0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, I'm Dara O Briain. Welcome to the show which seeks out
0:00:04 > 0:00:07the very latest ground-breaking ideas in science
0:00:07 > 0:00:10and attempts to answer some of the most fundamental
0:00:10 > 0:00:12questions in the cosmos.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Tonight, we're travelling into the future and seeing
0:00:17 > 0:00:21what exactly it holds for us in the next five, ten or 50 years time.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25This is the place where we find out how great ideas
0:00:25 > 0:00:27are changing the world we live in.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29Welcome to Science Club.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Yes, good evening. Welcome to the show,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and a great show tonight - some very eminent guests, later on.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45We'll be joined by most of the usual suspects,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48including resident experimentalist Professor Mark Miodownik.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Mark, what have you got for us tonight?
0:00:50 > 0:00:53I'm showcasing some of the technologies of the future,
0:00:53 > 0:00:54and, hopefully, not breaking them.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Because we have broken them repeatedly during the rehearsals.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59On the show tonight, we are looking at the future.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Of course, to some extent, we're always looking at the future
0:01:02 > 0:01:05on this show - but just how will our lives change over the next few years and decades?
0:01:05 > 0:01:07What are we going to be using in our houses?
0:01:07 > 0:01:10What are we going to be eating or wearing?
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Our special guest - physicist and futurologist Professor Michio Kaku -
0:01:13 > 0:01:15will be helping us with that later. Also on the show...
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Alok investigates the most revolutionary brain imaging
0:01:20 > 0:01:23techniques that promise to unlock the mysteries of our minds.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Do you think this is the beginnings
0:01:25 > 0:01:27of a consciousness-detecting machine?
0:01:30 > 0:01:32In the studio, we delve into cryonics -
0:01:32 > 0:01:34freezing ourselves after death.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Imagine that is your cell...
0:01:37 > 0:01:39'And discover a link to ice cream.'
0:01:39 > 0:01:40Microscopically smooth!
0:01:42 > 0:01:45And we come face to face with a robot that can finally ape
0:01:45 > 0:01:48that most human of skills - touch.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50ROBOT: Squishy, compressible and soft.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56First to cities. Over the last couple of thousand years,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59we humans seem to have decided that living together in cities was
0:01:59 > 0:02:01the best way to organise ourselves.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Over half of us worldwide now live this way.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06We've become an urban species.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10So, how will we run our super cities as they get bigger and bigger?
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Dr Helen Czerski has been to Brazil to investigate.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22Rio de Janeiro - home to 6.3 million people.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27That number will explode when the city hosts both the World Cup
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and the Olympics in the next three years.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Its infrastructure will be pushed to breaking point,
0:02:35 > 0:02:40so, here, they're already tackling challenges that we're all
0:02:40 > 0:02:43going to face, as our cities grow faster than ever.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49This is Rio's Command Operations Centre.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57An extraordinary control room for the city.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02You'd think that things like this might be hidden away
0:03:02 > 0:03:04in lots of cities, but, actually,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08nothing quite like this exists anywhere else in the world.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Essentially, what they've done is give the city a brain.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Any time, anywhere, if something happens in central Rio,
0:03:19 > 0:03:20they'll know about it here.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26This mission control is radically changing the way the city can
0:03:26 > 0:03:31respond to any incident, however big or small.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- So, this is an incident going on in the city now.- Yes, a bus broke down.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37- The red circle is where the bus...? - The red circle is the problem,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40and the bigger red circle is the impact area.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Today, it's just a broken-down bus,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46but it shows how comprehensive the system is.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51The overlaid satellite image immediately shows exactly what might
0:03:51 > 0:03:55be affected within the impact area, like schools or businesses.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00But, crucially, it has live information about what resources
0:04:00 > 0:04:05are available nearby, as every one of them is tracked through GPS.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11We have two tow trucks near that place, and we have guards there too.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14We call the tow trucks, we call the guards,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and our crew here, they work together to solve this
0:04:17 > 0:04:18as fast as possible.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26- And you can see details about who the guard is.- We have his name.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28He works from 7am till 7pm.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30LAUGHING: Do you know everything about him?
0:04:30 > 0:04:34We know his battery level, for example.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36SPEAKS PORTUGUESE
0:04:37 > 0:04:41- 75%.- So, you can tell that he's probably OK to talk to,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43cos his battery isn't about to die.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45We have his cellphone, we can call him.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49But the system isn't just about responding to what's happening today.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52They're also collecting data and analysing it.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55They're learning how their city works.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59We have discovered, for example, that every Friday, at 5.30pm,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03we have most of the motorcycle accidents.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06So, you can see patterns...
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Like, you always have a motorcycle accident at 5.30 on a Friday,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and start to try and work out why that is, and maybe prevent it.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Prevent it, put a campaign, work with the information that we have.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22It's that ability to learn that gives this system so much potential.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Rio can monitor itself to such a remarkable degree,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and it can adapt and predict.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34It has the potential, more than any other city,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36to respond to change,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41and, as more and more of us choose to live in cities the world over,
0:05:41 > 0:05:46and they became ever more complex, I think this has universal application.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50APPLAUSE
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- It's essentially treating a city like a giant organism.- Yeah.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56And this is the brain, the central nervous system.
0:05:56 > 0:06:01And we're these little ants who inhabit it. I mean, I like it.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03- It's really impressive.- It is.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06We're asking about cities, the future and how we live.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07What we build with seems like...
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Well, we've been building with the same stuff for a long time now,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12in our cities. Concrete, for example.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Yeah, but the concrete of the future may be very different.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17I want to show you a very special new type of concrete.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19AUDIENCE: Ooh! MARK: Yeah!
0:06:19 > 0:06:21DARA LAUGHS
0:06:21 > 0:06:23How great is that? It doesn't even need to be that close to it.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28- No, and look. If I sort of walk past...- How mad is that?
0:06:28 > 0:06:31And it's not like there's glass fibres in it or woven through it...
0:06:31 > 0:06:34There's optical fibres. These are the things that carry our telephone
0:06:34 > 0:06:37conversations at the moment, these optical fibres,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39and they're threaded through this material,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41so they're conveying, instead of information,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44our telephone conversations, light from one side of the building
0:06:44 > 0:06:46to the other. You can imagine the cities of the future,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49where we haven't just got glass walls or opaque walls,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51we've got all these variations in between.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I think it would be great to have a bathroom wall of this stuff,
0:06:54 > 0:06:56because every... LAUGHTER
0:06:56 > 0:06:58No, Imagine! Every shower you take will be a bit like
0:06:58 > 0:07:00the opening of a Bond film.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04- You'll be like this, and it'll just make it more fun.- Sexy all the time.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- Constantly.- Cos no-one can really see what you actually look like.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11No, of course not, but people of the future will be constantly sexy.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12Thank you, Mark Miodownik.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14APPLAUSE
0:07:15 > 0:07:18I believe it was Whitney Houston who once said that children are
0:07:18 > 0:07:22our future, but some children step further into the future than others.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Take Taylor Wilson, for example, who, at the age of 14,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29built a nuclear fusion reactor in his garage.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Or Jack Andraka, who invented a diagnostic tool to detect
0:07:32 > 0:07:36pancreatic cancer when he was 15.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Our special guest tonight was one of those children.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40In fact, he built a particle accelerator in his garage
0:07:40 > 0:07:42when he was 17 years old.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Now, he's Professor of Physics at City University of New York,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and, of course, an expert in all things futuristic.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50- Michio Kaku, pleasure to have you here.- Glad to be on the show.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Good stuff.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Tell me about this...particle accelerator in your garage.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58That's right. I was 17.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02I assembled 400 pounds of transformer steel, 22 miles of copper wire,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07and, in my mum's garage, I assembled a six kilowatt atom smasher.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08Every time I turned it on,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11I blew out every single circuit breaker in the house.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14My mum would wonder, "Why can't my son play baseball?"
0:08:14 > 0:08:16LAUGHTER
0:08:16 > 0:08:20- What were you looking to create with this?- I wanted to create antimatter.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- In your garage?- That's right. LAUGHTER
0:08:23 > 0:08:26With a particle accelerator, whizzing around like that.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29And we do it now, outside Geneva, Switzerland.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30It's called the Large Hadron Collider.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34It's a very big version of what I built when I was 17 years of age.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36- Did you find an antimatter with this?- Unfortunately not.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39- I didn't look hard enough. - But this is what got you...
0:08:39 > 0:08:41You took it to a science fair, which I presume you won.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46I can't imagine anyone's project on volcanoes beating that.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Then it got you into Harvard, and from then, and from then...
0:08:49 > 0:08:52That's right. I was a kid coming from a very poor background,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56but I had big dreams. However, the meal ticket was a scholarship to
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Harvard University, cos that's what set me off in the direction
0:08:59 > 0:09:02of working in theoretical physics and working on string theory,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05which is what I do for a living. That's my day job.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07You are an expert on the future, as well.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Tell me what we can expect to change.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Well, within ten years, computer chips will cost about a penny,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15so the internet will be everywhere and nowhere,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17including your contact lens.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21I will see you with my contact lens, I will see your biography.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25If you speak to me in Chinese, I will see subtitles beneath you.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28And who are the first people to buy internet contact lenses?
0:09:28 > 0:09:31College students studying for final examinations.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33LAUGHTER
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Even wallpaper is going to be intelligent.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38You simply go to the wall, say, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall",
0:09:38 > 0:09:40and then Robo Doc appears -
0:09:40 > 0:09:43an animated, artificially intelligent doctor
0:09:43 > 0:09:45answering any medical questions.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49And, if you want a few laughs, Robo Stand Up Comic will appear right
0:09:49 > 0:09:52in your wallpaper, almost for free, because of artificial intelligence.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54No, we don't work for free.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56LAUGHTER
0:09:56 > 0:09:58I don't know where you're getting that from.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Will we all be living on Earth? Do you see that?
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Are we going to overcome the difficulties of interplanetary
0:10:04 > 0:10:08transport? The radiation, the time taken?
0:10:08 > 0:10:12I think, in the long term, as Stephen Hawking has also emphasised,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15my colleague, we should become a two-planet species,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17because look at the dinosaurs.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The dinosaurs didn't have a space programme.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23And look what happened to them. LAUGHTER
0:10:23 > 0:10:24Is this basically, long term,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27we're going to get wiped out by a comet or an asteroid at some stage?
0:10:27 > 0:10:29The earth is in the middle of a cosmic shooting gallery.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Look at Chelyabinsk, Russia.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34That city was hit with an asteroid that blew up overhead.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38If that had stayed intact for a few more seconds, it would
0:10:38 > 0:10:42have hit the earth with the force of about 20 Hiroshima bombs.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45And it just missed the earth by seconds.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48That's how close we came to a disaster just a few months ago.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Do you see this as being a brighter future that we have ahead of us?
0:10:52 > 0:10:54I think it's going to be a brighter future,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57because science is the engine of prosperity.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00All the wealth we see around us is due to science,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and science is going to continue to generate jobs, new industries,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07make life easier, extend the human life span,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10but there's always a price, and the price is privacy.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14We'll probably have less privacy in the future, but we'll have
0:11:14 > 0:11:18more abundance of wealth and we'll have a more convenient life.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20OK, now, we have many questions to get through.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23We're going to keep you here, but, for the time being,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26- thank you very much, Dr Michio Kaku. We'll be talking to you later. - APPLAUSE
0:11:32 > 0:11:35What are we going to look like as the future comes?
0:11:35 > 0:11:39This is a genuine proposal that, if we conquer other planets,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41because we're further away from the sun, we'll have to evolve
0:11:41 > 0:11:46larger eyes to look like a meerkat or some sort of freaky creature.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47One thing's for sure, however,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50our brains will continue to mark us out as different from other animals,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and knowing more about how they work will be crucial.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Alok has been to the US to see the latest incredible leap forward
0:11:56 > 0:12:00in our understanding of that most complex of structures.
0:12:04 > 0:12:05When it comes to the brain,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09it's fair to say we have almost no idea how it works.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13We've been studying our brains for hundreds of years, but we still
0:12:13 > 0:12:16don't know what a thought is, we don't really know what
0:12:16 > 0:12:19memories are, never mind autism or schizophrenia.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21That's because we don't understand enough about the anatomy
0:12:21 > 0:12:24of our brains - how our brain cells communicate
0:12:24 > 0:12:28and connect with each other, but that might be about to change.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I've come to Washington DC to meet
0:12:32 > 0:12:35one of the world's most talented neuroscientists.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Karl Deisseroth and his team have just unveiled an incredible
0:12:40 > 0:12:43new technology to reveal the wiring of the brain.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50So, what I'm showing you here is an intact mouse brain.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57We can see the structure from top to bottom, side to side,
0:12:57 > 0:12:58without taking it apart.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03This is incredible, it's like a Hollywood movie.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05These dots, they're individual brain cells.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Those are individual brain cells.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10And the lines between them are the connections between them.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11Those are the wires,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15those are the connections that send information back and forth.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21His revolutionary technique reveals every brain cell,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24every connection, in detail we never thought possible.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Deisseroth's technique will transform our understanding
0:13:31 > 0:13:33of detailed brain structure.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38To see inside a living brain at this level is years away.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43But, in Boston, they have a scanner that's taking those first steps.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45It's still experimental,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48so I'm only slightly worried about going in there.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52'Because I volunteered to have my brain scanned by it.'
0:13:52 > 0:13:54- Hello, I'm Alok.- Great to meet you. - Lovely to meet you.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57'It's been developed by Dr Van Wedeen,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'who's going to map my brain's wiring.'
0:14:00 > 0:14:02OK, are we ready to go?
0:14:02 > 0:14:06This scanner has the ability to detect neurons.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09But, rather than the usual clumps of millions,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13it can pick up bunches of around a thousand at a time.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17It creates so much data that I won't be able to see
0:14:17 > 0:14:19my wiring map for weeks.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Instead, I get a sneak preview of other people's brains.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- Here's what the diffusion image looks like.- Oh, wow.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29It's just fibres everywhere.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35These are the highest-resolution images of living neurons
0:14:35 > 0:14:37we've ever had.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43Each single coloured line represents thousands of brain cells, bundled in
0:14:43 > 0:14:47pathways that connect the different regions of the brain to each other.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53So, tell me, why is it important that we need a living wiring map of the brain?
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Well, when you can look at living subjects, you can see changes over time.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01You can see how the brain adapts following an injury or
0:15:01 > 0:15:03increases in size following a learning process.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Learning a foreign language or learning a new skill.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09It's a really unique window on how the brain works
0:15:09 > 0:15:13in humans in general and also in you as an individual.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Dr Wedeen is also hopeful that it will lead us
0:15:19 > 0:15:22to answer some of the most profound questions of all.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26We've never trapped consciousness in a bottle.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29There are many ideas for what it looks like. What its scale is.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34Is it in one place or everywhere? Is it fast or slow or both?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37That's the kind of question that we may see the answer to
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- in a decade or so. - Are we seeing the beginnings
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- of a consciousness-detecting machine here?- Yes, I think so.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I think there is a growing excitement
0:15:45 > 0:15:48that the pieces of the puzzle are starting to appear.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52With these two amazing new technologies,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56we are seeing brain structure with unprecedented clarity.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00We've never had such detailed wiring maps of the brain before.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03They're going to revolutionise neuroscience and give us
0:16:03 > 0:16:06our best chance yet at trying to understand things like
0:16:06 > 0:16:10mental health, personality and even consciousness.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13APPLAUSE
0:16:17 > 0:16:19We have with us
0:16:19 > 0:16:22in the studio Dr Molly Crockett from University College London
0:16:22 > 0:16:25who's a cognitive neuroscientist. What do you make of this, Molly?
0:16:25 > 0:16:28I think what's exciting about these techniques is that they really
0:16:28 > 0:16:30complement what fMRI allows us to do, which is
0:16:30 > 0:16:33to observe the brain as it's functioning in real-time.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37How the brain is responding to decisions that people are making,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41to stimuli, pictures, words, whatever you throw at people.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Would a parallel be we know the G's the A's,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47the T's and the C's of the genome.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50But we have to zoom out from that a bit to see how the genes
0:16:50 > 0:16:51- interact and what they do?- Exactly.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Or another analogy would be like a computer program.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57So at the top level an email program and you want to send
0:16:57 > 0:17:00a message and that's sort of what the program is for.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Then one level down you have the algorithms,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05the software that helps that message get sent.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09And then at the lowest level you have the hardware, the transistors,
0:17:09 > 0:17:10the silicon chips.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And what these techniques like CLARITY are doing
0:17:13 > 0:17:15is letting us see the transistors.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18But it's important also to keep in mind that we have to have
0:17:18 > 0:17:21all the levels going at the same time, that psychology
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and cognitive science are also really important in this endeavour.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27It's worth saying also these techniques are going to get better
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and what we need more of is actually reference brains
0:17:29 > 0:17:32and then you can compare when someone gets ill or someone
0:17:32 > 0:17:34has a particular condition or someone's learned something.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37And you can start to do that fine-grained analysis.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38That's what I think is quite interesting
0:17:38 > 0:17:41when you get to things like learning, memory.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43You can actually see these structural things in the brain.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45We said you're part of a very select group.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47You may be one of the reference brains yourself.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51There's fewer than 50 people have had it done and you haven't seen it yet.
0:17:51 > 0:17:52I haven't seen it yet.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55I would love for my brain to be a reference brain for anything.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57That would be hilarious.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00- It would be so wrong.- It might well be. This is Alok's brain.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04This is a Connectum of Alok's brain. You've got quite a curly brain.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10What is striking is how little brain you have on one side of your head.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12That's the left-hand side of my brain.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14That means my logical side is very deficient,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17whereas my creative side is through the roof.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20I don't know why you're doing a science programme,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24- you belong in the arts.- Why did I do a physics degree? I had no idea.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- We think there's stuff there. - It's probably true.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29But they may have just put the resources into that.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Have you ever felt that absence on one side of your head?
0:18:32 > 0:18:35I feel the emptiness most days.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38There is a condition where you're born with only half a brain
0:18:38 > 0:18:41- and actually you can develop quite normally.- What!
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- It's amazing.- How amazing to have found that out on this show.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46You were born with half a brain.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I feel like I should have had some counselling.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51We're going to go another level up again
0:18:51 > 0:18:53which is some of the work you do
0:18:53 > 0:18:56would be the addition of hormones and chemicals into the brain.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- I know you do work with serotonin, for example.- Yes.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Serotonin is one of many chemicals in the brain that helps transmit
0:19:03 > 0:19:07certain signals and we've done some work looking at how manipulating
0:19:07 > 0:19:10serotonin levels and serotonin function in healthy volunteers
0:19:10 > 0:19:13influences peoples' decision making.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16So serotonin, does it mean you make better decisions
0:19:16 > 0:19:20or more generous decisions or less spiteful?
0:19:20 > 0:19:22You're more spiteful when your serotonin is low.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23It's a complicated system.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27So we don't have a really good grip on this but we do know that
0:19:27 > 0:19:31if you're chronically stressed, this will, over time,
0:19:31 > 0:19:36tend to deplete your serotonin levels.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41Which could shift you towards a more spiteful or retaliatory strategy
0:19:41 > 0:19:42over time.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45That work has been done in primates so we don't know for sure
0:19:45 > 0:19:49if this corresponds to humans, as well.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52But there's good reason to suspect that it would.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Is serotonin created in the left side of the brain?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56It's very, very interesting.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Alok, if people want to know more about the future,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02we often ask you to find things for us to read.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05There's a website here called worldometer.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07It's full of data about the world right now
0:20:07 > 0:20:10and the kinds of things you can find out are things like
0:20:10 > 0:20:13current world population, number of births this year.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16- You can see it going up bit by bit. - Number of births today.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19- Even as we speak.- Deaths, of course.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23There's more bicycles produced every year than cars which is good,
0:20:23 > 0:20:28I suppose. Number of books published is a million or so this year.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And all of this information is actually updated
0:20:31 > 0:20:33from genuine sources of information.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36The United Nations and other reports like that.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38- It's actually quite mesmerising. - Lovely stuff.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40That's worldometer.info there.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Thank you very much, Molly. And thank you very much, Alok.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Still to come on tonight's show, what happens
0:20:51 > 0:20:53when the earth's resources run out?
0:20:56 > 0:20:59How will we dress ourselves in the future?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02We check out the clothes made out of smart materials.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09And the latest generation of humanoid robots.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11And how they'll save lives.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16When people talked of the future, along with hoverboards
0:21:16 > 0:21:20and teleportation, we were also promised a form of life after death.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Cryonic suspension is the freezing procedure by which
0:21:27 > 0:21:31we preserve patients after they have been pronounced legally dead
0:21:31 > 0:21:34in the hope that at some future date medical science may be able
0:21:34 > 0:21:37to restore them to active life, health and youth.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40There are two whole body patients in this capsule,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43plus one neuropreservation patient in which case only the head was
0:21:43 > 0:21:45placed into suspension.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Medical science of the future should also be able to repair most
0:21:48 > 0:21:52any freezing damage caused by the unperfected freezing techniques
0:21:52 > 0:21:53that we currently use.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59That was a man discussing cryonics back in the '60s.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01I think it was 1969. It was very popular in the '60s
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and '70s, the discussion of freezing yourself.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07In fact, very recently, only a few weeks ago three Oxford academics
0:22:07 > 0:22:10announced they wanted to freeze their heads for two of them.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11One doing an entire body freezing
0:22:11 > 0:22:14so that it would be somehow resurrected.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16I think it's a scam, myself.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18I think it's one of these things that they presume, 200 years,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21people will have forgotten about them. We can tip them in a skip
0:22:21 > 0:22:22at some stage.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25It's also a no lose situation for them if they've got the money, I guess.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Possibly, they lose the money but it's after their death.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33But it's no trivial matter to freeze someone and then return them.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37The problem is that we're made mostly of water. 70% or 80% water.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39And here's a carrot, also made mostly of water.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42When you freeze something like this, as we all know,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44when you freeze vegetables and then you defreeze them -
0:22:44 > 0:22:46this is the idea of bringing them back to life -
0:22:46 > 0:22:49they're not the same as they went in and...
0:22:49 > 0:22:51AUDIENCE GROANS
0:22:51 > 0:22:54- Oh, my Lord!- Lots of this water, where has it come from?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57It's not the same as the one that went into the freezer.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01And the reason is when you freeze something that is mostly water,
0:23:01 > 0:23:02it turns to ice.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05And ice does something weird to the cells that we're all made of
0:23:05 > 0:23:06and that carrot is made of.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09And that's who we are, these cells that interconnect.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Is it because the water expands as it becomes ice
0:23:11 > 0:23:13and becomes too large for the cell?
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Yeah. As the ice crystals form, they're basically disrupting
0:23:16 > 0:23:18all the machinery inside the cells.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22They can poke through the membrane, they can splinter the membranes.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23All of that stuff comes out.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27And the idea that you could freeze something like that and recover its
0:23:27 > 0:23:30function later seems very fanciful, especially when you see this.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Let's just have a look at what freezing looks like
0:23:32 > 0:23:36when crystals form. And her are some crystals of sodium acetate.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39- I'm sort of giving it an opportunity to crystallise.- Right.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42This is slow and you can see it. It's quite beautiful.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44I hope. OK, ready?
0:23:46 > 0:23:49- You can see it right there in the middle.- Oh, my God.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Imagine that is your cell and that crystal is forming.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56It's basically disrupting the nucleus of the crystal.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58It's maybe met the membrane and it's bursting through it.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01This is not a good situation to be in if that's your head.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06- That's beautiful.- It is beautiful.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09That's maybe what they think as they're being frozen.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11- Wow.- "This is wonderful, I can't wait to see the future."
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Nope, turns out you're not going to see a future at all.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17- That is absolutely lovely.- It is wonderful, isn't it?
0:24:17 > 0:24:20There is a way round this. Or at least potentially.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25That was slow and you got these very large crystals because of it.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27As I was saying, they are mechanical objects
0:24:27 > 0:24:29and they're going to do some stuff to you.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32What if you could freeze it so fast that all of the crystals were tiny?
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Really weenie ones. So actually they could be accommodated...
0:24:36 > 0:24:40If you freeze so quickly they only have time to grow very tiny?
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Tons of them form immediately and you get these tiny crystals.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45And how would we achieve that?
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Very, very cold stuff.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49One of the things that these people are doing is being
0:24:49 > 0:24:52plunged into liquid nitrogen. We've got some here.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55First, let's just show people how fast you can freeze
0:24:55 > 0:24:57something like a carrot.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00At home you put this in the freezer and it would take several hours.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02OK, grand. Hang on. There we go. Right.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05You must think I'm obsessed with carrots but they are good for you.
0:25:05 > 0:25:12- And in it goes. Now that's boiling the nitrogen.- Yep.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15That object is much hotter than the boiling point of liquid nitrogen.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17This stuff coming off here is not nitrogen.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19You can't see it, it's an invisible gas.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22This is the quite plentiful water vapour in the air
0:25:22 > 0:25:24condensing to form a cloud.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27But basically, liquid nitrogen is boiling off
0:25:27 > 0:25:31and as a result that carrot is getting very cold, very fast.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34That's been in for a minute now. Let's take it out.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37That doesn't augur well for whoever paid 50 grand to freeze their head.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Obviously they won't do that.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44That would be really offensive if they went,
0:25:44 > 0:25:45"Oh, your uncle, yeah, he's here.
0:25:45 > 0:25:46"There he is."
0:25:46 > 0:25:49"How much of him do you want to bring home? He's there."
0:25:49 > 0:25:51What can we possibly do to make a happy ending to this
0:25:51 > 0:25:54particular item about tiny crystals?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Science is unsolved but one thing we can do with liquid nitrogen is make
0:25:57 > 0:26:02tiny crystals and that improves the flavour and mouth feel of ice cream.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- Really?- Yes.- Heston's always doing this kind of nonsense.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09What exactly is the science behind this?
0:26:09 > 0:26:11If you think about it ice cream is basically cream, which is
0:26:11 > 0:26:13mostly water with a bit of flavouring in it.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16So when you freeze ice cream, you're making ice crystals.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And when you're eating ice cream you're eating ice.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21But it doesn't taste crunchy, it doesn't taste mechanical. Why?
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Because the crystals are tiny.
0:26:23 > 0:26:24In order to get them really tiny
0:26:24 > 0:26:28you have to constantly move them around and break them up.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Or you just put liquid nitrogen in and make tiny crystals
0:26:31 > 0:26:32- in ten seconds.- OK.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35And so this, in theory, should make very, very smooth ice cream.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42- What is this?- This is cream with egg and a bit of vanilla.- All right.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Which is a traditional ice cream mix, I think you'll find.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46Are you ready to go?
0:26:46 > 0:26:51- OK.- You're going to pour that in and I'm going to mix it round. Go, go, go.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54So the nitrogen is going in there, but it is immediately boiling off.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57All the nitrogen is doing is cooling it off very fast.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00- We're not adding nitrogen to the ice cream.- That's boiling off.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02It's not our magic ingredient.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05OK, that's great, that's great, I think. He says.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11- Is that working?- Yeah. I think so.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13It's a hell of a visual effect you've created anyway.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19I've got an ice cream scoop over here.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20# Just one... #
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Here we go.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- Didn't get that reference. - No, I got it.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Traditionally on television programmes they taste a thing
0:27:33 > 0:27:34and go...
0:27:34 > 0:27:35DARA MUMBLES
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Unless it's MasterChef in which they go...
0:27:39 > 0:27:41I'm getting the nitrogen.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43- Are you?- It tastes very nitrogen-y.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48It's very rocky and icy this. Does it have to melt a little bit?
0:27:48 > 0:27:49- It's frozen solid. - It should be smooth.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52It's not smooth in the slightest, look.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57- You put too much nitrogen in. - Who was in charge of the nitrogen?
0:27:57 > 0:28:00You were supposed to say when for God's sake. I'm not a chef.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05- Let's let the audience... Yeah, yeah.- Do you want a go?
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Hello, madam, how are you? Yes, you, the one standing at the front.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Go on then you, come on.
0:28:16 > 0:28:22How much did you want that? You were pushing. You were stepping in.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25I'll grab you as well, sir. Come in as well. Thank you very much.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Here, you take that.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32There we go. Now, do you find it rocky and icy like I do?
0:28:32 > 0:28:35- And thus unpalatable and not nice?- Like an outer planet.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40- It's good. It's melted a bit. - It's melted a bit.- It is very smooth.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44It's hard on the outside but microscopically very smooth.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Loving this guy. That's exactly what we want to hear.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50- Well said. - Nobody has ever on MasterChef gone,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52"Microscopically smooth."
0:28:52 > 0:28:54Delicious, OK.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58If you want to get involved and try some of Mark's experiments at home -
0:28:58 > 0:29:01maybe this one isn't the first one to try out -
0:29:01 > 0:29:03there are some step-by-step instructions on the website....
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Thank you very much, Mark. It was very good.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15We carry around with us a lot of very sophisticated
0:29:15 > 0:29:16materials in our pockets and our bags.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19The stuff, for example, that makes up our own personal technology.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22A question for yourselves in the audience, how many minerals,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26specifically rare earth metals, do you think are used to make
0:29:26 > 0:29:27an iPhone? Any guesses?
0:29:27 > 0:29:31- AUDIENCE SHOUTS NUMBERS - 10, 50, four that man goes.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36- 100.- 100. I'm not even sure there are 100 rare earth metals.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41There are nine and where do 90% of these rare earth minerals come from?
0:29:41 > 0:29:44China, you're absolutely right. We've got a really smart crowd.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47China is where they come from which is handy
0:29:47 > 0:29:49because that's where the phones are made.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52However, we do not have an endless supply of these materials.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54But help could be at hand, as unlikely as it may seem
0:29:54 > 0:29:57there are people planning to mine the surface of the moon.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Mark's been to find out
0:29:59 > 0:30:02if this audacious plan could ever actually work.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07Asteroids are some of the richest sources of metals
0:30:07 > 0:30:08in the solar system.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14And that means the moon, which has been bombarded by asteroids,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17will have billions of years' worth of asteroidal metal
0:30:17 > 0:30:19lying in the dirt for the taking.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Most of the heavy metals we mine here on earth
0:30:25 > 0:30:29were also dumped here by asteroid impacts.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31At a mining facility in North Ontario,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35they're pioneering sampling equipment for the next wild frontier -
0:30:35 > 0:30:36mining the moon.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41But is moon mining really feasible?
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Why aren't we already up there blasting away at the rock?
0:30:45 > 0:30:48RUMBLING
0:30:48 > 0:30:51This is how mining works on earth. Huge explosions.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53RUMBLING
0:30:53 > 0:30:55God, I can feel it coming towards me.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59We've always used brute force - enormous drills, machines.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04But that won't necessarily work on the moon.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Asteroids hitting the moon would have had their metals
0:31:06 > 0:31:11vaporised on impact, scattering far and wide through the lunar soil.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15So why don't we simply go and scoop up the loose stuff on the surface?
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Even that is easier said than done.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Machines for digging on the moon have to deal with dust that
0:31:22 > 0:31:24behaves like none you'll ever see on earth.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30That's why director of development Dale Boucher
0:31:30 > 0:31:33tests lunar samplers on his own simulated moon dust.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37So if I was to just sort of plunge this thing into it...
0:31:39 > 0:31:43This is sort of dusty on the surface...
0:31:43 > 0:31:45It kind of gets solid.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47It's just a bit of an odd material.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50This material compacts very quickly with depth.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53The first ten centimetres is a fine powdery material.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Once you get below that, it hardens up very quickly.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00Scooping up moon dust poses another problem you don't get on earth.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Areas in full sunlight will look like this.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06'But only a few metres away in permanent shadow,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10'it could be frozen solid and over 200 degrees colder.'
0:32:12 > 0:32:15God. It'd be terrible to be sent to the moon with a scoop and go...
0:32:15 > 0:32:17- HE LAUGHS - That's right, "Now what do I do?"
0:32:17 > 0:32:19'Whether you're digging or drilling,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22'you go equipped if you want to tackle moon dust.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26'But that presents another problem, because flying heavy machinery
0:32:26 > 0:32:28'up to the moon is the last thing you want to do.'
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Launching and landing, soft landing,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33something on the moon is very expensive.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Rough magnitude of 250,000 US
0:32:36 > 0:32:39to land a one litre of bottle of water on the moon.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42- That's an expensive drink. - It is very expensive.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Even though the technology to harvest lunar soil is real,
0:32:47 > 0:32:51it seems the odds are stacked against doing it cheaply.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53Mining the surface deposits of the moon is clearly possible,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56but it would have to compete with terrestrial mining.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59This stuff - it's huge, it's big business.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02Bearing in mind that it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars
0:33:02 > 0:33:05to transport one kilogram of stuff from the moon to the earth,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08the question is - would it ever be economically viable?
0:33:10 > 0:33:13You could save on shipping raw materials back to earth
0:33:13 > 0:33:14by processing metals in situ.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18But here that usually involves burning fossil fuels
0:33:18 > 0:33:22to smelt the ore. You can forget that on the moon.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26But new developments in electrolysis could transform
0:33:26 > 0:33:27the viability of moon mining.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36Passing electricity through molten rock can draw the metals out.
0:33:36 > 0:33:37At MIT in Boston,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41Professor Antoine Allanore's team are pioneering
0:33:41 > 0:33:43ways to reach incredibly high temperatures
0:33:43 > 0:33:46using nothing more than the power of light.
0:33:46 > 0:33:52Dr Guillaume Lambotte melts metal ore with highly focused xenon lamps.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Electrolysis leaves behind a blob of pure nickel.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00In this case this is xenon lamp,
0:34:00 > 0:34:04but you could use maybe a laser as a source or even sun.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07You don't need to bring additional energy into space.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10You're basically using what's available over there.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Antoine's metal extraction could be powered by something that's
0:34:13 > 0:34:17always free in space - sunlight.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19Not only that, but electrolysis has a by-product that's
0:34:19 > 0:34:22worthless on earth, but priceless out there.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26Oxygen.
0:34:26 > 0:34:31Suddenly the idea of a mining base on the moon seems much more viable.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38Dr Lewis Dartnell works for the UK Space Agency.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42What's really exciting is the waste product from this process,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45the oxygen on the moon is incredibly valuable commodity itself
0:34:45 > 0:34:48because you can use it for astronauts for breathing.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50And so with metals from the lunar dust
0:34:50 > 0:34:53and oxygen from the lunar dust, you've basically got
0:34:53 > 0:34:56everything you need to start building self-sustaining habitats.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59I mean, you're literally living off the land.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01So it's not an outlandish proposition, really -
0:35:01 > 0:35:03mining the moon and creating a self-sufficient lunar base.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06It sort of feels like all the ingredients are there.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08There's problems still to be solved, of course there are.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11Economics need to be worked out, but in broad brush strokes I think
0:35:11 > 0:35:13we understand pretty well how to do it.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17In terms of future resources, the real value of moon mining is
0:35:17 > 0:35:20so much more than just a source of raw materials.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23A self-sufficient mining base would give us
0:35:23 > 0:35:26our first home away from home in the solar system.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30And the potential rewards from that are astronomical.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38So what you're saying, Mark, is this an economic question?
0:35:38 > 0:35:41It'll only be done when it's cheaper to get it from the moon
0:35:41 > 0:35:44than it is to try digging it out from the earth.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47I think the real question is - will we ever really afford
0:35:47 > 0:35:50the minerals we can get on the moon to bring them back to the earth?
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Probably they'll be more valuable out there, because we all want to explore
0:35:53 > 0:35:56the rest of the solar system. It'd be the perfect place to do it.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58We would use that, we would mine there in order to
0:35:58 > 0:36:02create the rockets and to head off from there.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04It's got all the ingredients. I mean, we can get the oxygen,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07we can get the metals we can get the water...
0:36:07 > 0:36:09We're pretty sure we can get the water there.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11We can have a self-sufficient base there and use it as a base
0:36:11 > 0:36:12to explore the solar system.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15And also, there is helium-3 on the moon,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17if you take a look at scans of the moon.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21And helium-3 is rather interesting because some people theorise
0:36:21 > 0:36:25that it can be used as a fuel for fusion reactors of the future.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27Most people would just think of helium
0:36:27 > 0:36:29in terms of balloons at a kid's party.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Helium's... Helium's used in MRI scanners?
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Yeah, I mean helium, if we run out of helium it's a really big problem.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38It's the best refrigerant we've got.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Basically, all that diagnostic equipment in hospitals
0:36:40 > 0:36:43is all cooled using helium.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Actually, it's a finite supply cos when it goes out of your balloon
0:36:47 > 0:36:50or it comes out of the machine, it has escape velocity.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52It goes into space. So we are losing...
0:36:52 > 0:36:55It's the only atom species that's going out of the earth.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57- It leaves the earth's orbit?- Yeah.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59The balloon that you get at a kid's party...
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Not the balloon, the helium does.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03Obviously not the balloon, that would be weird.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07Space were filled with Peppa Pig balloons moving around.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10- But when you do that... - HE INHALES AND SPEAKS IN A HIGH PITCH
0:37:10 > 0:37:11..that just...?
0:37:11 > 0:37:14That helium is going to end up in space, very likely.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16My God, it's astonishing. How many years?
0:37:16 > 0:37:18What's the worst estimate that we have
0:37:18 > 0:37:20in terms of running out of helium?
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Well, you know, we disagree and other people do too.
0:37:23 > 0:37:2850 years is a time frame that's likely,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31100 years - very, very likely.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Look, thank you very much, Mark and Dr Michio Kaku.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35APPLAUSE
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Now here with this week's science news is Helen.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Now we know that light is important when you're growing crops,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52but it's just been discovered that it can be used to change their flavour.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55This team of scientists in Florida put harvested fruit under
0:37:55 > 0:37:57different colours of light.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01And what they found is that the different wavelengths affected
0:38:01 > 0:38:04the molecules for taste and smell.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06We could see this technology in our supermarkets
0:38:06 > 0:38:09and even in our fridges to get the most out of our fruit and veg.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16The search for alternative energy sources is relentless
0:38:16 > 0:38:19and this week's is really bizarre.
0:38:19 > 0:38:25This is a fuel cell and it may sound weird, but it runs entirely on urine.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27As urine goes through these tubes here,
0:38:27 > 0:38:31it's broken down by a cocktail of bacteria to generate electricity.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35There's no shortage of urine, even in remote places.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Fuel cells like this could be used to power everything
0:38:38 > 0:38:39from lights to mobile phones.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47A spider's web is one of nature's deadliest traps
0:38:47 > 0:38:50and now scientists have discovered why some are so effective.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53And they've caught it on film for the first time.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59As insects fly, the movement of their wings builds up positive charge
0:38:59 > 0:39:01and that draws the web towards it.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06As you can see, the moment the two touch
0:39:06 > 0:39:07it's all over for the fly.
0:39:11 > 0:39:12Still to come -
0:39:12 > 0:39:16we discover how kind or otherwise the future will be to us.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18- There you are.- What?!
0:39:18 > 0:39:19What the hell...?
0:39:21 > 0:39:22Hi-five.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25And Alok makes new friends with the latest robots.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27What you do is straighten your hand slightly.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29GRASPY: It's a pleasure to meet you, Alok.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Whenever we do a show about the future,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36we are haunted by the predictions of televisions shows past.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Check out this fantastic clip from Tomorrow's World from 1965.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44Tomorrow's girl could well look something like this.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47On her head, no hair - a nylon wig.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Just a quick wipe with a damp cloth and your head's as good as new.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56You notice the shirt with no collar, but that is made of paper.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59Just the thing for jotting down telephone numbers.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02In fact, you could make notes all over yourself.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05The jacket and skirt are in plastic.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11The sort of material that they used for covering kitchen tables
0:40:11 > 0:40:13not so very long ago.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17And if the synthetic weather should prove unreliable,
0:40:17 > 0:40:22then we have a plastic Mackintosh with these extremely
0:40:22 > 0:40:25interesting transparent pockets
0:40:25 > 0:40:28to discourage you from loading them up with all sorts of junk.
0:40:28 > 0:40:29LAUGHTER
0:40:32 > 0:40:34All the pockets are transparent now. That's the way...
0:40:34 > 0:40:36That's just the way that fashion has gone.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39We are now...offer a hostage to the same kind of fortune.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42This is the bit that will be shown in clips on science programmes
0:40:42 > 0:40:44in another 40 or 50 years' time.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47We're not going to predict fashion but fabrics
0:40:47 > 0:40:50- and modern contemporary fabrics, they will change.- Yes.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53So this is an opalescent material mimicking the colours
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and the opalelescence of a butterfly wing. And in exactly the same way.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59So those are not pigments. Light doesn't hit it and is absorbed
0:40:59 > 0:41:01and reflected off at a particular pigment,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04but actually there are little platelets in a butterfly's wing
0:41:04 > 0:41:07which basically selectively reflect different wavelengths
0:41:07 > 0:41:09and interfere with each other.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12And therefore you get this slightly changing angle and iridescence.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15In this fabric, they're done with little polystyrene balls,
0:41:15 > 0:41:17so the distance between them is the colour you see.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20- So you can change that distance by stretching it.- Oh, yeah.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22- This is very good. - This is one over on the butterfly.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25This is green, right. We're green. And then blue.
0:41:25 > 0:41:26How great is that?
0:41:26 > 0:41:29I mean, somebody said the best use for that is if you're getting fat.
0:41:29 > 0:41:30LAUGHTER
0:41:30 > 0:41:34As you get fatter, the colours you wear change and...
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Looking a bit blue today, John.
0:41:37 > 0:41:38That kind of way, OK.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41- So it's an opalescent material. - Yeah.- A wearable opalescence.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44But I think that the interesting thing about this is
0:41:44 > 0:41:46just that the microstructural control
0:41:46 > 0:41:48now that's coming into fabrics and textiles,
0:41:48 > 0:41:49these things called technical textiles.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52All electronics are being filtered into there,
0:41:52 > 0:41:54so you're going to see a much more responsive
0:41:54 > 0:41:57interesting smart-wearing materials.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59React to light or sound or...?
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Yeah, so there's things called electroluminescent materials
0:42:01 > 0:42:03and these are essentially pigments that
0:42:03 > 0:42:07when you run an electric current through them, they give off light.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10- Oh, hello.- There it is.- Wow, that's amazing.- This is zinc sulphide.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13That is just incredibly... That is just a strip of laminated card.
0:42:13 > 0:42:14It's really flat.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18And it's bendy and... You can't see where the light's produced.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20It's a very even light.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23So this is not really a fabric yet, but it's getting there.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25So the idea of the clothes that can light up, well,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28this seems one of the good candidates for that.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31And in fact there's a British designer, Amy Winters,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33who's here tonight and she's lent us one of her dresses,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35which features these materials in her dresses.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37- This is Izzy who is going to model. - Izzy, how are you?
0:42:37 > 0:42:39What are we combining with from Izzy here?
0:42:39 > 0:42:41I'll just plug you in.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43The one downside of this stuff is that it needs quite a high voltage.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45It's not a high current but a high voltage.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47Although you can have your battery packs,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49they wear out quite quickly. Now, here we go.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53Actually, this dress also reacts to music
0:42:53 > 0:42:55and does different things depending on the different volumes.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57So is that reacting to your voice at the moment?
0:42:57 > 0:43:00It seems to be, actually. I was a bit surprised by that.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02OK, well, that seems a bit unformed.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06Let's bring some music in. Play some music, please.
0:43:06 > 0:43:07DRUMMING
0:43:09 > 0:43:11So you get these different panels lighting up
0:43:11 > 0:43:12depending on the volume level.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19That's quite good, that's quite good.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22The other thing I like about this a lot is that you're at a party,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25you don't want people to invade your personal space.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28This does that for you. Keep away. But also, you know...
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Essentially, you put on a light and floor show
0:43:31 > 0:43:33and you put on a huge demonstration, but...
0:43:33 > 0:43:35It says, "Come to me, but not too close."
0:43:35 > 0:43:38You impale them on the giant spikes of the dress.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40You're bringing them in, you're pushing them out.
0:43:40 > 0:43:41Thank you, Izzy.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Look forward to whatever party you have to carry around
0:43:43 > 0:43:47your own battery pack to attend. It's going to be very, very good.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52I'm not sure how practical that is,
0:43:52 > 0:43:54but it'll make great viewing in 50 years' time.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Our childhoods were full of exciting information of what the future
0:43:57 > 0:44:00would look like and we were always assured that we'd be sharing
0:44:00 > 0:44:03that future with robots. That, of course, has never happened.
0:44:03 > 0:44:04But has their time finally come.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Alok has been to not one
0:44:06 > 0:44:09but two universities in Philadelphia in search of our future robots.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12And he's finding new generations of machines - ones that can cope
0:44:12 > 0:44:15with the mess and the unpredictability of the real world.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24Could the future be robots like Graspy?
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Oh, he is a happy robot.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30He's the brain child of robot enthusiast
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Professor Katherine Kuchenbecker.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34Hi, Graspy. How are you doing today?
0:44:34 > 0:44:38- It's a him, by the way, is it? - Well, yeah, Graspy is a him.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40- GRASPY:- What is your name?
0:44:40 > 0:44:44- My name's Alok. - It's a pleasure to meet you, Alok.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46You've got a wonderful accent.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Let's begin.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50He can talk, he can see.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53But above all, Graspy has sensors that give him
0:44:53 > 0:44:57touch which make him much more useful than your average robot.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01All right, Graspy. Pick the cup up without using your touch sensors.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05- Oh!- Well, there we go, look.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09'Turn the sensors back on and it's a whole different story.'
0:45:09 > 0:45:10All right.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12Maybe give it to Alok.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16Thank you very much.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20- Now. Thanks, Graspy. - That was perfect.- Very good.
0:45:22 > 0:45:23'It might not look like much
0:45:23 > 0:45:28'but Graspy's sensitivity to subtle objects is a giant leap forward.'
0:45:28 > 0:45:29When it first touches the object,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33it's able to figure out how hard to squeeze...and then it comes over here
0:45:33 > 0:45:36and when the cup hits the table, it recognises that and lets it go.
0:45:36 > 0:45:37I mean it's impressive.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40- Yes, well, it does what you would expect it to do.- Yeah, that's right.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44That's what robots in movies do, they don't crush things. Why would they?
0:45:44 > 0:45:49Why indeed? But I'm told he's got an even more impressive trick.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53One that makes him alarmingly human.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56He can extract touchy-feely information in exactly
0:45:56 > 0:45:59the same way that we do.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03Hmmm, what does that feel like?
0:46:03 > 0:46:06- GRASPY:- Squishy, compressible and soft.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10- BOTH:- Squishy, compressible... - and soft.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Wow, it's not often you get a robot's view of our world.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19Catherine gave Graspy a variety of surfaces to feel and then
0:46:19 > 0:46:23taught him the wide range of words that we use to describe them.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27- GRASPY:- Soft, squishy, hairy, scratchy and unpleasant.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32- Soft, squishy, hairy, scratchy... - Scratchy, unpleasant.- Unpleasant.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Oh, Graspy, you didn't like it?
0:46:35 > 0:46:36And then he learned the connections,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39to deduce the meaning of these adjectives.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41So you taught Graspy these words...
0:46:41 > 0:46:45- Yes.- ..and then he learnt what those mean in terms of sensation?- Yeah.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Catherine's elegant software and Graspy's uniquely sensitive
0:46:48 > 0:46:52fingers have given him an amazing sense of touch.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55It's an essential attribute but that alone isn't
0:46:55 > 0:46:58going to deliver our humanoid robot of the future.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00We want more from our robots
0:47:00 > 0:47:03and a growing number of researchers are working on it.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06The scientists at Drexel University have set themselves
0:47:06 > 0:47:08an even more difficult challenge.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12They're designing a robot that can think like us.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19This is Hubo.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22No-one has directly programmed him
0:47:22 > 0:47:24and no-one is remotely controlling him.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27He's learning to think for himself.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30He's in training for the DARPA Challenge.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37has challenged technologists to build a robot that can
0:47:37 > 0:47:39operate independently
0:47:39 > 0:47:42somewhere we can't go, like a nuclear disaster zone,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45and the prize is 2,000,000.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50This is what they'd love Hubo to look like with his best suit on.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53He's a strong contender to win, but in reality,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56he's still very much a work in progress.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00In some ways, being able to walk or use tools is something
0:48:00 > 0:48:03you would've expected robots to do quite a long time ago
0:48:03 > 0:48:07but all these actions, all these movements that we make,
0:48:07 > 0:48:10they're incredibly hard for robots to replicate.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12We take them completely for granted.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14Let's take a really simple action, for example.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Shall we try a high five, Hubo?
0:48:17 > 0:48:18Let's give it a go.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20Ah, not bad.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22You could probably do with straightening your hand slightly,
0:48:22 > 0:48:24a bit more force. It's not too bad.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27Hubo can mimic my hand action
0:48:27 > 0:48:31but what about the supreme balancing act that we perform every day?
0:48:31 > 0:48:35Walking on two feet - a nightmare for a robot.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37But our world is built for us.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40If Hubo's going to be any use in a human crisis,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43he'll have to walk like us.
0:48:43 > 0:48:49And there we go. Now, that's a normal walk, but it's...whoa!
0:48:49 > 0:48:54Falling over, a lot, is exactly how we learn to walk.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56But, for Hubo, there's added stress.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00He has to learn to cope with the debris of a nuclear explosion.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03They're trying to pack years of human learning into a robot
0:49:03 > 0:49:06that was "born" just weeks ago.
0:49:07 > 0:49:12Yet, spurred on by the DARPA Challenge, they are making progress.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28Hubo must also learn how to drive a vehicle in a disaster zone.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Just getting into one is proving difficult enough.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40It's not like this thing's got a brain like Einstein,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43it's not even Dara O'Briain, let's be honest, but the thing is
0:49:43 > 0:49:46it's doing all these things that we unconsciously do.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51In fact, most of what we do every day is second nature to us,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54it's in our subconscious.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57If robots like Hubo are going to be part of our future,
0:49:57 > 0:49:59they'll have to understand that.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03It's a really important part of thinking like a human being.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05The team have until the end of 2014
0:50:05 > 0:50:09to perfect Hubo for the DARPA Robotic Challenge.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13If they win, we may be a step closer to having a functioning,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17and possibly even useful, fully-autonomous robot.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33It's very exciting, it's very exciting to see this robot struggle
0:50:33 > 0:50:36with an environment and learn, which is the most striking thing.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Well, exactly. Deconstructing the things that we take
0:50:39 > 0:50:42completely for granted is actually very, very hard to do
0:50:42 > 0:50:45and the best way they've found is to let it make mistakes.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49Fall over, try things out and the world is built for us,
0:50:49 > 0:50:54two arms, two legs, and it has to sort of replace that functionality.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56This ability to check different textures,
0:50:56 > 0:50:58I mean, this would be particularly useful
0:50:58 > 0:51:01if we were going to send them off into space to do mining or
0:51:01 > 0:51:06exploration, the ability to basically touch different surfaces.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10Exactly. Touch is so essential to how we get feedback.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12That's the weakness of robotics today.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Robotics is a massive investment in the future?
0:51:15 > 0:51:19Japan makes 30% of all robots, and remember in the Shinto religion,
0:51:19 > 0:51:21people believe that there are spirits even in robots.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24That's why children love robots in Japan.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28There are plays in Japan where robots actually play
0:51:28 > 0:51:33a certain person in the play and robots greet you at grocery stores,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36inside convenience stores, because of this Shinto tradition
0:51:36 > 0:51:38that you believe there are spirits everywhere.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41OK, now I'm going to introduce you to a robot here.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43This is a little fellow called NAO.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45NAO lives in a school in Birmingham where
0:51:45 > 0:51:47he works with some autistic children there.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49Now, let's see if I've got these controls right.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Don't keep moving your head, all right?
0:51:53 > 0:51:55Launch a task.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58- NAO:- Which task do you want to launch?
0:51:58 > 0:51:59Presentation.
0:51:59 > 0:52:00Presentation.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Hello, my name is NAO.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21I'm a humanoid robot, imagined and manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25I come with software and I'm fully programmable.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31I'm autonomous and I can connect to the internet through Wi-Fi.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33LAUGHTER
0:52:33 > 0:52:37I can recognise your face, answer your questions,
0:52:37 > 0:52:44play music, grab objects and even play soccer like a pro.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47LAUGHTER
0:52:47 > 0:52:51- Do you want more technical details? - No.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57There we go. You can sit down again, NAO.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07Oh, how sweet is that? That's gorgeous. That's NAO.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09APPLAUSE
0:53:13 > 0:53:16So, in a school outside Birmingham, there are 15 autistic students
0:53:16 > 0:53:19and they work with NAO all the time.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21I mean, we can see robots being useful in that
0:53:21 > 0:53:24- kind of therapeutic environment as well?- Yeah, absolutely.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26I mean, what's amazing is how quickly
0:53:26 > 0:53:30and automatically we attribute a mind and emotions to...
0:53:30 > 0:53:32It's an object.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35As far as I know, it doesn't actually feel pain or anything
0:53:35 > 0:53:38but it's just amazing how automatically we have these
0:53:38 > 0:53:42feelings about something that behaves even remotely like a human.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47One of the things that advanced Graspy and Hubo was the DARPA prize.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50- Yeah.- It's in the grand tradition.
0:53:50 > 0:53:51There's a long tradition of prizes,
0:53:51 > 0:53:56going back to the Longitude rewards back in the 18th century.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00The last big DARPA project was called ARPANET,
0:54:00 > 0:54:02a way to hook up computers together back in the '60s.
0:54:02 > 0:54:07ARPANET was declassified in 1989. Now, it's called the internet.
0:54:07 > 0:54:08That didn't go anywhere.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12So the internet is a direct by-product of a DARPA project.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15The GPS system is another DARPA project.
0:54:15 > 0:54:16So it's a useful thing.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19I mean, it seems unusual to dangle this prize, dangle this carrot
0:54:19 > 0:54:23in front of science, you know, to change the direction of it perhaps.
0:54:23 > 0:54:24Look at DNA sequencing,
0:54:24 > 0:54:30James Watson publicly stated that he wanted to win the Nobel Prize
0:54:30 > 0:54:32and that's why he decided to work on DNA
0:54:32 > 0:54:36and that changed world history and so these prizes mean something.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40The Nobel Prize does inspire the next generation of scientists to
0:54:40 > 0:54:42bust open barriers and change world history.
0:54:42 > 0:54:43It's partly, I think,
0:54:43 > 0:54:44because whatever scientists
0:54:44 > 0:54:46and engineers say about their...you know,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50wanting to help the human race, they are ego-driven people, right?
0:54:50 > 0:54:54- And they want to win. - Speak for yourself.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Can I show you something which I think is a fine, fine invention.
0:54:57 > 0:54:58It's a pair of gloves.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Looks like a perfectly normal pair of gloves but there is
0:55:01 > 0:55:04a receiver built into it along with a couple of other things.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08These are actually sold now as a kind of Bluetooth accessory.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I've got something coming through here. Let me just... Hello?
0:55:13 > 0:55:15I'm very, very well, I know. The awkward thing is...
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Hang on, let me just put you through a microphone
0:55:17 > 0:55:19and you can say hello again.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- GLOVE:- Hi, how are you?
0:55:21 > 0:55:22Dara, a few years ago,
0:55:22 > 0:55:24surely someone would have carted you away by now.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26There's people in white coats over there.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29- Genuinely, I am actually on a call. - How's the show?
0:55:29 > 0:55:33It's been going very well so far. Turns out Alok has half a brain.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36They are great, I think that's fantastic. Hang on, and off.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38It's brilliant, it's a really good thing.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40I've got to say, more than the glove-phone,
0:55:40 > 0:55:42I'm looking forward to the watch-phone.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44Really, I've held back investing in smartphones
0:55:44 > 0:55:46until the watch-phone comes along, that's what I want.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48- Really?- Oh, God, come on.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51Can I give one last view of the future which is how we will
0:55:51 > 0:55:52all look in the future?
0:55:52 > 0:55:55There is an app which I highly recommend you all download,
0:55:55 > 0:55:56it's called the Oldify app.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58Alok has been running around with it for the day.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00What have you discovered, Alok?
0:56:00 > 0:56:02Well, I wouldn't say it's scientific...
0:56:02 > 0:56:06- No.- ..but not everything has to be, OK, as much as we love science.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10You take a picture of someone and then, well, you can
0:56:10 > 0:56:12see what they look like in many years,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14hence it makes them yawn and stuff.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19I think we actually... We start off with me. There's me.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23There's what I'll look like, I suppose, in 30 or 40 years' time.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25You've held on to your hair which is pretty impressive.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28- It doesn't do anything to the hair. - Oh, dear.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30Mark's nose gets twice as big for some reason in the future,
0:56:30 > 0:56:31I'm not sure really why.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34- MARK:- I think noses do keep growing, don't they?- They do, yeah.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Is there any of me?
0:56:36 > 0:56:39- Here we go.- I think, Dara, you're next, yeah.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41- There you are.- What?! - LAUGHTER
0:56:41 > 0:56:47What the hell? Why do I have...? Am I in a Thriller video? What is this?
0:56:47 > 0:56:50- I mean, you look remarkably baby-faced in that one...- I know!
0:56:50 > 0:56:54- There's nothing in there. - I've got liver spots.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56I think it's the expression on there, really,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00- it's more like "Get away!"- Here, it's a smile, here, it's "You kids!
0:57:00 > 0:57:03"You kids in my garden!"
0:57:03 > 0:57:05Hideous, awful, oh, my God.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07That, unfortunately, is essentially what we have to leave you with
0:57:07 > 0:57:10but more than anything as we gaze into the future,
0:57:10 > 0:57:13I'd like to thank my guests, Dr Michio Kaku, Dr Molly Crockett
0:57:13 > 0:57:15and our team, Helen, Alok and Mark.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19From all of us, those of us with full brains, those of us
0:57:19 > 0:57:23who resemble...who can almost possibly have what resembles
0:57:23 > 0:57:26a normal life even though we have half a brain, for those of us
0:57:26 > 0:57:29who look hideous when we're old, that is all from Science Club.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Good luck in your own future. I'm Dara O'Briain, good night.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39Next time -
0:57:39 > 0:57:42we explore why size matters,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45how big data is saving tiny lives
0:57:45 > 0:57:48and Mark will be swallowing a miniature camera.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50Even your mouth is weird!
0:58:12 > 0:58:15Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd