In Search of the First Language

December 27, 1994

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NOVA - S21 - E20

NOVA explores the common threads that link the more than 5,000 languages of Earth, including a controversial theory that claims to reconstruct words from a time when only a handful of languages were spoken, recalling the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

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NOVA: Season 21 - 20 Episode s

21x1 - Codebreakers
January 18, 1994
NOVA delves into the history of secret communications and the people who wrack their brains to decipher them. The program probes the most celebrated of all cryptographic coups: the breaking of the World War II codes used by Japan and Germany and how codebreaking helped shorten the war.
21x2 - Dinosaurs of the Gobi
January 25, 1994
Velociraptors and primitive birds are among the fabulous fossil finds as NOVA accompanies an American Museum of Natural History expedition to the Gobi Desert. The trip relives the exploits of the Museum's dashing explorer of the 1920s, Roy Chapman Andrews -said to be the real-life model for Indiana Jones.
21x3 - Daredevils of the Sky
February 1, 1994
NOVA follows members of the US Aerobatic Team as they prepare for and compete in the 1992 World Aerobatic Championship. The sport, as precisely choreographed as gymnastics-except that it takes place in airplanes at 200 miles per hour-has always been on the leading edge of developments in aviation.
21x4 - Journey to Kilimanjaro
February 8, 1994
NOVA explores ice-capped mountains-on the equator. These African giants are magical islands of life towering above the scorched plains. Giant forest hogs, bearded vultures, the elusive bongo and other exotic creatures live in this harsh and isolated high country.
21x5 - Can Chimps Talk?
February 15, 1994
NOVA covers exciting and controversial research with chimpanzees who have been trained to express themselves with human symbols. Are they speaking their minds? Or are they just aping their trainers?
21x6 - In Search of Human Origins, Part One
February 28, 1994
In the first of a three-part series, noted anthropologist Donald Johanson probes the earliest ancestors of the human species - reaching back more than three million years to a strange ape who walked upright. Johanson takes viewers to the site in Ethiopia where he discovered the fossil remains of this missing link nicknamed "Lucy."
21x7 - In Search of Human Origins, Part Two
March 1, 1994
Anthropologist Donald Johanson looks at how our human ancestors of two million years ago made their living. Contrary to popular myth, scavenging was a more lucrative living than hunting-and may have contributed to the development of human intelligence.
21x8 - In Search of Human Origins, Part Three
March 2, 1994
At what point did our distant ancestors become anatomically like us? And, more importantly, when did they begin to act like us? Anthropologist Donald Johanson looks at what it is that makes us human.
21x9 - Can China Kick the Habit?
April 12, 1994
NOVA visits the most cigarette-addicted nation in the world-China. Western advertising and trading practices have exacerbated the fatal romance with smoking in the world's most populous country, where lung cancer cases are beginning to strain the nation's health care system.
21x10 - Aircraft Carrier!
April 19, 1994
NOVA experiences the relentless, round-the-clock life aboard the US Navy aircraft carrier, Independence-where every day is a constant drill of launching and landing aircraft atop a floating city of 5,000 people. The action includes Top Gun mock combat exercises and live-ammunition patrols over Iraq.
21x11 - The Great Wildlife Heist
October 11, 1994
Polly wants a crackdown when it comes to the illegal trade in the world's most beautiful and intelligent birds: parrots. NOVA goes undercover with a US government sting that breaks an international parrot smuggling ring, landing some surprising suspects.
21x12 - Secret of the Wild Child
October 18, 1994
NOVA profiles "Genie," a girl whose parents kept her imprisoned in near total isolation from infancy. When social workers discoverd her as a teenager, Genie had not learned to walk or talk. This NOVA documentary includes never-before-seen footage of Genie during her rehabilitation and probes how and when we learn the skills that make us "human."
21x13 - Haunted Cry of a Long Gone Bird
October 25, 1994
NOVA explores the legacy of the great Auk, a magnificent flightless bird that was hunted to extinction over a century ago. In a journey retracing its migratory route, host Richard Wheeler kayaks from Newfoundland to Cape Cod and discovers that other marine species face the Auk's luckless fate.
21x14 - What's New About Menopause
November 1, 1994
NOVA tackles the long-taboo subject of menopause, profiling new research and examining the medical and ethical controversies that arise when science enables women to postpone menopause or even to bear children long after "the change." Stockard Channing narrates.
21x15 - The Tribe that Time Forgot
November 8, 1994
NOVA travels deep into the Amazon wilderness in search of a mysterious tribe- a tribe that dismembered and partially ate three prospectors in 1976. Locating the group, NOVA lives with them for three months, gaining insight into the customes and beliefs of a people whose lifestyle has not changed for centuries.
21x16 - Killer Quake!
November 15, 1994
NOVA probes the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake. Even as the city struggles to repair itself from the tragedy, seismic pressure continues to build. Scientists fear that newly discovered faults could, at any moment, trigger California's most devastating natural disaster.
21x17 - Buried in Ash
November 29, 1994
Ten million years ago, an enormous volcanic eruption buried much of what is now Nebraska in up to 10 feet of ash, preserving countless skeletons of prehistoric big game animals. NOVA joins the discoverer of this treasure trove to learn what life was like when a lot more than buffalo roamed the West.
21x18 - Rescue Mission in Space
December 6, 1994
Hobbled by defective eyesight because of its original, bungled prescription, the Hubble Space Telescope was recently repaired in a dramatic Space Shuttle mission. NOVA follows the exploits of astronauts who saved the day, and the stunning work that Hubble has performed in the months since its repair.
21x19 - Journey to the Sacred Sea
December 20, 1994
NOVA travels to Lake Baikal, the world's oldest and deepest lake, containing one-fifth of all the fresh water on Earth. Investigating Baikal from above, below and all around, NOVA charts its dramatically changing environment over the course of four seasons.
21x20 - In Search of the First Language
December 27, 1994
NOVA explores the common threads that link the more than 5,000 languages of Earth, including a controversial theory that claims to reconstruct words from a time when only a handful of languages were spoken, recalling the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

21x1 - Codebreakers

21x2 - Dinosaurs of the Gobi

21x3 - Daredevils of the Sky

21x4 - Journey to Kilimanjaro

21x5 - Can Chimps Talk?

21x6 - In Search of Human Origins, Part One

21x7 - In Search of Human Origins, Part Two

21x8 - In Search of Human Origins, Part Three

21x9 - Can China Kick the Habit?

21x10 - Aircraft Carrier!

21x11 - The Great Wildlife Heist

21x12 - Secret of the Wild Child

21x13 - Haunted Cry of a Long Gone Bird

21x14 - What's New About Menopause

21x15 - The Tribe that Time Forgot

21x16 - Killer Quake!

21x17 - Buried in Ash

21x18 - Rescue Mission in Space

21x19 - Journey to the Sacred Sea

21x20 - In Search of the First Language

S0: Specials

S1: Season 1

S2: Season 2

S3: Season 3

S4: Season 4

S5: Season 5

S6: Season 6

S7: Season 7

S8: Season 8

S9: Season 9

S10: Season 10

S11: Season 11

S12: Season 12

S13: Season 13

S14: Season 14

S15: Season 15

S16: Season 16

S17: Season 17

S18: Season 18

S19: Season 19

S20: Season 20

S21: Season 21

S22: Season 22

S23: Season 23

S24: Season 24

S25: Season 25

S26: Season 26

S27: Season 27

S28: Season 28

S29: Season 29

S30: Season 30

S31: Season 31

S32: Season 32

S33: Season 33

S34: Season 34

S35: Season 35

S36: Season 36

S37: Season 37

S38: Season 38

S39: Season 39

S40: Season 40

S41: Season 41

S42: Season 42

S43: Season 43

S44: Season 44

S45: Season 45

S46: Season 46

S47: Season 47

S48: Season 48

S49: Season 49

S50: Season 50

S51: Season 51