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The Story of Information

   2012    Science
Professor Jim Al-Khalili investigates one of the most important concepts in the world today - information. He discovers how we harnessed the power of symbols, everything from the first alphabet to the electric telegraph through to the modern digital age. But on this journey he learns that information isn't just about human communication, it's woven very profoundly into the fabric of reality.
Series: Order and Disorder

CyberWar Threat

   2015    Technology
The global cyberwar is heating up and the stakes are no longer limited to the virtual world of computers. Now, thanks in part to secret documents released by Edward Snowden, the true scale of the National Security Agency's scope and power is coming to light. Besides spending billions of dollars to ingest and analyze the worlds' electronic communications, the NSA has set out to dominate a new battlefield—cyberspace. We examine the science and technology behind cyber warfare and asks if we are already in the midst of a deadly new arms race". Already, highly sophisticated, stealthy computer programs such as the notorious Stuxnet worm can take over and even destroy the control systems that regulate everything from food factories to gas pipelines, power plants, and chemical facilities—even our cars. While the destruction of Iranian centrifuges may have delayed Iran’s bomb program and forestalled an Israeli attack, the attack has opened a Pandora's Box, and now America's own critical infrastructure is vulnerable to retaliation and attack. With leading defense experts and investigative journalists who have probed the murky realm of criminal and strategic hacking, NOVA examines the chilling new reality of cyberwar in which no nation or individual is safe from attack.

Wings 2of2

   2014    Nature
It's a universal dream To soar on wings into the heavens. But it's nothing compared to the reality. Experience our planet as never before: Through the eyes of birds. This is a journey that will embrace the world. A flight across the earth on feathered wings. It's a fantastic voyage following the changing seasons and taking in some of the greatest events on Earth.
Experience a year in the life of our planet from the lush tropics to the frozen North and catch a glimpse of our world as never before: From a bird's-eye view.
Series: Wings

Return

   2013    History
With optional Hebrew subtitles. Simon Schama's history of the Jewish experience ends with an examination of how the Holocaust and the creation of Israel have fundamentally changed what it means to be Jewish. Mixing personal recollection with epic history, Simon tells the story of the remarkable personalities and unprecedented events which turned the Zionist dream of creating a modern state of Israel into reality - and the consequences for the world. With contributions from writer David Grossman, photographer Micha Bar-Am, kibbutz founder Freddie Kahan, West Bank settler Zvi Cooper and Palestinian villager Yacoub Odeh. This film explores the tension between the high ideals and dire necessities that led to the creation of a Jewish homeland and the realities of conflict, dispossession and occupation that have followed in its wake.
Series: The Story of the Jews

Why Do We Lie

   2015    Culture
We all agree lying is shameful. Yet we still deliberately deceive each other constantly. Are our brains wired for lying from a young age? The brains of pathological liars may provide insights. Will technology make it easier for us to be dishonest, or could it someday instantly reveal someone is lying? Perhaps we are deceitful because our limited senses prevent us from seeing the real truth. Scientists say our own memories deceive us, and have managed to implant false memories. Other scientists look for ultimate truth in the subatomic world … only to end up turning reality on its head.
Series: Through the Wormhole Season 6

Can We Make Life

   2018    Medicine
'It's alive!' Since Dr. Frankenstein spoke those famous words, we've been alternately enthralled and terrified by the idea of creating life in the lab. Now, a revolution in genetic engineering and thrilling innovations in synthetic biology are bringing that dream—or nightmare, as the case may be—closer to reality. New tools allow researchers to use cells to create their own DNA and edit it into existing genomes with more ease and less cost than ever before.
Along with renewed hopes for treating some genetic diseases, there's serious talk of using the newest technologies to bring long-extinct animals back from the dead – like the team hoping to resurrect the woolly mammoth. Science fiction is quickly becoming science fact. Another daring genetic experiment to bioengineer animals could prevent Lyme disease. But the power to make life comes with deep ethical questions. What are the potential rewards—and dangers—of tinkering with nature? This films explores the benefits and the burden of risk surrounding the controversial new technology.
Series: Nova Wonders