Before Leonardo da Vinci painted “The Last Supper,” Tibetan craftsmen were creating stunning artistry of their deities in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Mustang. In Lost Treasures of Tibet, NOVA goes behind the scenes with the first conservation team from the West, as it undertakes the painstaking restoration of these ancient masterpieces and the beautiful monasteries that house them.Located
Acclaimed German filmmaker and documentarian Werner Herzog recently teamed up with an unlikely collaborator when At&T approached him to ascertain if he would be interested in directing a series of short films to educate people on the dangers of texting while driving.Herzog's resulting short-film documentary, focuses on four accidents, two resulting in life-shattering injuries and two resulti
It has now become clear that throughout the 1970's and 80's, hundreds, possibly thousands, of men women and children were abducted by North Korea's Secret Service as ordered by their leader Kim Jung II. Most of these abductions occurred on Japanese soil as well as South Korea but it is believed that nationals from at least 11 other countries including Thailand, Romania, Holland and France were als
Thomas M. Jessell, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, examines the neural circuits that control our movements. Neural circuits give us a glimpse of how brain wiring and circuit activity control specific behaviors, including the movement of our limbs. Consider baseball player Lou Gehrig's remarkable hand-eye coordination, or the purity of cellist Jacqueline du Pré's tone. Yet, both examp
In a century riddled with unrest, World War II remains the epic tale. An event of unparalleled impact, even now we are uncovering new information about secret weapons and villainous tactics, about extraordinary heroism and boundless shame, about a time where one life or one bullet or one bomb separated infamy and glory, defeat and victory, tyranny and freedom. These are the untold stories of World
Future by Design shares the life and far-reaching vision of Jacque Fresco, considered by many to be a modern day Da Vinci. Peer to Einstein and Buckminster Fuller, Jacque is a self-taught futurist who describes himself most often as a "generalist" or multi-disciplinarian -- a student of many inter-related fields. He is a prolific inventor, having spent his entire life (he is now 90 years old) conc
A biographical documentary on the late great comedian Bill Hicks and his career; in particular the censorship by Letterman that scarred it.Hosted by Janeane Garofalo, this documentary tells the story of Bill’s transition from a non-drinking, non-smoking, straight laced funny man, to a hard drinking, hard smoking, drug taking angry ranter, to the happy and finally, peaceful and insightful man of
In this four-programme series, string theory pioneer Michio Kaku goes on an extraordinary exploration of the world in search of time. He discovers our sense of time passing and the clocks that drive our bodies. He reveals the forces of time that make and destroy us in a lifetime. He journeys to some of the Earth’s most spectacular geological sites to look for clues to the extraordinary depths of
In Russia, Sept. 1 is the Day of Knowledge, a joyous annual event marking the start of the new school year. But Knowledge Day 2004 was different at School No. 1 in Beslan: A group of heavily armed rebel extremists stormed the school, holding more than a thousand children and adults hostage in a sweltering gymnasium for three days. The harrowing siege ended Sept. 3 in a series of explosions and hai