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The Best Episodes of NOVA Season 29

Every episode of NOVA Season 29 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of NOVA Season 29!

Binge this in 15h 35m•Peaking at 8.7/10

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    NOVA Season 29 Episode 1 - Search for a Safe Cigarette
    7.1/10(25 votes)

    #1 - Search for a Safe Cigarette

    S29:E1

    The program chronicles the tobacco industry's decades long effort to create a "safer" cigarette.

    Director:Carl Charlson
    Writer:Carl Charlson

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  2. NOVA Season 29 Episode 2 - 18 Ways to Make a Baby
    7.8/10(16 votes)

    #2 - 18 Ways to Make a Baby

    S29:E2

    The program investigates the brave new world of assisted reproduction.

    Directors:Sarah Holt, Peter Williams
    Writer:Sarah Holt

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  3. NOVA Season 29 Episode 3 - Secrets of the Mind
    6.1/10(11 votes)

    #3 - Secrets of the Mind

    S29:E3

    This NOVA program delves into the mind-tingling efforts of neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran to discover how the brain works.

    Director:Christopher Rawlence
    Writer:Christopher Rawlence

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  4. NOVA Season 29 Episode 4 - Sex: Unknown
    7.3/10(17 votes)

    #4 - Sex: Unknown

    S29:E4

    The film investigates the complicated world of gender identity.

    Directors:Andrew Cohen, Stephen Sweigart
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. NOVA Season 29 Episode 5 - Russia's Nuclear Warriors
    7.6/10(10 votes)

    #5 - Russia's Nuclear Warriors

    S29:E5

    NOVA takes an intimate look at the men who are in control of Russia's nuclear missiles, standing just a heartbeat from the top Russian politicians and Armageddon. Hosted by Vladimir Pozner, Russia's top television journalist, this startling film shows that despite low pay and the tedious existence that these soldiers and their families live with, these men are motivated by a strong sense of patriotic duty and responsibility for the ultimate powers of destruction at their fingertips, in a job that requires complete perfection.

    Director:Leslie Woodhead
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. NOVA Season 29 Episode 6 - Bioterror
    8.7/10(44 votes)

    #6 - Bioterror

    S29:E6

    The film follows three New York Times reporters as they delve into the murky past of bioweapons research and grapple with the current threat of anthrax and other attacks.

    Director:Kirk Wolfinger
    Writer:Matthew Collins

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  7. NOVA Season 29 Episode 7 - Life's Greatest Miracle
    7.5/10(124 votes)

    #7 - Life's Greatest Miracle

    S29:E7

    A sequel to the most popular NOVA of all time, "Miracle of Life," the program once again uses the extraordinary microimagery of Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson to track human development from embryo to newborn.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Julia Cort

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  8. NOVA Season 29 Episode 8 - Methuselah Tree
    7.7/10(17 votes)

    #8 - Methuselah Tree

    S29:E8

    Marked by striking imagery and a poetic style, the film dramatizes the life cycle of the world's oldest living thing, the bristlecone pine of California's White Mountains.

    Director:Ian Duncan
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. NOVA Season 29 Episode 9 - Flying Casanovas
    7.7/10(12 votes)

    #9 - Flying Casanovas

    S29:E9

    The program, with Sir David Attenborough narrating, celebrates the extraordinary antics male bowerbirds get up to when courting a female.

    Directors:Paul Reddish, Stephen Sweigart
    Writer:David Attenborough

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  10. NOVA Season 29 Episode 10 - Death Star
    6.7/10(16 votes)

    #10 - Death Star

    S29:E10

    The program probes the deep mysteries of gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful celestial explosions since the big bang.

    Director:David McNab
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. NOVA Season 29 Episode 11 - Neanderthals on Trial
    8.1/10(16 votes)

    #11 - Neanderthals on Trial

    S29:E11

    The film probes the enigma of our Neanderthal cousins and the roots of our own ancestry.

    Director:Mark Davis
    Writer:Mark Davis

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  12. NOVA Season 29 Episode 12 - Fireworks
    7.3/10(57 votes)

    #12 - Fireworks

    S29:E12

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. NOVA Season 29 Episode 13 - Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies
    8.0/10(10 votes)

    #13 - Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies

    S29:E13

    The program chronicles the lives and covert activities of the so-called "atom spies" in the 1940's, including the big one that got away, Theodore Alvin Hall.

    Director:Tug Yourgrau
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. NOVA Season 29 Episode 14 - The Missing Link
    7.5/10(19 votes)

    #14 - The Missing Link

    S29:E14

    A paleontological tour-de-force and suspenseful scientific detective story, the program documents the search for the ancestor of all four-limbed animals, including humans.

    Directors:Matthew Barrett, David Espar
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. NOVA Season 29 Episode 15 - Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance
    7.2/10(8 votes)

    #15 - Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance

    S29:E15

    In October and November 1999, NOVA journeyed into ice-choked Antarctic waters and onto the shores of rugged Elephant and South Georgia Islands as we followed in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton. This legendary explorer's 1914-1916 Endurance expedition is one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Then, in April 2000, we returned to document Shackleton's final trial -- the crossing of South Georgia -- by three of the world's most distinguished mountaineers, Reinhold Messner, Conrad Anker and Stephen Venables. Follow the expeditions as they unfolded in real-time on this Web site, and also watch for a NOVA Giant Screen Film Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, as well as a NOVA program, "Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance," which originally aired on March 26, 2002.

    Directors:Sarah Holt, Kelly Tyler
    Writers:Sarah Holt, Kelly Tyler

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  16. NOVA Season 29 Episode 16 - Why the Towers Fell
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Why the Towers Fell

    S29:E16

    Can lessons learned from the Twin Towers' collapse make new buildings safer?

    Directors:Larry Klein, Garfield Kennedy
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. NOVA Season 29 Episode 17 - Fire Wars
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Fire Wars

    S29:E17

    In the program, NOVA accompanies the men and women of a wildland firefighting crew known as the Arrowhead Hotshots as they battle one of the most destructive wildfire seasons ever, the summer of 2000.

    Director:Kirk Wolfinger
    Writers:Rushmore DeNooyer, Judith Vecchione

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Season 29 Ratings Summary

"Search for a Safe Cigarette" is the best rated episode of "NOVA" season 29. It scored 7.1/10 based on 25 votes. Directed by Carl Charlson and written by Carl Charlson, it aired on 10/2/2001. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "18 Ways to Make a Baby".