Particles of Thought

In 2024, scientists claimed they achieved the unthinkable: the birth of dire wolf pups, reviving a species that vanished thousands of years ago. Now, those pups are growing—and changing. Evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro reveals what it’s like to watch these predators mature into modern beasts. For more, check out the extended interview with Beth Shapiro.  Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to...

Is AI coming for your job? AI Expert Hany Farid breaks down how AI is taking jobs once considered “future-proof” and shares his advice to prepare young people for the future. For more, check out the extended interview with Hany Farid.  Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

What does it feel like to make one of the biggest discoveries in physics? Adam Riess knows — because his work revealed that the universe isn’t just expanding, it’s accelerating. In this episode, the Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist takes us behind the scenes of the moment that changed cosmology forever. How did his team use exploding stars as “standard candles” to measure the cosmos? Why did the...

The universe isn’t adding up—and it’s creating a crisis in cosmology. Nobel Prize winner Adam Riess explains why measurements of the universe’s expansion rate from its earliest light and from nearby galaxies don’t match, and how this growing gap threatens the foundations of our standard model of the cosmos. For more, check out the extended interview with Adam Riess Learn more about NOVA and subscr...

Discovering dark energy wasn’t just thrilling—it was terrifying. Nobel Prize Winner Adam Riess explains the nerve-wracking process behind confirming that the universe’s expansion is accelerating and why Einstein’s so-called “biggest blunder” turned out to be anything but. For more, check out the extended interview with Adam Riess Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Fame can hijack the brain like a drug—activating the same reward circuits that fuel a relentless chase for dopamine highs. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin reveals the antidote—and why even social media fame can trigger this cycle. For more, check out the extended interview with Heather Berlin. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Fossilization isn’t luck - it’s geology. Paleobotanist Kirk Johnson explains how fossils only form in certain conditions, the tricks to finding them, and why one fossil leaf can lead to thousands more.  For more, check out the extended interview with Kirk Johnson. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Speech is rare in the animal kingdom because it requires a very specific brain architecture. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis explains how duplicating neural pathways for movement unlocked language, dancing, and even advanced problem-solving in more than just humans. For more, check out the extended interview with Erich Jarvis.  Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

How does evolution invent entirely new things, like limbs, wings, and venom? Evolutionary biologist Sean B. Carroll joins us to reveal the hidden rules behind nature’s creativity and the genetic toolkit that makes it possible. Carroll explains how the same set of genes can build wildly different creatures — from fruit flies to lobsters — simply by rewiring their genetic circuits. Discover why deve...

From legs on heads to missing eyes, fruit fly mutations exposed the genetic toolkit that builds all animals. Evolutionary Biologist Sean B. Carroll shows how these discoveries rewrote our understanding of evolution. For more, check out the extended interview with Sean B. Carroll. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

From snakes to jellyfish, venom is one of evolution’s most lethal inventions. Evolutionary Biologist Sean B. Carroll reveals how this deadly innovation emerged—and the new science behind antivenom inspired by nature’s own defenses. For more, check out the extended interview with Sean B. Carroll. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

The edge of a black hole isn’t what you think. Astrophysicist Janna Levin dives into the event horizon, the one-way transition where space and time warp so much that escape becomes as impossible as reversing the clock. For more, check out the extended interview with Janna Levin. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

There’s no single ‘smoking gun’ for life beyond Earth. Microbiologist Peter Girguis explains the subtle fingerprints scientists hunt for—and why finding them on Mars could change everything. For more, check out the extended interview with Peter Girguis. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Scientists are editing genes for human speech into mice to see if they can learn vocal patterns. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis explains how this could unlock not just speech—but entirely new ways of thinking. For more, check out the extended interview with Erich Jarvis.  Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Can we bring extinct species back to life? Evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro claims we just did. As Chief Science Officer at Colossal, her team made headlines in spring 2025 with the announcement of the de-extinction of the dire wolf. She takes us behind the headlines to explain how this is no “Jurassic Park” fantasy. She breaks down exactly how her team used ancient DNA, CRISPR genome editing,...

Jurassic Park got it all wrong. Beth Shapiro would know… she’s Chief Science Officer at Colossal, the genetic engineering company that recently made headlines for bringing back the extinct dire wolf. She breaks down how de-extinction is really done, and why Jurassic Park can never happen. For more, check out the extended interview with Beth Shapiro. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTu...

The deepfake game is getting real. Deepfake detective Hany Farid gets under the hood of AI and explains exactly how it can now make such convincing fake content –  so convincing that he himself has trouble identifying his own real voice from an AI-generated fraud. Can you spot the deepfake? For more, check out the extended interview with Hany Farid. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTu...

Ever wonder why you get déjà vu? Or why you keep losing your keys? Your brain does some weird stuff. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains the surprising science behind these everyday mysteries. For more, check out the extended interview with Heather Berlin. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Space itself rings with gravitational waves when black holes collide—the most powerful events detected since the Big Bang. Astrophysicist Janna Levin reveals why, when the cosmic symphony fades, the merged black hole is stripped to flawless simplicity. For more, check out the extended interview with Janna Levin. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

Could a Martian rock hold the most promising sign of life beyond Earth? Microbiologist Peter Girguis unpacks NASA’s stunning discovery of ‘leopard spots’ on a rock from Mars’s Jezero Crater—and why they look eerily like the handiwork of microbes on our own planet. For more, check out the extended interview with Peter Girguis. Learn more about NOVA and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

A sinkhole can become a time capsule full of skeletons - layers upon layers of beasts that once walked the Earth - and Florida’s landscape is full of them. Discover the surprising science of how Florida’s sinkholes form, what they really are, and what can be found inside them. Come along with Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, as he d...

In a world flooded with fake videos and voice recordings that seem real, how can you detect deepfakes? Turns out, there are some aspects of the physical world that are not yet known to artificial intelligence - and those gaps are the key. Expert Hany Farid reveals techniques that can be used to detect AI-generated media. For more, check out the extended interview with Hany Farid.  Learn more about...

What do deep-sea microbes and Martian “leopard spots” have in common? Marine biologist Peter Girguis thinks they might both hold clues to finding life beyond Earth. In this episode, he joins Hakeem for a journey from the ocean floor to outer space, sharing stories from his dives aboard the Alvin submersible and exploring how Earth’s most extreme lifeforms could help us find the first ETs. Along th...

Talking, singing, even dancing — they all trace back to a rare superpower: vocal learning. But humans aren’t the only animals that have it. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis has spent his career decoding the mysterious ability to imitate sounds, a key ingredient in spoken language. In this episode, he joins Hakeem to explore why only a handful of species — like parrots, dolphins, and bats — can do it, h...

Your brain does all kinds of strange things — and neuroscientist Heather Berlin wants to explain how it works. In this episode, she joins Hakeem to explore the mysteries of the mind: how consciousness works, how your brain constructs reality, and how you might be able to hack it to live a better life. They dive into the effects of psychedelics and meditation, and explore the future of thought in a...