3-D Mug Shot
Examine one of the latest crime-fighting tools—a laser-imaging technique that creates three-dimensional mug shots and uses ears to identify individuals.
Find out how new airport radar systems could help prevent crashes on the runway.
Anatomy of a Cigarette
Take a close look at a clickable conventional cigarette, and compare it to recent attempts to create a "safer" cigarette.
Anatomy of Concorde
On this detailed cross section, examine the features that enabled it to fly faster than sound.
Anatomy of a Firework
All you see is brilliant light and vivid color. Here, put on the pyrotechnician's hat and see a typical firework from the inside out.
Anatomy of a Jetliner
Look under the floorboards, above the ceiling, and inside the wings at a jet's sophisticated internal systems.
Anatomy of a Rover
Examine the robotic geologists and their scientific instruments.
Anatomy of Yamato
See what made this super battleship both seemingly unsinkable and highly vulnerable to attack.
Attack of the 50-foot Chicken
Try your hand at the fine art of special effects—composite a barnyard chicken into a New York City scene.
Blueprint for a Space Station
With animations and digital drawings, learn about key components of the ISS, from the Canadian-built robotic arm to the Japanese Experiment Module with its "back porch."
Build a Bridge
Learn about the four major types of bridges and match the right bridge to the right location.
Build a Rice Paddy
A step-by-step animation shows the construction of a rice paddy.
Build a Rocket
Learn more about how the innovative German V-2 rocket worked by assembling it yourself.
Build a Tree-Ring Timeline
Assemble a tree-ring chronology using tree-ring samples to piece together a pattern of rings that stretches back through time.
Clean Air Technologies
Explore a handful of creative solutions to help reduce pollution, like exhaust-eating algae and wind energy.
Construct an Aqueduct
Build an aqueduct that will supply an ancient Roman city with clean water.
Create a DNA Fingerprint
Find out about DNA fingerprinting as you try to solve the case of the licked lollipop.
Damage Done, The
On this high-resolution image, examine how two centuries of loving but imperfect care have altered the Declaration.
Dating Game, The
Discover the science behind radiocarbon dating.
Decoding Cosmic Spectra
Play astronomer and analyze the spectral fingerprints of a planet, star, galaxy, and nebula.
Design a Parachute
Create a parachute both strong and light enough to safely slow the rovers in their descent toward Mars.
Designing for Stealth
How do you render a 15-ton hunk of flying metal nearly invisible to the enemy?
Destroy the Castle
Make adjustments to your trebuchet, then try to destroy a castle wall.
Steven Chu, slated to be the next U.S. Energy Secretary, offers his take on California's policies and the nation's options.
Engineer a Crop
Modify plants using the traditional method of selective breeding and one of the latest transgenic methods.
Escape from Antarctica
Relive Ernest Shackleton's fantastic voyage from Antarctica'a Elephant Island to South Georgia island using a sextant and a chart.
Explore the Shipwreck
Review the inventory of a 17th-century ship's well-preserved artifacts with this clickable drawing, which contains information on the position, description, and conservation of many items recovered during excavation.
Find Your Longitude
Determine your location on the high seas using only the sun's position and the time of day.
Fire a Torpedo
Find out how a torpedo makes use of a gyroscope as you try to sink enemy ships.
In this audio slide show, Cynthia Breazeal talks about some of her favorite non-human companions.
From First Alert to Missile Launch
Experience in real time the tense ten minutes of a hypothetical launch-on-warning scenario within Russia.
Get Lost: Compass Game
Put yourself in the shoes of a climber and use a compass to find your way.
Send a plane down a runway at top speed and see how it achieves enough lift to take off.
Global Guide to Bioweapons
With this clickable map, learn the facts about 20 nations around the globe where biological weapons were under production—and in some cases still are.
Global Guide to Nuclear Missiles
Using a clickable map, see what kinds of nuclear missiles the U.S., Russia, China, India, and other nuclear nations have at the ready.
Arnold Schwarzenegger remains fearless about his state's energy bet.
GPS: The New Navigation
Ever wonder how the Global Positioning System (GPS) works? This extraordinarily complex system is actually based on some simple concepts.
Guess What's Coming to Dinner?
Click on a table full of genetically modified foods and find out how biotechnology is changing what we eat.
Hazardous Duty Robots
Read about three dangerous situations and then decide which robot is best suited to deal with each situation.
Visits to the space station and other exotic locales are now possible, but for a price.
History of Biowarfare
Agents of disease have been used as weapons of terror for centuries, long before scientists knew how germs spread illness. Review the past—and the unfolding—history of biowarfare and bioterrorism.
Imaging With Radar
See what synthetic aperture radar can see with this picture of Washington, D.C., taken on a snowy winter's day.
Inside a Solar Cell
How does a photovoltaic cell convert sunlight into electricity?
Inside Tunnel "Harry"
See how the Allied POWs jerry-built their escape passage right under their captors' noses.
The Economist's Vijay Vaitheeswaran sees the pros and cons of California's approach.
Lever an Obelisk
Use a lever to raise one end of an obelisk three feet off the ground.
Making a Masterpiece
Step by painstaking step, see what it takes to create a samurai sword.
The world's first vaccine, invented in 1796, used pustules from diseased cows to protect humans from smallpox. Find out how six different types of vaccines are made today.
Map in Question, The
Is it authentic? Examine the entire map—and the telltale evidence—and decide for yourself.
Map of Lost U-Boats
U-869 was just one of the more than 1,100 U-boats sunk, scuttled, captured, or otherwise lost to German forces during World War II. Using this clickable map, naval historian Timothy Mulligan describes 25 of the most historically significant U-boats.
MiG vs. Sabre Anatomy
Compare the two fighters—one Russian, one American—whose pilots dueled to the death over "MiG Alley."
Take a closer look at this deep-sea robot, one of only four in the world that can dive to depths of more than 10,000 feet.
Mountain Gear Then and Now
See how climbers' gear has changed from the time of the early 20th-century Everest explorer George Mallory to today.
Move the Moai
Figure out how to move a moai across Easter Island.
Name That Shell
Learn the names of different types of fireworks, then test your newfound knowledge with six video clips of fireworks displays.
Operation: Heart Transplant
As the heart surgeon in a NOVA virtual operating theater, it's your job to cut out an old heart and replace it with a new one.
On the Nature of Being Karl Iagnemma
What's his secret? Hear more from this master of two trades. Listen to highlights or go to the full interview.
Outfitting a Fighter Pilot
A pilot's gear is a sophisticated support system that can save his life in deadly situations.
Discover the various components of a firefighter's gear and learn how they help firefighters on the job in a high-rise-building fire scenario.
Outfitting An Ice Climber
Click through an ice climber's technical wardrobe to learn what he wears and why.
Outfitting Wildland Firefighters
See a wildland firefighter's workaday wardrobe and assorted tools.
Pillars of Creation, The
Assemble the famous image of the Eagle Nebula from raw data beamed down from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Pilot the 1903 Flyer
In this clickable illustration of the first airplane, see how the Wright brothers solved the problem of steering.
Pyrotechnics: It's Elemental
Click on areas in the Periodic Table to discover some of the elements needed to make fireworks work.
Scaling the Pyramids
Print out and assemble a scaled-down version of the Great Pyramid.
Search & Salvage
Choose the proper search method to retrieve a camera that has sunk into the ocean depths.
See Inside a Submarine
Lead yourself on a virtual tour through an active nuclear submarine with these 360-degree views.
Discover the hidden signatures that volcanologists seek in the noise emanating from a restless volcano.
Send a Coded Message
Use a virtual version of the German ciphering machine, Enigma, to send an encrypted message.
Sequence for Yourself
How do researchers determine the sequence of A's, C's, T's, and G's that make up the human genome?
Simple Cipher, A
Deciphering this secret message isn't all that difficult—you just need a little time.
Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute warns that the state's green agenda could lead to economic ruin.
A surveillance-image specialist examines photos of Iraq, North Korea, and other political hotspots.
See how successful you are at operating a virtual steam machine.
Stone Age Toolkit
Would you know what to use an ancient stone tool for if you unearthed one? Try your hand here.
Submersibles Through Time
See how deep-sea research vessels have evolved over the decades.
Take a Tour of Mir
Click through a layout of the entire space station, complete with walkthrough video of the interior of each module.
Tallest Tower, The
The engineer describes Shanghai's advanced skyscraper.
Timeline of UAVs
From Civil War hot-air balloons to today's miniature flying robots, explore the history of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Titanic: What's Real?
Nearly 500 separate elements were combined in one single frame of the movie Titanic. What's real? You be the judge, and click on the image to find out if you're right.
Tour a Blériot XI
In this audio interactive, a vintage-aircraft expert shows off the oldest operational airplane in the U.S.
Tour the Monitor
Lead yourself on a tour of the Monitor above and below decks with these striking 360° panoramas, created to show how the ironclad appeared when it first set sail a century and a half ago.
In this animation, guide yourself through the World War II German submarine off New Jersey that divers eventually identified as U-869.
What Robots See
In this slide show, look out through the "eyes" of computer-driven vehicles.
Why Build It?
Physicist and space-elevator visionary Brad Edwards describes the many benefits we'd enjoy.
Windows on the Womb
Explore the currently available diagnostic and screening techniques that are changing the nature of both pregnancy and parenthood.
Experiment with airfoil shapes and discover how they affect the way a plane flies.
Your Carbon Diet
Navigate around a typical New England house to find what drains energy and what makes a home more energy efficient.