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Can We Cool the Planet?

Can We Cool the Planet?

Can We Cool the Planet?

As global temperatures rise, scientists are exploring solutions from planting trees to sucking carbon out of the air to geoengineering. But would they work? And what are the risks of engineering Earth's climate?
S47 E16 Length 53:31 Premiere: 10.28.20

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NOVA

About NOVA

NOVA brings you stories from the frontlines of science and engineering, answering the big questions of today and tomorrow, from how our ancestors lived, to whether parallel universes exist, to how technology will transform our lives. Visit the official website to watch full-length documentaries, or explore our world through short-form video, on our digital publication NOVA Next.

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Decoding da Vinci - S46 E21

Discover how Leonardo da Vinci used science, from human dissections to innovative painting techniques, to create his legendary artwork. Learn why Mona Lisa's smile is so captivating - and what it took to create it.

  • Tuesday January 26, 2021 3:00 am ET on KET2
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Forgotten Genius - S34 E3

Percy Julian overcame numerous obstacles to become a world-class scientist, a self-made millionaire, and a civil rights pioneer.

  • Wednesday January 27, 2021 9:00 pm ET on KET
  • Wednesday January 27, 2021 8:00 pm CT on KET
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Great Cathedral Mystery - S41 E5

Using period tools and techniques, bricklayers build a mini version of the Duomo in Florence.

  • Sunday January 31, 2021 7:00 pm ET on KET2
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  • Tuesday February 2, 2021 3:00 am ET on KET2
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Beyond the Elements - Reactions

Discover the chemical reactions that transform our world, including one that enables us to feed billions, but when reversed, is explosive. And lock-and-key molecules that put the heat in hot peppers or make deadly venoms useful to medicine.

  • Wednesday February 3, 2021 9:00 pm ET on KET
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Beyond the Elements - Indestructible

As the environmental impact of the quest for durability becomes clear, scientists look for ways to maintain utility but minimize harm.

  • Wednesday February 10, 2021 9:00 pm ET on KET
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  • Tuesday February 16, 2021 3:00 am ET on KET2
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Beyond the Elements - Life

Discover molecules that allowed life on Earth to begin and thrive and how scientists use evolution in chemistry.

  • Wednesday February 17, 2021 9:00 pm ET on KET
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Mars 2020

NASA attempts to land its newest robotic geologist, a rover named Perseverance.

  • Wednesday February 24, 2021 9:00 pm ET on KET
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Decoding da Vinci - S46 E21

  • Sunday January 24, 2021 7:00 pm ET on KET2
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Secrets In Our DNA

  • Tuesday January 19, 2021 3:00 am ET on KET2
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Prediction by the Numbers - S45 E6

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The Impossible Flight - S45 E3

  • Tuesday January 5, 2021 3:00 am ET on KET2
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Decoding the Great Pyramid - S46 E4

  • Sunday January 3, 2021 7:00 pm ET on KET2
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Pluto and Beyond - S46 E1

  • Tuesday December 29, 2020 3:00 am ET on KET2
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Top

Season 47 Episodes

CRISPR Gene-Editing Reality Check
S47 E111 Length 19:13 Premiere Date 9.4.20

Can We Cool the Planet?
S47 E16 Length 53:31 Premiere Date 10.28.20

Touching the Asteroid
S47 E15 Length 54:03 Premiere Date 10.21.20

A to Z: How Writing Changed the World
S47 E14 Length 53:31 Premiere Date 9.30.20

A to Z: The First Alphabet
S47 E13 Length 54:01 Premiere Date 9.23.20

Secret Mind of Slime
S47 E12 Length 53:17 Premiere Date 9.16.20

Human Nature
S47 E11 Length 1:33:41 Premiere Date 9.9.20

Decoding COVID-19
S47 E10 Length 53:38 Premiere Date 5.13.20

Nature's Fear Factor
S47 E9 Length 53:31 Premiere Date 10.14.20

Saving Notre Dame
S47 E8 Length 53:47 Premiere Date 11.25.20

Eagle Power
S47 E7 Length 53:40 Premiere Date 5.20.20

The Truth About Fat
S47 E6 Length 53:38 Premiere Date 4.8.20

Cuba's Cancer Hope
S47 E5 Length 53:45 Premiere Date 4.1.20

Mysteries of Sleep
S47 E4 Length 53:14 Premiere Date 2.26.20

Cat Tales
S47 E3 Length 53:40 Premiere Date 2.19.20

Dog Tales
S47 E2 Length 54:11 Premiere Date 2.12.20

Polar Extremes
S47 E1 Length 1:53:06 Premiere Date 2.5.20

Can We Cool the Planet? Promo
Preview Length 00:28 Premiere Date 10.28.20

How Much Coal do People Burn Each Year?
Clip Length 02:13 Premiere Date 10.28.20

How Much Coal do People Burn Each Year?
Clip Length 02:13 Premiere Date 10.28.20

What is Solar Geoengineering and Why is it Controversial?
Clip Length 04:16 Premiere Date 10.28.20

What is Solar Geoengineering and Why is it Controversial?
Clip Length 04:16 Premiere Date 10.28.20

Antarctica: Journey to the Bottom of the Earth
Clip Length 14:11 Premiere Date 1.29.20

How Antarctica’s Cutest Baby Seals Grow Up
Clip Length 10:50 Premiere Date 2.5.20

Why is this Antarctic Glacier “Bleeding?”
Clip Length 10:00 Premiere Date 2.11.20

What is it Like to Live in Antarctica?
Clip Length 09:41 Premiere Date 2.26.20

Three Solutions That Can Slow or Stop Climate Change
Clip Length 04:21 Premiere Date 6.4.20

Cutting our Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Zero
Clip Length 04:52 Premiere Date 6.19.20

Can Geoengineering “Undo” Climate Change?
Clip Length 04:41 Premiere Date 6.24.20

How Communities Can Adapt to Climate Change
Clip Length 03:59 Premiere Date 6.29.20

Specials

Treasures Metals Eiffel Tower
Length 02:09 Premiere Date 12.9.16

A Labyrinth of Lava
Length 01:13 Premiere Date 11.2.15

Driving Dinosaur Diversity
Length 01:47 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Pangea
Length 00:56 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Making Granite From Volcanic Rock
Length 02:16 Premiere Date 10.22.15

A Massive Volcanic Eruption
Length 01:14 Premiere Date 10.22.15

From Mud to Rock
Length 01:36 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Finding Stromatolites
Length 01:23 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Stromatolites Were Kings
Length 01:05 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Ancient Life
Length 00:28 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Millions of Years Captured in Chalk
Length 01:17 Premiere Date 10.22.15

A Fourteen-Foot Fish From Kansas
Length 01:38 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Hell Creek Formation
Length 01:10 Premiere Date 10.22.15

No Dinosaurs Above the Line
Length 02:00 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Mammal Survivors
Length 01:40 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Dinosaur Fossils
Length 01:53 Premiere Date 10.22.15

King of Gore
Length 02:00 Premiere Date 10.22.15

Manhattan Skyline
Length 00:52 Premiere Date 10.21.15

New York's Mountains
Length 01:13 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Rock Time Capsules
Length 01:18 Premiere Date 10.21.15

The Sandstone Top of the Canyon
Length 01:15 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Fossil-Filled Limestone
Length 00:54 Premiere Date 10.21.15

The Grand Canyon's Oldest Rocks
Length 00:19 Premiere Date 10.21.15

From Lava to Land
Length 02:14 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Semi-Precious Pebbles
Length 00:57 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Five Steps of Volcanic Rock
Length 00:26 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Tearing North America Apart
Length 01:01 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Fossilized Sand Dunes
Length 01:15 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Volcanoes of Sand
Length 01:33 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Rockies 2.0
Length 02:00 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Manhattan Schist
Length 01:13 Premiere Date 10.21.15

Grand Canyon 4
Length 00:19 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Mendenhall Glacier
Length 02:51 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Monument Rocks 1
Length 01:18 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Monument Rocks 2
Length 01:48 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Exuma Cays 1
Length 01:26 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Exuma Cays 3
Length 00:28 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Exuma Cays 4
Length 03:22 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Gooseberry Falls 1
Length 00:57 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Gooseberry Falls 2
Length 00:24 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Gooseberry Falls 3
Length 01:06 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Gooseberry Falls 4
Length 01:01 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Mount Kilauea
Length 01:30 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Grand Canyon 1
Length 01:19 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Grand Canyon 2
Length 01:05 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Grand Canyon 3
Length 00:58 Premiere Date 8.2.15

Lethal Seas Excerpt 1
Length 04:11 Premiere Date 5.12.15

Lethal Seas Excerpt 2
Length 01:00 Premiere Date 5.12.15

Lethal Seas Excerpt 3
Length 00:35 Premiere Date 5.12.15

Lethal Seas Excerpt 4
Length 00:51 Premiere Date 5.12.15

The Mother of Hubble
Length 02:28 Premiere Date 4.14.15

Formation of a Typhoon
Length 01:34 Premiere Date 6.25.14

Flatfish Larvae
Length 00:51 Premiere Date 5.6.14

RNAi Explained
Length 01:47 Premiere Date 4.22.14

Dolphin Mirror
Length 03:18 Premiere Date 4.22.14

Dogs' Sense of Time
Length 01:28 Premiere Date 4.13.14

Cockatoo Excerpt
Length 01:30 Premiere Date 4.8.14

How Solar Cells Work
Length 00:33 Premiere Date 2.26.14

Solar Power's Promise
Length 00:51 Premiere Date 2.26.14

Microneedle
Length 01:41 Premiere Date 12.30.13

Non-Newtonian Gel
Length 01:00 Premiere Date 11.15.13

GM Plants
Length 01:27 Premiere Date 11.15.13

Soft-Story Buildings
Length 07:36 Premiere Date 11.13.13

Levitation
Length 00:50 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Superconductor
Length 01:47 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Animal Robot 1
Length 02:35 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Animal Robot 2
Length 02:02 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Therapeutic Hypothermia
Length 01:11 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Therapeutic Hypothermia 2
Length 01:07 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Therapeutic Hypothermia 3
Length 01:43 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Therapeutic Hypothermia 4
Length 02:01 Premiere Date 10.24.13

Swarming Robots
Length 01:31 Premiere Date 10.21.13

Sneak Peek: Making Stuff Wilder
Length 06:14 Premiere Date 10.21.13

Sail Wing
Length 01:02 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Hydrofoil
Length 01:01 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Chicken Feathers
Length 01:56 Premiere Date 10.19.13

KillaCycle
Length 00:48 Premiere Date 10.19.13

How Batteries Work
Length 00:49 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Muon Detection
Length 01:52 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Muons
Length 01:25 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Plants White
Length 02:11 Premiere Date 10.19.13

DNA Patch
Length 01:19 Premiere Date 10.19.13

DNA Vaccine
Length 00:38 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Earthquake Test
Length 02:03 Premiere Date 10.19.13

David Drives
Length 01:27 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Virus Battery
Length 02:21 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Shelley
Length 02:07 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Robot Arm
Length 00:56 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Elephant Arm
Length 01:22 Premiere Date 10.19.13

FinGripper
Length 00:55 Premiere Date 10.19.13

Hagfish Defense
Length 01:36 Premiere Date 10.17.13

Slime Clothes
Length 01:00 Premiere Date 10.17.13

Pitcher Plant
Length 01:48 Premiere Date 10.17.13

SLIPS
Length 01:01 Premiere Date 10.17.13

Hagfish
Length 00:51 Premiere Date 10.17.13

New York City One Year Later: Telecommunications
Length 03:14 Premiere Date 10.16.13

Sneak Peek: Making Stuff Faster
Length 05:06 Premiere Date 10.15.13

David's Race
Length 01:28 Premiere Date 10.15.13

Steffen's Plan
Length 01:59 Premiere Date 10.15.13

Traveling Salesman
Length 01:21 Premiere Date 10.15.13

Eye Robot
Length 01:51 Premiere Date 10.10.13

Corkscrew Robot
Length 00:32 Premiere Date 10.10.13

Slow Goldfish
Length 01:39 Premiere Date 10.10.13

Bee Toxin
Length 01:31 Premiere Date 10.10.13

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Length 03:36 Premiere Date 10.7.13

Invisibility Cloak
Length 01:22 Premiere Date 9.24.13

Shape Memory Alloys
Length 00:32 Premiere Date 9.8.13

Jellyfish
Length 00:38 Premiere Date 9.8.13

Bird Wings
Length 01:56 Premiere Date 9.8.13

Shrinking Chips
Length 01:06 Premiere Date 9.5.13

Pizza Transistor
Length 01:34 Premiere Date 9.5.13

Graphene
Length 01:11 Premiere Date 9.5.13

Wheat Straw Plastic
Length 01:04 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Solar Leaves
Length 00:53 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Battle Jacket
Length 01:49 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Oobleck
Length 00:40 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Magnetic Oobleck
Length 00:54 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Life-Saving Non-Newtonian Fluids
Length 01:43 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Silicon Transistors
Length 00:50 Premiere Date 8.29.13

Starling 8
Length 00:44 Premiere Date 7.15.13

sandy-raw-1-2
Length 00:04 Premiere Date 7.8.13

sandy-raw-5-1
Length 01:02 Premiere Date 7.8.13

Chemotherapy Goes Small
Length 01:17 Premiere Date 7.1.13

The Making of a Cloud Old
Length 03:10 Premiere Date 6.30.13

Why So Many Cloud Types?
Length 03:35 Premiere Date 6.30.13

Clouds and Weather
Length 03:21 Premiere Date 6.30.13

Severe Storms
Length 03:37 Premiere Date 6.30.13

The Climate Wild Card
Length 03:02 Premiere Date 6.30.13

Life on Europa?
Length 02:25 Premiere Date 6.9.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_03
Length 01:41 Premiere Date 5.29.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_04
Length 01:43 Premiere Date 5.29.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_05
Length 01:04 Premiere Date 5.29.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_06
Length 00:40 Premiere Date 5.29.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_07
Length 03:07 Premiere Date 5.29.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_01
Length 00:35 Premiere Date 5.28.13

CloudLab_Megastorm_02
Length 00:31 Premiere Date 5.28.13

What Made the 1918 Flu So Deadly?
Length 01:28 Premiere Date 5.13.13

How the 1918 Flu Infected People
Length 00:25 Premiere Date 5.13.13

Fertilizing the Amazon
Length 03:27 Premiere Date 4.21.13

Flu Probabilities
Length 01:53 Premiere Date 4.16.13

Rare Earth Elements
Length 04:17 Premiere Date 4.1.13

CHNOPS: Ingredients for Life
Length 02:36 Premiere Date 3.12.13

Electromagnetic Spectrum
Length 00:44 Premiere Date 2.28.13

MODIS Sensor
Length 00:26 Premiere Date 2.28.13

Solving the Storage Problem
Length 02:26 Premiere Date 10.25.12

Putting Energy to Use Old
Length 02:14 Premiere Date 10.8.12

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