NOVA
Season 38 Episode 12 - Making Stuff: Smarter
"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.
Episodes in Season 38
Building the Great Cathedrals
55 min
Emergency Mine Rescue
55 min
Trapped in an Elevator
55 min
Dogs Decoded
55 min
Secrets of Stonehenge
55 min
Quest for Solomon's Mines
55 min
Secrets Beneath the Ice
55 min
Deadliest Earthquakes
55 min
Making Stuff: Stronger
55 min
Making Stuff: Smaller
55 min
Making Stuff: Cleaner
55 min
Making Stuff: Smarter
55 min
Smartest Machine on Earth
55 min
Crash of Flight 447
55 min
Venom: Nature's Killer
55 min
Japan's Killer Quake
55 min
Power Surge
55 min
How Smart Are Animals?
55 min