PRESS RELEASE:

NOVA moves to Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. on KUED Channel 7 beginning January 19 with an all new season of NOVA ScienceNOW followed by the premiere of NOVA: Making Stuff at 8:00 p.m.

In a remarkable new four-hour special airing on four consecutive Wednesday nights Making Stuff unveils our high-tech future and the pioneering breakthroughs of material sciences today.

Invisibility cloaks. Spider silk that is stronger than steel. Plastics made of sugar that dissolve in landfills. Self-healing military vehicles. Smart pills and micro-robots that journey through the human body zapping deseases. What will the future bring, and what will it be made of? In NOVA Making Stuff New York Times technology columnist David Pogue takes viewers on a thrilling tour of the material world we live in, and the one that may lie ahead, offering viewers a behind-the-scenes look at scientific innovations that are ushering in a new generation of materials that are stronger, smarter, smaller and cleaner than anything we've ever seen. The first episode, NOVA Making Stuff Stronger, airs Wednesday, January 19 at 8:00 p.m.

From the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age to more recent periods dominated by plastics and silicon, materials have defined the human progress. Now, we are once again poised on the verge of a materials revolution, as researchers around the globe use biology and chemistry to expand our technological frontiers and understand where the future is taking us.

"Few people realize it, but materials are the basis of our civilization," says Paula S. Apsell, Senior Executive producer of NOVA.

The premiere of Making Stuff is proceeded by an all new season of NOVA ScienceNOW at 7:00 p.m., which tackles some of the biggest questions on people's minds in six specially themed new episodes.

Hosted by engaging astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, NOVA ScienceNOW will focus each week on a particular, thought-provoking topic--pondering who we are, how we got here, and where things are going. As always, each show delves into the latest scientific breakthroughs that could contribute to a better understanding of ourselves and our place within the universe.

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