Scientists solve a mammal poop mystery: Why do wombats have cube-shaped feces?

Of the over 100,000 people on the waitlist for an organ in the United States, 17 die every day. Now, the first pig-to-human heart transplant reveals some of the challenges of xenotransplantation.

"If we think about bionic limbs as more of a therapy, as treatment," a bioethicist told NOVA, "then we can start to take away some of the disparate access to artificial limbs that are very technologically advanced."

Sir David Attenborough investigates with an archaeologist and paleoanthropologist how Neanderthals thrived 200,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain.

In 2005, filmmaker Jason DaSilva was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, a rare type of MS that has no known cure and inflicts progressively debilitating symptoms. In this moving personal film, DaSilva looks back on the challenges he’s faced, delves into the science behind MS, and investigates the potential risk factors that may–or may not–have contributed to his rare diagnosis.

In 2005, filmmaker Jason DaSilva was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, a rare type of MS that has no known cure and inflicts progressively debilitating symptoms. In this moving personal film, DaSilva looks back on the challenges he’s faced, delves into the science behind MS, and investigates the potential risk factors that may–or may not–have contributed to his rare diagnosis.

Climbers Hugh Herr and Jeff Batzer recount an experience that led to them needing limb amputations.

Follow the dramatic personal journey of Hugh Herr, a biophysicist working to create brain-controlled robotic limbs. At age 17, Herr’s legs were amputated after a climbing accident. Frustrated by the crude prosthetic limbs he was given, Herr set out to remedy their design, leading him to a career as an inventor of innovative prosthetic devices.

Remains—particularly teeth—reveal that two species of mammoth once lived in what is now Southern England.

5G is a leap forward in wireless technology, providing data speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G. So why is this seemingly revolutionary tech raising concern in the aviation industry?

Sir David Attenborough investigates a unique site in southern England where amateur fossil hunters uncovered giant mammoth bones and evidence of Neanderthals. A team of paleontologists and archaeologists soon discover that the site preserves rare evidence of the extinct beasts and early human inhabitants of Britain dating to over 200,000 years ago.

Managing money is hard! Even when you know what you should do, it can be hard to actually do it. In NOVA’s Financial Lab, students practice strategies for making financial decisions by taking care of a pet while learning how to overcome common behavioral biases.

The chemicals in rhinoceros feces help the animals communicate with one another. But to scientists and police, rhino scat tells a different story.

Scott Burnett is “Scatman”—an Australian ecologist on the trail of the secrets of poop. By identifying and analyzing animal scat for DNA and hormones, he discovers essential details of their behavior, how they fit in the ecosystem, and even how to protect them.

As Alaska's permafrost thaws, Indigenous communities are looking for housing solutions, including building homes on steel sleds.

LIDAR technology reveals that, in 700 C.E., the ancient Maya city of Caracol was one of the largest in the world.

A pilot flying over Esieh Lake, located on the lands of the Indigenous Inupiat people, spotted something unusual on its surface.

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

“The contemporary Maya people still practice not only Maya traditions, but Mesoamerican traditions," anthropologist Iyaxel Coteji Ren told NOVA. "It's one of the traits that distinguish Maya culture."

Beyond being important to both the economy and marine life in the South, salt marshes also serve as buffers, shielding communities on the coast from erosion and dangerous weather events. But in South Carolina, which boasts the largest expanse of salt marsh of any Atlantic state, these ecosystems are in decline.