Nova Wonders

159 science documentaries you can watch right now (no membership required)

Compiled by Andy Trimlett

Is your brain is in desperate need of something enriching? Good news. We’ve got you covered. Below is a list of 159 of the best science documentaries and web series out there. All of these shows are available to watch right now without a membership.  Just click the links and press play. Or better yet, find them in the free PBS Video app for your Roku, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV Stick, phone or tablet.

Enjoy!


Animals, Air

Inside Animal Minds: Bird Genius

A Life Among the Clouds: A NATURE Short Film

Super Hummingbirds


Animals, General

Deep Look Web Series

Songs for Unusual Creatures Web Series


Animals, Land

Big Cats

Camel

Dogs in the Land of Lions

Equus “Story of the Horse” | Episode 1: Origins

Equus “Story of the Horse” | Episode 2: Chasing the Wind

Forest of the Lynx

Fox Tales

Inside Animal Minds: Dogs & Super Senses

Inside Animal Minds: Who’s the Smartest?

Living with Snow Leopards–Tashi’s Story

Monster Python

What Are Animals Saying?

Running With The Herd: A NATURE Short Film

The Story of Cats | Into the Americas

Trinidad’s Turtle Giants

Undercover in the Jungle

World’s Fastest Animal


Animals, Prehistoric

Eons Web Series


 


 

Animals, Water

Cod Comeback?

Giant Squid

Great White Shark

Scourge of the Lionfish

Shark Reef

Sperm Whale

Swordfish!


Ancient People & Places

Decoding the Great Pyramid

First Face of America

Great Human Odyssey

Making North America Human

Making North America: Life

Making North America: Origins


Architecture & Engineering

Building the Great Cathedrals

Power Trip: The Story of Energy – Water

Rise of the Rockets


Biology

The Animal Origins of Art/How We Choose Our Mates

Blood Sugar Rising: America’s Hidden Diabetes Epidemic

Coronavirus Pandemic

Can We Build a Brain?

Can We Make Life?

Gene Doctors

Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria

I Contain Multitudes Web Series

Life’s Great Miracle

The Science of Monogamy/Our Mysterious Lifespan

Spillover – Zika, Ebola & Beyond

What Separates Humans from Animals?

Your Inner Fish

Your Inner Monkey

Your Inner Reptile


Brains

Addiction

Braincraft Web Series

Can Alzheimer’s Be Stopped?


Chemistry

Reactions Web Series

Shanks FX


Computers

Crash Course: Artificial Intelligence Web Series

Crash Course: Computer Science Web Series

CyberWork and the American Dream

Idea Channel Web Series

In the Age of AI


Environment

Adaptation to Global Water Shortages

Building a Future: Lumber Poaching in Oregon and Brazil

The Chain of Life

City Planning

Climate Migration

Destination Baja

Dying Oceans: Abalone Restoration In California

Extreme Realities

Follow the Water

Fueling Change: Oil Extraction in Alaska & California

Green Builders

Healing the Body with United Indian Health Service

Holistic Healing with the Syuxtun Collective

Hot Mess Web Series

Lighting A Path: Embracing Solar Power

Managing Groundwater with the Paiute

Poisoned Water

The Prairie Killers

Protecting the Coast with the Tolowa Dee-ni’

Prudhoe Bay or Bust!

ReInventors Web Series

Restoring The River with the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk

River of Kings

The Sacred Island

Santa Barbara: Everybody’s Mistake

Sea Level Rising: Living with Water

Sinking Cities: New York

Sinking Cities: Tokyo

Sinking Cities: London

Sinking Cities: Miami

Slow Death of Desert Water

Tending the Wild

Urban Habitat

The Water is so Clear that a Blind Man Could See

Why Do We Destroy Nature? / Tackling Inequality

Will the Gater Glades Survive?


 


Food & Agriculture

Agriculture’s Mixed Blessings/How Agriculture Differentiated

Avocado Wars: The Battle Over Water Rights In Chile

Of Broccoli and Pelicans and Celery and Seals

Dairy Alternatives: Rethinking Milk In California and Kenya

Decolonizing Cuisine with Mak-‘amham

Future of Food

Nourish Web Series

Serving up Science Web Series

Tribal Hunting with the Pit River Peoples


General Science

Catalyst: Shaping the Future

Gross Science Web Series

It’s Okay to Be Smart Web Series

Secret Life of Scientists


Geography

Antarctic Extremes Web Series

Backbone Trail Web Series

Okavango: River of Dreams – Episode 1: Paradise

Okavango: River of Dreams – Episode 2: Limbo

Okavango: River of Dreams – Episode 3: Inferno

Polar Extremes

The Serengeti Rules

Spend An Hour in Snowy Yellowstone | Sights & Sounds

Yosemite


Geology

Hunting the Elements


Great Scientists

Decoding Da Vinci

Einstein’s Quantum Riddle

E.O. Wilson of Ants and Men


Math

Infinite Series Web Series


Physics

Crash Course: Physics Web Series

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Universe or Multiverse?

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Quantum Leap

The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time

Physics Girl Web Series


Space

Apollo’s Daring Mission

Black Hole Apocalypse

Crash Course: Astronomy Web Series

Earth from Space

The Elegant Universe: Part 1

The Elegant Universe: Part 2

The Elegant Universe: Part 3

The Fabric of the Cosmos: What is Space?

The Farthest — Voyager in Space

Finding Life Beyond Earth

Are We Alone

What’s the Universe Made Of?

The Planets: Ice Worlds

The Planets: Saturn

The Planets: Jupiter

The Planets: Mars

The Planets: Inner Worlds

Space Time Web Series

Stellar Web Series

Will We Be Visited By Aliens? / Can We Eradicate Genocide?


Weather & Seismic Activity

American Spring LIVE: Episode 1 – Birth and Rebirth

American Spring LIVE: Episode 2 – Migration

American Spring LIVE: Episode 3 – Connections

Decoding the Weather Machine

Killer Volcanoes

Inside the Megafire

Life on Fire

Living Volcanoes

Illustration of columns of a capitol building with text reading: Arizona PBS AZ Votes 2024
April 2

Arizona PBS to present candidate debates as part of ‘AZ Votes 2024’

A photo journalist walking a destroyed city
airs April 2

Frontline: 20 Days in Mariupol

A woman working on a project in an art studio
airs March 29

Violet Protest

The
aired March 25

Pulitzer on the Road: Small Town Shakedown

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