Best of 2023

With Artificial Intelligence evolving so rapidly, will it surpass human intelligence? Could this lead to our replacement—or, worse, our extinction? Top experts provide a clear understanding of the immense benefits and potential dangers of AI.

A mind-blowing romp through history builds a pathway to the present – and a breakthrough that stands to profoundly change our future.

4-part series revealing the real history of the Wild West. Beyond gunslingers and lawmen, we meet the diverse pioneers who shaped a country.

Pirates! Hollywood has fueled our imaginations and turned them into popular icons. Beyond literature and fantasy, the documentary reveals who these fearless adventurers and these masters of the sea once were.

Humanity is closer than ever before to a perpetual clean power source after a team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain. We now know one thing is possible, we can reach ignition.

Journey back to primeval Earth in the age of dinosaurs for new findings and puzzling discoveries about their evolution and extinction.

Cleopatra may be the most famous ancient monarch, but she is only one in a long line of Egyptian queens, spanning 3,000 years of history.

Just how much ‘science’ is in ‘forensic science’? It’s time to put crime scene investigation methods on trial.

A whirlwind tour of 2023's biggest breakthroughs, from discovering the earliest human footprints and detecting distant gravitational waves, to unlocking the power of fusion.

Gjellestad, Norway. Archaeologists made the discovery of a lifetime: a 20-meter-long, 1200-year-old Viking funeral ship. Who is hiding in the grave? Is Gjellestad one of the oldest Viking settlements? What can this coffin tell us about the daily lives, beliefs, and traditions of the Vikings?

We think of fungi as the bottom of the food chain, the recyclers in the circle of life. But fungi are predators. They feed on life. And there are more out there than we ever knew. As we spread into every corner of planet Earth, they are also discovering us – and that we might be the perfect host.

We’ve known about them for centuries and have been photographing them for decades, but a new pair of missions will be launching to bring us closer than we’ve ever been to Jupiter’s icy moons. Revealing answers to what may be astronomy’s biggest question…do the conditions for life exist beyond Earth?

In the closing days of World War II, a daring band of American pilots embarks on a secret mission to capture a revolutionary German aircraft that will change the course of history.

The area around our Earth is full of blind spots, unexpected visitors, hidden dangers and potential cosmic treasures. Follow this scientific quest to understand the origins of a mysterious asteroid—right in Earth’s backyard—that some have called our “other moon.”

Circle the globe on this exhilarating 5-part epic that “connects the dots" between the GIANTS of the natural world, past and present.

The incredible true story of the renowned magician turned skeptic and exposer of frauds and hoaxes, James "The Amazing" Randi.

These are the Innovators, explorers, and incredible minds that pursue progress… at any price.

It’s been called the most significant breakthrough of the century. For the first time, scientists are using a new type of astronomy to detect gravitational waves all around us, opening a window into the history of our universe that could someday lead to time travel.

Earthquakes can leave a path of destruction with no warning. Through the latest technology, scientists are scrambling for a breakthrough that can forecast where and when earthquakes will strike next.

A giant mass of floating seaweed is invading popular beaches in the US and Caribbean! At sea, the sargassum belt is a floating ecosystem, but when it hits the shore it turns toxic. Scientists are racing to figure out how to protect the coast while tracking and studying this natural wonder.

Homicide detective Rod Demery and scientist Professor Turi King investigate history’s most intriguing murders to find long-lost killers.

Life on Earth can be fiercely competitive and, at the same time, intricately interconnected as species survive through one another.

In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, an old cactus serves as a precious oasis for many wild animals. From the roots in the “basement” to the flowery “rooftop bar,” this cactus is like a luxurious “hotel” for its unusual band of flying, crawling and hopping neighbors.

In Antarctica, a state-of-the-art robotic penguin, called ECHO, is changing the way scientists monitor wildlife. The autonomous yellow robot has been integrated into the penguin colony and is using remote sensing technology to monitor these now-endangered penguin colonies.

It’s the dry season near the Serengeti and hungry lions threaten the livelihood of cattle-herder Rugari and his family. He could kill the predatory lions and protect his cattle, but his daughter seeks another solution. Filmed on location in Tanzania—where the worlds of lions and humans collide.

Launched in 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returns to Earth after a 7-year journey with NASA’s very first asteroid sample. Rocks and dust collected in 2020 from the asteroid Bennu will provide scientists with key evidence from the birth of our solar system—about 4.5 billion years ago.

The Naked City’s most notorious crimes of the 20th century, told in the hard-boiled voice of the classic noir stories of the era.

Forget the textbooks! These 8 fast-paced episodes reveal the funny, disturbing, weird, but always interesting bits of history.

WW2. The British Royal Navy turn to a retired wargamer and an unlikely group of young women to develop tactics and sink the German U-boats.

Lift the Ice follows the adventures of six uniquely skilled experts as they investigate the remarkable mysteries emerging from our ice.

Take a deep dive into the great armed conflicts that made the Normans one of the world’s most powerful dynasties.

Crusading knights and Ottoman armies battle for control of four of the medieval world’s greatest fortresses.

Widely regarded as the first woman of Native American and African American descent to have a pilot’s license, Bessie Coleman has long inspired women like her to reach their dreams. Unfortunately, her career ended with a tragic plane crash — but her legacy lives on.

Dr. Jane Goodall and her staff prepare to reintroduce a special group of rescued and rehabilitated chimpanzees to the wild.