NOVA, Vol. 8

It's now December 3rd and still the shows from Nov. 14 and November 18 aren't yet available. Apple response to inquiries have been a great deal less than helpful - usually "content comes from the content provider."

Why are the new epiosdes for this season taking so long to become available? Ultimate Mars Challenge aired on Nov 14, and Inside the Megastorm aired on Nov 18, but they have yet to be posted on iTunes as of Dec 2.

This show is so riddled with hopeful speculation that its creators continuously hide the actual facts. 1. Crucible steel of high purity is very hard to hammer out. It has a tendency to crack and break. 2. The Ulthbeart material evidence is in too sorry a state to properly identify the amount of impurities of the original steel. 3. Medeival swordmaking was far more advanced in the far east during the Viking age. 4. The Japanese forged high Quality steel or Tamahagane in a clay Tartare and the steel was refined during the process of forge welding the steel in layers by folding the billet and hammering it out. It was more malleable than crucible steel and ended up way more resilient and pure than any sword forged in west. 5. There is no comparison between ANY viking sword and the insights that led to the production of the Japanese Nihonto. Period.