Some five centuries ago, a major revolution overturned traditional ship designs. In just a few years, ships were transformed from small coastal-bound transports into massive ocean-going vessels capable of long-distance exploration. These designs were crucial to launching Europe's age of imperial expansion and colonial exploitation, toppling the indigenous civilizations of the New World and spreading pandemics.

Episodes include: Dog genius; Creative dolphins; Octopus & cuttlefish; and Profile - Irene Pepperberg and her talking parrot, Alex.

Follows impact scientists in the days after the meteor flashed across the sky over Russia's Ural Mountains in February 2013, as they hunt for debris and try to determine the meteor's origin.

Presents the eruption of the Philippines' Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, the largest volcanic eruption in 80 years.

Numbering no more than a few thousand, tiny groups of intrepid humans began to move out of Africa, eventually dominating the planet. How did these early humans acquire the skills, technology, and talent to thrive in every environment on Earth? Take a global journey through the past, following the ancestors' footsteps out of Africa along a trail of scientific clues to help unravel the mystery of how humans got where they are.

Discusses each of the five senses, hearing, smell, taste, touch and vision, through Diane Ackerman's perspective.

Mars Curiosity. It could be NASA's last chance to set wheels down on Mars until the end of the decade: last August, a rover named Curiosity touched down inside Mars' Gale Crater, carrying 10 new instruments that will advance the quest for signs that Mars might have once been suitable for life. But Curiosity's mission is risky. After parachuting through the Martian atmosphere at twice the speed of sound, Curiosity will be gently lowered to the planet's...

Rockets are becoming cheaper and more powerful than before thanks to new technologies. As companies make space more accessible and NASA returns to crewed spaceflight, a new era of space exploration seems to be on the horizon. But will this seeming rocket Renaissance become just more than hype? NOVA explores the latest rocket technologies and the growing role private citizens may have in space.

In a new age of information, rapid innovation, and globalization, how can children be prepared to compete? Discover how the new science of learning can help reimagine the future of education for all children.

NOVA's expert team looks for the signature of a volcanic eruption big enough to have blasted a huge cloud of ash and sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. Killer Volcanoes spotlights the search for the mystery volcano that plunged the globe into a deep freeze and inflicted famine on medieval Europe.