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:

Phoenix Mars Lander: The Phoenix lander, the latest NASA Mars probe, successfully touched down in the Martian arctic in May 2008. Its mission is to dig in to the Martian permafrost in search for the first samples of water ever to be obtained from the Red Planet, ultimately hoping to test for the presence of organic molecules that could be the precursors of life.

Brain Trauma: Knocks to the head are the occasion for humor in our culture: in cartoons, sports replays, and online videos. But even minor head injuries are serious business. A concussion may leave no trace on a conventional MRI scan, but can cause permanent memory loss, attention problems, and depression. NOVA scienceNOW investigates promising new leads in understanding this puzzling condition, which affects more people than Alzheimer's disease, according to neuropsychiatrist Marilyn Kraus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Mammoth Mystery: In 1962, the rarest of Ice Age fossils was uncovered: two complete male mammoths, their 12-foot long tusks locked in a death grip. But why did they fight and die together? It has been a mystery for more than forty years, but now NOVA scienceNOW follows paleontologists as they unravel forensic clues to determine the sex and age of the mammoths, their eating patterns, and how their violent clash doomed them.

Profile--Judah Folkman: NOVA scienceNOW pays tribute to a giant in the field of cancer research. Judah Folkman, who passed away in early 2008, wasn't always considered a trailblazer. Forty years ago his idea about cancer tumor behavior, angiogenesis, was regarded as seriously misguided by many medical researchers. But Dr. Folkman proved his theory, and now the hunch that got him started decades ago has blossomed into an exciting field, attracting many top researchers who will continue to build on Dr. Folkman's pioneering research.