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Psychologists and brain scientists have new answers to the age-old question of what dreams are.

A look at the fate of Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and Hobbits as modern humans colonized the world.

A look at Turkana Boy, one of the earliest skeletons to really look human. Also explored are the development of characteristics more uniquely human, such as longer childhoods and long-distance running.

An investigation of the clues left behind by the earliest ancestors in Africa, which includes a complete fossil known as Lucy's Child.

Dr. Eric Pianka tracks monitor lizards across Australia.

A look at the mission to service, for the last time, the Hubble Space Telescope.

A docudrama covering the events which led Charles Darwin to publish On the Origin of Species.

In collaboration with National Geographic, NOVA follows the exploits of acclaimed photojournalist James Balog and a scientific team as they deploy time-lapse cameras in risky, remote locations in the Alps and Arctic, including Alaska and Greenland. Grappling with blizzards, fickle technology, and climbs up craggy precipices, the team must anchor cameras capable of withstanding subzero temperatures and winds up to 170 miles per hour. In this high-action scientific adventure, NOVA and National Geographic investigate the mystery of the mighty ice sheets, whose still-unknown behavior will affect the fate of coastlines around the world.

Scientists explore the precise cyclical way in which the rat population explodes every half-century in a remote bamboo forest of India.

A look inside our National Security Agency, the security organization which intercepts our communications, including its supposed failures before 9/11 and its new eavesdropping system since. It also examines whether their practices are too broad and its load of unusable information just may drown out the critical information. Also featured are interviews with former FBI, CIA and NSA officials.

A look at the annual journey made by the monarch butterflies to the remote mountain areas in central Mexico. Included is a look at their inborn GPS system which directs them to their destination each year. Plus, interviews and insights from butterfly experts Lincoln Brower, Bill Calvert and Orley "Chip" Taylor.

An examination of California's alternative-energy efforts which eco-celebrities Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye helped bring forth. Includes Luscious Garage in San Francisco, which makes custom made hybrid cars; and the wind turbines of Tehachapi Valley. Also, whether their efforts can be sustained during the economic downturn.

NASA has been sending up Mars rovers on missions for years now, with earthbound scientists controlling their paths where they have found subsurface ice and discuss whether the evidence points to past or present life on the Red Planet. Includes theories which may explain why Mars has become such an inhospitable planet, and why the North and South hemispheres are so different.

A trip to Sausalito, CA. and the Marine Mammal Center, to view the work of the veterinarians who treat injured ocean animals. Includes: how Dr. Frances Gulland, the clinic director of veterinary science, discovered a new neurological illness affecting the seas lions in California and harbor seal pups. Then, Gulland travels to Oahu, Hawaii, to work on Hawaiian monk seals, an endangered species. Also, a look how humans impacty the sea life.

A look at the early beginnings of Judaism and Old Testament which uses archeological evidence and literary research to learn of the monotheism and ancient Israelites, which includes where they came from and who they were. With the use of digital animation sequences and reenactments accenting this work along with interviews with biblical archeologists, as do the finds, which includes a carving of the Hebrew alphabet and evidence of the existence of the "House of David."

An investigation of the discovered remains of a hobbit-sized people on the Indonesian island of Flores, which is believed to be around 18,000 years old. Scientists will check to see if these remains are from an previously unknown branch of human species, or that of a malformed person.

An exploration of a field of mathematics which is based on the intricate patterns found in nature, art, science and even the beating of a human heart, known as fractal geometry.

Mark Oliver Everett, lead singer of the Eels investigates the father he hardly knows: quantum physicist Hugh Everett III (1930-82), who formulated Many Worlds Theory (which postulated the existence of parallel worlds) back in 1957. Hardly noticed back in his time, the theory is now embraced by science fiction and scientists. His son discovers that this rejection caused Hugh Everett III to turn his back on quantum physics.

An exploration in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia tragedy, with interviews from NASA engineer Rodney Rocha, flight director Leroy Cain, astronauts and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board members. Also, a detailed look at the history of the space shuttle program and the design changes made which may have played a role in both the Challenger and Columbia explosions and a look at what lays ahead for the program.

An investigative look in Alaska where the scientists delve 60 feet into the permafrost, to examine how dinosaurs handled the Arctic climate over 65 million years earlier. Included is a look at the dinosaur's diet, and reasons on why they may have become extinct.

Biologist E.O. Wilson is profiled in the episode featuring his study in ants and sociobiology.

The story of a group of women in Ethiopia who are treated as pariahs because a an illness which they were born with, obstetric fistula (a condition since childhood which causes incontinence). The women make their way to Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital for treatments.

The hosts of Car Talk Tom and Ray Magliozzi are hunting for a new car to replace Tom's 1952 MG roadster. They head to at Detroit's North American International Auto Show and Boston's AltWheels Festival to seek out the future of the automobile talk with engineers working on environmentally friendly technologies and question a Detroit auto executive. Also included is a look at hydrogen-fuel cells, ethanol, and lithium-ion batteries

The story of how experts deciphered the hieroglyphs of the ancient people who lived in the area of Southern Mexico and Central America known as the Mayans.

Complete skeletons of the Thylacoleo, marsupial lions which have been extinct for some 30,000 to 50,000 years now, are found during an expedition in a cavern located in the Australian outback. Also, the remains of a giant kangaroo are discovered.

A 350-million year old fossil was found in a Chinese stone quarry that may have been a missing link between dinosaurs and birds. The four winged, pigeon sized creature, dubbed the Microraptor, is examined.

An investigation concerning the great apes intellectual abilities which include bonbos, chimps, gorillas, and orangutans, plus a look at why the ape culture has yet to evolve. Includes an experiment comparing toddlers and chimpanzees, film of apes in their natural habitats and the surprising way they act, from the holding of a pool party to a mother grieving for her dead offspring.

A look back at the plan to militarize space between the USA and USSR back during the Cold War era. Interviews from astronauts who were involved in the top secret American program, plus, a look at the Soviet "Almaz" spy station, which featured high-powered spy cameras and a cannon which could knock a satellite out of commission.

A look into the restoration of the Parthenon by the Greek government, dating back 25 centuries as secrets are revealed of how the temple was built. Includes remarks from Acropolis Restoration Project architect Manolis Korres; University of Florida art history professor Barbara Barletta; University of Bath architecture and civil engineering lecturer Mark Wilson Jones; and University of Pennsylvania Greco-Roman architecture expert Lothar Haselberger.

In the conclusion of the battle to control cold temperatures, a look at a new form of matter near absolute zero.

Part 1 of 2. The battle to control cold temperatures is documented. Included: a primitive air-conditioning system for Westminster Abbey in the 17th century; frozen food.

The Korean War air battles between the American F-86 Sabre and the Soviet MiG-15 are recalled via archival footage, comments from American and Soviet pilots and dramatic reconstructions. Also: the efforts of American families to learn what happened to loved ones shot down over enemy territory.

Driven by drought, termites invade the huts and granaries of the Mofu, a Cameroon tribe that relies on fierce dragon-shaped army ants to subdue the termites. Included: footage of the resulting termite-ant war.

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, a 2005 federal law suit that successfully challenged the mention of intelligent design in a Dover, Pa., public-school ninth-grade science class as a violation of church-state division, is recalled. Included: trial reenactments; comments from participants, including parents, scientists, teachers and town officials.

The early years of the space race are recalled, including the Soviet launch of the Sputnik I satellite on Oct. 4, 1957; the failed U.S. attempt to launch a satellite eight weeks later; and the contributions to the American space program by Wernher von Braun, who had led Nazi Germany's rocket program. Also: comments from the National Air and Space Museum's Roger Launius and Michael Neufeld; and National Reconnaissance Office historian emeritus R. Cargill Hall.

Thirteen novices, ranging in age from 22 to 60, train nine months for the Boston Marathon. The group includes a former smoker, a heart-attack survivor and an overweight woman, and receives support from three-time Boston Marathon winner Uta Pippig and Donald Megerle, director of Tufts' annual President's Marathon Challenge. Included: comments from Timothy Noakes, a University of Cape Town sports-medicine expert; and Harvard bioanthropologist Daniel Lieberman.

An examination of the gatekeeper role played by the epigenome, which can shape everything from whether people develop diseases to whether they are fat or slim by turning on and off specific genes. Also: how a person's habits---good and bad---may affect future generations.

The science behind samurai swords is explored. Included: the six-month creation process of one sword, from smelting to the sharpening of the blade; a Japanese receptionist whose interest in samurai swords maintains a family tradition. Also: Lehigh University professor Michael Notis explains what makes the sword an effective weapon.

A look at how environment may affect DNA, turning on and off specific genes; the “Kryptos” sculpture at CIA headquarters, which contains coded messages; homemaker-turned-paleontologist Mary Schweitzer, who discovered spongy tissue in a 68 million-year-old T. rex; Duke mathematics and physics professor Arlie Petters, who is working to prove the “braneworld” theory of gravity, which posits that there are five dimensions (four spatial, plus time).

Sleep's link to learning and memory is examined in visits to research labs at Harvard, MIT and Penn; the Large Hadron Collider, a 16-mile-long particle accelerator nearing completion at the international particle-physics lab CERN in Geneva; the phenomenon of emergence (coordinated mass movement, such as a flock of birds or a school of fish); University of Oregon archaeologist Julie Schablitsky on Chinese railroad laborers in Oregon.

An examination of how human remains found at an ancient cemetery near Lima, Peru, coupled with forensic science and historical documents, may upend the accepted story that a small band of Spanish conquistadors brought down the Inca Empire by ambushing the Incan emperor and his army in 1532. Included: comments from Peruvian archaeologist Guillermo Cock and ethnohistorian Maria Rostworowski; the conquistadors' reliance on Native American mercenaries.

An expedition into a cavern located in the Australian outback finds complete skeletons of the Thylacoleo, a marsupial lion that died out some 30,000 to 50,000 years ago; and the remains of a giant kangaroo.

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Follow one man's quest to engineer a submarine with panoramic views.

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson investigates mass extinction, the killer 1918 flu virus, high-tech ways to read ancient papyrus, and an MIT roboticist who designs sociable robots.

Experts explore the mysterious story of five siblings living in a remote Turkish village.

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An examination of the worst accident in civil aviation history, a March 1977 collision between two 747s on a foggy runway in Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands) that resulted in the deaths of 583 people. Included: what led to the tragedy; and insights from survivors, including co-pilot Robert Bragg and flight attendant Joan Jackson. Also: a look at improvements in runway safety since, featuring comments from NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker.

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Detailing some of the structural reasons for the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings, employing computer animation and 9/11 footage to explain a National Institute for Standards and Technology report on the subject. Included: proposals to revise American building codes, such as increasing the width of stairways. Also: WTC lead engineer Leslie Robertson leads a tour of a complex on which he is working, the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center.

The discovery that the sunlight reaching Earth is dimming and the implications that has for global climate change, is examined. Included: how researchers used the days after 9/11, when aircraft were grounded in the U.S., to study how plane vapor trails affect the atmosphere; and how less pollution in the atmosphere may have the unintended consequence of accelerating global warming.

A chronicle of the cooperative effort by NASA and the European Space Agency to send two probes, Cassini and Huygens, to study Saturn and its moon Titan. The project involves the orbit of Cassini around the sixth planet from the sun; and Huygens' landing on Titan, which is one of four astral bodies in the solar system that has an atmosphere.

Teams from around the world enter the Darpa Grand Challenge, a contest for robotic, driver-less vehicles.

An intriguing look back at two attempts to discover a route from Europe to the Pacific through the maze of islands in Arctic Canada, one that led to tragedy and one that was a success. In 1845 British explorer John Franklin led a 129-man expedition using two retrofitted warships. The men were never heard from again. In 1903, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen set sail using a much-lighter ship and a seven-man crew. Two years later he came out the other side, proving the voyage was possible.

Scientists' efforts to identify and understand neutrinos, unseen building blocks of the universe, are chronicled, beginning in 1930 with Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli's observations about a decaying radioactive atomic nucleus. Included are comments from astrophysicist John Bahcall, who calculated the sun's theoretical neutrino output during the 1960s; and Nobel Prize winner Raymond Davis Jr., who built a neutrino trap in a South Dakota gold mine.

David Attenborough hosts this fascinating examination of the prehistoric creatures found inside amber, a fossilized tree resin that often holds perfectly preserved insects. Using an amber specimen given to him as a youth, he uncovers information about what the Baltic region of northern Europe was like 40 million years ago. He also investigates amber found in the Dominican Republic, including one piece that holds a honeypot ant from 150 million years ago.

Two murder cases that date to the Iron Age (more than 2000 years ago) are investigated upon the discovery of two well-preserved bodies in Irish peat bogs. The 18-month investigation uses CAT scans and hair and radiocarbon analysis in an attempt to learn how the men lived and why they died.

A team of experts seeks to determine what causes the deaths of mountain climbers at extreme altitudes. Filmed on Alaska's Mount McKinley. Included: the dangers of hyperthermia and hypothermia; scenes of daring rescues and emergency treatments during the climbing season.

The top stories of 2005 highlight this edition of "scienceNOW." Included: a possible 10th planet; advances in stem-cell research; the threat of a flu pandemic. Also: a look at the ivory-billed woodpecker; updates on the relationship between hurricanes and global warming; a profile of cancer researcher Tyler Curiel.

This episode unravels the history of a mummy that was part of a Niagara Falls Museum display, with evidence pointing toward it being the body of a pharaoh: Rameses I.

The first hint (its crossed arms) to its origins was spotted in the 1960s, but it wasn't until 1998, when Emory University purchased the display, that the mummy was a serious study topic, including CT scans.

An exploration of the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina details failures of levees and disaster-relief planning; why the city was unprepared; and what made Katrina so powerful. Also examined are the challenges involved in rebuilding the city.

Sir Isaac Newton, the eccentric genius who helped define modern science, was also an obsessive alchemist.

An expedition to the bottom of Norway's Lake Tinn illuminates Nazi Germany's nuclear ambitions.

A restless mountain threatens a bustling metropolis perched on its flanks.

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The story behind the world's most famous equation, E = mc²

The tragic WWII story of the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built.

What unleashed a catastrophic flood that scarred thousands of square miles in the American Northwest?

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In the second installment of NOVA's innovative science magazine show, host Robert Krulwich looks into things small and large, from the promise and peril of stem-cell research to a new addition to the human family tree, from frozen frogs that freeze solid in winter to the gigantism of T. rex. The episode also profiles "nanoshell" inventor Naomi Halas of Rice University.

Experts reconstruct the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in an effort to prepare for the next big one.

In 1909, Louis Blériot undertakes a heroic first-ever flight across the English Channel.

Restorers take on the preservation of the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

Is the Vinland Map a priceless depiction of the New World made before Columbus's voyage or a 20th-century fake?

Correspondent Robert Krulwich hosts this new magazine-style series, airing five times a year. Topics covered in this first episode include mirror neurons, hurricanes, "swarm"-robot pioneer James McLurkin, and booming sand dunes.

Engineers, pilots, and others who knew Concorde tell its remarkable story.

Who perpetrated Piltdown Man, the greatest scientific fraud of the 20th century?

Two rovers roaming the surface of Mars find proof that it was once awash in water.

Israel's remote Cave of Letters holds clues to a Jewish uprising against the Romans.

Experts dig into World War II's most daring and technically ingenious prison break.

Who were the first Americans, and where did they come from?

Examine the complex case of Typhoid Mary, a cook who was quarantined for life against her will in the early 1900s.

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Journey back to the beginning of everything: the universe, Earth, and life itself.

Can the U.S. military's high-tech weaponry prevail against insurgents?

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NOVA investigates forces that are radically changing populations in both rich and poor nations, and explores how to create a world that can sustain the human race.

Tornado-chasing scientists with an eye to better forecasting risk their lives to plumb the secrets of nature's most terrifying killer.

An American combat hospital mobilized in Iraq faces a daily drama of wartime treatment.

One of the most exhaustive investigations in aviation history reveals telling clues to the cause of a disaster off Nova Scotia.

A team of "glacionauts" ventures into a labyrinth of unexplored and hazardous glacier caves on France's Mt. Blanc.

How and why did man's best friend evolve from wolves, and why are dogs so remarkably diverse today?

Rare lemurs and crocodiles with bizarre cave-dwelling behavior draw scientists to a remote corner of Madagascar.

NASA gambles on two rovers sent to determine if the red planet ever had conditions suitable for life.

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Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran, an eloquent neuroscientist, is fascinated by patients who have unusual abilities or defects in the way they perceive the world. These include such puzzling phenomena as the phantom pain experienced in a missing, amputated limb, or the inability to recognize a familiar face following a stroke. From these strange cases, Ramachandran is building a novel vision of how the brain works. In "Secrets of the Mind," NOVA dramatizes the intimate stories of Ramachandran's encounters with his extraordinary patients.

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