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NOVA
Why Ships Sink
Season 39
Episode 11
Twenty million passengers embark on cruises each year, vacationing in deluxe "floating cities" that offer everything from swimming pools to shopping malls to ice skating rinks. And the ships just keep getting bigger: The average cruise ship has doubled in size in just the last ten years. Some engineers fear that these towering behemoths are dangerously unstable.
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A first-of-its-kind experiment aims to stage a multi-vehicle pileup to gain new data on car safety.
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Explore key military technologies in the American colonies’ fight for freedom.
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Archaeologists uncover new truths about Pompeii, a wealthy Roman playground with dark secrets.
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Follow the race to build a world-class airport on the site of one of America’s busiest flying hubs.
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Can science reveal the secrets of mysterious objects seen in our skies?