APPS
APPS
Breakthrough is a science and innovation documentary series that takes viewers on a sweeping exploration of humanity’s most astonishing discoveries, daring explorations, and cutting-edge research. From the surface of Mars to the depths of Earth’s melting ice sheets, and from the mysteries of the cosmos to breakthroughs in human health, each episode delves into a different scientific frontier, revealing how knowledge is expanding and how innovation reshapes both our world and our future.
Across its expansive catalogue of episodes, Breakthrough brings together leading researchers, explorers, and storytellers to illuminate the technologies and phenomena, redefining what is possible. Whether revisiting the storied 15-year mission of the Opportunity rover on Mars, showing how Greenland’s ice sheet is vanishing at unprecedented rates, or uncovering the latest in wildfire suppression technology, the series connects big ideas with real-world impact. Episodes delve into climate change, astrophysics, global pandemics, heart and brain science, ancient life, space exploration, robotics, and much more, presenting complex topics through compelling storytelling and visuals that make science accessible and fascinating.
This year we said goodbye to one of our most intrepid planetary explorers, the Opportunity rover. Take a look back at its storied 15-year mission on Mars.
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The Greenland ice sheet, the last remnant of the Ice Age, is melting at an unprecedented rate.
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For all of human history, the Sun, our home star, has measured our days and our seasons while fueling all life on Earth. Yet it remains an enigma.
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After record-setting conflagrations erupted in the region’s prized forests, new tools using cutting-edge technology are being developed to help save property and lives.
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Long ago, Saber-tooth cats ruled over the Americas. Fossil evidence is shinning new light on the violent lives of these mysterious species.
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The eruption of Mount Vesuvius is renowned for its decimation of Pompeii, but nearby, an equally impressive Roman settlement known as Herculaneum was lost to history.
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Rip currents can appear without warning, turning an ideal beach outing into a horrific scene of chaos and panic.
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The real impact of global warming is now being felt in communities around the world.
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66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, causing a dinosaur mass extinction. What's in store for humanity if it happens again?
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Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide, but there are researchers frantically working to change that.
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The Tyrannosaurus Rex is known as the king of the dinosaurs, but how did its reign begin? Meet Moros Intrepidus, a 180 lb., deer-sized ancestor to the T-Rex. Learn how the latest in paleontology can now link this small dinosaur to the 19,000-pound Scotty, the largest T-Rex ever discovered.
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A non-profit organization established in 2011 is aiming to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon.
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Wiped off the face of the Earth by humans nearly a century ago, geneticists are now working on resurrecting the enigmatic Tasmanian Tiger.
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Great white sharks are one of the most feared predators on Earth, and yet we know very little about them. Science is now revealing the mysteries of this perfect predator.
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For the first time, scientists have captured a photograph of a black hole. The image will help unlock the greatest mysteries of the cosmos.
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How long does it take for life to rebound after a major mass extinction? Scientists dig through fossil clues for surprising revelations about our Earth's history.
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Einstein was correct about gravitational waves. Here is a short primer on these up-to-now-only theoretical waves.
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NASA may have just gotten one step closer to answering the question: are we alone? The Spitzer Telescope has made a groundbreaking discovery of exoplanets like our own.
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As scientific studies confirm sea level changes throughout the globe, major coastal cities like Miami are now fighting back against these rising tides, before it's too late. Parts of Miami Beach are under serious threat, with major economic and social dangers looming large.
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As the number of people affected by Alzheimer's Disease continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, researchers worldwide are racing to discover a cure.
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Puzzling findings of small-skulled fossils of Homo naledi have scientists trying to understand whether Homo sapiens lived at the same time as Homo naledi.
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New evidence suggests humans arrived in North America far earlier than previously thought, and that they may have traveled along paths now buried deep beneath the sea.
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Twenty years after its launch, we bid farewell to the Cassini spacecraft as it plunges into Saturn’s atmosphere in a planned death spiral.
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An extraordinary new discovery of a dinosaur fossil so pristine and complete, that it shows off the texture, patterns, and color of a prehistoric giant.
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Is it possible that there is a hidden planet within our own solar system? New evidence suggests that the fabled Planet X, or Planet 9, may indeed exist… but where?
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People around the world could run out of water. But the recent discovery of a massive aquifer hidden beneath the U.S. coastline may offer the greatest hope for humanity.
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Witness this historic flight, from the first manned launch from the US in nearly a decade to the first splashdown attempt since the Apollo era.
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Capture teams from the U.S. National Park Service track down and relocate wolves to Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior to restore balance.
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Could a 75 million-year-old dinosaur skull that has been sitting in a museum for over 20 years hold the first-ever dinosaur DNA discovered by humans?
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With new moons recently spotted orbiting Saturn, the gas giant has taken the lead in our cosmic neighborhood's moon count.
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Meet Perseverance, NASA's latest rover, as it heads to Mars to answer one question: did life exist on the red planet?
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OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first asteroid-sampling spacecraft on an asteroid called BENNU.
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Watch as the Mars Perseverance Rover makes its historic landing on the Red Planet. We take you inside the harrowing February 18, 2021 landing and its science mission.
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Archaeologists and geneticists are uncovering surprising details about one of the most mysterious civilizations in Pre-Incan South America.
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Learn how the history of forest management and loss of public trust, coupled with climate change, have led to the conditions driving mega-fire nearly year-round.
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The North Atlantic Right Whale is on the verge of extinction. The leading cause of death and injury to the whales is from ship strikes or entanglement in fishing lines.
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Scientists have concluded that "meg" was able to achieve its gargantuan proportions by starting its carnivorous diet early -- in the womb.
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Scientists believe that within a few decades many useful microbes will have disappeared so they want to create a vault for Human Microbiota.
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Drones have already conquered Earth, and now they're heading out into the solar system.
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65 million years ago, an immense space rock slammed into Earth, creating the equivalent of nuclear winter, killing all of the dinosaurs.
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From their unique predatory behaviors to the web masterpieces they weave, science is revealing big breakthroughs about spiders and their super strong and flexible silks.
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Nearly a century after the discovery of King Tut's tomb archaeologists uncover the lost city of Luxor revealing new details about life in the Golden Era of ancient Egypt.
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A dog's sense of smell can do amazing things. Dogs can help humans sniff out all kinds of things that improve our lives, explosives, missing persons, illegal drugs.
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A team of scientists embarks on a quest to explore the mesopelagic zone or ocean twilight zone which sits beneath the surface layer of the ocean.
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The ICARUS system monitors the movements and behaviors of Earth’s creatures from space.
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For the first time in decades, NASA is sending two new missions to Venus designed to study and explore the planet’s atmosphere and earth-like composition.
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The story of the science behind the largest, most advanced, and most expensive telescope ever made.
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New research reveals how incredible these ancient, unchanged reptiles really are - partly because of what’s called negligible senescence.
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Astronomers linked radio dishes around the world to create the “Event Horizon Telescope” and have utilized this tool to photograph a supermassive black hole.
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Forecasting volcanic eruptions is notoriously challenging, but teams of scientists may soon be utilizing cosmic rays to diagnose when a volcano is about to blow.
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The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
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New breakthroughs in extra-planetary surveying and rocket propulsion are revealing the dichotomy of asteroids.
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Anyone stuck in traffic has fantasized about lifting off and transforming their car into a helicopter.
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This is an inside look at NASA's groundbreaking Artemis Program, the spacecraft, and the people who will bring humanity one step closer to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
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Humanity is closer than ever before to a perpetual clean power source.
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Two new missions will bring us closer to Jupiter’s icy moons. Revealing answers to what may be astronomy’s biggest question…do the conditions for life exist beyond Earth?
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Through the latest technology, scientists are scrambling for a breakthrough that can forecast where and when earthquakes will strike next.
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A giant mass of floating seaweed is invading popular beaches in the US and Caribbean!
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Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx returns to Earth after a 7-year journey with NASA’s first asteroid sample—providing scientists with evidence from the birth of our solar system.
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Arguably the most significant breakthrough of the century, a new type of astronomy is detecting gravitational waves throughout our universe.
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Get ready for humanity's first deep dive into alien ocean worlds on Jupiter's icy moons. NASA's Europa Clipper explores the ultimate question: Is there life beyond Earth?
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In Antarctica, ECHO—a state-of-the-art robotic penguin—uses remote sensing technology to monitor these now-endangered penguin colonies.
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An inside look at how Brain-Computer Interfaces are bringing hope and increased independence to patients living with conditions like paralysis, ALS and blindness.
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Humans are beginning to wield the power of evolution—unlocking the mysteries of the natural world to improve our lives, our health and our future.
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Saber Teeth. Mega Jaws. A Tyrant King. How did these hunters reach the top of the food chain—and what brought their reign to an end?
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AI data centers devour energy. Prices are rising. Brownouts will be next. Do we have the juice to power a digital world?
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Explore the rockets, landers, instruments, lunar terrain vehicles and the space capsule paving the way for NASA's future Artemis missions to the Moon.
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On a faraway island ruled by giant dragons since prehistoric times, archaeologists uncover the tiny remains of ancient humans and ignite fierce controversy.
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Meet Perseverance, NASA's latest rover, as it heads to Mars to answer one question: did life exist on the red planet, and can it in the future?
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