Aarathi Prasad pone a prueba los increíbles robots inspirados en animales de Boston Dynamics. Chris Eliasmith analiza las nuevas tecnologías de adherencia, inspiradas en las patas de los lagartos gecko.
Daniel Kraft estudia el entrenamiento de astronautas en aguas profundas. Jim Al Khlalili comprueba cómo la ingeniería genética aplicada a un virus para hacer que nos beneficie podría evitar pandemias, y Carin Bondar descubre que el sueño de Nikola Tesla de conseguir energía sin cables se está haciendo por fin realidad, gracias a uno de los fenómenos más impresionantes de la naturaleza: el magnetismo.
Daniel Kraft estudia el entrenamiento de astronautas en aguas profundas. Jim Al Khlalili comprueba cómo la ingeniería genética aplicada a un virus para hacer que nos beneficie podría evitar pandemias, y Carin Bondar descubre que el sueño de Nikola Tesla de conseguir energía sin cables se está haciendo por fin realidad, gracias a uno de los fenómenos más impresionantes de la naturaleza: el magnetismo.
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FunTranscript
00:00People almost always think that geckos hide some kind of glue to stick to surfaces like this,
00:05but they don't leave any residue.
00:07What's going on? What's this adhesion thing?
00:09The plantar pads make a very deep contact with the crystal.
00:13And if you look at them with an electronic microscope,
00:15you can see that they have a great number of tiny hairs called setae.
00:19Duncan explains that each hair is divided into hundreds of determinations
00:22that are called fibrillas or spatulae.
00:25They're so small that they interact with the surface at the molecular level.
00:30But Duncan has discovered that, although this allows him to stick to the gecko,
00:34it needs something else to be able to hold it firmly.
00:39These geckos have little, stiff tendons in their fingers
00:42that stick to the volatile material of the hairs.
00:46And that's the discovery that has made progress.
00:48It's the interaction between the tendons under their skin
00:51and the pressure of this on the microscopic hairs of the surface
00:54that maximizes the contact of the legs with the surface
00:57and gives the gecko an extraordinary adhesion.
01:01This new understanding is what lies behind the revolutionary adhesive fabric
01:05that is made elsewhere on campus, the Geskin.
01:10The main person in charge is Al Crosby,
01:12who is taking advantage of the new biological findings
01:15to design a product inspired by the real world.
01:17Hi Chris.
01:18How are you?
01:19Good to see you.
01:20So I was just over, thanks to Duncan,
01:22the biological part of the team and now we want to know the engineering part.
01:25Yes, this is where we make Geskin.
01:28So could you give me an idea of how it applies
01:30to what he has told me about the manufacturing of the material?
01:33The key point is to consider a single system.
01:35Okay.
01:36It's really simple.
01:37We take a strip of tissue and we put a little bit of polymer on it.
01:40The polymer acts like the microscopic hairs of the gecko,
01:43while the more rigid tissue acts like the tendons.
01:46Would you like to try it?
01:47Sure.
01:48Maybe you want to start with this small piece here.
01:50It's very easy to apply.
01:52Okay.
01:53Do you see it?
01:54It's like a normal adhesive tape.
01:55Okay.
01:56Now stretch it from here.
01:57Yes.
01:58It's too strong to take it off.
01:59I can't take it off.
02:01Right.
02:02But as soon as I do this.
02:03Ah.
02:04You take it off very easily.
02:05Do you see it?
02:06Yeah, there's nothing left.
02:07It's cool.
02:08Very effortless.
02:09How many times can you do this?
02:11Hundreds, thousands of times.
02:16The gecko's other wonder is that their tendons
02:19also allow it to unscrew and unscrew the legs
02:22by running up to 15 times per second
02:25to attach and detach instantly.
02:29Now I'd like to see if it's able to attach
02:31the 80 kilos that I weigh to this glass.
02:34For safety reasons,
02:35we'll use a set of weights that weigh the same as me.
02:40Is this chain just for safety?
02:42Yes, the chain is just for safety.
02:45Now give it a try.
02:47This is 180 kilos.
02:48The same as I weigh.
02:49Let's start with the test now.
02:54And there it is.
02:55The chain is not carrying any of the weight.
02:57Geskin is holding it all.
02:58There we have it.
02:59It's impressive.
03:0080 kilos.
03:01So on a panel like this,
03:02it could hold between 320 and 360 kilos,
03:04but we'd have to go to another part of the campus
03:06to check it out.
03:07I've been talking to him for a while.
03:09He's taught me what Geskin is
03:10and he's given me a demonstration,
03:11but all in the lab.
03:12It could be fun if we used it to see
03:14if it would be able to move this all-terrain vehicle.
03:16What do you think?
03:17Good.
03:18I think we should give it a try.
03:19We'll move this two-tonne all-terrain vehicle
03:21without touching the trailer hitch.
03:23All right, Chris, now it's your turn.
03:24Perfect.
03:25I'm going to drive the car.
03:26You take care of the hard work, right?
03:28All right, so we're going to put this thing in.
03:30We've already put Geskin in,
03:31and we're going to see if we can move it.
03:33Are you ready?
03:34I hope he has the handbrake off.
03:36I don't know what I'm most worried about,
03:38my back or the paint.
03:40All right, Chris.
03:41Keep going.
03:43Keep going.
03:44Hold on.
03:45Keep going.
03:46Keep going.
03:47It's fantastic.
03:48Pull the...
03:49Pull the car.
03:50I think that's it.
03:51Yeah.
03:52We've seen it work.
03:53Yeah.
03:54And not a mark.
03:55We've seen the whole process,
03:56from the origin of the idea to its application in the lab,
03:58going through an extremely high-tech scientific experiment.
04:00Yeah.
04:01So, what do you think will happen to future Geskin?
04:03Well, Chris, as you can imagine,
04:04we have all kinds of companies behind us,
04:06big and small,
04:07and we're working on its commercialization.
04:09Next year we're expecting to have a wide range of products.
04:13An adhesive tape that can be reused hundreds of times
04:16made from cheap materials.
04:18It's truly fantastic.
04:23What I find most fascinating about Geskin
04:25is that it symbolizes the interaction between biology and engineering.
04:28So they were interested in adhesives,
04:30they knew how they worked,
04:32and when they studied the gecko,
04:34they realized that this animal made a very particular use
04:36of the principles they had discovered.
04:39I can imagine hundreds of uses that could be given to it,
04:42from surgical or high-adhesion tires
04:45to everyday uses like sticking a plaque with my name
04:48on the door of my office.
04:50Maybe one day we'll see a window cleaner
04:52climbing a skyscraper like Spiderman,
04:55but I'd like to see a few more tests done
04:58before I stick my precious memory
05:00of my participation in The Simpsons on the wall.
05:04There's one scenario that not even all the glue in the world
05:07could help us solve.
05:10We are under threat.
05:12Asteroids of enormous proportions are threatening us.
05:15Once again, nature comes to the rescue.
05:18To intercept them,
05:20we are preparing astronauts in a mysterious place,
05:23right here on Earth.
05:25On February 15, 2013,
05:27a fireball penetrated the atmosphere
05:29and released 30 times more energy
05:31than the Hiroshima bomb.
05:37One day, it's possible that even a bigger one
05:39will collide with us.
05:41Fortunately, some of our wise friends at NASA
05:44have more than 1,000 potentially dangerous asteroids under surveillance.
05:48But what I want to know is,
05:50what would they do in case of a collision?
05:55On the west coast of Canada,
05:57we found a man who helps NASA
05:59in its preparation to avoid a possible armageddon.
06:06Daniel Kraft has moved to Vancouver to investigate.
06:09I've been told that a small workshop
06:11is being set up in Vancouver.
06:13I'm not sure.
06:16Phil Nguyen is a pioneer in deep diving.
06:18Nice to meet you, Phil.
06:20Likewise, a pleasure.
06:22Phil has been designing suits and submersibles
06:24for 40 years to explore the depths of the ocean.
06:27The DeepWorker 2000 is a single-seater submarine
06:29capable of descending twice the height of the Empire State
06:31and whose design has given NASA a good idea.
06:36The DeepWorker 2000 is a single-seater submarine
06:39capable of descending twice the height of the Empire State
06:41and whose design has given NASA a good idea.
06:46Because the ocean is the closest thing on Earth
06:49to space in terms of gravity.
06:51Phil, what could interest NASA
06:53about a small submarine like this?
06:55That's a very good question,
06:57because at first you might think
06:59that the interior and exterior space
07:01have nothing to do with each other,
07:03but technology combines them in an incredible way.
07:05Right now, we're training astronauts
07:07from both the United States and Canada
07:09to be able to pilot these small submarines.
07:11They use them as simulators.
07:13NASA has been training its astronauts underwater
07:15since the beginning of the Apollo program.
07:17So they can test the zero-gravity condition of space
07:20because the vessels can reach neutral floatability,
07:23the apparent state of gravity between floating and sinking.
07:26However, in order to achieve NASA's great goal
07:28of capturing an asteroid,
07:30they need a boat to practice with,
07:32and this is where Phil's submarine comes in,
07:34designed to have neutral floatability.
07:36Like spaceships, the DeepWorker
07:38needs propellers that push it forward
07:40and directional propellers to change direction.
07:42It's not exactly zero gravity,
07:44but the feeling is very similar
07:46because the force of the water works against the inertia
07:48and reduces the speed of heavy objects.
07:50It's the best substitute we have.
07:52We just finished a project last year.
07:54The idea is that the astronauts
07:56fly with the submarine
07:58until they land on top of a false asteroid
08:00at the bottom of the ocean,
08:02facing the coast of Florida.
08:04Then they'll have to get out of the submarine,
08:06drill the asteroid,
08:08and anchor the submarine or the ship, rather.
08:10It's great. It's a great project.
08:12And the astronauts love it.
08:14They think it's fantastic.
08:16NASA not only uses these submersibles
08:18for these simulation training,
08:20but to develop the procedures
08:22that will allow them to capture an asteroid in the future.
08:24That's exactly what they're doing,
08:26and that's why they've hired us.
08:28Until recently, NASA claimed that
08:30if an asteroid collided with Earth,
08:32the only thing that could be done
08:34would be to pray, and I'm not kidding.
08:36Now it's my turn to pray a little.
08:38It's going to be a busy trip.
08:40You're not going to have a good time.
08:42I've flown F-16 fighter jets,
08:44but landing on imaginary
08:46underwater asteroids is new to me.
08:48I've had the opportunity
08:50to experience zero gravity
08:52on a plane,
08:54and the truth is, it's amazing.
08:56I did it out of great interest
08:58to wake up to space flights.
09:00Life on Earth is in danger of disappearing,
09:02whether it's because of our own mistakes
09:04or a cosmic catastrophe.
09:08If we don't find a way
09:10to expand our civilization into space,
09:12I don't think we're going to survive
09:14another 1,000 years.
09:16So I sincerely hope
09:18that Daniel's first space flight
09:20under the ocean
09:22doesn't end in disaster.
09:26Under the threat of massive extinction
09:28from the impact of an asteroid,
09:30NASA has come up with an ingenious plan.
09:32Astronauts will be able to stop
09:34the course of those celestial watchtowers.
09:36How they'll do it is yet to be determined,
09:38but one of the options
09:40they're considering
09:42is to land on them.
09:46Daniel Kraft is in full training,
09:48as if he were in space
09:50at almost zero gravity,
09:52but inside a submarine
09:54capable of diving to great depths.
09:56I'm about to find out
09:58how to fly a vehicle
10:00to a specific landing point
10:02under almost zero gravity.
10:04So they're simulating
10:06a long-duration space flight,
10:08and these are their astronauts.
10:10They're essentially using them for that.
10:12We launch them from the surface
10:14with astronaut pilots,
10:16and then they come out
10:18to interact with the others.
10:20How does a submarine drive?
10:22It's very interesting.
10:24Let's say it changes a little
10:26compared to other manned submersibles.
10:28We drive it with our feet,
10:30so we have our hands free.
10:32So the right hand controls
10:34the horizontal movement,
10:36and the left hand controls
10:38the vertical movement.
10:40Fantastic.
10:42Okay, so now we're going
10:44to try the horizontal thrusters.
10:46All the way, push it all the way.
10:48Okay, good.
10:50There's your arm.
10:52Okay.
10:54My greatest concern
10:56was knowing what would happen
10:58in case of an emergency.
11:00It's going to be a mobile trip.
11:02You're not going to have a good time.
11:04It reminds me of the Apollo program
11:06lunar module.
11:08Now I understand why NASA
11:10sees in this submarine
11:12a good way to prepare
11:14for space exploration.
11:16So this is pretty exciting.
11:18A crane is going to lift up
11:20and into the water.
11:22Whoa.
11:24What a change of perspective.
11:26Wow.
11:28We're diving.
11:30We're diving.
11:32We're diving.
11:34We're diving.
11:36We're diving.
11:38We're diving.
11:40We're diving.
11:42All right, so
11:44I'm in control
11:46here.
11:48Okay, so we're good.
11:50And we're ready
11:52to go.
11:54It's very similar to
11:56when you're a kid or an astronaut.
11:58That's why it's so interesting
12:00for NASA training.
12:02When you're going out
12:04and when you're in the water
12:06you have to pick up speed
12:08and move.
12:10I think I've got the hang of it.
12:12Deepwalker 6, please
12:14check that the two filters
12:16are working correctly.
12:18Got it.
12:20The filters eliminate
12:22the carbon dioxide
12:24going forward.
12:30The harbor is 40 feet deep.
12:36I'm completely dependent
12:38on the instruments
12:40to make sure I don't crash
12:42into the seabed.
12:44I'm going to look for my landing
12:46and hopefully land
12:48softly.
12:50I don't like
12:52when the water is so cold.
12:56Visibility is
12:58virtually zero
13:00so the final descent
13:02has to be very slow.
13:12Touchdown.
13:14We're landing on the asteroid.
13:16That's one small dive for
13:18all of us.
13:20But a great step for humanity.
13:22Sorry for the bad pun.
13:24Steps as small as these
13:26and that we can test in submarines
13:28are the ones that allow humans
13:30to advance enormously in space exploration
13:32and much more.
13:36Mission accomplished.
13:38Time to go home.
13:40It's been a lot of fun
13:42flying this.
13:44It's a bit of a shame
13:46to have to leave the submarine space.
13:48Great.
13:52Around 45 NASA astronauts
13:54have already completed their underwater training
13:56and it's expected that missions
13:58with real asteroids
14:00will begin in 2025.
14:02Let's hope that science
14:04will help us discover
14:06an effective way to deviate
14:08any asteroid that could threaten
14:10or impact the Earth.
14:14Of course, now science
14:16is helping us prepare
14:18for other numerous dangers.
14:20For instance,
14:22for the threat of a devastating pandemic.
14:24Fortunately, scientists believe
14:26they have found the solution.
14:28But, and this is a but in capital letters,
14:30it would be necessary to redesign
14:32one of the most feared organisms
14:34in nature.
14:36A virus.
14:38A virus that would fight
14:40for our part against pathogenic germs.
14:42Ingenious or crazy?
14:46My father was very involved
14:48in the research.
14:50He used to take me to see his insect box
14:52where he kept mosquitoes
14:54carrying tropical diseases.
14:56I was very scared
14:58because it always looked like
15:00there were a few loose mosquitoes.
15:02At that time,
15:04if you contracted a dangerous disease,
15:06you were likely to die
15:08before the doctors could
15:10diagnose it for sure.
15:12Nowadays, it can also take
15:14too long.
15:16Between the suspicion of a possible outbreak
15:18and a positive result in the laboratory,
15:20it is likely to take several days.
15:22And that time is more than enough
15:24for an infection to expand
15:26uncontrollably.
15:28What we need is a way
15:30to instantly identify the pathogens
15:32to be able to stop them
15:34before they get to us.
15:36In Birmingham, England,
15:38they are testing
15:40an ultra-fast detection system.
15:45Jim Al-Khalili has offered
15:47valiantly to put it to the test
15:49and discover if it is true
15:51that it is capable of increasing
15:53our chances of survival.
15:57Outbreak.
15:58A deadly infection
16:00takes its first victims
16:02for unknown causes.
16:04It could be a new strain of virus,
16:06a lethal bacteria
16:08or even bioterrorism.
16:11The race then begins
16:13to discover the source
16:15and identify the threat
16:17to avoid an epidemic.
16:19It is not a fantasy idea.
16:21It could happen at any time.
16:23The problem is that
16:25discovering the cause of the outbreak
16:27can take two or three days
16:29and some of these germs are lethal.
16:31Some microorganisms
16:33mutate at an alarming rate.
16:35In the war of the germs,
16:37the enemy has an advantage.
16:39After getting to work
16:41in one of the predators of nature,
16:43the biotechnology professor
16:45Tim Dafforn and his team
16:47could have come up with a way
16:49to fight against nature
16:51with their own weapons.
16:53Tim, I guess the challenge
16:55is to detect as fast as possible
16:57pathogens or any other
16:59microscopic organism
17:01like bacteria or viruses
17:03capable of causing infections.
17:05Yes, and to achieve it
17:07we are inspired by biology.
17:09For all this time,
17:11we have been able to solve
17:13most of the problems
17:15that humans are currently facing.
17:17That is why we have decided
17:19to pay attention to biology
17:21and try to use it
17:23to accelerate detection.
17:25It is expected that reducing
17:27nature to a nanometric scale
17:29can find a solution
17:31to a major problem for man.
17:33We have been working
17:35on a virus, M13.
17:37It is a virus that we know
17:39as HIV or hepatitis.
17:41But we have modified this virus.
17:43We have added another part
17:45of biology.
17:47It is an antibody,
17:49and an antibody is part
17:51of the natural immune system
17:53of people that hunts bacteria.
17:55So what we have done
17:57is to add that characteristic
17:59to our virus,
18:01and now we have a virus
18:03that chases bacteria.
18:05What we are trying to do
18:07is to redesign a useless virus
18:09to make it useful.
18:11A missile guided by heat
18:13that chases pathogens
18:15and wraps them,
18:17and allows you to see
18:19instantly what has happened.
18:21Exactly, it is a test
18:23that can be done in seconds.
18:25It does not take as much time
18:27as it takes to interpret the result.
18:29It is very, very fast.
18:31So far, Prof. Daforn
18:33and Dr. Coley.
18:35Here it is.
18:37That's it?
18:39Yes.
18:41But it looks very simple.
18:43How does it work?
18:45Well, we have simplified the test
18:47and one of the key elements
18:49for us is its ease of use.
18:51Okay.
18:53So why don't you take the sample?
18:55The scanner uses the light
18:57to see if the molecules
18:59are aligned or wrapped
19:01and then it goes to the flow cell.
19:03The molecules align
19:05and the laser examines them.
19:07If you look, there's a laser here.
19:09The laser examines the sample
19:11in a different way
19:13depending on whether the molecules
19:15are aligned or not.
19:17And will it show it on this screen?
19:19Yes, so in this case,
19:21as we don't have any pathogen,
19:23we see the signal.
19:25It looks very clear.
19:27The graph is counterintuitive.
19:29The molecules are aligned
19:31according to the flow of the liquid
19:33and part of the laser light is absorbed
19:35so that the graph shows a peak.
19:37If E. coli is detected,
19:39the viruses stick to the bacteria,
19:41agglomerate and avoid their alignment.
19:43Light will pass directly
19:45through them
19:47and the graph will show a straight line.
19:51We've gone from a labyrinth
19:53full of sophisticated instruments
19:55used by scientific experts
19:57to a small object
19:59that we can place on the table.
20:01The truth is that it's impressive.
20:05We've seen that it works in principle,
20:07but now we're going to put it to the test.
20:09I'm on my way to the hotel
20:11where I'm going to stay.
20:13With dozens of people coming in and out
20:15and preparing food,
20:17hotels are an ideal breeding ground
20:19for germs.
20:21So I've brought this with me.
20:23They're swabs for taking swabs.
20:25We've got E. coli here.
20:29There are many kinds of E. coli bacteria.
20:31Some of them are harmless.
20:33Others, when transmitted
20:35through contaminated food or water,
20:37can cause serious diseases.
20:39We've commandeered them
20:41from the vestibule to do the tests.
20:43We've taken the first sample
20:45in the hotel elevator.
20:47I have no idea if we'll find E. coli here,
20:49so Matt, could you check this sample
20:51with the machine?
20:53We're looking for one of the most dangerous strains
20:55of E. coli, the so-called 0157.
20:59Jim, why don't you check it with the scanner?
21:01Ingesting contaminated water or food
21:03can cause an infection in the bladder
21:05or even death.
21:09A tiny amount of 0157
21:11can cause a great epidemic.
21:15And the good news is there's no trace of it here.
21:17So the result in the first sample
21:19is negative.
21:21Well, let's move on to the next sample, then.
21:23It's from the door handle
21:25to my bedroom door.
21:27Negative again.
21:29In England alone,
21:3130,000 cases of E. coli
21:33are diagnosed every year.
21:35The deadliest
21:37was in Germany in 2011.
21:39Fifty-three people died.
21:43Fortunately, the sample
21:45from this toilet has also been negative.
21:47We've taken samples
21:49from all over the hotel
21:51and in a matter of minutes, if not days,
21:53we've been able to confirm that everything is in order.
21:55We haven't found that lethal bacterium in particular.
21:57What's going to be the next step?
22:01Well, the really exciting part
22:03is that we're going to be able to develop
22:05this machine to be able to detect
22:07lots of different types of bacteria,
22:09viruses, and other molecules at the same time
22:11in the same test.
22:13So not only will it be able to detect
22:15the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus
22:17as we've seen,
22:19this device can be transported,
22:21but even more,
22:23we've got a new device
22:25that's going to be even more portable.
22:27It's an exciting idea.
22:29Redesigning nature on a molecular scale
22:31will allow us to do what we've done
22:33with E. coli today,
22:35but with many other diseases
22:37in the near future.
22:39Within a decade,
22:41we could find it in hospitals,
22:43in operating rooms,
22:45and I'm certain synthetic biology
22:47will be a key part of the future.
22:49And not only will it transform medicine,
22:51because I've found out
22:53that they're implanting
22:55genetically modified microorganisms
22:57in the tissues
22:59where they feed on human sweat
23:01and get the clothes to clean themselves.
23:03The lightning bolts are one of the most
23:05wonderful tricks in Mother Nature
23:07to transfer energy through space
23:09without having to use cables.
23:11If we've been able to do that
23:13with radio waves,
23:15why not with electricity?
23:19Well, it seems like some engineers
23:21in Boston have asked the same question
23:23and have taken the initiative.
23:27Karin Bondar is ready
23:29to explore this supercharge of ingenuity.
23:33Have you come up with a method
23:35that could transform
23:37the way we get electricity?
23:39Electricity fascinates humanity.
23:41It's the most mysterious
23:43force of nature.
23:49More than a century ago,
23:51a scientist had an extraordinary dream
23:53of how to supply energy
23:55to all the cities in the world.
23:59His name was Nikola Tesla,
24:01and in May of 1891,
24:03he made his futuristic vision
24:05a reality.
24:07Tesla allowed
24:09hundreds of thousands of volts
24:11of electricity to pass through his body
24:13without causing any kind of pain
24:15or harm.
24:17It was an early demonstration
24:19of high-voltage alternating current.
24:21Tesla demonstrated that
24:23alternating current could be used
24:25to transmit energy through great distances.
24:27It was one of the greatest
24:29scientific discoveries
24:31in all of history.
24:33Although the merit was not only his,
24:35it was also his.
24:37And now the alternating current
24:39supplies electricity
24:41to the cities through
24:43thousands of millions of cables.
24:45But Tesla had in mind
24:47another even more extravagant technology
24:49that he hoped would one day
24:51become a reality,
24:53irradiating electricity
24:55through the air
24:57without the need for any cable.
24:59Huge towers would shoot
25:01electricity into the atmosphere
25:03to surround the planet,
25:05and the energy would reach people
25:07thousands of miles away.
25:09Tesla's dream was to change the world,
25:11a dream that he could never
25:13fulfill.
25:15But perhaps it wasn't
25:17a fantasy.
25:19The possibility of transporting
25:21electricity through open spaces
25:23without cables would mean
25:25a scientific advance.
25:27The question is,
25:29could we achieve it?
25:31We're going to start
25:33with what we call a source.
25:35Inside here we have a coil
25:37connected to a capacitor.
25:39When we connect this,
25:41an oscillating magnetic field
25:43is created around this object.
25:45So it's on right now,
25:47and it's creating a magnetic field
25:49around it.
25:51Okay.
25:53At this point,
25:55we've managed to transform
25:57electricity into a magnetic field.
25:59Now if I take a coil
26:01and I put it here,
26:03I can now go varying
26:05its distance and changing its orientation.
26:07The genius of this advance
26:09is in the way that the coils
26:11that are inside the objects
26:13are designed to resonate
26:15at the same frequency.
26:17If they're within range,
26:19the magnetic energy goes from
26:21one coil to the other
26:23and becomes electricity.
26:25And to expand the range,
26:27you lose very little energy
26:29and the low-level magnetic fields
26:31don't pose any health risk.
26:33It's something very safe,
26:35very efficient,
26:37and it works from a distance
26:39and also through you.
26:41Oh, my God.
26:43So Tesla was right.
26:45It is possible to transmit
26:47energy through the air
26:49wirelessly,
26:51and in a society so thirsty
26:53for energy as it is now,
26:55Katie Hall, Director General of Technology,
26:57says it's possible that we don't
26:59ever have to charge our cell phone again.
27:01Hi, Katie.
27:03So here, let me give you the cell phone.
27:05It's a normal cell phone,
27:07about the same size.
27:09Put it right next to the computer
27:11and you'll see what happens.
27:13Isn't it great?
27:15It's amazing.
27:17We've incorporated a wireless
27:19receiver into the phone
27:21and it's now charging
27:23and then all you have to do
27:25is put the cell phone over
27:27the desk to charge
27:29while you're working on the computer.
27:31Now I'm going to show you
27:33another possible use
27:35we've done is to build
27:37the world's first AA batteries
27:39that can be recharged
27:41without cables.
27:43They have the same shape
27:45and everything,
27:47but they're a little bit lighter
27:49than the normal AA batteries.
27:51So what we're going to do
27:53is we're going to put
27:55the batteries inside a bowl
27:57with a source of electricity
27:59or electricity that's wireless
28:01and it's going to start charging.
28:03So what we're going to do
28:05is we're going to put
28:07the things in this bowl
28:09and it's going to charge automatically.
28:11And when can I get one of these?
28:13Well, we expect to get them
28:15out by 2015.
28:17Wireless electricity
28:19This car doesn't need gas
28:21just six hours of charging
28:23and best of all,
28:25you don't need to plug it in.
28:29A prestigious German automobile
28:31that works thanks to a battery
28:33that charges wirelessly.
28:35Imagine that in 2020
28:37all cars work like this.
28:39Oh, and also that losing
28:41the mobile charger
28:43is a thing of the past.
28:45Eureka!
28:49We've seen how science
28:51imitates the incredible diversity
28:53of nature,
28:55from biomimetic robots
28:57and adhesive tapes
28:59to helping you find
29:01solutions to the impact
29:03of an asteroid
29:05or a disease.
29:07The natural world
29:09will never stop evolving
29:11and creating new
29:13and fantastic wonders
29:15that we can benefit from.
29:17I'm still working on it
29:19but as I haven't got the key yet,
29:21we're running out of time.
29:23Thank you for your attention.