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NOVA: Making Stuff: Smaller

Dr. Frances Ross (right) explains how she grows nano-wires to David Pogue (left) in NOVA "Making Stuff: Smaller."
Courtesy of Powderhouse Productions
Dr. Frances Ross (right) explains how she grows nano-wires to David Pogue (left) in NOVA "Making Stuff: Smaller."

Airs Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 4 p.m. on KPBS TV

Invisibility cloaks. Spider silk that is stronger than steel. Plastics made of sugar that dissolve in landfills. Self-healing military vehicles. Smart pills and micro-robots that zap diseases. Clothes that monitor your mood. What will the future bring, and what will it be made of?

In NOVA's four-hour series, "Making Stuff," popular New York Times technology reporter David Pogue takes viewers on a fun-filled tour of the material world we live in, and the one that may lie ahead.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at scientific innovations ushering in a new generation of materials that are stronger, smaller, cleaner, and smarter than anything we've ever seen.

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"Making Stuff Smaller" - Here in the information age, smaller is better: transistors, microchips and the laptops and cell phone that they power are triumphs of tiny.

In this episode, host David Pogue takes us to an even smaller world, as he profiles the latest in high-powered nano-circuits and micro-robots that may one day hold the key to saving lives and building materials from the ground up.

The other three episodes include "Making Stuff Smarter," "Making Stuff Cleaner" and "Making Stuff Stronger."

This program originally aired in 2011.

NOVA is on Facebook, and you can follow @novapbs on Twitter.

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NOVA: Making Stuff: Interview with host David Pogue