2020
We've all seen Cyborgs in Hollywood blockbusters. But it turns out these fictional beings aren't so far-fetched. In fact, this program features a true-to-life cyborg, who at four months of age, was the youngest American to be outfitted with a myoelectric hand. And at one ground-breaking engineering facility, engineers are developing biotechnologies that can even further enhance high-tech like this by giving mechanical prosthetics something incredible: the physical sensation of touch. Other engineering firms are gearing up powerful exoskeletons that both rehabilitate and enhance the power of the human body - improving the lives of those with paralysis and transforming the work force. But the real pivot is getting machines inside the body. An out-of-the-box "transhumanist" featured in the show installs a chip inside a person's hand. It works as a key that unlocks doors, literally and figuratively. However, brain-machine integration poses the biggest challenges, and the biggest rewards. Cutting-edge neuroscientists and technologists reveal how computer chips can directly interface with the human brain in ways that not only rehabilitate, but which can also "read thoughts" in real-time. Remarkably, a breakthrough technology called "Computer Assisted Telepathy" is achieving the impossible. Through a test subject's mind only, she's able to control another person's body. Technologies like these will pave the way toward the Cyborg Revolution.
2020
Everyone has heard about Artificial Intelligence (or "AI"), but very few people know what it is or how it actually works. This episode brings this otherwise abstract topic to life by visiting the most cutting-edge engineering firms where innovative technologists are using Artificial Intelligence to transform machines into thinking robots. Leading institutions are preparing robot rovers and flying drones to navigate through unmapped territories, in order to save lives in bold Search and Rescue missions. By "mapping as they go," these thinking machines generate their own intelligence-allowing them to self-navigate without human input. Additionally, some technologists are coordinating swarms of drones to operate and collaborate together-all with the explicit ambition of improving the efficiency of farming and increasing food production. Though the news media often reports on how machines could cause unemployment, that's not what AI inventors in this program are saying. In fact, their AI-driven robots are using machine-learning to work better with humans. Through observation, AI robots are learning to anticipate the actions of human co-workers, keeping people safer in the workplace-and making it more productive. Some scientists in this show are even developing AI robots that are achieving the beginnings of robotic consciousness. By comprehending their own self-image, they are able to learn about their environment, make decisions, and navigate the space around them-just as human babies do. Some engineers are taking this technology even further to develop real-world Androids-that is, robots that look, feel, and act like people. Becoming consultants, advisors, and even friends, these Androids will ultimately help individuals adjust to realities of "the human condition."
2020
If you thought The Space Race peaked with the Apollo missions, wait 'til permanent research bases on the Moon and Mars start cropping up. The New Space Race in getting humans to Mars is heating up, and this episode presents the visionaries who are making this future possible. Once exclusively financed by governments, private companies are now developing the means of living in outer space. On the cutting edge of this Copernican Revolution is the Dream Chaser-a new, high-flying space shuttle that will ferry researchers to inflatable research habitats in outer space. But creating permanent habitats in the toxic environments on the Moon and Mars is a serious undertaking. Scientists and engineers take these threats to human life very seriously. One engineer is creating advanced, reusable spacesuits that makes mobility and dexterity less "bulky," and more feasible in gravity-free environments. Some engineers featured in the show are helping in these efforts by developing high-tech drills and pressurization chambers that allow for the excavation of the most crucial resource for the survival of humanity: Liquid Water. These are just parts of the complex efforts needed to establish habitats on alien planets. One firm is developing habitats that are 3D printed with Martian soil, and will be pre-built before astronauts arrive. But one of the boldest endeavors lies in creating a living, breathing ecosystem that, through plant growth, generates oxygen and food for the first permanent settlers on the Moon and Mars. One ambitious research project-30 years in the making-is providing the "ground-truth" of how to create an Earth-like Biosphere in outer space - providing a road map for how humanity will survive and even thrive in the life-threatening conditions of other planets.