Jackie Mow

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.

This acclaimed Emmy Award-winning anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers and featuring unforgettable stories about a unique individual, community or moment in history.

Girls entering adulthood in the next decade will see more opportunities than today's women ever imagined. But will these girls stride confidently through newly opened doors, or are they destined to be stunted by societal messages that tell them females should be constantly agreeable, impossibly thin, and sexy above all else? Researcher and author Rachel Simmons examines the challenges facing young women as they surf the waves of 21st century adolescence in the 2010 Parents' Choice Gold award-winning documentary, A Girl's Life. Through a series of interviews with teenage girls, parents, psychologists, teachers, and social workers, the program explores cyberbullying, outright violence, gangs, the impact of sexual imagery in the media, and more. It is a wake-up call and a rare window into the day-to-day trials of today's teenage girls.

A team of scientists clambers down into the steep crater of an active volcano in central Africa, a lake of molten lava seething far below. The team's mission is to explore this deadly mountain up close to find out when and why it is likely to erupt next. the lives of half a million people living directly in its shadow are at stake. In January 2002, the ground close to the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo split open and rivers of lava swept through entire neighborhoods, killing some 100 people and leaving 120,000 homeless. The volcano towering over the city, Mount Nyiragongo, had awoken again. Now French volcanologist Jacques Durieux and his team worry that, next time, deadly lava could erupt from cracks directly under the city itself.

The dog is the ultimate human creation. With 400 breeds and counting, the dog is more varied in size and behavior than any other species on the planet. National Geographic looks at man's evolutionary manipulation of dogs' appearance, talents and temperament - and the accelerating efforts to create breeds to suit our needs (more than 80 percent of today's breeds did not exist 150 years ago). From desirable traits like supersensitive hearing and smell to the unintended consequences of genetic diseases, learn how nature and man have partnered to deliberately create new and specialized versions of man's best friend.

Three documentaries about astonishing buildings.

East of Salinas takes us to the heart of California’s “Steinbeck Country,” the Salinas Valley, to meet a bright boy and his dedicated teacher — both sons of migrant farm workers. With parents who are busy working long hours in the fields, third grader Jose Ansaldo often turns to his teacher, Oscar Ramos, for guidance. But Jose is undocumented; he was born in Mexico. Like many other migrant children, he is beginning to understand the situation — and the opportunities that may be lost to him through no fault of his own.