Bill Nye: The Science Guy - Season 4

Episodes

Earthquakes

Bill Nye explains what makes the Earth's crust move and visits the scientists who study earthquake activity.

Nov. 24, 1995

Season 4Episode 525 min

NTV Top 11 Video Countdown

Join Bill Nye as he counts down the hits from the Soundtracks of Science. Along with the music, Bill does a few new experiments on the lab bench. You’ll see the grunge band Nyevana’s classic “Air Pressure,” Momentisey’s “The Faster You Push Me,” and divas En Lobe’s “Whatta Brain.” There’s even a special appearance by Mudhoney, a real band from Seattle. But if you want to know who’s the number one artist from Not That Bad Records, you’ll have to tune in.

Dez. 1, 1995

Season 4Episode 625 min

Spiders

Be sure to get this straight: spiders are not insects, they’re arachnids. Spiders have eight legs, and insects have only six. Spiders have two body parts, a head and an abdomen, while insects have three body parts, a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. Insects have antennae, and spiders do not. Some insects sting. All spiders have fangs and venom. There are almost certainly a few spiders in the room with you right now.

Jan. 5, 1996

Season 4Episode 725 min

Pollution Solutions

People need to find ways to clean up the Earth for future generations.

Jan. 12, 1996

Season 4Episode 825 min

Probability

A lesson on the laws of probability shows how to predict events

Jan. 19, 1996

Season 4Episode 925 min

Pseudoscience

People once thought that world was flat or nearly flat. It was considered a bit crazy to think of it as a big ball. But it is. You can prove it. One of the big ideas in science is that ideas can be tested. Scientists test claims. If one scientist claims that she or he can fill a balloon with invisible gas using vinegar and baking soda, other scientists can try it and see if they get the same result. Sometimes ideas are wild, extraordinary. And, the claims that go with these way-out ideas are pretty extraordinary as well. The round Earth is an example of an extraordinary claim that needed extraordinary proof. But, there are many people, who believe in extraordinary claims without looking for extraordinary proof. We scientists are always on the lookout. Sometimes ideas are wild, extraordinary. And, the claims that go with these way-out ideas are pretty extraordinary as well. The round Earth is an example of an extraordinary claim that needed extraordinary proof.

Jan. 26, 1996

Season 4Episode 1025 min

Flowers

Actress Drew Barrymore helps show how flowers are pollinated and reproduce.

Jan. 27, 1996

Season 4Episode 1125 min

Archaeology

Archaeologists are kind of like detectives. They’re scientists who snoop through old or ancient people’s things to find out what life was like thousands of years ago. Archaeologists find ancient cities, tombs, and temples by taking aerial photographs of Earth, by reading old documents, or by just looking at the shape of the land. When they think they’ve found a site, the archaeologists pick up a shovel and start digging. When archaeologists get close to an object, they dig very carefully. Sometimes they dig with nothing but a toothpick and a paintbrush. Whew!

Jan. 28, 1996

Season 4Episode 1225 min

Deserts

A trip to Arizona's Sonoran desert, a unique ecosystem.

Jan. 29, 1996

Season 4Episode 1325 min

Amphibians

Frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (worm-like animals that have backbones) are all amphibians, animals that spend part of their lives in water and part on land. Amphibians are slimy. Amphibians are cold-blooded that means their body temperature changes with the temperature outside. And as amphibians grow up, they go through metamorphosis.

Jan. 30, 1996

Season 4Episode 1425 min

Volcanoes

Volcanoes are mountains made from molten rock. The Earth’s crust is divided into big slabs, called plates, which are slowly moving all the time. The plates are floating on the Earth’s mantle, a layer of gooey hot rock that flows like maple syrup. Some places in the mantle, the rock gets very hot and nearly liquid. It’s called magma. Sometimes the magma reaches the Earth’s surface and forms a volcano.

Jan. 31, 1996

Season 4Episode 1525 min

Invertebrates

Worms, squid, clams, and flies are spineless creatures. They’re not afraid, they’re invertebrates – animals that don’t have backbones. Invertebrates are everywhere. You can find invertebrates in the sea, in freshwater, and on land. There are about 30 times more invertebrates than vertebrates on Earth.

Feb. 7, 1996

Season 4Episode 1625 min

Heart

The circulatory mechanism's most magnificent muscle. With Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez.

Feb. 14, 1996

Season 4Episode 1725 min

Inventions

The process of inventing and how some inventions are ``accidents.'' Actor Samuel L. Jackson appears.

Feb. 21, 1996

Season 4Episode 1825 min

Computers

With special guest, Mick H. Computers are used throughout the world all the time. Computers are in cars, calculators, televisions – you’re even using one right now. Humans use computers to take information – things like pictures, words, numbers, and sound, and turn it into electricity. The information is changed into a pattern of electrical pulses, a bunch of electricity “ons” and “offs.” The computers are designed so that they can tell the difference between pieces of information by the different patterns of “ons” and “offs.” Computers change the information you give them, turn it into electrical pulses, make changes to it, and give it back to you in a form you can understand in a matter of thousandths of seconds. It’s not the computers, it’s the electricity that makes computers so fast.

Apr. 25, 1996

Season 4Episode 1925 min

Fossils

Most dead animals and plants break up, get decomposed, and become part of the soil, but some turn into fossils. A fossil forms when a plant or animal dies, and gets buried. If conditions are right, water gets into the fossil bed, and chemical reactions preserve the impressions for thousands or millions of years. There are different types of fossils — imprints of animals, black carbon outlines, hardened bones, or actual animals and plants that have been trapped in ice or hardened tree sap.

Sept. 5, 1997

Season 4Episode 2025 min

Time

Time affects every living thing on Earth. Trees shed their leaves. Some animals only come out at night. There are even insects that only emerge every 17 years. Days, hours, minutes, and seconds – all of these were invented by humans. Humans came up with these units of time to organize their lives and to study the world. One of the first ways humans told time was by noticing the difference between daytime and nighttime. Humans use the Earth revolving around the Sun to divide time into years and seasons. Months are based on the movement of the Moon around the Earth. A day is when the Earth spins completely around its own axis.

Sept. 12, 1997

Bill Nye: The Science Guy - Season 4

Season 4

Episodes

Rivers & Streams

Nutrition

Marine Mammals