Nowadays, vampires are a mainstay of TV, film and literature, but in medieval Europe they were a terrifyingly real prospect and omens of death and doom. Taking the archaeological discovery of mutilated medieval skeletons buried in the west of Ireland as a starting point, Vampire Skeletons Mystery traces the rise of the vampire from medieval folk terror to 21st-century fantasy. The fear of the undead seems rooted deep in the human psyche. But could a number of skeletons found buried in a quiet field really signal that vampires were once on the loose in Ireland? Using medieval texts alongside cutting-edge forensic science, a team of experts from British and Irish universities explains how these ancient burials fit into a belief system that spanned medieval Europe and still survives in remote rural communities to this day.

After your son, Bobby, mysteriously disappears, itпїЅs up to you to find him in Surface: The Mystery of Another World!

After your son, Bobby, mysteriously disappears, itпїЅs up to you to find him in Surface: The Mystery of Another World!

NOVA meets a new breed of experts who are approaching "cold case" art mysteries as if they were crime scenes, determined to discover "who committed the art," and follows art sleuths as they deploy new techniques to combat the multi-billion dollar criminal market in stolen and fraudulent art.

Using cutting edge laser technology to analyze what lies behind his painting, Mona Lisa, this investigation delves deep into the genius of da Vinci.

Legend has it that Isaac Newton formulated gravitational theory in 1665 or 1666 after watching an apple fall and asking why the apple fell straight down, rather than sideways or even upward. "He showed that the force that makes the apple fall and that holds us on the ground is the same as the force that keeps the moon and planets in their orbits," said Martin Rees, President of Britain's Royal Society, the United Kingdom's national academy of science, which was once headed by Newton himself.

For the first time, the Catholic Church is allowing scientific experts and historians to openly test the veracity of the remains of reported saints. National Geographic has exclusive access to the forensic investigation. Deep in the crypt below the Cathedral of Reggio Emilia lie a set of bones believed to be those of two ancient saints, Chrysanthus and Daria. For more than 1,500 years they've been hidden away...until now. Can science prove that these are a man and woman who were brutally executed by the Romans in the fight against a growing Christian faith?