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* OneSteveLimit: In "Hitler's Lost Sub," the divers find a knife inscribed with the name "Horenberg." They go to the U-Boat archives in Germany, and find there was exactly one sailor with that name in the entire U-boat service. The records show that the boat he was on sank off Africa, but later they conclusively find proof that it was the same boat that sank off New Jersey.
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* BittersweetEnding: "Hitler's Lost Sub" ends with the divers positively identifying the wreck and thus correcting a small piece of history. Nevertheless, three of their friends died during the expedition, and the documentary shows just how hopeless the U-boat war was by the time U-869 left port.
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* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: Used repeatedly in “Hitler’s Lost Sub,” while describing how the war turned against the German submariners.

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* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: Used repeatedly in “Hitler’s "Hitler's Lost Sub,” Sub," while describing how the war turned against the German submariners.
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-->”The hunters of the early years had become the hunted of the latter years. The ‘Happy Times’ were replaced with what we called ‘Die Sauregurkenzeit‘ or the ‘sour pickle time.’ We didn’t have any fun out there anymore.”

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-->”The -->"The hunters of the early years had become the hunted of the latter years. The ‘Happy Times’ 'Happy Times' were replaced with what we called ‘Die Sauregurkenzeit‘ 'Die Sauregurkenzeit' or the ‘sour 'sour pickle time.' We didn’t didn't have any fun out there anymore."
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* PinkMist: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/cold-case-jfk.html "Cold Case JFK"]] shows the relevant footage from the Film/ZapruderFilm. Not for the faint of heart.

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* PinkMist: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/cold-case-jfk.html "Cold Case JFK"]] shows the relevant footage from the Film/ZapruderFilm.UsefulNotes/ZapruderFilm. Not for the faint of heart.
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Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).

to:

Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).
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** "The Asteroid and the Dinosaurs" has a small, simply animated sequence with Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurus.

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** "The Asteroid and the Dinosaurs" Dinosaur" has a small, simply animated sequence with Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurus.
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* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: Used repeatedly in “Hitler’s Lost Sub,” while describing how the war turned against the German submariners.
-->”The hunters of the early years had become the hunted of the latter years. The ‘Happy Times’ were replaced with what we called ‘Die Sauregurkenzeit‘ or the ‘sour pickle time.’ We didn’t have any fun out there anymore.”
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* HopeSpot: In "Hitler's Lost Sub," the divers find a knife inscribed with a crewman's name, giving them the real possibility of identifying the wreck. However, when they visit the U-boat archives, they find that the crewman was on a boat that sank off of Africa instead of New Jersey, forcing them to disregard this clue. Fortunately, they are later vindicated when they do identify the wreck, finding it is the same boat that had been directed to New Jersey but never received the new orders for Africa.

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* HopeSpot: In "Hitler's Lost Sub," the divers find a knife inscribed with a crewman's name, giving them the a real possibility of identifying the wreck. However, when they visit the U-boat archives, they find that the crewman was on a boat that sank off of Africa instead of New Jersey, forcing them to disregard this clue. Fortunately, they are later vindicated when they do identify the wreck, finding it is the same boat that had been directed to New Jersey but never received the new orders for Africa.
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A spinoff, titled ''Nova [=ScienceNow=]'', premiered in 2005. Seasons 2-5 were hosted by UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson.
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* HopeSpot: In "Hitler's Lost Sub," the divers find a knife inscribed with a crewman's name, giving them the real possibility of identifying the wreck. However, when they visit the U-boat archives, they find that the crewman was on a boat that sank off of Africa instead of New Jersey, forcing them to disregard this clue. Fortunately, they are later vindicated when they do identify the wreck, finding it is the same boat that had been directed to New Jersey but never received the new orders for Africa.
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* ConspicuousCG: Quite common, and especially egregious in the string theory documentary.
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-->''Nova: each week, a science adventure.''
--->The opening line of each episode of the first season

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-->''Nova: ->''Nova: each week, a science adventure.''
--->The -->-- '''The opening line of each episode of the first season
season'''
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/hitlers-supergun.html "Bombing Hitler's Supergun"]]. Joe Kennedy Jr. (UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy's older brother) attempts to fly a remote-controlled bomb into the WaveMotionGun to destroy it, but an electrical fault causes the plane to explode in midair before he can bail out of it as planned. Allied troops reach the supergun site a month later to discover that an earlier British bombing attack had already destroyed the site.

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One trope per line; Useful Notes aren't tropes, they are not to be listed.


* DownerEnding[=/=]ShaggyDogStory: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html "B-29: Frozen in Time"]]. Team spends months trying to repair and recover a B-29 Superfortress that made an emergency landing in Greenland in 1947. One guy actually dies working on it. They get it started and moving and ... the damn thing catches fire and burns to the ground.



* NazisWithGnarlyWeapons: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostsub/ "Hitler's Lost Sub"]] discusses the U-boat Service and in particular the Type IXC U-boat.


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* ShaggyDogStory: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html "B-29: Frozen in Time"]]. The team spends months trying to repair and recover a B-29 Superfortress that made an emergency landing in Greenland in 1947. One guy actually dies working on it. They get it started and moving and ... the damn thing catches fire and burns to the ground.
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--''Nova: each week, a science adventure.''

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--''Nova: -->''Nova: each week, a science adventure.''
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--''Nova: each week, a science adventure.''
--->The opening line of each episode of the first season
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* NazisWithGnarlyWeapons: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostsub/ "Hitler's Lost Sub"]] discusses the U-boat Service and in particular the Type IXC U-boat.
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* HopelessWar: Discussed at length in [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostsub/ "Hitler's Lost Sub"]]. The latter half of the documentary discusses the downfall of the U-boat Force against the Allies and their hopelessly staggering casualty rate, which resulted in only 1 out of every 4 German crewmen returning home. One U-boat veteran even recalls something his flotilla chief said as they left on patrol: "Never mind sinking ships. Just come back, please."
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** [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/bigger-than-t-rex.html "Bigger than T. rex"]] (2014) was about the first-ever accurate reconstruction of Spinosaurus based on a newly discovered skeleton from Morocco.
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Quit breaking redlinks.


Compare ''Nature'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).

to:

Compare ''Nature'', ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).

Changed: 11

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Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).

to:

Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', ''Nature'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).
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* HiroshimaAsAUnitOfMeasure: Twice in "Earth from Space". First they described the energy absorbed by all the water vapor evaporating from all the Earth's oceans in multiples of the entire energy production of all power plants in the world combined. Then they showed the brine released from freezing water in the Antarctic cascading downward under water. It was said to be 500 times the flow rate of Niagara Falls.
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** "The Real Jurassic Park" (1993) was made to dual-promote science and the movie. See that film for the stock in use.

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** "The Real Jurassic Park" Film/JurassicPark" (1993) was made to dual-promote science and the movie. See that film for the stock in use.
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* AssShove: Poor David Pogue has to wear a rectal probe to track his core temperature when testing out US Army extreme weather gear in [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/making-more-stuff.html#making-stuff-colder "Making Stuff Colder"]].
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* CreditsPushback: As with many PBS series, part of the end credits scroll is taken up by information on where to buy your own copy of the episode (e.g. PBS.org).
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Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).

to:

Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year, year and PBS station, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).
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took place in Canada, not the US


* AirstrikeImpossible: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/bombing-hitler-dams.html "Bombing Hitler's Dams"]] has a team try and duplicate Operation Chastise, the 1943 Royal Air Force attack on the Möhne, Edersee, and Sorpe Dams. Of course, the FAA doesn't let you drop explosives from aircraft, so they had to drop a dummy bomb and then blow the dam up remotely after they hit it.

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* AirstrikeImpossible: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/bombing-hitler-dams.html "Bombing Hitler's Dams"]] has a team try and duplicate Operation Chastise, the 1943 Royal Air Force attack on the Möhne, Edersee, and Sorpe Dams. They built a dam on Lake Williston in British Columbia and had Buffalo Airways carry the bomb underneath one of their [=DC-4s=]. Of course, the FAA doesn't let you drop dropping explosives from aircraft, civilian aircraft is illegal, so they had to drop a dummy bomb and then blow the dam up remotely after they hit it.

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* PinkMist: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/cold-case-jfk.html "Cold Case JFK"]] shows the relevant footage from the Film/ZapruderFilm. Not for the faint of heart.



* WhoShotJFK: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/cold-case-jfk.html "Cold Case JFK"]] analyzes the forensics of the assassination, particularly the ballistics of Lee Harvey Oswald's Carcano rifle, and determines that they support the Warren Report's findings.

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* WhoShotJFK: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/cold-case-jfk.html "Cold Case JFK"]] analyzes the forensics of the assassination, particularly the ballistics of Lee Harvey Oswald's Carcano rifle, and determines that they support the Warren Report's findings. The Carcano bullet proves to have weird properties including:
** Very high material penetration and hardness. A test shot went through nearly three feet of wood before stopping.
** An extreme tendency to tumble after overpenetrating. The wounds Gov. Connolly suffered from the "magic bullet" likely resulted from it hitting him ''sideways'' after going through the President, and the round is visibly flattened when seen end-on. The fatal headshot ''did'' enter from the rear, and tumbled as it passed through the President's brain.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nova_pbs_program_svg_8979.png]]
''Nova'' is a long-running Creator/{{PBS}} science TVDocumentary series produced by WGBH Boston, first airing March 3, 1974.

''Nova'' covers a wide variety of subjects, from military history to theoretical physics to chemistry to biology and everything in between. Most episodes are single self-contained stories but on occasion they do multi-part miniseries (e.g. July 2012's [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/fabric-of-cosmos.html "The Fabric of the Cosmos"]]).

The series has won twenty-two Emmys and been nominated for an additional three. It has also earned five Peabody Awards. It was also the first recipient of the National Science Foundation's Public Service Award in 1998.

Many back episodes are available for free streaming at [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ PBS.org]].

Compare ''Series/{{Nature}}'', PBS' other long-running science documentary series which, depending on the year, often airs back-to-back with ''Nova''. NotToBeConfusedWith, well, [[{{Nova}} pretty much any work on this list]], or with actual novae or supernovae (although the series takes its name from them).
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!!This series provides examples of:
* AirstrikeImpossible: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/bombing-hitler-dams.html "Bombing Hitler's Dams"]] has a team try and duplicate Operation Chastise, the 1943 Royal Air Force attack on the Möhne, Edersee, and Sorpe Dams. Of course, the FAA doesn't let you drop explosives from aircraft, so they had to drop a dummy bomb and then blow the dam up remotely after they hit it.
* AsteroidMiners: The second half of [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/asteroid-doomsday.html "Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday?"]] talks about the possibility of snagging near-Earth asteroids and mining them for valuable minerals.
* DownerEnding[=/=]ShaggyDogStory: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html "B-29: Frozen in Time"]]. Team spends months trying to repair and recover a B-29 Superfortress that made an emergency landing in Greenland in 1947. One guy actually dies working on it. They get it started and moving and ... the damn thing catches fire and burns to the ground.
* FunWithPalindromes: It featured a documentary on the building of the Panama canal. The title was taken from one of the most famous palindromes in history: "A Man, a Plan, a Canal...Panama!"
* LongRunners: Has been on the air for forty years and counting.
* OurWormholesAreDifferent: Real life theoretical wormholes are discussed during a segment in part three of [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/elegant-universe.html "The Elegant Universe"]] hosted by physicist Brian Greene. Greene talks about them again in [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/fabric-of-cosmos.html#fabric-time "The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time"]], focusing on the TimeTravel aspect.
* StockDinosaurs: Many episodes on dinosaurs use them.
** "The Hot Blooded Dinosaurs" (1977) has mentioned and displayed Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, Dimetrodon, Deinonychus, and Archaeopteryx.
** "The Asteroid and the Dinosaurs" has a small, simply animated sequence with Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurus.
** "The Hunt for Chinese Dinosaurs" (1991) shows several dinosaurs from China and from Canada. The first includes Protoceratops. North American setting focuses mainly on Troodon (and the Dinosauroid theory) and Tyrannosaurus rex. We can see animated Troodon as well. Stop motion animation and hand drawn animation are well implemented. It's also to note the LampshadeHanging about the DinosaursAreDragons thing during the entire program. Originally it was it's own separate 90 minute documentary, but was shortened for NOVA, cutting some ancillary bits of varied animation including sand-animation and some stop motion sequences.
** "Case of the Flying Dinosaur" focuses on the connection between Dinosaurs and Birds (still debated heavily at the time). Archaeopteryx, Pterosaurs, and Deinonychus prominently featured.
** "T. Rex, Exposed" - Guess who this is about?
** "The Real Jurassic Park" (1993) was made to dual-promote science and the movie. See that film for the stock in use.
** "Dinosaurs of the Gobi" (1994) focuses more on prehistoric small mammals from the late cretaceous of the Gobi. Protoceratops and Velociraptor are about the only ones mentioned.
** "The Curse of T. Rex" (1997) - About a legal battle over a Tyrannosaur Skeleton
* TeleportersAndTransporters: Via quantum-entangled particles in [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/fabric-of-cosmos.html#fabric-quantum "The Fabric of the Cosmos: Quantum Leap"]].
* TimeDilation: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/fabric-of-cosmos.html#fabric-time "The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time"]] talks about how basic relativity causes this at high velocities.
* TimeTravel: Traveling back in time is judged to be impossible due to entropy in "The Fabric of the Cosmos".
* WhoShotJFK: [[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/cold-case-jfk.html "Cold Case JFK"]] analyzes the forensics of the assassination, particularly the ballistics of Lee Harvey Oswald's Carcano rifle, and determines that they support the Warren Report's findings.
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