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NOVA
Building Blocks of Life Discovered on Distant Asteroid
In January 2025, scientists announced the discovery of organic molecules— the building blocks of life— in samples retrieved from a distant asteroid named Bennu. What can this discovery reveal about the secrets of life's origins? Or how common life may be elsewhere in the universe?
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53:31
Explore great ancient Maya cities and why their inhabitants abandoned them.

53:21
Intrepid paleontologists discover that dinosaurs thrived in the Arctic’s cold and dark.

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53:28
Take a tasty look at insect foods that could benefit our health and our warming planet.

53:28
Join the hunt for the universe’s most common—yet most elusive and baffling—particle.

53:36
As state-legalized cannabis spreads, NOVA explores its little-known risks and benefits.

54:06
Scientists race to help corals adapt to warming oceans through assisted evolution.

53:46
NASA launches its most ambitious search yet for traces of ancient life on Mars.

53:32
Discover the fascinating chemistry that makes our world and everything in it—including us.

53:30
Discover the fascinating chemistry that makes our world and everything in it—including us.

53:31
Discover the fascinating chemistry that makes our world and everything in it—including us.

53:31
Scientists look to geoengineering and other methods to cool the planet.

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1:33:41
We can now edit the human genome with a tool called CRISPR. But how far should we go?