24
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
Changing the Game
Before you can understand the science of tomorrow, you need to understand how science works. Here, explore the process of scientific discovery (rooted in the scientific method), how information is tested and shared, the intricate relationship between science and technology, how we know when science is right (or wrong), and more.
1.
Changing the Game
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13.
Cancer and Aging—Can They Be Defeated?
When and how will we finally cure cancer? How far can we lengthen the span of our lives? These two piercing questions are at the heart of this lecture on the life and death of cells; how we understand what's going on in them, and how we can possibly better control them.
13.
Cancer and Aging—Can They Be Defeated?
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2.
Magnetism—The Science of Attractions
Professor Grossman helps you make sense of magnetism, explains its importance to your world, and offers exciting examples of the promises of new technologies. These include everything from cell phones that could run for two years on a single charge to mag-lev trains that could take you from Los Angeles to New York in under 10 minutes.
2.
Magnetism—The Science of Attractions
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14.
Powerful Viruses—Future Friend or Foe?
What is a virus, and how is it different from a bacterium? How are vaccines made, and is it possible to make a universal vaccine to protect us against all viruses? What knowledge and tools will be using to fight viruses in the near future? And how can viruses be essential to life on Earth?
14.
Powerful Viruses—Future Friend or Foe?
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3.
Transportation—The Science of How We Move
What will the future of transportation, on land and in the air, look like? What role will hybrid-electric, plug-hybrid, and all-electric cars play? How can we build airplanes that travel faster and carry larger loads? And what about jetpacks—are they really possible or just a novelty of science fiction? Find the answers to these and other questions here.
3.
Transportation—The Science of How We Move
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15.
Food or Famine—Science Holds the Key
Science and technology have radically changed how—and what—we eat. Here, examine why food is so important to our life; new advancements in how food is packaged and preserved; and the benefits and risks of genetically modifying food. Finally, close by taking a peek at what a meal from the future may very well look like.
15.
Food or Famine—Science Holds the Key
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4.
Computers—Trillions of Bits per Second
Computers have undoubtedly revolutionized life—and will continue to do so for years to come. First, survey the fast-paced history of computers. Then, focus on possible limits to computing power. Finally, investigate possible technologies such as optical computing, quantum computing, and computing devices so small they can be woven into your clothes.
4.
Computers—Trillions of Bits per Second
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16.
Water—The Currency of the Next Century
Because of its growing scarcity around the world, water is primed to be the currency of the next century. Professor Grossman shows you how existing and upcoming technologies—including nanomaterials—can help alleviate the problems of water scarcity and contamination, and can offer new approaches to desalinate seawater.
16.
Water—The Currency of the Next Century
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5.
Artificial Intelligence—Thinking Machines
You don't see much artificial intelligence (AI) in your life. Or do you? Find out what the future will look like by exploring key questions. Where did the idea for AI come from, and how does it work? What are some challenges hindering its widespread development? Where can you find it at work in tasks such as driving and cleaning?
5.
Artificial Intelligence—Thinking Machines
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17.
Biofuels—The Fuel of the Future?
Investigate one of the hottest topics in the landscape of renewable energy: biofuels. Here, you'll learn what sets them apart from fossil fuels, how they're made from substances such as corn and algae, and some of the obstacles and drawbacks that still remain toward their mass use, such as high costs and low efficiency.
17.
Biofuels—The Fuel of the Future?
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6.
Robotics—Living with Machines
Robots are more than just Hollywood fantasy—they may soon become a reality of everyday life. In this lecture, learn the radically different approaches taken by today's robots to achieve specific tasks or functions; meet robots such as Elektro and ASIMO; and explore robots—both large and small—in the home, at war, and in performing surgery.
6.
Robotics—Living with Machines
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18.
Solar Cells—Electricity from the Sun
Continue looking at alternative energy sources with this lecture on solar cells, also known as solar photovoltaics. Why is the most abundant renewable resource in the universe the least used? What can be done about it? Gain a newfound appreciation for our sun and the ways it can power our lives in the coming decades.
18.
Solar Cells—Electricity from the Sun
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7.
Microscopes—The Power of Seeing It All
Make sense of how microscopes have dramatically expanded our ability to see into smaller and smaller worlds. You'll discover how microscopes evolved since the days of Galileo, learn why it is now possible to see individual atoms through superpowered microscopes, and travel to the frontier of tomorrow, with its "atom smashers," 3-D imaging, and more.
7.
Microscopes—The Power of Seeing It All
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19.
Batteries—Storing Energy Chemically
Unlike other energy sources currently in use, batteries offer a direct release of stored energy as electricity. Explore how far we can push current battery technology and vastly improve our ability to store energy in this manner. Also, take a peek at possible batteries of tomorrow, including lithium-air batteries and transparent batteries.
19.
Batteries—Storing Energy Chemically
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8.
Nanotechnology—The New Science of Small
In the first of two lectures on this revolutionary subject, explore the "what" of nanotechnology—the purposeful engineering of matter at scales of less than 100 nanometers. Among the topics you'll learn about: what nanotechnology is, how it works, and how nanoscience has appeared in nature all along.
8.
Nanotechnology—The New Science of Small
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20.
The Hydrogen Economy—Fact or Fiction?
Imagine a planet that runs on hydrogen, an element that is enormously abundant and completely clean. How would it work, and what would we use it for? Would a hydrogen-powered car be dangerous? What will a future global hydrogen economy look like? What technological advancements are still needed to make this idea a reality?
20.
The Hydrogen Economy—Fact or Fiction?
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9.
Nanotechnology—Changing Everything
Turn now to some concrete applications of nanotechnology in today's world. Professor Grossman covers four areas: new materials (such as powerful new adhesives); energy (including the development of cheaper solar cells); health (through highly sensitive disease detectors and drug delivery systems); and the environment (in nanoparticles that can detoxify common contaminants).
9.
Nanotechnology—Changing Everything
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21.
Nuclear Energy—Harnessing Star Power
Focus on the promising—yet controversial—topic of nuclear energy. Learn what makes it different from other forms of energy; how it's produced; the hot-button issues of safety and nuclear waste; and why nuclear fusion may just offer the best direction for nuclear science to take in the future.
21.
Nuclear Energy—Harnessing Star Power
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10.
Genetic Engineering—Life's Building Blocks
We now have the potential for a revolution in biology and medicine based on our newfound ability to engineer life by accessing, modifying, and altering pieces of the inner "source code" of life itself: DNA. This lecture demystifies genetic engineering and reveals some of the many promises it holds.
10.
Genetic Engineering—Life's Building Blocks
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22.
Prediction—From Storms to Stocks
It's tough to make predictions. But thanks to recent advancements, we're coming closer than ever before to mastering the science of forecasting. In this lecture, Professor Grossman discusses the latest developments in our ability to better understand and master volatile systems, including the weather, earthquakes, and the stock market.
22.
Prediction—From Storms to Stocks
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11.
Synthetic Life—Making Life from Scratch
Is it possible to "make" life in a lab? If so, how? Welcome to the world of synthetic life, which involves building new life forms from non-living substances. Learn how new strains of algae and viruses can help solve a variety of real-world problems. Also, encounter samples of life that—shockingly—exist without DNA as we know it.
11.
Synthetic Life—Making Life from Scratch
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23.
Communication—Transcending Time and Space
Survey the driving forces behind the evolution of communication throughout history, from the development of language to the Internet. Then, take a closer look at future directions for how we communicate, including tools that allow us to speak different languages with ease and the seamless integration of machines and our minds.
23.
Communication—Transcending Time and Space
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12.
The Brain—Your Body's Supercomputer
Study the brain as an intricate network of "wires" responsible for every facet of your life. First, explore the structure and function of this impressive organ. Then, discover how science has helped us know what we know about how the brain works. Finally, ponder what we still have yet to uncover.
12.
The Brain—Your Body's Supercomputer
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24.
Science in the Future
Examine scientific ideas that, however thrilling, still remain distant possibilities, such as time travel. Then, Professor Grossman ends the course with a passionate discussion about the challenges of his profession and the continued hope of science and technology to solve today's most pressing challenges.
24.
Science in the Future
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24
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
The Crossroads of 21st-Century Science
Join Professors Sargent and Kelley for an initial plunge into the nanoscale, the tiny and mind-blowing realm where revolutionary developments are taking place in applied physics, computer science, biology, and medicine. Begin by probing the size of a nanometer and consider how laws of nature and principles of design change at that scale.
1.
The Crossroads of 21st-Century Science
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13.
Delivering Drugs with “Smart” Nanocapsules
Learn how nano-enabled drug delivery systems can target cells with greater potency and fewer side effects than traditional treatments can. Examples include protein nanoparticles and liposomes, which have already been approved for clinical use. Then examine some next-generation approaches.
13.
Delivering Drugs with “Smart” Nanocapsules
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2.
The Fundamental Importance of Being Nano
Professor Sargent discusses the rules that govern the nanoscale, where the strange effects of quantum mechanics offer exciting possibilities for engineering. Survey the structure of atoms and molecules and their interactions with light, which are fundamental properties at the nanoscale.
2.
The Fundamental Importance of Being Nano
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14.
Nanoscale Surgical Tools
Nanoscale surgical tools can make excisions with incredible precision, ensuring that when a cancerous tumor is removed, no malignant cells remain and no healthy cells are harmed. Explore this ongoing medical revolution, and discover the role of robotics in enhancing the surgeon’s skill.
14.
Nanoscale Surgical Tools
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3.
From Micro to Nano—Scaling in a Digital World
Trace the evolution of the original computer switches—vacuum tubes—to smaller and smaller components: first to discrete transistors and then to printed circuits that have now shrunk to the nanoscale. Learn how Moore’s law predicts exponential progress in this “race to the bottom.”
3.
From Micro to Nano—Scaling in a Digital World
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15.
Nanomaterials for Artificial Tissue
Regenerative medicine focuses on producing artificial substitutes that can restore or replace damaged tissues or organs. Learn how nanomaterials stimulate cell and tissue growth in the body. Also follow progress in generating artificial organs outside the body to help meet the demand for organ transplants.
15.
Nanomaterials for Artificial Tissue
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4.
Leveraging the Nanometer in Computing
Moore’s law forecasts that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double roughly every two years. This rule of thumb has held for more than half a century. But how long can it continue? The nanoscale offers new challenges and solutions to the problem of producing ever-smaller circuits.
4.
Leveraging the Nanometer in Computing
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16.
How Nano Research Gets Done
Professors Kelley and Sargent introduce their research teams. Discover that nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary. Chemists generate new materials. Physicists help understand those materials. Biologists put biomolecules and nanomaterials together. And engineers help turn basic discoveries into devices.
16.
How Nano Research Gets Done
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5.
Leveraging the Nanometer in Communications
How did the world become networked so fast? Follow a beam of light down a fiber-optic cable to understand why it now costs pennies to send data that would have been billed at more than $100,000 just a few decades ago.
5.
Leveraging the Nanometer in Communications
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17.
Nanomotifs—Building Blocks, Complex Structures
Professor Sargent takes a brief interlude to showcase the visual side of nanoengineering. View the complex structures that are built from nanoparts. Starting with nanoparticles, consider the many shapes that can be created, from nanotubes to supercrystals—structures that are not just useful but beautiful.
17.
Nanomotifs—Building Blocks, Complex Structures
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6.
Sensing the World through Nanoengineering
Megapixel cameras on cell phones may seem miraculous, but nanoengineering promises far more powerful imaging systems. Quantum dots will give cameras much greater sensitivity and the ability to detect light across a broad range of invisible wavelengths, opening new applications for image processing.
6.
Sensing the World through Nanoengineering
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18.
Using Nanotechnology to Capture Sunlight
Starting a sequence of lectures on nanotechnology and energy, Professor Sargent probes the physics of solar cells, which use semiconductors to generate an electric current from sunlight. Learn how nanotechnology is making this renewable energy source more efficient and cost-effective.
18.
Using Nanotechnology to Capture Sunlight
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7.
Nanomedicine—DNA and Gold Nanoparticles
Begin a series of lectures with Dr. Kelley on nanoscience in biology. The building blocks of life, including DNA, are nanoscale objects, making ideal targets for nanotechnology diagnostic tools and disease treatments. As an example, see how gold nanoparticles are used to identify genetic mutations.
7.
Nanomedicine—DNA and Gold Nanoparticles
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19.
Photons to Electricity—Nano-Based Solar Cells
Explore further into nanoscale solar cell technology by looking at different techniques for capturing solar energy. Rigid silicon-based hardware may soon be a thing of the past, replaced by inexpensive products such as organic photovoltaics, which are composed of physically flexible organic polymers that can be applied like plastic sheeting.
19.
Photons to Electricity—Nano-Based Solar Cells
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8.
Nano and Proteins—Enzymes to Cholesterol
Gold nanoparticles attached to an antibody protein allow a simple pregnancy test. Discover that nanoparticles are also tools for mapping how cholesterol and other protein molecules enter cells.
8.
Nano and Proteins—Enzymes to Cholesterol
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20.
Nanotechnology for Storing Energy
One of the challenges of renewable energy is that its hours of peak production may not correspond to times of peak demand, creating the problem of energy storage. Investigate some solutions that nanotechnology offers, including supercapacitors and a remarkable new class of batteries assembled by viruses.
20.
Nanotechnology for Storing Energy
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9.
Nanoparticles Detect Cancer in Living Organisms
Learn how metal nanoparticles called quantum dots can signal the presence of cancer cells inside the body. While still experimental, this technology may herald a breakthrough in noninvasive medical imaging.
9.
Nanoparticles Detect Cancer in Living Organisms
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21.
Nanotechnology for Releasing Energy
Catalysts foster a chemical reaction without being consumed by the reaction, using and releasing energy with incredible efficiency. Explore this phenomenon at the nanoscale, seeing how nanomaterials can increase the surface area of a catalyst, which greatly improves its performance for a wide range of applications.
21.
Nanotechnology for Releasing Energy
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10.
Detecting Only a Few Molecules of a Disease
Turn to cancer diagnostic tools “in vitro”—outside the body. Professor Kelley discusses her own work on a system for disease diagnosis that uses nanomaterials layered on microelectronic chips. This research promises much more efficient detection of the molecules that signal cancer.
10.
Detecting Only a Few Molecules of a Disease
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22.
Energy’s Holy Grail—Artificial Photosynthesis
The ultimate energy collection and storage system is photosynthesis. Nature does it with plants, but researchers are striving to attain the same result with nanotechnology—using sunlight to produce and store energy in the form of a fuel such as hydrogen.
22.
Energy’s Holy Grail—Artificial Photosynthesis
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11.
Nanomaterials That Seek and Destroy Disease
Explore three strategies for treating tumors. A photothermal approach places gold nanoparticles in a tumor and then irradiates the particles from an external source. A similar but more targeted technique tunes the radiation to a precise frequency, sparing surrounding tissues. Finally, learn how the gold nanoparticles themselves can be the tumor-killing agent.
11.
Nanomaterials That Seek and Destroy Disease
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23.
Nanorobots and Nature’s Nanomachines
Learn how nanorobots that take over the world in science fiction usually defy the laws of physics, and survey concerns about the harm that nanomaterials can do. Look at nanovehicles built with buckeyballs for wheels, and then turn to nature’s nanomachines such as diatoms, which build astonishing structures at the molecular level. Explore ways that these tiny creatures may be more effective than nanorobots.
23.
Nanorobots and Nature’s Nanomachines
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12.
How Nanomaterials Improve Drug Delivery
Drugs are administered by injection, inhalation, skin patches, or in pills. These methods deliver only a fraction of the medication to the needed areas, and many potentially useful biomolecules have no effective way to get to their targets. Discover that nanomaterials offer a solution to these problems.
12.
How Nanomaterials Improve Drug Delivery
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24.
On the Horizon and in the Far Future
Close your exploration of nanotechnology by looking ahead at possible near- and long-term developments. One is a real “cloak of invisibility.” Then look back to revisit physicist Richard Feynman’s bold predictions. See how far we’ve come and discover what Feynman apparently overlooked.
24.
On the Horizon and in the Far Future
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