NOVA scienceNOW : 48 - Marathon Mouse, Dinosaur Plague, Profile: Franklin Chang-Diaz, Space Storms
Like 2 Dislike 0 Published on 28 Aug 2012
Marathon Mouse - 1:50
Ron Evans at the Salk Institute says that his lab's genetically modified mice can "run the pants off" their control counterparts. Studying these marathon mice helped his team develop drugs that increase muscle mass and endurance. Such "exercise in a pill" could aid kids with muscular dystrophy, elderly people who are bedridden, and others suffering from muscle disorders. But it also poses the risk of abuse by athletes looking for a leg up.
Dinosaur Plague - 14:21
What killed off the dinosaurs? Over the years, experts have suggested everything from global climate change to a spate of massive volcanic eruptions to the most widely accepted culprit: an asteroid that unleashed global devastation. But as correspondent Chad Cohen reports, some scientists believe the giant reptiles might have been taken down by something almost too tiny to see.
Profile: Franklin Chang-Diaz - 29:26
Franklin Chang-Díaz was NASA's first Latin-American to go into space, and he's been there seven times, which ties the record. But his greatest accomplishment may be yet to come. The Costa Rican native is designing a plasma-based rocket engine that he believes will revolutionize space travel, putting our entire solar system at our disposal.
Space Storms - 40:16
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, is one of nature's most spectacular performances, a celestial ballet of light dancing across the night sky. But the same forces that power this dazzling display can overwhelm power grids, fry electrical systems in satellites, even expose astronauts to deadly amounts of radiation. What to do? An unusual space mission aims to find out.
Cosmic Perspective & Northern Lights - 49:32
Turkish subtitles will be added soon.
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