NOVA - Season 15

NOVA - Season 15

Season 15

Network
DatesJan 19, 1988 - Apr 5, 1988
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Episodes

Top Gun and Beyond
Season 15Episode 160 min

Top Gun and Beyond

Today's sophisticated fighter jets can almost fly themselves, but well-trained pilots are still needed to win air battles. NOVA looks at how planes and pilots are adapting to high technology.

Jan 19, 1988
How to Create a Junk Food
Season 15Episode 1260 min

How to Create a Junk Food

Julia Child introduces NOVA's behind-the-scenes look at how science aids in the creation of snack foods.
Jan 26, 1988
Buried in Ice
Season 15Episode 1360 min

Buried in Ice

Scientists investigate the frozen remains of members of the 19th century Franklin Expedition to the Canadian Arctic and ask why all perished.
Feb 2, 1988
Why Planes Burn
Season 15Episode 1460 min

Why Planes Burn

Airplane fires are often deadly. NOVA looks at efforts to make fires aboard planes less likely and more survivable.
Feb 9, 1988
Battles in the War on Cancer: A Wonder Drug on Trial
Season 15Episode 1560 min

Battles in the War on Cancer: A Wonder Drug on Trial

In part one of a two-part special presentation, NOVA reports on the trials to determine whether the new drug Interleukin-2—the first to make use of the body's own disease-fighting strategy—will live up to its promise as a pivotal cancer breakthrough. Jane Pauley of NBC News hosts and narrates.
Feb 23, 1988
Battles in the War on Cancer: Breast Cancer - Turning the Tide
Season 15Episode 1660 min

Battles in the War on Cancer: Breast Cancer - Turning the Tide

In part two of a two-part special presentation, NOVA reports on the trials to determine whether the new drug Interleukin-2—the first to make use of the body's own disease-fighting strategy—will live up to its promise as a pivotal cancer breakthrough. Breast cancer claims the lives of four American women every hour. Jane Pauley of NBC News hosts and narrates this NOVA report on stepped-up efforts to reduce the death rate from this all-too-common killer.
Mar 1, 1988
Mystery of the Master Builders
Season 15Episode 1760 min

Mystery of the Master Builders

Princeton professor and author Robert Mark tracks down the engineering secrets of some of the beautiful buildings in the world including Notre Dame in Paris, St. Paul in London and the Roman Pantheon.
Mar 8, 1988
Whale Rescue
Season 15Episode 1860 min

Whale Rescue

It was a blustery day in December 1986, and the New England Coast was in the midst of a winter storm, accompanied by strong on-shore gales and an unusually high tide—conditions perfect for stranding whales in the confined shallows of Cape Cod. NOVA recounts this tragic episode and the happy surprise ending for the young whales who survived after being nursed back to health by the New England Aquarium in Boston.
Mar 15, 1988
The Man Who Loved Numbers
Season 15Episode 1960 min

The Man Who Loved Numbers

Tells the story of the brilliant Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan and of his brief association at Trinity College in England with the English mathematicians G.H. Hardy and J.E. Littlewood. His full potential was never realized because of his tragic death from illness in India at age 32.
Mar 22, 1988
Race for the Superconductor
Season 15Episode 2060 min

Race for the Superconductor

OVA charts an electronics revolution in the making as Japan and the United States race to develop a material that will conduct electricity at room temperature with zero resistance.
Mar 29, 1988
Can You Still Get Polio?
Season 15Episode 2160 min

Can You Still Get Polio?

Most cases of polio in the United States are caused by the vaccine designed to prevent it. NOVA examines the controversy surrounding the nation's vaccine policy.
Apr 5, 1988

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