From the award-winning producers of NOVA, NOVA scienceNOW brings its fast-paced, magazine-style approach to investigate what's happening on the very front lines of science. Go behind the scenes of today's most exciting science research with host Neil deGrasse Tyson, renowned astrophysicist and Director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium.

This episode of NOVA scienceNOW covers:

Bird Brains: What can the songs of zebra finches tell us about the human evolution of language? A lot more than we once thought. It turns out the way a finch learns to sing is very similar to how babies learn to speak. The similarity between birdsong and human speech and the evolution of human language may lie in our genes, including an intriguing gene called FOXP2 that is shared by a wide range of creatures.

Space Storms: The northern lights are glorious, but they hold a mystery: What causes them? An answer would not simply satisfy scientific curiosity; the dance of the northern lights masks a growing danger The most energetic displays are associated with violent space weather, and space weather--the energetic interaction of radiation, magnetic fields, and charged particles from the sun - could catastrophically disrupt the space-based technologies on which we increasingly rely.

Profile--Yoky Mastuoka: Growing up in Japan, Yoky Matsuoka was on her way to becoming a world-class tennis player, but it was hard to find a regular partner. So Matsuoka designed and hoped to build her own: a robotic player that would never get tired. Injuries crushed her tennis dreams, but not her interest in robotics. Now Matsuoka is a leader in the emerging field of neurobotics - a fusion of neuroscience and robotics.

Smart Bridges: Ever since last summer's sudden collapse of the Minneapolis Interstate 35 bridge, millions are now nervous about crossing long highway spans. In a nation abounding with aging bridges, what can be done to avert the next disaster? Unfortunately, there is no single answer, and NOVA scienceNOW explores why.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA scienceNOW Web site; segment selection; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired. On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: Region 1. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 16:9 Anamorphic.