for clues, NOVA’s expert team of archaeologists carries out eye-opening experiments that reveal the techniques and incredible labor that was invested in the carving of this gigantic sculpture. The team also unearths new discoveries about the people who built the Sphinx and why they created such a haunting and stupendous image.
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Riddles of the Sphinx – Public Performance
For 45 centuries, the Great Sphinx has cast its enigmatic gaze over Egypt’s Giza plateau. The biggest and oldest statue in a land of colossal ancient monuments, its scale is staggering: the mighty head towers as tall as the White House while its body is nearly the length of a football field. This strange half-human, half-lion image has inspired countless fantastic theories about its origins. How was it built, and who or what does it represent? Surprisingly, the scribes of the period when it was built-during Egypt’s Old Kingdom-passed over it in silence. Adding to the mystery, archaeologists found that its creators abruptly discarded their tools and abandoned the structure when it was nearly complete. Searching for clues, NOVA’s expert team of archaeologists carries out eye-opening experiments that reveal the techniques and incredible labor that was invested in the carving of this gigantic sculpture. The team also unearths new discoveries about the people who built the Sphinx and why they created such a haunting and stupendous image.
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Ghosts of Machu Picchu – Home Use
Perched atop a mountain crest, mysteriously abandoned more than four centuries ago, Machu Picchu is the most famous archeological ruin in the Western hemisphere and an iconic symbol of the power and engineering prowess of the Inca. In the years since Machu Picchu was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, there have been countless theories about this “Lost City of the Incas,” yet it remains an enigma. Why did the Incas build it on such an inaccessible site, clinging to the steep face of a mountain? Who lived among its stone buildings, farmed its emerald green terraces, and drank from its sophisticated aqueduct system? NOVA joins a new generation of archeologists as they probe areas of Machu Picchu that haven’t been touched since the time of the Incas and unearth burials of the people who built the sacred site. Ghosts of Machu Picchu explores the extraordinary trail of clues that began on that fateful day in 1911 and continues to the present.
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Ghosts of Machu Picchu – Public Performance
Perched atop a mountain crest, mysteriously abandoned more than four centuries ago, Machu Picchu is the most famous archeological ruin in the Western hemisphere and an iconic symbol of the power and engineering prowess of the Inca. In the years since Machu Picchu was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, there have been countless theories about this “Lost City of the Incas,” yet it remains an enigma. Why did the Incas build it on such an inaccessible site, clinging to the steep face of a mountain? Who lived among its stone buildings, farmed its emerald green terraces, and drank from its sophisticated aqueduct system? NOVA joins a new generation of archeologists as they probe areas of Machu Picchu that haven’t been touched since the time of the Incas and unearth burials of the people who built the sacred site. Ghosts of Machu Picchu explores the extraordinary trail of clues that began on that fateful day in 1911 and continues to the present.
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The Pluto Files – Home Use
Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has held a warm place in the public imagination. So, when the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium stopped calling Pluto a planet, director Neil deGrasse Tyson found himself at the center of a firestorm-a firestorm led by angry, Pluto-loving elementary school students. But what is it about this cold, distant rock that captures so many hearts? NOVA joins Tyson as he follows the amazing story of its discovery and the captivating science that surrounds this former planet, including the possibility of finding more Pluto-like planets in the mysterious Kuiper belt – an area of icy rocks at the edge of the solar system. From the scientists trying to classify Pluto to die-hard “Pluto-philes,” Tyson meets a fascinating cast of characters with just one thing in common: Strong opinions about Pluto. Based on Tyson’s book of the same name, Pluto Files is an exciting and entertaining look at the solar system’s best-loved non-planet.
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The Pluto Files – Public Performance
Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has held a warm place in the public imagination. So, when the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium stopped calling Pluto a planet, director Neil deGrasse Tyson found himself at the center of a firestorm-a firestorm led by angry, Pluto-loving elementary school students. But what is it about this cold, distant rock that captures so many hearts? NOVA joins Tyson as he follows the amazing story of its discovery and the captivating science that surrounds this former planet, including the possibility of finding more Pluto-like planets in the mysterious Kuiper belt – an area of icy rocks at the edge of the solar system. From the scientists trying to classify Pluto to die-hard “Pluto-philes,” Tyson meets a fascinating cast of characters with just one thing in common: Strong opinions about Pluto. Based on Tyson’s book of the same name, Pluto Files is an exciting and entertaining look at the solar system’s best-loved non-planet.
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Mind Over Money – Home Use
In the wake of the worst financial crisis in a generation, NOVA investigates what science can tell us about the way we make crucial financial decisions. Traditional economics has little to say about our spending, saving, and investing habits except to assume that we all act rationally-a notion that seems wildly improbable in the current turmoil on Wall Street and beyond. But there’s a new breakthrough in social science-behavioral finance-that’s taking a more realistic look at our attitudes to money by bringing cognitive psychology and even neuroscience into economics. In a timely and lively exploration, NOVA’s Behavioral Economics recreates behavioral finance’s most surprising findings and compelling experiments. These include wiring up Wall Street traders so we can watch their brain scans as they buy and sell stocks, exposing a seething interplay of brain activity patterns linked to reason and emotion. Other tests show how too much consumer choice-for instance, between similar brands at a supermarket-can overwhelm our ability to make good decisions. With the help of mini-dramas following real people as they grapple with real financial decisions, Behavioral Economics shows how new theories are revealing unexpected insights into our emotions and behavior in a time of unprecedented crisis in the marketplace.