NOVA

Future technologies will depend on tiny stuff -- from new kinds of silicon chips to micro-robots that probe the human body.  8/21/2013

Airs Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.  Check your local listings.

Making Stuff: Smaller Preview

See the future of tiny stuff --from from silicon chips to micro-robots that probe the body.

See the future of tiny stuff -- from silicon chips to micro-robots that probe the body.

Making Stuff: Smaller

The National Science Foundation

The Department of Energy

Carlisle Companies

Viking

NOVA Science Trust Logo

<div class="rich-text"><p>(This program is no longer available for streaming.) How small can we go? Could we one day have robots taking "fantastic voyages" in our bodies to kill rogue cells? The triumphs of tiny are seen all around us in the Information Age: transistors, microchips, laptops, cell phones. Now, David Pogue takes NOVA viewers to an even smaller world in "Making Stuff: Smaller," examining the latest in high-powered nano-circuits and micro-robots that may one day hold the key to saving lives.</p>
<p>The other programs in the "Making Stuff" series are "<a href="/--RESOURCEID=7156--/">Stronger</a>," "<a href="/--RESOURCEID=7158--/">Cleaner</a>," and "<a href="/--RESOURCEID=7159--/">Smarter</a>."</p>
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<p>"Making Stuff" is produced in cooperation with the <a href="http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/index.asp" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Materials Research Society</a> (MRS), an international organization of nearly 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry, and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life.</p>
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Future technologies will depend on tiny stuff—from silicon chips to micro-robots that probe the human body.

COO, Ulysse Nardin

Physicist, MIT

Cedars-Sinai Molecular Pathology

Institute of Robotics, ETH Zurich

Gastroenterologist, Boston University

IBM Research Division

Head of Cathedral Studios

Vice President, Intel

Owner, English Antique Glass

Cardiologist, Washington University

<div class="rich-text">Future technologies will depend on tiny stuff—from silicon chips to micro-robots that probe the human body.</div>

Tech & Engineering

Can innovative materials help solve the energy crisis and lead to a sustainable future? David Pogue investigates.

Airs Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.  Check your local listings.

Making Stuff: Cleaner Preview

Can innovative materials help solve the energy crisis and lead to a sustainable future?

Making Stuff: Cleaner

<div class="rich-text"><p>(This program is no longer available for streaming.) Can innovations in materials science help clean up our world? In "Making Stuff: Cleaner," David Pogue explores the rapidly developing science and business of clean energy and examines alternative ways to generate it, store it, and distribute it. Is hydrogen the way to go? What about lithium batteries? Does this solve an energy problem or create a new dependency? Pogue investigates the latest developments in bio-based fuels and in harnessing solar energy for our cars, homes, and industry in a program full of the stuff of a sustainable future.</p>
<p>The other programs in the "Making Stuff" series are "Stronger," "Smaller," and "Smarter."</p>
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<p>"Making Stuff" is produced in cooperation with the <a href="http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/index.asp" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Materials Research Society</a> (MRS), an international organization of nearly 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry, and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life.</p>
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Co-Owner of Killacycle

Joint BioEnergy Institute

Plant Manager, Waste Management

Technical Engineer, Yokohama

Talk Show Host and Car Collector

Technical Leader, Ford

New York Times Tech Columnist

Argonne National Laboratory

Materials Scientist, MIT

Co-Founder and CEO, Bloom Energy

Project Driveway Participant

Chemical Engineer, University of Delaware

<div class="rich-text">Can innovative materials help solve the energy crisis and lead to a sustainable future? David Pogue investigates.</div>

Explore a new generation of ingenious materials, including real-life invisibility cloaks.

Making Stuff: Smarter

Explore a new generation of ingenious materials, from clothes that monitor your mood to real-life invisibility cloaks. 8/28/2013

Airs Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.  Check your local listings.

Making Stuff: Smarter Preview

<div class="rich-text"><p>(This program is no longer available for streaming.) "Making Stuff: Smarter" looks at materials that respond to their environments and even learn, such as an airplane wing that changes shape as it flies. Scientists are turning to nature in developing such "smart" stuff. Sharkskin, for instance, has inspired a substance that, when sprayed in hospitals, could eliminate antibiotic-resistant bacteria. David Pogue visits a scientist who has even created a material that can render objects invisible. "Smarter" concludes with a vision of the ultimate in "life-like" stuff: programmable matter that could create a duplicate of a human being.</p>
<p>The other programs in the "Making Stuff" series are "Stronger," "Smaller," and "Cleaner."</p>
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<p>"Making Stuff" is produced in cooperation with the <a href="http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/index.asp" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Materials Research Society</a> (MRS), an international organization of nearly 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry, and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life.</p>
<p> </p>
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Explore a new generation of ingenious materials, from clothes that monitor your mood to real-life invisibility cloaks.

Biologist

Biomaterials Engineer

Mechanical Engineer

Materials Scientist

Iraq War Veteran

Chemical Engineer

Dir. of Operations, H.I.T.

Dir. of Engineering, H.I.T.

Theoretical Physicist

Electrical Engineer

Polymer Engineer

Shark Expert

<div class="rich-text">Explore a new generation of ingenious materials, from clothes that monitor your mood to real-life invisibility cloaks.</div>

David Pogue tests his mettle against the world's strongest stuff, from steel and Kevlar to bioengineered silk. 8/21/2013

Airs Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.  Check your local listings.

Making Stuff: Stronger Preview

Technology reporter David Pogue hosts a 4-part special series exploring the materials that will shape our future.   Wednesdays starting January 19, 2011

Making Stuff Preview

David Pogue tests his mettle against the world's strongest stuff, from steel and Kevlar to bioengineered silk.

David Pogue tests his mettle against the world's strongest stuff.

Making Stuff: Stronger

<p></p><p>Invisibility cloaks. Spider silk that is stronger than steel. Plastics made of sugar that dissolve in landfills. Self-healing military vehicles. Smart pills and micro-robots that zap diseases. Clothes that monitor your mood. What will the future bring, and what will it be made of? In NOVA's four-hour series, "Making Stuff," popular technology columnist David Pogue takes viewers on a fun-filled tour of the material world we live in, and the one that may lie ahead. Get a behind-the-scenes look at scientific innovations ushering in a new generation of materials that are stronger, smaller, cleaner, and smarter than anything we've ever seen.</p><p></p><hr/><p>"Making Stuff" is produced in cooperation with the <a href="http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/index.asp">Materials Research Society</a> (MRS), an international organization of nearly 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry, and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life.</p><p></p>

David Pogue hosts a four-part special series exploring the materials that will shape our future.

<p>David Pogue hosts a four-part special series exploring the materials that will shape our future.</p>

Making Stuff Episodes

Making Stuff: Smaller

Making Stuff: Cleaner

Making Stuff: Smarter

Making Stuff: Stronger