What is the strongest material in the world? Is it steel, Kevlar, carbon nanotubes, or something entirely new? NOVA kicks off the four-part series “Making Stuff” with a quest for the world’s strongest substances. Host David Pogue takes a look at what defines strength, examining everything from steel cables to mollusk shells to a toucan’s beak. Pogue travels from the deck of a U.S. naval aircraft carrier to a demolition derby to the country’s top research labs to check in with experts who are re-engineering what nature has given us to create the next generation of strong stuff.
Watch NOVA: Making Stuff Stronger, Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00 p.m. on WCVE PBS / WHTJ PBS.
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, examining the latest in high-powered nano-circuits and micro-robots that may one day hold the key to saving lives.
Watch NOVA: Making Stuff Smaller, Wednesday, September 19 at 10:00 p.m. on WCVE PBS / WHTJ PBS.