Why Planes Burn

February 9, 1988

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NOVA - S15 - E4

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Airplane fires are often deadly. NOVA looks at efforts to make fires aboard planes less likely and more survivable.

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NOVA: Season 15 - 22 Episode s

15x1 - Top Gun and Beyond
January 19, 1988
Today's sophisticated fighter jets can almost fly themselves, but well-trained pilots are still needed to win air battles. NOVA looks at how planes and pilots are adapting to high technology.
15x2 - How to Create a Junk Food
January 26, 1988
Julia Child introduces NOVA's behind-the-scenes look at how science aids in the creation of snack foods.
15x3 - Buried in Ice
February 2, 1988
Scientists investigate the frozen remains of members of the 19th century Franklin Expedition to the Canadian Arctic and ask why all perished.
15x4 - Why Planes Burn
February 9, 1988
Airplane fires are often deadly. NOVA looks at efforts to make fires aboard planes less likely and more survivable.
15x5 - Battles in the War on Cancer: A Wonder Drug on Trial
February 23, 1988
In part one of a two-part special presentation, NOVA reports on the trials to determine whether the new drug Interleukin-2—the first to make use of the body's own disease-fighting strategy—will live up to its promise as a pivotal cancer breakthrough. Jane Pauley of NBC News hosts and narrates.
15x6 - Battles in the War on Cancer: Turning the Tide
March 1, 1988
Breast cancer claims the lives of four American women every hour. Jane Pauley of NBC News hosts and narrates this NOVA report on stepped-up efforts to reduce the death rate from this all-too-common killer.
15x7 - The Mystery of the Master Builders
March 8, 1988
Princeton professor and author Robert Mark tracks down the engineering secrets of some of the beautiful buildings in the world including Notre Dame in Paris, St. Paul in London and the Roman Pantheon.
15x8 - Whale Rescue
March 15, 1988
It was a blustery day in December 1986, and the New England Coast was in the midst of a winter storm, accompanied by strong on-shore gales and an unusually high tide—conditions perfect for stranding whales in the confined shallows of Cape Cod. NOVA recounts this tragic episode and the happy suprise ending for the young whales who survived after being nursed back to health by the New England Aquarium in Boston.
15x9 - The Man Who Loved Numbers
March 22, 1988
NOVA explores the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor clerk from India who astounded mathematicians in the 1910s with his brilliant insight into the world of numbers.
15x10 - Race for the Superconductor
March 29, 1988
NOVA charts an electronics revolution in the making as Japan and the United States race to develop a material that will conduct electricity at room temperature with zero resistance.
15x11 - Can You Still Get Polio?
April 5, 1988
Most cases of polio in this country are caused by the vaccine designed to prevent it. NOVA examines the controvery surrounding the nation's vaccine policy.
15x12 - Pioneers of Surgery: The Brutal Craft
September 6, 1988
Part one of a four-part series on the pioneers of modern surgery relives the early days, when surgery was practiced without the benefit of anaesthesia or antisceptics and patients usually died.
15x13 - Pioneers of Surgery: Into the Heart
September 13, 1988
Once unthinkable, open-heart surgery is now an everyday miracle. NOVA looks at the brave doctors and patients who make it possible.
15x14 - Pioneers of Surgery: New Organs for Old
September 20, 1988
From kidneys to hearts, NOVA examines the daring attempts to replace diseased organs with transplanted ones.
15x15 - Pioneers of Surgery: Beyond the Knife
September 27, 1988
Surgeons have always been eager to help patients, even at the risk of killing them. NOVA looks at some of the excesses of surgery, and at how new drugs and technologies are rendering some operations obsolete.
15x16 - Can the Vatican Save the Sistine Chapel?
October 4, 1988
Science meets art in the controversial effort to restore Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel frescoes.
15x17 - Can the Next President Win the Space Race?
October 11, 1988
Thirty years after Sputnik, the United States space program is mired in uncertainty, while the Russians, Europeans, Japanese and others sprint onward and upward.
15x18 - Do Scientists Cheat?
October 18, 1988
NOVA examines the troubling question of scientific fraud: How prevalent is it? Who commits it? And what happens when the perpetrators are caught?
15x19 - Who Shot President Kennedy?
November 15, 1988
Using previously unavailable technology, NOVA probes the available evidence surrounding the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
15x20 - The Light Stuff
November 22, 1988
Reliving a Greek myth takes an effort of mythic proportions, as NOVA reveals in its behind-the-scenes report of a human powered-flight across the Aegean Sea, a journey that symbolically recreated the mythical flight of Daedalus. NOVA follows the epic journey of the human-powered plane Daedalus 88 from the early prototypes to its dramatic landing in the surf after a 74-mile flight from the island of Crete to Santorini.
15x21 - The All-American Bear
December 6, 1988
The life of the shy, intelligent black bear in the wild—foraging, mating, playing and constantly preparing for its remarkable hibernation—is captured for the first time on film by NOVA.
15x22 - Can We Make a Better Doctor?
December 13, 1988
NOVA embarks on a 10-year project to profile—in its entirety—the education of a doctor. In the premiere episode, we follow a handful of students as they start their freshman year at Harvard Medical School under a revolutionary program emphasizing early clinical contact with patients.

15x1 - Top Gun and Beyond

15x2 - How to Create a Junk Food

15x3 - Buried in Ice

15x4 - Why Planes Burn

15x5 - Battles in the War on Cancer: A Wonder Drug on Trial

15x6 - Battles in the War on Cancer: Turning the Tide

15x7 - The Mystery of the Master Builders

15x8 - Whale Rescue

15x9 - The Man Who Loved Numbers

15x10 - Race for the Superconductor

15x11 - Can You Still Get Polio?

15x12 - Pioneers of Surgery: The Brutal Craft

15x13 - Pioneers of Surgery: Into the Heart

15x14 - Pioneers of Surgery: New Organs for Old

15x15 - Pioneers of Surgery: Beyond the Knife

15x16 - Can the Vatican Save the Sistine Chapel?

15x17 - Can the Next President Win the Space Race?

15x18 - Do Scientists Cheat?

15x19 - Who Shot President Kennedy?

15x20 - The Light Stuff

15x21 - The All-American Bear

15x22 - Can We Make a Better Doctor?

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