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NASA Chief Scientist Dennis Bushnell and futurist Hazel Henderson explore the advance of automation as more and more sectors of industrial societies are digitized: from manufacturing to retailing, accounting, healthcare, education, legal services, and even finance. They discuss emerging alternatives such as worker-owned companies; cooperative enterprises; and guaranteed basic incomes now enacted in Brazil, Mexico, and proposed in Switzerland, Europe,...
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Will replacing a body part be as easy as replacing a light bulb some day? In Body Building, a part of the PBS Scientific American Frontiers series, host Alan Alda journeys behind the scenes with MIT's Robert Langer for a remarkable window into the current scientific advances in repair and replacement of damaged human body parts. The program follows scientists and researchers as they experiment with the growth of liver, heart, and eye tissue and reveal...
10) Machines at Work
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Contains footage of a telegraph office (9/29/32, London) and a pair of robotic arms (3/14/57, Philadelphia).
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In this TEDTalk, Alexander Tsiaras shares his spectacular visualization that realistically depicts the development of a fetus from conception to birth - marveling as much at the technology as at the miracle of life itself. Tsiaras, chief of scientific visualization in Yale's Department of Medicine, wrote the algorithms for the micromagnetic resonance imaging machine that makes the computer-generated look at life inside the womb possible.
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As technology progresses, printed circuit boards or PCBs are becoming ever more central to daily life. As such, an understanding of basic circuitry and how to apply it to PCB assembly is vital to almost any engineer or technical designer. This program highlights the importance of PCBs and follows their industrial manufacture from design brief to completion. It illustrates the benefits of new technologies such as prism component placing machines, minute...
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Imagine driving in complete darkness without worry-thanks to a virtual picture of the road projected on the windshield. It's an existing technology, not science fiction! With unprecedented access to top-flight engineering projects that are integral to the design of Jaguar cars, this program shows how electronics are taking the art and science of driving into the future. Viewers learn how digital control systems, CAD, and CAM, are used throughout a...
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From spoken-word conversations to real-time video, a dazzling array of communication options are now available at the touch (or click) of a button. This video explores the concepts and technologies at the heart of fiber-optic communication. Demonstrations and discussions focus on basic principles of telephone systems and state-of-the-art optical technology; distances that light can travel through glass fiber as shown on a massive drum of cable; how...
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The 20th century saw the creation of colossal wealth and exploding economies, but the days of industry providing mass employment are over. We are moving from a mass labor force to an elite corps concentrated in the knowledge sector. Will this change result in a sort of economic apartheid in which a third of humanity is made redundant? This film shows how the economic, living, and working situations are deteriorating for the people in Canada, France,...
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Nothing can replace the skills of good doctors and nurses, but without digital technology and advanced electronic systems, the field of medicine would soon collapse. X-Rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, and MRI and PET imaging all use electronics to map different aspects of the human body and convert the information into a visual format. This program visits one of the world's leading research centers in medical imaging and explores the ins and outs of electronic...
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Although the encroachment of technology into the natural world is always a legitimate concern, it is also worth examining the many ways in which electronic systems help improve environmental research as well as weather and climate monitoring. This program features two case studies that illustrate the helpful roles electronics can play in life science and meteorology. An in-depth look at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England, focuses on the control...
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From the minutia of warehouse inventories to the training programs of the aeronautics industry, this program focuses on commercial applications for high-tech electronic systems. Two in-depth case studies are used. The first showcases a HUD or "head-up" display developed by British Aerospace Engineering, used in state-of-the-art flight instruction of civilian aircraft pilots. The second case study examines a stock control system that is revolutionizing...