Making Stuff: Stronger, Smaller, Cleaner, Smarter 4x53

From carbon nanotubes to artificial skin, the world is poised at the frontier of a revolution in materials science as far-reaching as the biotech breakthroughs of the last two decades. Making Stuff is the first series to look past the headlines and dramatize the human stories behind the current wave of high-tech breakthroughs. The series traces the surprising roots of today’s supermaterials thousands of years into the past and focuses on the personal qualities that underlie the process of invention—the visionary talent, sheer luck, and dogged determination that turn a wild idea into a cutting-edge material. From metal, Kevlar, to spider silk, Stronger takes viewers on a quest for the strongest materials; Smaller examines small materials and their effect on the larger scale world; Smarter looks at startling innovations born of the recent introduction of biology into the multidisciplinary world of material science; and Cleaner explores the rapidly developing science and business of clean energy and clean materials. Each episode connects today’s big ideas and world-changing impact with memorable stories of past breakthroughs and current efforts towards the future.

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