MEET THE MICROBOTS

Dean Kamen explores a new age of medicine that is upon us, an era of tiny robots with enormous power, including “nanobots” that are able to enter the bloodstream, find cancerous cells without anyone’s guidance and kill them. No surgeon, no surgery, no cancer. Exactly what it might mean no one knows for sure. But one thing is certain: Medicine as we know it is about to change irrevocably.

VIDEO: Eliminating Tumors VIDEO: Nanobots Fight Cancer

DIG DEEPER: Nanotech Does the Coolest Stuff You'll Never See

JOANNE'S DIARY: Microbot Mania

BUILDING THE BIONIC BODY

Now more than ever, there is a great need for limb replacement. More than a thousand soldiers have returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan missing an arm or a leg—a higher percentage’ than in any previous conflict. But new advancements in prosthetics are changing the definition of what it means to be disabled. Dean of Invention asks, are we entering an era of bionic humans, when disabled people become hyper-abled?

VIDEO: Meet the Luke Arm VIDEO: Equipping Our Nation's Finest

VIDEO: Meet Britain's Bionic Woman VIDEO: The Age of Bionic Limbs

DIG DEEPER: 8 Medical Technologies that Seem Straight Out of Sci-Fi

JOANNE'S DIARY: Pebbles and Pirouettes

WIRED BRAIN

Someday, will we be able to send data from computers back into the brain, giving people a wealth of abilities still unfathomable to humans? In this episode, Dean of Invention explores brain-computer interface (BCI), whereby the intentions and desires of the human mind can be read—and translated into action. BCI has the potential to unlock vast new potential powers for humankind.

VIDEO: Can We Cure Paralysis? VIDEO: Brain-Controlled Wheelchair

DIG DEEPER: Do You Need to Wait for the Wired Brain to Improve the Mind?

JOANNE'S DIARY: The Monkey in the Cage and the Elephant in the Room

ROBOT REVOLUTION

After years of being relegated to characters in fantasy and science fiction, robots are finally becoming crucial players in solving real-life problems. The twist is that they won’t be our peers. They’ll last longer. They’ll be stronger. And they’ll meet challenges human beings simply can’t.

VIDEO: Meet Big Dog, Soldier's Best Friend VIDEO: Walk Like a Man

VIDEO: The Soul of a Robot

JOANNE'S DIARY: Behind-the-Scenes Look at BigDog

GONZO FOR GUANO

If you could take just one day’s excrement from all the humans and cows in the world and harness the energy locked inside, you’d have enough electricity to power New York City for seven years. Until recently, all that waste was just going to waste. But now, Dean of Invention unveils how the race is on to develop processing plants that can harness this previously pooh-poohed waste into power.

VIDEO: Waste into Energy VIDEO: Cow Waste, Not so Wasteful?

DIG DEEPER: How We Can Turn Poo Into Power

JOANNE'S DIARY: Wasteland

FORWARD MOTION

Innovative engineers and builders are ready to redesign not just what we drive, but how we live, because one thing is for sure: Right after freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, Americans prize freedom of movement. Dean of Invention explores what it takes for Americans to find a way to make the needs of tomorrow fit with our need for mobility.

VIDEO: Who is Driving that Car? VIDEO: Car that Folds in Half

VIDEO: Electric Car Looks Like a Rocket

JOANNE'S DIARY: Rocket-Like Electric Car of the Future

FUTURE FLIGHT

As the population soars, congestion in transportation systems will continue to get worse and worse, slowing down all means of transport. Just as the automobile replaced the horse and carriage and fundamentally changed our world, the advent of a new age of aviation could be the catalyst for a new generation of growth in the U.S.

VIDEO: Sport Aircraft Revolution VIDEO: Personal Flying Device

JOANNE'S DIARY: Meet the Ultimate Sport Aircraft

RE-GEN REVOLUTION

If scientists could grow new tissue and organs in the lab and safely implant them, Dean of Invention asks, would the days of desperate patients waiting for organ donors become a distant memory?

VIDEO: Capillaries from Cotton Candy VIDEO: Grow Organs Inside the Body

VIDEO: New Organs Repair Birth Defects