Back to Show
Watch Preview
NOVA
The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time
Season 38
Episode 17
Time. We waste it, save it, kill it, make it. The world runs on it. Yet ask physicists what time actually is, and the answer might shock you: They have no idea. Even more surprising, the deep sense we have of time passing from present to past may be nothing more than an illusion. How can our understanding of something so familiar be so wrong?
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

Unlock with PBS Passport
52:55
Engineers race to build a massive dome to contain the crumbling remains of the reactor.

Unlock with PBS Passport
53:09
Join pioneering shipbuilders as they embark on a feat of maritime engineering.

1:53:34
How can the science of learning help us rethink the future of education for all children?

Unlock with PBS Passport
53:49
Discover how Allied forces conspired to destroy one of Hitler’s most diabolical weapons.

Unlock with PBS Passport
53:41
Join engineers as they race to rescue a historic lighthouse from certain doom.

52:51
Join investigators as they untangle the cause of Alzheimer’s and race to develop a cure.

53:32
Watch as Otzi, a 5000-year-old mummy, is brought to life and preserved with 3D modeling.

Unlock with PBS Passport
53:07
Retrace the thought experiments that inspired his theory on the nature of reality.

53:36
How has the land shaped our lives, from the arrival of the first Americans to today?

53:35
How did massive volcanic eruptions, inland seas, and land bridges pave the way for life?

53:35
Experience the colossal geologic forces that shaped our continent over 3 billion years.

53:37
An astonishing find could solve the mystery of Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition.