David Murdock

A blinding flash of light streaked across the Russian sky, followed by a shuddering blast strong enough to damage buildings and send more than 1,000 people to the hospital. On the morning of February 15, 2013, a 7,000-ton asteroid crashed into the Earth's atmosphere. According to NASA, the Siberian meteor exploded with the power of 30 Hiroshima bombs and was the largest object to burst in the atmosphere since the Tunguska event of 1908, which was...

It’s a golden age for planet hunters: NASA's Kepler mission has identified more than 3,500 potential planets orbiting stars beyond our Sun. Some of them, like a planet called Kepler-22b, might even be able to harbor life. How did we come upon this distant planet? Combining startling animation with input from expert astrophysicists and astrobiologists, Alien Planets Revealed takes viewers on a journey along with the Kepler telescope. How does the...

Nova is the highest rated science series on television and the most watched documentary series on public television. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won every major television award, most of them many times over. Episode 1: In April, 2010 the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano turned much of Europe into an ash-strewn no-fly zone, stranding millions of travelers. But was Eyjafjallajökull just the start? Now,...

What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide any clues as to how to prevent them in the future? As the nation tries to understand the tragic events at Newtown, NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating...

In October 2012, Megastorm Sandy cut a path of devastation across the Caribbean and the East Coast, killing hundreds and doing tens of billions of dollars in damage. To many, it was a wake-up call. Now, one year after Sandy's deadly strike, NOVA follows up on the 2012 film Inside the Megastorm with a fresh investigation of the critical questions raised by this historic storm: Was Megastorm Sandy a freak combination of weather systems? Or are hurricanes...

He's been dead for more than 5,000 years and poked, prodded, and probed by scientists for the last 20. Yet Otzi the Iceman, the famous mummified corpse pulled from a glacier in the Italian Alps, continues to keep many secrets. Now, through an autopsy like none other, scientists will attempt to unravel mysteries about the ancient mummy, revealing not only the details of Otzi's death but also an entire way of life.

Each of the three programs that make up "The mysterious human heart focuses on a different aspect of what we though we knew, what we know now, and what we're on the verge of learning about the heart. This material is presented thrgouth the real-life dramas of people who suddenly learn that a normal, functioning heart is not something that can be taken for granted. In Episode 1. we examine the heart as a muscle - pumping more than 100,000 times a day,...

"Takes a comprehensive look at Operation Iraqi Freedom, from the military buildup and the shock and awe campaign to the fire-fight in Basra and the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue. With spectacular footage never before seen in the U.S. and emotional first-hand accounts of soldiers, reporters and National Geographic's award-winning production team, 21 Days to Baghdad will provide an exclusive, insider's look at war strategy and the pivotal moments...

Nova: Arctic sinkholes (aired 2/2022): "Scientists investigate colossal explosions in Siberia and other evidence that rapidly thawing soil in the Arctic is releasing vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications for our climate future?"--Container. Nova: Weathering the future (aired 4/2023): "As extreme weather in the U.S. impacts more people -- with longer heat waves, more intense rainstorms, megafires, and droughts...

Scientists have struggled for centuries to pinpoint the qualities that distinguish humans from the millions of other animal species with which we share the vast majority of our DNA. Now, we explore those traits once thought to be uniquely human to discover their evolutionary roots.