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Years ago,
I remember my schoolteacher

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announcing one day that there
was an object so small, so tiny,

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we'd never be able to see it.

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Well, fortunately,
that didn't put me off.

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In fact, I've spent my entire
career studying this amazing object

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without ever setting eyes on it.

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That elusive, remarkable
object was the atom.

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Atoms are
the fundamental building blocks
of everything that we can see.

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So if you understand the atom,

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you understand the universe.

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The scientific quest to understand
the atom is largely completed.

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But today, I believe
we are entering a new era,

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an era where we do more than
simply understand atoms,

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we begin to control them.

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Amazingly, we can now
manipulate individual atoms.

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We can pick them up, move them
around, and even play with them.

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All my life, I've
worked with the theories

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of Einstein,
Stephen Hawking, string theory,

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and now, for the
first time, I'm actually

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seeing what I'm
manipulating with my equations.

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You know, every time I move my
body I move trillions of atoms.

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But to see a single
atom move like this...

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It's...It's quite intoxicating.

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Today we can manipulate
individual atoms,

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but this is just
the beginning of a journey.

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A journey which will
ultimately give us the power

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to manipulate the very stuff
of our universe - matter itself.

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We are on the brink of a revolution

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which will give us
control, exquisite control,

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of our physical world.

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In this programme I will show
how our mastery of matter

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will profoundly change our lives
and the world around us.

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How atomic-scale machines
will revolutionise medicine.

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How invisibility and
teleportation could make
science fiction come true.

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How we will generate
limitless clean energy.

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And how cheap space travel
might give us all a new perspective
on our planet.

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These technologies
will give us the power

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to utterly transform our future.

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But how are we going
to use this power?

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Our deepest insight
into the atomic world

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comes from the quantum theory.

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But the quantum theory gives us more
than the ability just to manipulate
individual atoms,

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it also underlies the architecture
of the 20th century.

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The marvels of science,
like the internet, laser beams,

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telecommunication satellites,
radio, television, microwaves.

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Even the structure of the DNA
molecule and biotechnology.

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All of it ultimately
comes from the quantum theory.

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This theory offers a very
different explanation of our world,

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one where the laws of conventional
physics simply don't apply.

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The quantum theory is
so strange and bizarre,

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that even Einstein couldn't
get his head around it.

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At the atomic level,
we see a phenomenon

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that normally we would
consider sheer madness.

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In the real world, you can't simply

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disappear and reappear
someplace else. That's nonsense.

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But in the quantum world,
it happens all the time.

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At the level of atoms
and subatomic particles,

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matter can be in an
infinite number of places at once.

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The theory sounds preposterous,

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but it has one tiny thing
going for it,

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and that is, it works.

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And in the coming century,
it will enable us to
radically transform our world.

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These Maglev trains travel
on air due to magnetism,

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hovering just above the track.

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They cruise at up to
580 kilometres an hour,

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and they use less energy
than regular trains,

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thanks to a quantum phenomenon -

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superconductivity.

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Superconductors are a miracle
of quantum physics,

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and they're an outstanding example
of how we are gradually becoming

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masters of matter itself.

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Now, usually, superconductivity
is quite difficult to achieve

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in the laboratory,
and it's quite expensive.

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But about 20 years ago, there was
a revolution, when it was discovered

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that certain ceramics, like
yttrium, barium, copper oxide here,

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become superconducting when
exposed to ordinary liquid nitrogen.

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Now, liquid nitrogen
costs as much as ordinary milk.

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By cooling the ceramic to
-200 degrees centigrade,

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I'm effectively creating
a new state of matter.

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The new material loses
all its electrical resistance

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and becomes superconducting,

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able to induce
powerful magnetic fields.

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I'm now going to place a magnet
directly on top of
the superconducting ceramic.

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The polarity has to be just right.

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There.

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It's floating now.

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This is the Meissner effect.

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The presence of the magnet on top
induces a secondary magnetic field

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within the superconductor,

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and the two magnetic fields
repel each other,

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giving you the illusion
of anti-gravity.

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Notice that this thing is spinning
without any friction whatsoever.

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Scientists hope to raise the
temperature of the Meissner effect

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to avoid
having to cool the ceramic.

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Imagine roads made out of
superconductors at room temperature.

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Cars would hover right over the road
without even touching it,

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without using
any gasoline whatsoever.

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Or, imagine a belt
made out of this material.

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You could then float in the air.

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You could then fly almost like
Superman, floating on magnetism.

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So this is a realisation
of the ancient dream

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of floating against gravity,
anti-gravity,

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using magnetism to
counteract the force of gravitation.

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We won't just change transport
with our mastery over matter.

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In the future
we'll also create materials

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with amazing new properties
not found in nature.

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Until recently there was
a property of matter so fantastic,

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it was thought to exist
only in myths and legends.

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It was thought to be incompatible
with the laws of physics.

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But last year,
scientists made it happen.

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They created a material
which shouldn't exist in nature.

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When light hits an object,
it's the object's atomic structure

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that determines what we see,

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whether it's translucent marble...

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clear water...

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or green leaves.

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It all depends on how light
interacts with the atoms.

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If we can manipulate those atoms,

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then we can ultimately control
what the world looks like.

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This is exactly what David Smith

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and his team in North Carolina
are beginning to do,

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by creating artificial materials
called meta-materials.

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We started thinking about
interesting things we could do
with artificial materials,

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and one thing that came
up was, we could make

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something like an invisibility cloak.

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What we've done is to take
materials that are commonly found,

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something like copper and
plastic, which is what our circuit
board materials are made from,

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and we've placed patterns in the
copper so that they're tiny circuits.

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And these circuits
act as artificial atoms

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in a regular material, except now
we've made an artificial material.

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And this altered material
has a unique property -

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it can bend electromagnetic
radiation around itself,

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making it invisible to microwaves.

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The lime green waves are microwaves.

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When an ordinary copper ring
is placed in their path,

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the waves are disturbed.

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But when the meta-material
is placed there,

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the waves bend around it and
seamlessly merge on the other side,

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as if there was nothing there.

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An invisibility cloak
is something entirely new.

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It's a structure that
doesn't exist in nature,

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something that couldn't be
fashioned out of existing materials

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and something that really functions
in an almost science fictiony way,

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that you might imagine wouldn't have
been possible just a few years ago.

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We've demonstrated
the principle of invisibility
at microwave frequencies.

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Microwave frequencies
are a few centimetres in size,

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or at least, maybe
the size of your thumb.

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So now we're looking
into the future,

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and whether or not we
can do this invisible light.

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In addition to microwaves,

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scientists have already succeeded
in bending red and blue light.

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Full invisibility
may be just decades away.

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The first applications are likely
to be for military stealth.

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But it's hard to imagine
we'll stop there.

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Oh, my Lord!

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The ancients
have always been fascinated
by the property of invisibility.

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Over 2,000 years ago
Plato refers to this story.

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Once there was a poor shepherd
who finds a cave,

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and inside the cave there's
a ring, a ring of invisibility.

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And he uses that ring
to sneak into the king's castle,

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seduce the queen,
plot against the king.

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He killed the king
and became the next monarch.

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Well, Plato used that story to show
that invisibility is so powerful,

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it could cause
societies to disintegrate.

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Well, I'm not sure about that.

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But I'm sure about one thing,

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and that is, our mastery
over the properties of matter

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will massively open up our horizons.

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In the past, new materials often
had a profound impact on our
society.

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Concrete and steel, first mass
produced in the 19th century,

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reshaped our cities, and
the lives of all city dwellers.

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The Brooklyn Bridge was the largest
steel suspension bridge ever built,

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its massive weight held up by
3,600 miles of hefty steel cable.

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When it opened in 1883, it
allowed commuters into Manhattan

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and changed the city forever.

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But I believe the impact
of steel will be nothing

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compared with the new materials
we'll be creating in the future.

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In the 21st century
science is experimenting
with new classes of materials

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like carbon resins,
ceramics and polymers.

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And one of the most promising

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is a substance that's actually
stronger and lighter than steel,

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and in fact, you could replace
the steel in these cables

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with fibres
as thin as a human hair.

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That's the promise
of carbon nanotubes.

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Carbon nanotubes
are a miracle of nature.

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They're made out of
individual carbon atoms
arranged in a hollow cylinder.

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The cylinder surface
is just one atom across.

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The diameter
is only 50 atoms across.

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And these tubes can be
billions of atoms long.

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These extraordinary dimensions
give carbon nanotubes
their unique properties.

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Their atoms are bonded
with the strength of diamonds,

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yet they have
the flexibility of fibre.

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Hi. I'm Stephen Steiner.

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Steve, how do you do? Great.

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Here at MIT,
Stephen Steiner and John Hart

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are going to show me
how to grow my own.

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So this is where it
all happens? These are our
furnaces where we grow nanotubes.

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So tell me, where does
the carbon come from?

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It comes from a gas,
which is in this tank.
It's actually an age-old process,

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where you take a carbon-containing
gas, and you put your chip

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on which we want to grow nanotubes,
heat up the furnace

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and the heat
causes the gas to decompose,

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and by that chemical reaction
we can grow billions of nanotubes.

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It's not dangerous, is it?
No, we just don't want to
get the samples dirty,

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because the process
needs to be pretty clean,
as we're growing such small things.

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Our substrate has

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catalyst seeds, nano particles
of a metal,

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and these act as the seeds
from which the nanotubes grow.

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We're going to pre-heat them
for the growth process.

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It's hard to believe that
under this tiny piece of glass

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we're creating one of the strongest
materials known to man.

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Yet carbon nanotubes are so small,

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we can only see them
under a powerful microscope.

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This is a block of nanotubes,
and that's a human hair.

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00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,239
So now we can focus in...

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and there we have a strand of carbon
nanotubes sitting on the human hair.

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We can zoom in
and compare the size of the hair

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to the size of the nanotubes.

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Even this strand contains hundreds,
thousands of nanotubes altogether.

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It really puts into into perspective
how small the nanoscale really is.

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So far we can only grow
short lengths of carbon nanotubes.

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But hundreds of businesses and
researchers are racing to develop

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00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:14,200
longer carbon nanotubes in order
to harness their huge potential.

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00:16:17,839 --> 00:16:21,800
In the future we might be able
to use carbon nanotubes

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for un-smashable cars,

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un-collapsible buildings,

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00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,520
ultra-light jet planes.

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And some people even believe
we could use them to build
a highway into space.

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This is the famous
Seattle Space Needle,

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built in 1962 for the World's Fair,

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00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,479
at the dawn of the space age,

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00:16:48,479 --> 00:16:51,999
when people dreamed
about visiting Mars and Venus.

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00:16:51,999 --> 00:16:53,680
Well, that never happened.

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50 years later, the space programme
seems to be stuck.

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00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,119
Space travel is simply
too expensive.

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00:17:00,119 --> 00:17:02,079
We need a way to go into outer space

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00:17:02,079 --> 00:17:05,040
without expending
all that expensive rocket fuel.

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00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,960
Well, one thing out of science
fiction is the space elevator.

239
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,200
But it was considered just
a far-fetched curiosity...

240
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:13,239
until recently.

241
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,240
With the amazing strength
and lightness of carbon nanotubes,

242
00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,040
it's now a serious proposition.

243
00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:26,200
Space elevators are
a very clever idea.

244
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,679
And there's no reason
why they shouldn't work.

245
00:17:28,679 --> 00:17:31,600
The idea that you
just, essentially,

246
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,479
lower a carbon nanotube rope
down onto the surface

247
00:17:34,479 --> 00:17:41,280
and winch things up... It sounds like
science fiction, but in my opinion,

248
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,800
anything that's scientifically
possible, and not ruled out
by the laws of physics,

249
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,280
should be possible,
in engineering terms,
at some point in the future.

250
00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:56,120
The space elevator
was the brainchild
of a visionary Russian scientist,

251
00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:00,720
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who
was inspired way back in 1895

252
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,800
by the newly-built Eiffel Tower.

253
00:18:05,879 --> 00:18:10,199
Since the 1970s, NASA has been
funding a trickle of research

254
00:18:10,199 --> 00:18:14,079
into what is essentially
a permanent lift into space.

255
00:18:15,879 --> 00:18:19,680
A space elevator is nothing
but a super-strong cable

256
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:24,119
up to 60,000 miles in length,
suspended from outer space

257
00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,160
and anchored on
the planet Earth.

258
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,560
What keeps it afloat
is the spin of the Earth.

259
00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:31,760
Think of a ball on a string.

260
00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,079
As you twirl a ball on a
string, it doesn't fall down,

261
00:18:35,079 --> 00:18:38,879
because of the centrifugal
force of being spun in a circle.

262
00:18:38,879 --> 00:18:42,520
Now, you can calculate that
steel is not strong enough

263
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,119
to resist this centrifugal force.

264
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,200
But for the first time in
history we have a substance,

265
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,999
carbon nanotubes, with
more than enough strength

266
00:18:51,999 --> 00:18:55,680
to resist the pressure of
being suspended from outer space.

267
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,759
And that's why NASA is offering
a half-million dollar prize

268
00:19:01,759 --> 00:19:07,000
to the first group that can
build a simple prototype
of a space elevator.

269
00:19:09,039 --> 00:19:12,399
Just outside Seattle,
one of the most promising teams

270
00:19:12,399 --> 00:19:16,639
is using laser power to drive
a robot climber up a cable.

271
00:19:16,639 --> 00:19:17,799
How do you do?

272
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:24,999
OK. Andres, I don't think we
have enough hands in here yet.

273
00:19:24,999 --> 00:19:27,839
Can you...? We need another
cook in the kitchen. Yeah.

274
00:19:28,839 --> 00:19:31,519
Yeah, we'll make an Italian.

275
00:19:31,519 --> 00:19:33,999
The team, called Lasermotive,

276
00:19:33,999 --> 00:19:37,880
hope their system will
overcome one of the biggest
problems of space travel.

277
00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:41,880
And there's a bit of dust on it.

278
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,040
50 years into the space age,
and we're still stuck

279
00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,400
with the fundamental
stumbling block,

280
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,959
that, when a rocket blasts off,
we have this enormous

281
00:19:51,959 --> 00:19:55,999
booster rocket lighting up the
sky, only just for a few minutes.

282
00:19:55,999 --> 00:20:00,200
90% of the rocket fuel,
90% of the hardware

283
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,999
goes into overcoming just
the first few hundred miles

284
00:20:02,999 --> 00:20:05,240
of the gravity field
of the planet Earth.

285
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,600
Well, that's where
the space elevator comes in.

286
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,799
The space elevator allows you to
leapfrog past that gravity barrier.

287
00:20:12,799 --> 00:20:18,200
It uses no rocket fuel whatsoever,
has minimal hardware,

288
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,200
and would drive down
the cost of space travel

289
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,799
by a factor of perhaps 100.

290
00:20:24,879 --> 00:20:27,840
Three...two...one...

291
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,760
For the first time,
space could be open to all.

292
00:20:50,079 --> 00:20:53,040
With its promise of
cheap and easy access,

293
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,040
the space elevator could allow us
to mine space minerals,

294
00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:03,160
or beam solar energy back to Earth.
Or it could simply give us

295
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:05,719
a different perspective
on our planet.

296
00:21:10,239 --> 00:21:14,160
Visionaries have
always dreamed about the
colonisation of outer space.

297
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,240
The space elevator
could be the key step

298
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,639
toward eventually
reaching the stars.

299
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,960
And it might have
another, deeper impact.

300
00:21:30,759 --> 00:21:35,799
Our horizons often determine our
understanding of just who we are.

301
00:21:35,799 --> 00:21:38,120
For most of human history,
for example,

302
00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:41,119
our horizons were
determined by our tribe,

303
00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,240
which numbered just
a few hundred individuals.

304
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:48,360
But gradually it expanded
to include large city states,

305
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,759
large nation states
and industrial empires.

306
00:21:51,759 --> 00:21:54,800
Well, in the future,
when access to outer space

307
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,360
is for everyone,
not just for the rich,

308
00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:01,959
then our horizons will expand
to include the entire planet.

309
00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:10,119
And we'll move away from seeing
ourselves divided by religion,
ethnicity or nationality.

310
00:22:15,919 --> 00:22:19,000
When we look down from
outer space at the planet Earth,

311
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,559
not only will we
realise how precious life is,

312
00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:27,120
but the fact that we belong
in a truly planetary civilisation.

313
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:30,600
At that point,
our consciousness, our horizons,

314
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,200
will be truly planetary.

315
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,639
But as we move toward
a planetary society,

316
00:22:40,639 --> 00:22:44,079
there's one crucial issue
we'll need to master -

317
00:22:44,079 --> 00:22:45,639
energy.

318
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,480
When astrophysicists scan the galaxy
for evidence of other civilisations,

319
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,040
they categorise them
according to their energy
signatures.

320
00:23:01,599 --> 00:23:05,040
Energy is necessary
for survival, for development,

321
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,720
and helps to define
a civilisation's capabilities.

322
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,839
And there are three types
of these civilisations.

323
00:23:11,839 --> 00:23:17,000
A type one civilisation controls
all planetary sources of energy,

324
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,919
they control the weather.
They control the oceans
and the hurricanes.

325
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:29,279
A type two civilisation
has exhausted
all planetary sources of energy,

326
00:23:29,279 --> 00:23:33,800
and they get their energy
by consuming the output
of their mother star.

327
00:23:35,439 --> 00:23:38,360
A type three civilisation
is galactic.

328
00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:42,800
They use the energy of
tens of billions of star systems,

329
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:47,120
and they roam the galactic
space lanes with their starships.

330
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:49,880
Why are there three types
of civilisations?

331
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,520
Because there are three types
of energy sources in the galaxy -

332
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,959
planets, stars
and the galaxy itself.

333
00:23:59,999 --> 00:24:02,719
So where does that leave us?

334
00:24:02,719 --> 00:24:06,960
We are a type zero civilisation.

335
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,999
We are so primitive
we don't even control
the energy resources of our planet.

336
00:24:11,999 --> 00:24:12,720
We get our energy from dead plants -
oil and coal.

337
00:24:12,879 --> 00:24:16,200
We get our energy from dead plants -
oil and coal.

338
00:24:25,719 --> 00:24:30,719
Our progress as a civilisation
depends on whether
we're able to move

339
00:24:30,719 --> 00:24:33,960
beyond our dependence
on fossil fuels.

340
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,680
A few years ago I lived through

341
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,480
one of the greatest blackouts in
the history of the United States.

342
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,000
In the Northeast
we had a total blackout.
The effects were immediate.

343
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,320
First of all,
the subway lines were paralysed,

344
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,240
transportation
came to a grinding halt.

345
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,400
Second of all,
commerce came to a halt

346
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,879
because you couldn't use your
credit card in machines any more.

347
00:24:57,879 --> 00:25:00,560
Not only that, food began to rot

348
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,959
because refrigerators
demanded electricity.

349
00:25:03,959 --> 00:25:06,519
And if you lived in
a 50-floor skyscraper,

350
00:25:06,519 --> 00:25:10,280
you had to walk 50 flights
just to get home.

351
00:25:12,999 --> 00:25:18,360
So without electricity, it's like
living in a pre-industrial society.

352
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:27,360
The New York blackout was in 2003,

353
00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:30,960
but today,
climate change is forcing us

354
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,559
to question
our huge appetite for energy.

355
00:25:35,599 --> 00:25:39,199
But can we really imagine
reducing our energy usage?

356
00:25:43,319 --> 00:25:47,679
Everything that is good
about modern civilisation,

357
00:25:47,679 --> 00:25:52,520
clean water, medicine,
extending life expectancy,

358
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,760
everything that we do
requires energy.

359
00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:01,119
So to me, energy
conservation is almost a...

360
00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,199
it's not a desirable goal, right?

361
00:26:04,199 --> 00:26:08,279
Conserving energy is necessary if
you generate it in a dangerous way.

362
00:26:08,279 --> 00:26:11,199
And we do generate it in
a dangerous way at the moment.

363
00:26:11,199 --> 00:26:14,519
But I see no reason,
from a scientific perspective,

364
00:26:14,519 --> 00:26:16,160
why that has to continue.

365
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:25,479
Energy, especially fossil fuels,
is so scarce

366
00:26:25,479 --> 00:26:29,080
that it provokes conflicts
between nations.

367
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:30,680
So imagine an energy source

368
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,999
which is safe, clean,
efficient and abundant.

369
00:26:33,999 --> 00:26:36,959
It could have a profound effect
on society.

370
00:26:36,959 --> 00:26:39,440
It could change everything.

371
00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:45,079
And that energy source
could be nuclear fusion.

372
00:26:46,679 --> 00:26:51,639
Our sun is a massive fusion
reactor. Its core is so hot

373
00:26:51,639 --> 00:26:54,239
that atoms of hydrogen are
forced together until they fuse,

374
00:26:54,239 --> 00:26:57,840
giving off
massive amounts of energy.

375
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:02,160
Our mastery over matter
could give us cheap energy forever,

376
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,439
because the fuel that sustains
fusion is abundant on Earth -

377
00:27:05,439 --> 00:27:07,239
water.

378
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,800
The biggest challenge is how to
contain a plasma of hydrogen atoms

379
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:21,080
that's so hot, it will
incinerate anything it touches.

380
00:27:23,679 --> 00:27:29,040
At the world's largest experimental
fusion reactor in Oxfordshire,

381
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,039
that's what they do, every day.

382
00:27:31,039 --> 00:27:33,040
..Eight,

383
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,839
seven, six, five,

384
00:27:35,839 --> 00:27:37,759
four, three,

385
00:27:37,759 --> 00:27:39,560
two, one...

386
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:42,719
..zero.

387
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,119
Marie-Line Mayoral
is a French physicist

388
00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:02,359
who has dedicated her life
to mastering fusion energy.

389
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:04,839
When I was a child,

390
00:28:04,839 --> 00:28:08,479
they built a big nuclear
power plant near my house,

391
00:28:08,479 --> 00:28:11,159
and I was extremely afraid
that something will,

392
00:28:11,159 --> 00:28:14,519
I don't know, explode, or...!

393
00:28:14,519 --> 00:28:18,839
And then I talked to my parents
that, er...

394
00:28:18,839 --> 00:28:22,599
I will work
in a nuclear power plant,

395
00:28:22,599 --> 00:28:23,520
in order to make it safer.

396
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:28,120
Well, at the end, I don't
work in a nuclear power plant,

397
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:31,080
but...I'm working on the project
to replace them

398
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:32,559
by something safer.

399
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,639
To contain the plasma,

400
00:28:36,639 --> 00:28:39,160
scientists have been
refining a design

401
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,799
called the Tokamak reactor.

402
00:28:41,799 --> 00:28:44,080
It's basically a magnetic bottle,

403
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,920
and the magnetic fields hold the
fiery plasma away from the edges.

404
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,520
We can reach,
without any trouble,

405
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,479
50 million degrees,
100 million degrees.

406
00:28:56,479 --> 00:28:59,120
This is not now a big deal
to do that.

407
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:03,000
The point is, to do that
for a certain time.

408
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:09,039
At this experimental fusion
reactor, Mayoral and her colleagues

409
00:29:09,039 --> 00:29:12,280
can control the plasma
for 30-second bursts.

410
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,040
It's impressive,
but it isn't long enough

411
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,480
to produce any
usable amounts of energy.

412
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:22,599
What scientists need
is a bigger reactor,

413
00:29:22,599 --> 00:29:25,559
that will allow them to keep
the plasma going long enough

414
00:29:25,559 --> 00:29:30,040
to reach the critical point at
which fusion becomes
self-sustaining.

415
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,639
The science of nuclear fusion has
been around for half a century.

416
00:29:36,639 --> 00:29:39,640
In principle, we know we can do it.

417
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:45,239
But as a society,
we've lacked the commitment
to allocate enough resources

418
00:29:45,239 --> 00:29:48,280
to solve all the many
technical challenges.

419
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,439
But as scientists grapple
with the hottest plasma on Earth,

420
00:29:54,439 --> 00:29:57,840
the political climate
is beginning to change.

421
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:03,200
Last year, governments representing
half the population of the world

422
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,119
decided to fund
a new fusion reactor.

423
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:13,200
The International
Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor, to be built in France.

424
00:30:15,879 --> 00:30:19,599
It's designed to be big enough
to create self-sustaining

425
00:30:19,599 --> 00:30:21,599
fusion energy for the first time.

426
00:30:24,039 --> 00:30:28,520
Fusion energy may
finally become a reality.

427
00:30:30,519 --> 00:30:32,640
Between 15 and 20 years from now

428
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,720
we will be ready to start
building a real power station

429
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:37,839
which will produce electricity.

430
00:30:37,839 --> 00:30:41,240
That could be operating within
30 years, a few prototypes.

431
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,199
After that, by the... Before
the middle of the century,

432
00:30:44,199 --> 00:30:46,320
we hope to have
large-scale fusion power.

433
00:30:50,519 --> 00:30:53,439
Fusion, er, for me,

434
00:30:53,439 --> 00:30:55,760
it's a way of producing electricity

435
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,400
in a safe way and in a cheap way.

436
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,159
And and we have
to try that, basically.

437
00:31:02,159 --> 00:31:04,600
There is no other way.

438
00:31:09,159 --> 00:31:13,520
If we had energy that's safe,
clean, cheap and unlimited,

439
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:18,000
imagine what we could do.
We could control global warming.

440
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,840
We could replace
fossil fuels and oil.

441
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,400
Feed an expanding population.

442
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,520
Meet the needs of a growing world.

443
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,639
Ultimately, the quantum
revolution will give us

444
00:31:30,639 --> 00:31:35,840
a whole range of sustainable,
renewable energy sources.

445
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,279
And it will also give us
a new technology,

446
00:31:39,279 --> 00:31:42,559
whose impact could be even greater -

447
00:31:42,559 --> 00:31:45,000
nanotechnology.

448
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,480
Nanotechnology will allow us

449
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:52,839
to redesign the world
by building with atoms, one by one.

450
00:31:52,839 --> 00:31:55,880
When you can do that,
you're talking about controlling

451
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,840
the fundamentals
of matter and energy.

452
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:01,760
And that's a breathtaking moment.

453
00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:06,000
You know, that's a thing where you're
no longer STUDYING nature in science,

454
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,759
you're CREATING nature,
you're creating new realities.

455
00:32:11,759 --> 00:32:16,040
A nanometre is a billionth
of a metre. You can't see it.

456
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,080
In fact, it's about
ten atoms across.

457
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:23,280
Now imagine a machine that is
on the scale of a nanometre.

458
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:27,839
A machine that's made
out of a few hundred,
a few thousand individual atoms.

459
00:32:27,839 --> 00:32:30,800
Well, you may say to yourself,
"That's science fiction.

460
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,360
"How can you make
a saw, a lever, a wheel

461
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,800
"made our of maybe
a thousand atoms?"

462
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,000
Well, Mother Nature
has already done it.

463
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,759
Mother Nature
can take raw materials,
and out of that, create life.

464
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,920
The goal of nanotechnology
is to create

465
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:51,399
nano machines
on the scale of living cells,

466
00:32:51,399 --> 00:32:54,759
like proteins, DNA or bacteria,
and design them

467
00:32:54,759 --> 00:32:56,960
to perform equally complex tasks.

468
00:32:59,679 --> 00:33:02,240
These miniature mechanical devices

469
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,199
could turn toxic waste
into harmless matter.

470
00:33:06,359 --> 00:33:10,160
Or they could travel
through our blood vessels
to mend cells from within.

471
00:33:12,479 --> 00:33:15,720
The first step toward
building these nano machines

472
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:19,280
is to hijack living systems
at the molecular level,

473
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,560
and engineer them
to do what we want.

474
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:29,000
At MIT, Andreas Mershin is
doing this with plant proteins.

475
00:33:31,839 --> 00:33:37,520
We're trying to use plants
to create solar power.

476
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,880
Plants have developed this amazing
ability to capture sunlight

477
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:42,960
and create and store chemical energy.

478
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:48,839
We can grab the machine, the protein
inside the plant, photosystem one

479
00:33:48,839 --> 00:33:52,080
which is responsible for
generating this energy for the plant

480
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,280
and hijack its function, put it
on a substrate of our choosing

481
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,839
and use the energy to
create solar electrical power,

482
00:33:58,839 --> 00:34:01,959
and to run light bulbs or any
kind of machinery that you want.

483
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,039
Mershin modifies the plant protein,

484
00:34:09,039 --> 00:34:12,759
then connects it to a bed of
specially engineered nano wires

485
00:34:12,759 --> 00:34:14,879
that act as electrodes.

486
00:34:14,879 --> 00:34:17,119
The final product
will be a nano machine

487
00:34:17,119 --> 00:34:21,999
that delivers solar power
in the form of a paint.

488
00:34:21,999 --> 00:34:26,239
Our goal is to provide
an alternative to regular
silicon-based solar panels.

489
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,600
They're big and heavy
and they're not ideal

490
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:32,279
to be transported to a remote
village in Africa or China or India.

491
00:34:32,279 --> 00:34:36,560
What we're trying to do
is produce a material

492
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,680
that's almost like a paint that you
can paint on a metallic surface,

493
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,679
expose it to light
and have yourself some electricity.

494
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,160
Hijacking nature
to make nano machines

495
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,919
offers an awesome new power
with endless potential.

496
00:34:55,039 --> 00:34:58,599
We're domesticating protein
molecules, protein living machines,

497
00:34:58,599 --> 00:35:01,640
to do things that
are interesting to us,

498
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,520
and there's a huge menagerie of such
proteins in the natural world,

499
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:08,319
from plants and animals and all sorts
of other things, such as bacteria,

500
00:35:08,319 --> 00:35:10,920
that can make,
pretty much, anything you want.

501
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,959
The trick is to be able to
engineer them and change them,

502
00:35:13,959 --> 00:35:17,240
and harness their power and make
them do what you want them to do.

503
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,360
One of the most
exciting applications
of these hybrid machines

504
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:28,520
is to cure illness
from within our own bodies.

505
00:35:31,519 --> 00:35:34,760
Here in this very estuary
in Rhode Island,

506
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,759
scientists have found bacteria
which they are using

507
00:35:38,759 --> 00:35:43,760
to power a prototype
nano robot that could
fit in our blood vessels.

508
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,599
Hi, how are you? Nice meeting you.

509
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,960
Under the microscope we have
thousands of bacteria.

510
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:56,599
And here you have a joystick...

511
00:35:56,599 --> 00:35:58,360
I see. ..and then you can control -

512
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:00,440
left, right, go forward and backward,

513
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,319
by pressing those buttons over here.

514
00:36:04,839 --> 00:36:07,959
Well, I see thousands of bacteria...

515
00:36:07,959 --> 00:36:09,840
and I can move them down...

516
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,040
Yes, I can see them move down...

517
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:14,000
Up...

518
00:36:17,319 --> 00:36:19,119
Moving to the right...

519
00:36:19,119 --> 00:36:22,359
'These bacteria are sensitive
to magnetic fields,

520
00:36:22,359 --> 00:36:26,079
'so I'm actually
controlling them with magnets.'

521
00:36:26,079 --> 00:36:28,639
Moving to the left...

522
00:36:28,639 --> 00:36:30,320
I almost feel omnipotent.

523
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:34,520
Like a god controlling thousands
and thousands of bacteria.

524
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,200
Amazing.

525
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:42,759
Martel's team has already used
the magnetic field of an MRI machine

526
00:36:42,759 --> 00:36:46,520
to drive a tiny device
along a living artery.

527
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,119
The plan is then to
shrink this device,

528
00:36:49,119 --> 00:36:53,040
place the bacteria inside it,
and use their rotating tails

529
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:56,000
as miniature engines to
drive it around our bodies

530
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,120
and deliver drugs
to specific targets.

531
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:06,639
Our main goal is to develop
new medical tools.

532
00:37:06,639 --> 00:37:09,239
And the main application
we have right now

533
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:11,760
is to target the tumour
inside the human body.

534
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,640
So the trick here
is to be able to...

535
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,480
integrate those tiny motors into...

536
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:22,959
a machine that could deliver drugs,

537
00:37:22,959 --> 00:37:26,120
and be able to control it
by computer.

538
00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:29,520
You can barely see that
thing. Yeah, exactly.

539
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,160
So the next step is
to engineer a microchip

540
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,800
to give the nano machine
intelligence.

541
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,999
So this microchip actually
is huge for us. It's too big.

542
00:37:39,999 --> 00:37:43,359
We want to get it much smaller.
You want to get it so small

543
00:37:43,359 --> 00:37:45,960
you could fit it into
the capillaries of the body?

544
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:48,320
Exactly. So they can go
anywhere they want.

545
00:37:50,679 --> 00:37:54,920
Well, here what we see
is one of those kind of robots.

546
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,119
This version have six motors.

547
00:37:58,119 --> 00:38:01,479
Six motors that contain several
bacteria which are controlled,

548
00:38:01,479 --> 00:38:04,120
because you need to be able
to turn left and right,

549
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:06,480
and the same time to
go forward or backward.

550
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:08,600
How many bacteria
are pushing this chip?

551
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:10,959
About 80 bacteria. About 80 bacteria.

552
00:38:10,959 --> 00:38:13,359
So this is like a chip
with propellers, right?

553
00:38:13,359 --> 00:38:15,080
Exactly, exactly.

554
00:38:18,599 --> 00:38:22,320
In the future, swarms
of invisible nano robots

555
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,320
might be permanently
patrolling our blood systems,

556
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:29,399
repairing tissue
and keeping us healthy.

557
00:38:29,399 --> 00:38:33,519
When I think about the implications
of the work being done here,

558
00:38:33,519 --> 00:38:37,079
I can't help but think about
my father and my mother.

559
00:38:37,079 --> 00:38:40,120
My father died of
Alzheimer's disease,

560
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,800
and now it afflicts my mother.
It's a horrible disease.

561
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,080
It robs you of your
very sense of who you are.

562
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,240
And yet, I can now imagine a time

563
00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:56,959
when we can use these kinds of
targeted therapies

564
00:38:56,959 --> 00:39:00,240
and artificial intelligence
and nanotechnology

565
00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:03,519
to zero in on the brain,
to clear out the brain

566
00:39:03,519 --> 00:39:08,479
of the proteins that have
gummed up our neural circuits,
and give us hope again.

567
00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:22,199
Imagine what we can do with this.

568
00:39:22,199 --> 00:39:26,559
You could imagine injecting millions
of them into your bloodstream,

569
00:39:26,559 --> 00:39:32,160
and they would first
serve as watchdogs,
waiting for the early onset

570
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,520
of cancer, or some
other terrible disease

571
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:39,999
and allowing you to intervene far
earlier than you ever could before.

572
00:39:39,999 --> 00:39:43,520
The next generation of
nanobots are expected to be

573
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:47,359
the hunter-killer ones, and those
are the ones who you could send in

574
00:39:47,359 --> 00:39:53,119
and destroy cancer cells
right at the beginning.

575
00:39:53,119 --> 00:39:57,800
And it's even theoretically possible
to imagine that these could go after

576
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:03,119
fat cells, so that you'd never
see an obese human being again.

577
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:12,839
But nanotechnology is not only being
developed for health and longevity.

578
00:40:19,639 --> 00:40:21,880
Well, on the battlefield

579
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,159
the nanobots are going
to do a lot of things.

580
00:40:24,159 --> 00:40:26,200
For instance,

581
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,639
they can seek
and destroy specific targets.

582
00:40:29,639 --> 00:40:30,720
You can make them very, very smart

583
00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:35,160
so they can identify
not only geographical areas

584
00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:39,039
but specific weapons systems
or communications systems

585
00:40:39,039 --> 00:40:41,640
that you wish to attack.

586
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:46,680
You've heard about,
you know, the surgeons that you
can inject into your bloodstream.

587
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:53,079
Well, the surgeon can
go in there to repair
a clogged blood vessel,

588
00:40:53,079 --> 00:40:56,520
or they might be able to go in there
and punch holes in blood vessels,

589
00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:00,720
if you want to destroy an adversary.

590
00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:04,640
The embryonic stages are here today,
and a lot of work is being done.

591
00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:08,279
There are national-level programmes
in several countries in the world

592
00:41:08,279 --> 00:41:10,519
developing these technologies.

593
00:41:10,519 --> 00:41:15,039
They will, you know, in the
period of a couple of decades,

594
00:41:15,039 --> 00:41:16,800
you're going to see major changes.

595
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:24,159
What is particularly exciting
and extremely controversial
about nanotechnology

596
00:41:24,159 --> 00:41:28,439
is the belief that
nano machines will be
designed to scavenge molecules

597
00:41:28,439 --> 00:41:31,359
from their environment
to reproduce themselves.

598
00:41:31,359 --> 00:41:33,239
They will be smart and autonomous,

599
00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:36,560
but just like the viruses and
bacteria they're modelled on,

600
00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,479
they will have the potential
to do enormous damage.

601
00:41:44,159 --> 00:41:48,680
In nanotechnology,
people are all talking about

602
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:53,480
creating man-made objects
that can produce more of themselves.

603
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,480
They're self-replicating.

604
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,559
And you've got to be real careful
about a self-replicating anything,

605
00:41:59,559 --> 00:42:02,320
because you'd better know
where the off switch is.

606
00:42:04,279 --> 00:42:08,479
In the grey goo scenario,
this is a world in which

607
00:42:08,479 --> 00:42:11,679
these nanobots
might keep on replicating

608
00:42:11,679 --> 00:42:15,800
until they consume all of
the energy on the entire planet,

609
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,320
leaving nothing but grey goo behind.

610
00:42:22,639 --> 00:42:24,839
Prince Charles'
concern over grey goo

611
00:42:24,839 --> 00:42:28,760
brought the threat of nanotechnology
to the public's attention.

612
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:38,400
But, for some, nanotechnology
malfunctioning is not the
most worrying thing.

613
00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:45,920
The much bigger risk seems
to be, not a freak accident,

614
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,519
but the deliberate design
of weapons systems

615
00:42:48,519 --> 00:42:52,239
using molecular nanotechnology.

616
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:56,120
And with this advanced form of
nanotech, it would be possible

617
00:42:56,120 --> 00:43:00,039
to build different kinds of
weapons systems for which
it's very difficult

618
00:43:00,039 --> 00:43:03,000
to see how an effective
defence would be possible.

619
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:09,879
In my view, the advanced
form of nanotechnology

620
00:43:09,879 --> 00:43:13,880
is arguably the greatest
existential risk

621
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:19,440
that humanity is likely
to confront in this century.

622
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:21,880
Oh, you can be guaranteed
it will eventually

623
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:26,840
get into the wrong hands.
The best we can do is both safeguard

624
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:31,239
against that eventuality, but it will
happen, and then be one step ahead.

625
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:34,239
For every move
there's a counter move,

626
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:36,999
and we need to continue
to research in these areas.

627
00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:43,640
I believe we'll build safeguards
to destroy or deactivate nanobots

628
00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:47,119
if they get out of control,
or into the wrong hands.

629
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,400
And I think the potential
benefits of nanotechnology

630
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,199
vastly outweigh the perceived risks.

631
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:02,039
Nano machines could
give us the amazing ability
to disassemble molecules

632
00:44:02,039 --> 00:44:05,799
into individual atoms and
reassemble them into new structures.

633
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:11,000
This means we could
make anything we want at home

634
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:15,200
using a personal fabricator,
a box full of nano machinery

635
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:17,400
that builds objects
from the atom up.

636
00:44:24,639 --> 00:44:27,760
Commercial companies
are already promoting

637
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,239
a future of personal fabrication.

638
00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:33,840
'Future advances in
molecular nanotechnology

639
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:38,239
'will enable desktop appliances
to manufacture products

640
00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:40,320
'far better than today's best.

641
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:44,240
'Each product is built
from beneath, layer by layer,

642
00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:47,919
'by billions of tiny machines
all working together.'

643
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:57,239
As I see it, a personal fabricator
is a factory on a desktop.

644
00:44:57,239 --> 00:45:01,040
It'll be about the size
of a microwave oven,
or maybe a vending machine,

645
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:05,360
but instead of dispensing
candy bars or soda pop,

646
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:08,639
it creates pretty much
anything you can imagine,

647
00:45:08,639 --> 00:45:11,880
from high-tech items
like PCs and mobile phones,

648
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:17,000
all the way down to
basic necessities like
food, clothing and medicines.

649
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:21,080
Almost anything you can imagine,
this device will create.

650
00:45:23,839 --> 00:45:26,799
Neil Gershenfeld of MIT
believes this technology

651
00:45:26,799 --> 00:45:30,239
will work in the same way
that the body is built,

652
00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:33,439
from proteins that produce
other proteins.

653
00:45:33,439 --> 00:45:37,479
Your body has a protein
that assembles other proteins
like building blocks

654
00:45:37,479 --> 00:45:39,999
and it really runs a program.

655
00:45:39,999 --> 00:45:44,199
So the research that we're
doing is, we're just on the edge

656
00:45:44,199 --> 00:45:48,119
of learning mathematically,
technically, how to
programme materials,

657
00:45:48,119 --> 00:45:51,560
how to fundamentally
digitise fabrication.

658
00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:56,040
So if you can manipulate atoms
to modify proteins, you're in
a sense improving on nature?

659
00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:58,840
Absolutely. The research road map

660
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:02,200
is leading, 20 years from now,
to make the Star Trek replicator,

661
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:06,279
the molecular assembler
that really builds everything
on a molecular scale.

662
00:46:06,279 --> 00:46:09,080
So that at that stage,

663
00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:12,639
it's a lot like life, where a part
can make a part that can make a part.

664
00:46:12,639 --> 00:46:18,239
We're just at the edge
now of this very parallel
digital revolution in fabrication,

665
00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:22,679
and what's it's going to do
is take all of the programmability
you're used to,

666
00:46:22,679 --> 00:46:26,359
in the digital world on your desktop,
and bring it to the physical world,

667
00:46:26,359 --> 00:46:29,840
so you can really
programme the physical world.

668
00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,559
So you're programming
reality, in some sense?

669
00:46:32,559 --> 00:46:34,479
In a very explicit sense.

670
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,439
So in the future, instead
of shopping from our computers

671
00:46:39,439 --> 00:46:43,680
or in the high street,
we could be producing
everything we want and need at home,

672
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:48,880
programming matter
with our personal fabricators.

673
00:46:50,519 --> 00:46:55,280
To inventor Ray Kurzweil,
this will have radical
implications for society.

674
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:00,799
Actually, I think,
overcome the have/have-not divide,

675
00:47:00,799 --> 00:47:03,600
because we'll be able to create
physical products...

676
00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:09,360
just from information.
So a shirt, a meal or a computer,

677
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:14,279
we'll be able to essentially print
out using these nanotechnology
table-top fabricators,

678
00:47:14,279 --> 00:47:16,959
and really, very easily
and very inexpensively,

679
00:47:16,959 --> 00:47:21,400
meet the material needs of
any size biological population.

680
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:24,599
But with nanotechnology
and personal fabrication,

681
00:47:24,599 --> 00:47:27,679
perhaps, at least,
the simple basic necessities,

682
00:47:27,679 --> 00:47:31,000
can be gotten
simply by asking for it.

683
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,880
So possessions are not
going to mean that much.

684
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:36,400
What are your thoughts? I agree.

685
00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,400
I mean, it's not just
the necessities but, er...

686
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:43,080
We will still have wealth.
There'll still be wealthy people,

687
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,760
there'll still be proprietary forms
of information you have to pay for,

688
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:48,999
not everything is going to be free.

689
00:47:48,999 --> 00:47:52,799
But the lowest level, you'll be
able to live very comfortably

690
00:47:52,799 --> 00:47:57,800
with adequate housing and food
and clothing and fashion,

691
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:00,800
and really living, you know,
what we today consider

692
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:04,400
almost a wealthy lifestyle
at the lowest level.

693
00:48:08,799 --> 00:48:12,159
If a self assembler
ever does become possible,

694
00:48:12,159 --> 00:48:15,399
that's going to be one of
history's great "Holy shit!" moments.

695
00:48:17,319 --> 00:48:20,160
Then you're really talking
about changing the world

696
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:23,360
into something beyond anything
we've ever recognised before.

697
00:48:24,999 --> 00:48:30,279
Personal fabrication could
challenge everything
about our society and economy.

698
00:48:30,279 --> 00:48:33,320
The role of money,
the nature of commerce,

699
00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:35,439
the gap between rich and poor.

700
00:48:38,559 --> 00:48:41,759
Some scientists believe
that in a mere 20 years

701
00:48:41,759 --> 00:48:45,200
we'll have personal fabricators
right in our living room.

702
00:48:45,200 --> 00:48:47,000
I'm not so sure.

703
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:50,079
There are a lot of hurdles
that still have to be negotiated.

704
00:48:50,079 --> 00:48:53,119
I would say, perhaps,
by mid to late 21st century

705
00:48:53,119 --> 00:48:57,639
we'll begin to see the outlines
of personal fabrication.

706
00:48:57,639 --> 00:49:02,239
We're talking about the ultimate
Holy Grail of nanotechnology,

707
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:06,320
the ability to create
something out of almost nothing.

708
00:49:10,999 --> 00:49:14,800
The coming revolution, the revolution
that's going to happen

709
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,600
when we really learn
how to manipulate matter
at the molecular level,

710
00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:23,839
at the subatomic level, will take
everyone, including me, by surprise.

711
00:49:23,839 --> 00:49:28,839
Because it really removes
the barrier to doing,
pretty much, anything you want.

712
00:49:28,839 --> 00:49:32,040
Anything that you can see
around you, including yourself,

713
00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:36,840
that's solid, is only a pattern. It's
a pattern of atoms and molecules.

714
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:39,440
And if you know how to manipulate
those patterns,

715
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:43,200
then, really, the possibilities
are absolutely endless.

716
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:49,319
The quantum revolution
radically challenges
the way we view the world.

717
00:49:49,319 --> 00:49:53,000
It's already transformed some of
the ideas from science fiction,

718
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:54,800
and turned them into science fact.

719
00:49:56,280 --> 00:50:01,119
Here in Vienna,
one of the most fantastic
concepts of science fiction

720
00:50:01,119 --> 00:50:04,239
has already
been turned into reality.

721
00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:10,800
And in fact, it may represent our
ultimate mastery over matter itself.

722
00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:14,960
It's called teleportation.

723
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:20,679
In my group, we have achieved
teleportation ten years ago,

724
00:50:22,239 --> 00:50:24,800
and we are doing it
on a regular basis,

725
00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:29,640
all the time improving any new things
and so on. So it's a simple fact.

726
00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:31,400
Teleportation exists.

727
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:38,719
This is the world's first
teleportation machine.

728
00:50:42,359 --> 00:50:45,479
With it, Professor Anton Zeilinger
and his team

729
00:50:45,479 --> 00:50:49,520
are teleporting individual
particles of light, called photons,

730
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,720
from one prism to another.

731
00:51:07,679 --> 00:51:11,240
And it can happen over any distance.

732
00:51:17,319 --> 00:51:22,640
The present record about distance
in teleportation is 600 metres.

733
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:28,680
This was done by our group
from one side of the River Danube
over to the other side.

734
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:31,000
But there are no limits.

735
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:36,519
We might do it some day to the
Moon or to Mars, or who knows?

736
00:51:37,559 --> 00:51:42,359
Professor Zeilinger is inducing
a peculiar state in his
particles of light.

737
00:51:42,359 --> 00:51:45,320
It's called quantum entanglement.

738
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:48,840
It's a mysterious bond
between a pair of photons.

739
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:52,520
When you change one,
the other changes instantly.

740
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:56,279
So the photon itself
isn't teleported,

741
00:51:56,279 --> 00:51:58,359
just the information it contains.

742
00:51:59,720 --> 00:52:03,039
What we really teleport
in quantum teleportation

743
00:52:03,039 --> 00:52:06,200
is the information
carried by a system.

744
00:52:06,200 --> 00:52:10,800
This information is teleported
over to another system

745
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,320
which assumes exactly
that information,

746
00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:16,479
therefore it becomes
identical with the original.

747
00:52:16,479 --> 00:52:19,199
The original loses its properties...

748
00:52:20,759 --> 00:52:23,960
and the new one is made up
of different matter,

749
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:26,160
it's not the same matter
as the original.

750
00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:31,040
What's interesting
is that the original
photon's information is lost,

751
00:52:31,040 --> 00:52:36,479
which could have huge implications
for teleporting anything
on a larger scale.

752
00:52:36,479 --> 00:52:41,199
Is it out of the question,
or is it just very, very difficult

753
00:52:41,199 --> 00:52:45,000
to teleport a dog,
a cat, or a human?

754
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:46,920
Well, we can dream.

755
00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:50,319
And if you dream about
teleportation of humans,

756
00:52:50,319 --> 00:52:55,999
then all kind of questions arise,
like, "What does it mean to be me?"

757
00:52:55,999 --> 00:52:59,720
When someone teleports me and I
know that what is being teleported

758
00:52:59,720 --> 00:53:03,319
is information, not matter,
not the stuff I'm made of...

759
00:53:03,319 --> 00:53:06,160
who is it who ends up over there?

760
00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:08,520
How does the average person react
to the fact

761
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:13,119
that you have to be destroyed in
order to have your state teleported?

762
00:53:13,119 --> 00:53:16,320
Suppose we put an ad in
the newspaper, just for fun.

763
00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:19,920
Just for fun we put an ad
in the newspaper which said

764
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:24,920
that we want to try teleportation of
people and we look for volunteers,

765
00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:28,520
but we cannot guarantee that
it will be successful, 100%.

766
00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:30,520
Maybe only 10 or 20%.

767
00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:37,040
I bet many people would show up and
want to be the first one teleported!

768
00:53:40,839 --> 00:53:45,719
In the next few years,
scientists will teleport
the first simple molecule.

769
00:53:45,719 --> 00:53:51,080
Then complex molecules, perhaps the
first virus within a decade or so.

770
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:56,279
Teleporting a human may
seem impossibly advanced,

771
00:53:56,279 --> 00:54:00,039
but science is changing
our world faster than it has
ever done in human history.

772
00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:03,760
If you'd have told me

773
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:07,480
20 years ago that my
mobile phone would be able
to pinpoint my position,

774
00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:11,120
using a network of satellites,
to within a couple of metres,

775
00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:13,959
then I would have almost
certainly not believed you.

776
00:54:13,959 --> 00:54:17,160
But now the global positioning
system is in everybody's car,

777
00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:20,520
it's appearing in everybody's
mobile phones and in watches.

778
00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:24,840
So remarkable things do happen,
and actually, they're happening

779
00:54:24,840 --> 00:54:28,319
at smaller and smaller time
intervals. Progress is accelerating.

780
00:54:32,119 --> 00:54:36,880
We are witnessing an unparalleled
explosion in scientific knowledge.

781
00:54:36,880 --> 00:54:41,480
We've learned more in the past 50
years than in all of human history.

782
00:54:41,480 --> 00:54:46,320
And why is that? It's because of
the synergy, the intense interplay

783
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:52,239
between the three great revolutions:
the quantum, computer,
and biotech revolutions.

784
00:54:52,239 --> 00:54:55,280
And when these revolutions
work in harmony

785
00:54:55,280 --> 00:55:00,080
they feed off each other
and unleash a tidal wave
of scientific discovery.

786
00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:05,000
And this synergy will only
accelerate into the 21st century

787
00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:09,039
giving us technologies
that we can only dream about.

788
00:55:12,639 --> 00:55:16,680
One of the best examples of the
impact of this powerful synergy

789
00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:19,039
is the Human Genome Project.

790
00:55:21,999 --> 00:55:28,080
Back in 1985, when
people were talking about
sequencing the human genome,

791
00:55:28,080 --> 00:55:32,559
most sensible people thought, first
of all, it was probably impossible,

792
00:55:32,559 --> 00:55:38,519
and that if it were possible,
it would take till the year 2015
and cost the earth.

793
00:55:38,519 --> 00:55:41,759
Well, of course it happened
much faster than that.

794
00:55:41,759 --> 00:55:45,800
In the year 2000,
for only a few billion.

795
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:48,039
Chump change, as these things go(!)

796
00:55:48,039 --> 00:55:53,399
And the reason is that the price
of the computer kept on dropping
and dropping and dropping,

797
00:55:53,399 --> 00:55:57,880
and that's what people
who were projecting the future
hadn't taken into consideration.

798
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:04,760
There are scores of
examples of the synergy between
these three great revolutions.

799
00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:10,719
For example, we now use
laser beams to scan hundreds
of genes at any one given time,

800
00:56:10,719 --> 00:56:15,759
and then we use supercomputers
to process this vast amount
of genetic information.

801
00:56:15,759 --> 00:56:19,079
But it's not only genes,
we're using supercomputers

802
00:56:19,079 --> 00:56:24,359
to reveal the secrets of everything,
from proteins to the human brain.

803
00:56:24,359 --> 00:56:29,960
Synergy is truly leading us
toward mastery of matter and life.

804
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:32,880
Basically, the rate of technical
progress and its impact

805
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,080
is doubling every decade.

806
00:56:36,080 --> 00:56:38,880
And exponential growth
is quite phenomenal.

807
00:56:38,880 --> 00:56:41,599
It literally means
that these technologies,

808
00:56:41,599 --> 00:56:44,040
which are already very influential,

809
00:56:44,040 --> 00:56:47,839
will be a billion times more
powerful than they are
today 25 years from now.

810
00:56:47,839 --> 00:56:50,519
And that's really
quite transformative.

811
00:56:52,719 --> 00:56:57,039
We're beginning to be able to take
control of the workings of our minds,

812
00:56:57,039 --> 00:57:01,920
our memories, our metabolisms,
our personalities and our kids.

813
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:04,959
We have the means,

814
00:57:04,959 --> 00:57:09,279
through genetics, robotics,
information and nanotechnology,

815
00:57:09,279 --> 00:57:15,519
to control matter, energy and life
itself at the most basic levels.

816
00:57:15,519 --> 00:57:17,880
We've never seen anything
like this before,

817
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:22,080
and this is raising
profound questions about
what it means to be human

818
00:57:22,080 --> 00:57:25,280
and what our lives, our futures
and our children will be like.

819
00:57:29,199 --> 00:57:31,519
The intense cross-pollination

820
00:57:31,519 --> 00:57:35,439
between the computer, biotech
and the quantum revolutions

821
00:57:35,439 --> 00:57:39,120
will give us unprecedented
power in the 21st century.

822
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:42,440
The power to create
a planetary civilisation,

823
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:47,120
a civilisation based on progress,
scientific knowledge and trust.

824
00:57:47,120 --> 00:57:50,280
Or, on the other hand,
the power to unleash

825
00:57:50,280 --> 00:57:53,599
unparalleled chaos
and anarchy on the Earth.

826
00:57:53,599 --> 00:57:59,320
The choice is ours, and the time
to discuss these questions is now.

827
00:57:59,320 --> 00:58:02,239
That's because
the current generation

828
00:58:02,239 --> 00:58:05,840
holds the future of the Earth
in its hands.

829
00:58:20,639 --> 00:58:23,639
Subtitles by Richard J Boyle
Red Bee Media Ltd

830
00:58:23,639 --> 00:58:26,639
Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk