Explore Science Wednesdays!
Theme Wednesdays!
Starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, settle in for an evening of discovery as Nature, NOVA, NOVASciencenow and others explore related themes!
July 8: Apes and More
7 p.m. – Nature: The Gorilla King
King among the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, Titus is one of only 700 of his kind alive today. Dian Fossey, the famed primatologist, was his first human contact, meeting and naming him in August of 1974, when he was just two days old. In the decades that followed, his surroundings have changed beyond recognition, and he has been orphaned, abandoned, surrounded by civil war, poachers, farmers, scientists, disease and new technology.
8 p.m. – NOVA: Ape Genius
The great apes - which include chimps, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos - seem to have rich emotional lives similar to our own. But just how smart are these animals? A new generation of investigators is revealing the secret mental lives of great apes; our evolutionary next-of-kin are turning out to be far smarter than most experts ever imagined.
9 p.m. – NOVAscienceNow: How Smart Are Animals?
How well can we understand what’s going on in the brains of non-human animals? Do our pets — like dogs — have the same feelings we do? How smart are animals really? Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts.
July 13: Marine Life
7 p.m. – Nature: Oceans in Glass
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is recognized as one of the most significant and spectacular aquariums in the world. Instead of exhibiting collections of animals, the aquarium presents entire habitats, virtual slices of ocean that include 30,000 animals and plants. But how does an aquarium work? There is one animal in particular whose presence is drawing attention – a great white shark.
8 p.m. – NOVA: Kings of Camouflage
Cuttlefish are some of the strangest animals on the planet. These shape-shifting creatures can hypnotize their prey, impersonate the opposite sex and even kill with lightning fast speed. More accomplished masters of disguise than any chameleon, they have a remarkable ability to change their skin color - even their shape - to blend into most any background.
9 p.m. – Jean Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures
Jean-Michel Cousteau travels with his son and daughter, Fabien and Celine, and team to the high Arctic to discover why some beluga groups are thriving and others are disappearing.
July 20: Ancient Civilizations
7 p.m. – Secrets of the Dead: Lost in the Amazon
A modern day quest to find the truth behind one of exploration's greatest mysteries: What happened to famed adventurer Col. Percy Fawcett who went looking for a city of gold — the Lost City of "Z" — in the Amazon in 1925 and disappeared in the jungles of Brazil forever? The myth becomes reality!
8 p.m. – NOVA: The Great Inca Rebellion
The first NOVA/National Geographic Television special goes to an impoverished suburb of Lima, Peru, to excavate an ancient cemetery crammed with mummies. In a truly startling find, some corpses differ from all the rest. The forensic evidence may be a decisive clue that helps explain a long-standing mystery about the Spanish conquest of Peru in 1532.
9 p.m. – Secrets of the Dead: Aztec Massacre
Throughout recent times, historians have believed that when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Aztec territory in the 15th century, they were welcomed as returning light-skinned gods by the Aztecs, who put up little resistance to their conquest. But now, a new find outside of Mexico City is turning history on its head.
July 27: Dinosaurs and Friends
7 p.m. – NOVA: Lizard Kings
Though they may look like dragons and inspire stories of man-eating, fire-spitting monsters with long claws, razor-sharp teeth and muscular, whip-like tails, these creatures are actually monitor lizards, the largest lizards to walk the planet. And even though these bizarre reptiles haven't changed all that much since the dinosaurs, they are a successful species.
8 p.m. – NOVA: Arctic Dinosaurs
How is it that dinosaurs managed to survive and even thrive in the gloom of the dark and frigid polar regions? This is one of today's most intriguing, little-known enigmas in paleontology. Now, a unique field expedition, covered exclusively by NOVA, will set out for Alaska's North Slope to defrost a jackpot of new fossil clues.
9 p.m. – American Experience: Dinosaur Wars
In the summer of 1868, paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh boarded a Union Pacific train for a sightseeing excursion through the heart of the newly opened American West. While most passengers simply saw magnificent landscapes, Marsh soon realized he was traveling through the greatest dinosaur burial ground of all time.