NOVA Season 40 Episode 16 Synopsis

How did life storm the beaches and dominate planet Earth? Ancient Australian fossils offer clues in "Life Explodes". Half a billion years ago, Australia was still part of the super-continent Gondwana. The oceans were teeming with weird and wonderful animals, but the world above the waves remained an almost lifeless wasteland. All that was about to change, though. Host Richard Smith introduces Earth's forgotten pioneers: the scuttling arthropod armies that invaded the shores and the waves of green revolutionaries whose battle for the light pushed plant life across the face of a barren continent. Evolution continued underwater as well, with armor-plated fish experimenting with teeth, jaws, sex, and lungs. NOVA's prehistoric adventure continues with four-legged animals walking onto dry land-and the planet poised for disaster.

NOVA Season 40 Episodes...

• s40e01 - Secrets of the Viking Sword
• s40e02 - Forensics on Trial
• s40e03 - Mystery of Easter Island
• s40e04 - Ultimate Mars Challenge
• s40e05 - Inside the Megastorm
• s40e06 - Doomsday Volcanoes
• s40e07 - Decoding Neanderthals
• s40e08 - Rise of the Drones
• s40e09 - Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?
• s40e10 - Building Pharaoh's Chariot
• s40e11 - Earth From Space
• s40e12 - Mind of a Rampage Killer
• s40e13 - Meteor Strike
• s40e14 - Ancient Computer
• s40e15 - Australia's First 4 Billion Years - Awakening
• s40e16 - Australia's First 4 Billion Years - Life Explodes
• s40e17 - Australia's First 4 Billion Years - Monsters
• s40e18 - Australia's First 4 Billion Years - Strange Creatures
• s40e19 - Manhunt - Boston Bombers
• s40e20 - Oklahoma's Deadliest Tornadoes

NOVA Show Summary

Seen in more than 100 countries, NOVA is the most watched science based television series in the world and the most watched documentary series on PBS. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won many major television awards, most of them many times over.