Nova's 50th Anniversary Celebration Continues With A Lineup Of New Spring Programming

The PBS series, NOVA has announced more details for their spring lineup as part of their 50th anniversary celebration. The upcoming programs include GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE (April 3), SECRETS IN YOUR DATA (May 15), and DECODING THE UNIVERSE: COSMOS (May 22). The films, which will also be available for streaming at pbs.org/nova, NOVA on YouTube, and the PBS App, will broadcast as part of the iconic science series' anniversary festivities, in addition to special content and initiatives that will continue to roll out through the end of 2024.  

 

First, leading up to this year's total solar eclipse stretching from Texas to Maine, NOVA presents GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE, premiering Wednesday, April 3 at 8pm ET/9C on PBS. During the eclipse on April 8, 2024, the disc of the sun will completely disappear for the 31.5 million people who live in the path of totality plus millions more who will travel to experience this dramatic celestial event. While millions will enjoy the spectacle, scientists are among the most avid eclipse chasers, as they will be studying the sun on the ground, in the air, and touching the solar corona itself — a region of the sun that is normally invisible. Can scientists seize these precious moments of darkness to explore the solar corona? NOVA examines why an eclipse takes place, where the best place to view this cosmic event will be, what to expect, and how to safely view the rare and astonishing phenomenon.

 

GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE will be accompanied by unique activities to mark the total solar eclipse — which will not occur again in the contiguous United States until 2044 — including a livestream from the path of totality on April 8. The livestream will begin at 12pm ET and will feature interviews with NASA scientists and festival attendees. Virtual audiences can register for the livestream online, or stream it on NOVA's Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok. Additionally, NOVA is offering free eclipse toolkits online for educators and families and providing NOVA 50-branded eclipse glasses to public media stations in the eclipse's path, along with local schools, libraries, and museums. NOVA eclipse content and resources can be found at pbs.org/nova.

 

Next up is the new special SECRETS IN YOUR DATA premiering Wednesday, May 15 at 9pm ET/8C on PBS, where host, pediatrician, medical journalist, and all-around social media enthusiast Alok Patel explores just how much of our data could be available online, and how we can better maintain our privacy and security. In the film, Alok learns just how much of his personal data — including the addresses of his childhood neighbors — is available online, and how different companies can monetize and exploit it. SECRETS IN YOUR DATA delves into different techniques used by hackers including the man-in-the-middle attack, which can intercept the personal data that leaves an owner's device, essentially eavesdropping on a conversation between them and the websites and applications they use. 

 

In addition to showing all the ways our data is vulnerable, SECRETS IN YOUR DATA examines how we can protect our personal information, as well as visions for a more data-secure web, such as the decentralized web which focuses on the self-determination of users. Experts explain the current state of data privacy, as well as help Alok imagine what a more data-secure future could look like. 

 

A lot has changed in the last 50 years, especially in our understanding of the cosmos. Premiering Wednesday, May 22 at 9pm ET/8C on PBS, DECODING THE UNIVERSE: COSMOS explores the last five decades in astronomical discovery, as well as the most pressing questions cosmologists are now trying to answer. How did our vision of the universe get completely overturned in just a few decades, and what new surprises might lie just over the horizon? Since the 1970s and the launch of the Voyager missions, scientists have confirmed the existence of planets beyond our solar system, supermassive black holes, and thousands of previously unknown galaxies. 

 

Perhaps the most important discovery of the last half century has been how much is still unknown about the universe. DECODING THE UNIVERSE: COSMOS documents what we currently know about DARK MATTER and dark energy, two properties that were only accepted as “real” during the last 50 years. Scientists now believe dark energy is the most powerful force in the universe. DECODING THE UNIVERSE: COSMOS is the first part of a two-part NOVA special tracing ground-breaking discoveries that have transformed our picture of the universe over the past 50 years, shedding light on everything from exoplanets to supermassive black holes to the size and ultimate fate of the cosmos. Part two, DECODING THE UNIVERSE: QUANTUM will air in fall 2024.

 

“The spring films explore major questions in science and technology,” said NOVA Co-Executive Producer Julia Cort. “The expansion of human knowledge over the last 50 years that's been made possible by science has been truly mind-blowing, and TODAY researchers and engineers are pushing the frontiers even further. We're excited to premiere more stories that reveal the universe in new ways and better prepare viewers for our rapidly changing world.” 

 

“Our spring programming exudes the spirit of curiosity that defines NOVA,” said NOVA Co-Executive Producer Chris Schmidt. “We hope viewers enjoy these films, which shed light on the world we live in, and help us deepen our appreciation for the awe-inspiring world around us. From the expansiveness of the universe to the breadth of the reach of our data, these shows tackle important questions, and will hopefully inspire new ones.”

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