NOVA 35

Secrets of the Samurai Sword (2007)

English archers had their longbows, Old West sheriffs had their six-guns, but Japan’s samurai warriors had the most fearsome weapon of all: the razor-sharp, unsurpassed technology of the katana, or samurai sword. In this program, NOVA probes the centuries-old secrets that went into forging what many consider the perfect blade. Fifteen traditional Japanese craftsmen spent nearly six months creating the sword that NOVA follows through production, from smelting the ore to forging the steel to sharpening the blade to a keen edge capable of slicing through a row of warriors at one swoop.

Directed By

Doug Hamilton

Writer

Doug Hamilton

Ghost in Your Genes (2007)

Experts investigate how a mysterious "second genome" helps determine our biological fates.

Directed By

Nigel Paterson

Marathon Challenge (2007)

Can anyone run a marathon? How do you run 26.2 miles if you have trouble making it around the block? With good coaching, discipline, and lots of group support, as NOVA shows when it follows 13 generally sedentary people through a training regimen designed to prepare them for an ultimate test of stamina and endurance. Produced in cooperation with the Boston Athletic Association®, which granted NOVA unprecedented access to the 111th Boston Marathon®, and Tufts University, "Marathon Challenge" takes viewers on a unique adventure inside the human body, tracking the physiological changes that exercise can bring about.

Directed By

Daniel McCabe

Writer

Daniel McCabe

Sputnik Declassified (2007)

On October 4, 1957, the Space Age dawned with the red hue of the Communist flag when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite. Sputnik I stunned the world and spurred a surge in science education and innovation that changed our world forever. But was Sputnik I really a shock to America's leaders, and how close was the U.S. to getting into space first? NOVA draws on previously classified documents to tell the real story behind the opening chapter in the space race.

Directed By

Rushmore DeNooyer

Writer

Rushmore DeNooyer

Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial (2007)

Using courtroom reenactments based on transcripts and interviews with those present, NOVA looks at the events of the federal case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District.

Directed By

Gary Johnstone

Writer

Joseph McMaster