By finding hidden patterns in big data, computers powered by a new form of artificial intelligence can predict the future with amazing accuracy.
The Ebola outbreak of 2014 almost brought the world to its knees, but this crisis has mobilized scientists and researchers, paving the way for new treatments and vaccines. From antibiotics and vaccines to computer programs that predict how viruses will spread, new lifesaving tools will be used to fight a wide range of viruses in the near future, including HIV, influenza, dengue fever, malaria, and a host of other killer diseases.
2015 • Health
Scientific advancements are challenging the concept of what it means to be human. Technology embedded in our bodies is fairly common: artificial limbs, pacemakers. But new research is taking us beyond replacement parts and into a new realm that is changing the nature of the human body and the human mind. Will the fusion of biology and technology change how we think, how we feel, how we experience the world?
2015 • Technology
After millennia of speculation about what goes on inside the human brain, we now have the tools to explore its hidden reaches. These tools are leading to research that may help those suffering from afflictions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. They are also shedding light on the mystery of consciousness and what makes us who we are.
2015 • Brain
In recent years, close study of the aging process has opened up new ways that could help us all live healthier for longer. Can we move beyond treating individual diseases, and instead treat the aging process itself? But would a longer life necessarily be a better life? A loose-knit group of researchers believe the real breakthrough is extending our health span - the period of life spent free of disease.
2015 • Health
We are surrounded by clean, raw energy waiting to be tapped - energy that could eventually replace fossil fuels. Finding new ways to harness the energy around us takes a rare breed of scientist-engineers: men and women with a combination of technical skill, imagination, and unwavering focus. If we act now, developments in energy production could avert disaster and usher in a new era of clean, safe energy.
2015 • Economics
California is on the brink of an apocalypse. The state faces a future of drought that will cost billions in lost farm revenue and thousands of jobs. But the challenges facing the state are not unique: All over the world, governments are struggling with bigger populations and a diminishing supply of freshwater. Innovators across the globe are seeking solutions in emergent technologies to prevent a planet-wide water crisis.
2015 • Environment
Renegade researchers are fighting the medical establishment by exploring a controversial cure for our vices: psychedelic drugs.
2017 • Health
A look inside the shadowy world of hackers, where good battles evil. "White-hat" hackers stage a risky raid on a bank; a "black-hat" ISIS recruiter organizes a terrorist attack.
2017 • Technology
Maverick doctors supercharge killer T cells, creating a breakthrough treatment for cancer.
2017 • Health
The military and defence industry are looking for ways to defend against a mass drone attack, and they'll learn how at the Game of Drones competition.
2017 • Technology
By finding hidden patterns in big data, computers powered by a new form of artificial intelligence can predict the future with amazing accuracy.
2017 • Technology
The world's electric grids are aging and vulnerable. Now, engineers are making a dangerous trek to prove there is a better way to bring power to the people. Engineers make a dangerous trek across the Himalayas to bring power to a remote monastery.
2017 • Technology
Artificial intelligence is examined. Included: the effort to build intelligent machines by reverse-engineering the brain and by inventing completely new kinds of computers, with exponentially greater speed and processing power.
3 • Nova Wonders • 2018 • Technology
The Singularity, or the arrival of superhuman intelligence, has been described as both the “rapture of the nerds” and inevitable. Futurist and philosopher Jason Silva explores the ways in which this radical transformation may occur through biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.
2016 • Technology
By 2065, the waters surrounding the island where Singapore lays may be dramatically impacted. Under such circumstances, living on the sea in floating communities would be commonplace while growing massive crops of food and generating power would become crucial to the city’s survival.
2/2 • Futuropolis: Mapping the City of Tomorrow • 2018 • Technology
This episode will reveal the ways in which our eating habits will be revolutionized: vegetable proteins, urban farming, connected supermarkets, personalized food, new flavour experiences and more.
S1E8 • Dream the Future • 2017 • Technology
Each day, some 2.5 trillion bytes of data are exchanged, a deluge known as "big data." How can we classify, store, and give meaning to this mass of digital information? Will our digital society remain capable of producing a lasting memory? Learn the fate of memory storage in the future.
2014 • Technology
April 1945. Safe in his heavily fortified FYhrerbunker in the centre of Berlin, Hitler prepares for the Allies' final attack.
6/6 • Nazi Megastructures • 2013 • Technology