TV Guide: Nova

Volcano Above the Clouds

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:00:00 -0500

Tue Dec 8 08:00 PM PBS Chronicling an expedition to the summit of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro during which scientists try to determine if the world's highest volcano is “dying.” They're also concerned about the rapid melting of Kilimanjaro's fabled glaciers. Is global warming the cause? And will this melting lead to water shortages below, disrupting the region's distinctive “tree gardening” agriculture? There are also personal storylines for two first-time climbers. Naturalist Robin Buxton, an expert on Kilimanjaro, has been disabled because of polio since childhood. And naturalist Michael Ngatolowa has never seen snow.

Saved by the Sun

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:00:00 -0500

Tue Dec 1 08:00 PM PBS The promise of solar energy is examined. Included: the world's largest solar-thermal plant, at Kramer Junction in the Mojave Desert; solar-powered homes; and comments from Sarah Kurtz, who helped design the solar cell that's powering the Mars rovers; Caltech chemistry professor Nathan Lewis, who is working on a “solar paint” to turn homes into solar cells; and Rocky Mountain Institute cofounder Amory Lovins, who'd like the U.S. to transition from fossil fuels by 2040.

What Are Dreams?

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0500

Sat Nov 28 05:00 PM PBS Possible purposes of dreams are explored via the work of neuroscientists and sleep researchers, who employ neurological and psychological experiments to learn what dreams are and why they occur. The investigation includes MIT's Matthew Wilson, who "eavesdrops" on the minds of sleeping rats, and explains how scientists try to do the same with humans.