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Nova
The current Nova logo.
Format	science documentary
Created by	Michael Ambrosino
Opening theme	Walter Werzowa, John Luker, Musikvergnuegen, Inc., Ray Loring (additional)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paula Apsell
Running time	55 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	PBS (1974-present)
Picture format	HDTV
Original run	March 3, 1974 – Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries. It has also won a variety of major television awards, most of them many times over.^[1]

Nova often includes interviews with scientists directly involved in the subject, and occasionally footage from the actual moment of a particular discovery. Some episodes have focused on historical aspects of science. Examples of topics include Colditz Castle, Drake equation, elementary particles, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Fermat's last theorem, global warming, moissanite, Project Jennifer, storm chasing, Unterseeboot 869, and Vinland.

The Nova programs are praised for their good pacing, clear writing, and crisp editing, with a website accompanying each segment. Nova's websites have also won awards.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Awards 3 Underwriters 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Nova was created in 1973 by Michael Ambrosino ^[3], in imitation of its BBC-2 counterpart, Horizon ^[4], and debuted on public television on March 3, 1974.

Nova has been recognized with multiple Peabody Awards and Emmy Awards. The series won a Peabody in 1974, citing it as "an imaginative series of science adventures", with a "versatility rarely found in television". Subsequent Peabodys went to specific episodes:^[1]

• "The Miracle of Life" (1983) was cited as a "fascinating and informative documentary of the human reproductive process" which used "revolutionary microphotographic techniques". The episode also won an Emmy.
• "Spy Machines" (1987) was cited for "neatly recount[ing] the key events of the Cold War and look[ing] into the future of American/Soviet SDI competition."
• "The Elegant Universe" (2003) was cited for exploring "science’s most elaborate and ambitious theory, the string theory" while making "the abstract concrete, the complicated clear, and the improbable understandable" by "blending factual story telling with animation, special effects, and trick photography." The episode also won an Emmy and a Peabody Award.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (responsible for documentary Emmys) recognized the series with awards in 1978, 1981, 1983, and 1989. Julia Cort won an Emmy in 2001 for writing "Life's Greatest Miracle". Emmys were also awarded for the following episodes:^[1]

• 1982 "Here's Looking at You, Kid"
• 1983 "The Miracle of Life" (also won a Peabody)
• 1985 "AIDS: Chapter One", "Acid Rain: New Bad News"
• 1992 "Suicide Mission to Chernobyl", "The Russian Right Stuff"
• 1994 "Secret of the Wild Child"
• 1995 "Siamese Twins", "Secret of the Wild Child"
• 1999 "Decoding Nazi Secrets"
• 2001 "Bioterror"
• 2002 "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens", "Mountain of Ice", "Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance", "Why the Towers Fell"
• 2003 "Battle of the X-planes", "The Elegant Universe" (also won a Peabody)

Three episodes were nominated for 2004 Emmys:

• "Mars Dead or Alive"
• "The Crash of Flight 111"
• "The Most Dangerous Woman in America"

In 1998, the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation awarded Nova its first-ever Public Service Award.^[1]

Funding for Nova is provided by The Dow Chemical Company, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Viewers Like You.

Nova has had many underwriters over its 30+ year history, starting with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the viewers/stations of PBS. Other underwriters included The National Science Foundation, Polaroid (1974-), The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Exxon (late 1970s-early 1980s) (long before its merger with Mobil), TRW, Johnson & Johnson (1989-c.1993), AlliedSignal (with Allied Corporation as its precursor; it was bought out by Honeywell in 1999), Prime Computer (1988-1989) (before being renamed Computervision in 1999), Lockheed Corporation (1989-c.1993) (before merging with Martin Marietta to become Lockheed Martin in 1995), Raytheon (mid 1990s), Merck & Co. (mid 1990s-1997), Prudential (1996-1997), Park Foundation (1997-2005), Iomega Corporation. (1998-1999), Northwestern Mutual (1998-2002), CNET (1999-2000), Sprint Corporation (2000-2005), Microsoft (2003-2005), Google (2005-2006), and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2005-Present).^[5]

• NOVA scienceNOW
• List of NOVA episodes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Broadcast Awards Listed by Date. PBS. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
2. ^ Web-site Picks and Awards. Nova website. PBS. Retrieved on 2006-06-04.
3. ^ Michael Ambrosino bio page. Retrieved on 2006-06-04.
4. ^ [1] The Spark of WGBH's NOVA
5. ^ Howard Hughes Medical Institute sponsor page. Retrieved on 2006-06-04.

• NOVA's Official Website
• The Spark of WGBH's NOVA. Current (1998-05-04). Retrieved on 2006-06-04.

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