"Episode Guide: Season 1
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Episode 101
Wednesday, October 3, 8 pm
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Episode 102
Wednesday, October 10, 8 pm
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Episode 103
Wednesday, October 17, 8 pm
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Episode 104
Wednesday, October 24, 8 pm
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Episode 105
Wednesday, October 31, 8 pm
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Episode 106
Wednesday, November 7, 8 pm
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Episode 107
Wednesday, November 14, 8 pm
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Episode 108
Wednesday, November 21, 8 pm
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Episode 109
Wednesday, December 19, 8 pm
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Episode 110
Wednesday, December 26, 8 pm
Wired Science Team
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Episode 101
TECHNOLOGY: World War 2.0
In spring 2007, Estonia's banks and newspapers were shut down by an organized wide-scale cyber-attack using 'botnets. WIRED writer Josh Davis heads to the site of the attack to find out what happened, who did it, and what the heck a "botnet" is.
Additional Segments:
HEALTH
Face Reader
Ziya Tong meets children with Asperger’s Syndrome testing a new MIT media lab device that reads facial expressions.
WHAT’S INSIDE?
Cool Whip
Chris Hardwick takes a look at the chemical guts of this iconic American dessert - Cool Whip.
PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY
Dangerous Science
WIRED Senior Editor Adam Rogers goes in search of an old-fashioned chemistry experience, and gets radiated in the processes.
INTERVIEW
Chat: Paul Kedrosky
Venture capitalist Paul Kedrosky connects investors with innovative scientific ideas.
HEALTH
RoboDoc
UCLA surgeon joins forces with his behemoth robotic colleague to operate on a cardiac patient.
Episode 102
EARTH: Flotsam Found
Retired oceanographer Curt Ebbesmeyer and his colleague tracked thousands of plastic toys that fell off a freighter during a storm to map current patterns. Their work leads them to an unbelievable discovery; a mass of swirling garbage in the North Pacific as large as the state of Texas.
Additional Segments:
EARTH
Zone Creep
Gardeners reap global warming benefits by being able to grow species that aren’t native to their neck-of-the-woods.
INTERVIEW
Chat: Cameron Sinclair
Architect Cameron Sinclair connects smart design with war refugees, disaster victims and poor people of the world.
TECHNOLOGY
Lie Detectors
WIRED Senior Editor Adam Roger takes on new fMRI lie detecting technology to see whether or not he’s even thinking of a lie.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Miracle Gro
Chris Hardwick unearths what's inside a product that helps our gardens grow.
Episode 103
PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY: Ball Busters
At the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, a team of scientists make sure that every baseball that makes it into a Major League game has just the right amount of hardness and bounce. We take a trip to the lab to learn just how a mechanical engineer is keeping America's pastime honest.
Additional Segments:
TECHNOLOGY
Got Clones?
Ranchers and dairy farmers are ready to bring their cloned animal meat and milk to the public.
DEMO
Origami Master Robert Lang
Origami Artist Robert Lang stops by to show Host Ziya Tong how math and science intersect to create complex art.
HEALTH
Hot Wheels
Wheelchairs that are nimble and light enough for basketball, racing, fencing... even ballet.
INTERVIEW
Rosaly Lopes: Volcanologist
Rosaly Lopes is a plantetary geologist with a thing for volcanoes.
PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY
Sounds of Silence
When he's not surfing the waves of the Big Island, physicist Milton Garces is studying sound waves at frequencies too low for humans to hear.
HEALTH
The Making of El Corazon
The heart is the rock-star in this music video. "Corazon" explains how the heart drives blood through the body to a zesty beat.
WHAT'S INSIDE
What's Inside Your Dog?
Chris Hardwick investigates the obscure components of something that can be found in man’s best friend.
Episode 104
HEALTH: Body Builders
We visit with Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University and learn about how he's "cooking" and growing organs - unattached to human beings.
Additional Segments:
PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY
Experiment Cave
Deep underground, scientists are searching for neutrinos, the most elusive particles in the universe.
DEMO
Glow Stick
Learn what puts the "glow" in glowsticks when host Chris Hardwick delves into the world of chemoluminescence.
SPACE & FLIGHT
Meteorite Hunters
Using a metal detector and a shovel, Adam Rogers tags along with a meteor hunter in search of rocks from outer space.
INTERVIEW
James Gates: Theoretical Physicist
James Gates, a John S. Toll Professor of Physics is well known for his work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory.
SPACE & FLIGHT
DIY UAVs
WIRED Magazine's Chris Anderson visits with UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) enthusiasts -- both amateur and professional -- to explore the fascinating nexus of aeronautics and robotics.
Episode 105
HEALTH: Blood Simple
Be it A, B, AB or O, most of us don’t think about blood until we see it. Physicians at Virginia Commonwealth University are cracking the elusive problem and testing a synthetic blood that could be better at transporting oxygen than the real thing.
Additional Segments:
WHAT'S INSIDE
What's Inside Your Mouth?
Take a tour with Chris Hardwick of what's inside…your mouth.
EARTH
Virtual Paleontology
Scientists use Computer tomography (CT) scanning to discover new species fused inside metamorphic rock.
INTERVIEWS
Chat: Jeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is famous for developing the software behind the Palm Pilot and Treo Smartphone, but his first love is neuroscience—specifically, the question of how the brain creates the mind.
TECHNOLOGY
ShotSpotter
Police departments across the country are installing gunshot surveillance systems that use hidden microphones and GPS-based sensors to figure out where and when guns are fired.
Episode 106
HEALTH: Biobanking
These days, major universities, drug companies, and even a few governments maintain their own biobanks, which are basically places where scientists store human parts like brains, blood and livers to use in medical research. WIRED Science visits a biobank in Sun City, Arizona, where the residents are the bank's biggest donors.
Additional Segments:
TECHNOLOGY
Audio Files
Host Ziya Tong, with the help of some golden-ear experts, sets out to settle the debate over the digital/analog divide.
DEMO
High-Speed Photos
Master crafter, Bre Pettis, shows host Ziya Tong how to hack the sluggish, 35mm camera into high-speed strobe.
SPACE & FLIGHT
X-Prize
The X Prize Foundation is attracting everyone from multimillion-dollar corporations to small-time inventors and creating a new world of revolution through competition.
INTERVIEWS
Peter Diamandis: Space Entrepreneur
Leader in space travel, innovative entrepreneur and founder of the world-renowned X-Prize competition, Peter Diamandis joins host Adam Rogers to discuss how he's predicting the future by creating it.
EARTH
Peak Water
We travel to the American southwest to see what the driest communities in the country are doing to keep the water flowing in the ever-burgeoning desert populations.
Episode 107
SPACE & FLIGHT: Satellite Shopping
It's been 50 years since the first satellite, Sputnik, was launched into orbit. Now, communication satellites are used in everything from radio and television to Internet connections. Special correspondent Adam Rogers knows a good business opportunity when he sees it and tries get in on the satellite action.
Additional Segments:
WHAT'S INSIDE?
What's Inside Your Amrpit
Host Chris Hardwick takes a look at the chemical guts of everyday products and finds you're never more than two steps away from something surprising.
HEALTH
The Business of Disease
Who decides when a disease or syndrome gets a name, a drug and its very own TV commercial? Host Ziya Tong takes a look at Restless Leg Syndrome, one of the newest diseases to hit the big time.
DEMO
Touch Table
The TouchTable looks like a giant iPhone that marries satellite imagery with other data sources. TouchTable, Inc. CEO Rocky Roccanova shows Ziya Tong how the device is used in intelligence gathering and law enforcement.
GEEK DAD
UFO
The GeekDad blog is an online meeting place where parents share cool science and tech projects they're doing with their kids. Watch as WIRED SCIENCE's own GeekDad, Dylan Tweney, unlocks his toolbox and sets out to build a UFO hovercraft with his six-year-old daughter Clara.
INTERVIEWS
CHAT: Franklin Chang-Diaz
Astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz has been in orbit more times than most people have been in airplanes. The retired NASA astronaut and head of the Ad Astra Rocket Company sits down with special correspondent Adam Rogers to discuss how his work is revolutionizing rocket engines.
TECHNOLOGY
Stressed Out
With normal wear and tear, bridges and aircraft have their mettle tested constantly. Fortunately, inspectors monitor these stressed out bodies to avoid catastrophic failures like the Minneapolis bridge collapse last summer. We travel to Vermont and New Mexico to check out the state of the art in structural disaster prevention.
Episode 108
TECHNOLOGY: GeekDad: Japanese Robots
Every family needs a hobby. For the Maru family of Nagoya, Japan, that hobby is crushing the competition in humanoid robot contests. We travel to the island country to get the heartwarming story of a father, his sons and their custom master/slave control harness.
Additional Segments:
HEALTH
Deep Brain Stimulation
We'll go under the knife with a Cardington, Ohio farmer who's getting electrodes implanted in his brain to alleviate the debilitating physical effects of a rare neurological disorder.
DEMO
Dr. Schrempp's Chem Lab
Host Chris Hardwick learns how to turn cotton balls into smokeless gunpowder with chemist Chris Schrempp, star high school teacher and author of the book Bangs, Flashes, and Explosions.
DEMO
Where's My Rocketbelt?
Rocketbelts went from being a grand military ambition to a classic James Bond moment, to part of a future that never materialized. WIRED SCIENCE travels to the first International Rocketbelt Convention in Niagara Falls to meet rocketbelt legends past and present
INTERVIEWS
CHAT: Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey: Entrepreneurs
With the help of 23andMe, a much anticipated Silicon Valley startup, you can get a look at your own genome - and discover your own secrets. Company co-founders, Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey, sit down with special correspondent Adam Rogers to chat about how they're helping people make sense of their genetic information.
EARTH
Laser Archaeology
Ben Kaycra grew up playing on ancient Mesopotamian ruins in his native Iraq. As an adult, he became a civil engineer and developed lasers that can scan buildings and translate them into three-dimensional blueprints. Host Ziya Tong takes a trip to Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park to see how this technology is changing the way archaeologists are mapping the ancient ruins of the Pueblo Indians.
HEALTH
Video Lab: Keepon Dancing
WIRED SCIENCE web crawlers scour the Internet to find the coolest science and tech videos. This week, a dancing yellow robot named Keepon takes to the streets of Tokyo with his creator in search of kindred bots to the tune of Spoon's Don't You Evah. But there's more to Keepon than meets the eye - he's a serious clinical research tool developed by child psychologist and roboticist Hideki Kozima for his research with autistic children
Episode 109
SPACE & Flight: Space Junkyard
Ever wonder where spaceships go to die? Special correspondent Adam Rogers visits a Southern California scrapyard to the find the place where the remnants of the Apollo missions were laid to rest. It's where rocket engineers come to piece back together 60's technology and relearn the scientific secrets behind getting a man on the moon.
Additional Segments:
HEALTH
Mixed Feelings
Neuroscientists in Wisconsin are helping blind patients see with their tongues. Find out how they're juggling the senses and rewiring the brain.
DEMO
Luis von Ahn: Human Computation
Computer scientist Luis von Ahn is best known for inventing those twisted, blurry words that websites ask you to type to post a comment or send an email. Called "CAPTCHAs," they help websites ensure that you are a real human, and not a computer.. Host Ziya Tong talks to the genius award recipient about how he hopes to trick us all into digitizing old books, one CAPTCHA at a time.
INTERVIEWS
CHAT: Craig Venter: Physiologist/Entrepreneur
A round-the-world voyage in search of--genes? Rebel with a microscope, biologist Craig Venter invites Host Chris Hardwick aboard his luxury yacht, the Sorcerer II, where groundbreaking genomics research is taking place.
PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY
The Grapes of Math
Winemaking is one of our civilization's oldest crafts, but modern vintners are using more than oak barrels and fermentation to create the grape elixir. Host Ziya Tong travels to the California winecountry to find out whether computer controlled micro-oxygenation and soil sensors can create the perfect vintage.
Episode 110
EARTH: Icy Depths
A Woods Hole expedition sails to the Arctic Ocean to test autonomous undersea vehicles (AUVs). These underwater robots are used to explore the frigid waters below the ice cap to discover new life forms near volcanic vents along the ocean floor.
Additional Segments:
DEMO
Dr. Schrempp's Chemistry Lab - Part 2
Host Chris Hardwick learns to how to turn cotton balls into smokeless gunpowder with high school chemistry teacher Chris Schrempp, author of the book Bangs, Flashes, and Explosions.
TECHNOLOGY
WIRED LivingHome
Green living gets wired with state-of-the-art solar power, smart lighting and biometric iris recognition. Recently constructed in Los Angeles, the WIRED LivingHome is a high-design prefabricated house tricked out with the latest in eco furnishings and high-tech gadgetry. Hosts Chris Hardwick and Kamala Lopez take us on a tour.
TECHNOLOGY
Perfect Water
Hollywood film studios have been using computers to create special effects for years. But to make computer-generated water look real on the big screen, you have to understand some pretty complicated physics. Special correspondent Adam Rogers goes behind the scenes at one of the world's best visual effects companies, to show us how they cracked the code to create "perfect water" for the third Pirates of the Caribbean film.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Rainn Wilson
The Office scene-stealer Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute) joins host Chris Hardwick to check out the chemical guts of an everyday product and finds you're never more than two steps away from something intoxicating.
PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY
The Quiet Zone
It's illegal for the residents of Green Bank, West Virginia to use cell phones, wireless internet or even remote garage door openers. They live in the huge 13,000-square-mile area declared a "Radio Quiet Zone."
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