En este fascinante episodio, el renombrado físico Stephen Hawking y su equipo realizan un profundo análisis sobre el amanecer de una nueva era tecnológica. A medida que las máquinas comienzan a comunicarse entre sí, se crean conexiones sorprendentes entre disciplinas científicas que antes eran consideradas aisladas. Esta convergencia no solo promete revolucionar nuestra comprensión del universo, sino que también transforma la manera en que interactuamos con la ciencia a nivel atómico. La investigación destaca la importancia de entender cómo estas nuevas interacciones pueden abrir puertas a innovaciones inimaginables, afectando áreas que van desde la inteligencia artificial hasta la biotecnología. Así, lo que parecía ciencia ficción se convierte en una realidad palpable, llevándonos a cuestionar nuestro lugar en un mundo donde las máquinas jugarán un papel fundamental en el desarrollo del conocimiento. ¡Acompáñanos en este emocionante viaje hacia el futuro!
#StephenHawking, #MáquinasInteligentes, #CienciaYTecnología
Keywords: Stephen Hawking, máquinas comunicantes, nuevas disciplinas científicas, revolución tecnológica, conexiones atómicas, inteligencia artificial, biotecnología, futuro de la ciencia, innovación, era digital.
#StephenHawking, #MáquinasInteligentes, #CienciaYTecnología
Keywords: Stephen Hawking, máquinas comunicantes, nuevas disciplinas científicas, revolución tecnológica, conexiones atómicas, inteligencia artificial, biotecnología, futuro de la ciencia, innovación, era digital.
Categoría
😹
DiversiónTranscripción
00:00I believe that one of the characteristics that will define this decade will be connected technology.
00:10Machines are connecting and different disciplines and industries are coming together.
00:15Hyperconnections are allowing us to make revolutionary discoveries and even discover new scientific fields.
00:22By sharing ideas, new and incredible advances suddenly become feasible.
00:31Hyperconnections
00:34Even the greatest machines we have created in history need us to assign tasks to them and make them work.
00:43The problem is that most of them can not make reasonable decisions like us.
00:48That is, they are basically stupid.
00:51But connecting machines together allows them to gather information about the world around them and share it.
00:58An open door to new possibilities in research to create a true artificial intelligence.
01:09Jim Al-Khalili is in Zurich, Switzerland, to investigate the innovative and revolutionary technology
01:15that allows machines to teach each other and make their own decisions.
01:21The scientists of the Zurich Federal Polytechnic School are testing an innovative concept
01:26known as a smart feedback loop in a new generation of machines.
01:31Something never seen before.
01:35These quadcopters work thanks to one of the most extraordinary artificial intelligence connections in the world.
01:42Quadcopter
01:47At this time, four mini helicopters are preparing for a test of obstacles.
01:52We have already put the slalom bars. What are the quadcopters going to do?
01:56They will fly a couple of times over the bars to learn the route, just like an Olympic slalom skier would.
02:03You have to know it first.
02:05He will do it by repetition. He will go through the circuit a few times,
02:09and once he is able to perform the slalom properly, he will descend and do it at full speed.
02:20Equipped with the latest technology in microprocessors,
02:23each quadcopter is programmed with an exceptional learning algorithm connected to its central computer.
02:30Here on the screen you can see the path it is traveling.
02:33Exactly. Here we can see that if it were flying through the bars, it would be colliding with them.
02:38As it flies through the different obstacles, it records its position 50 times per second
02:44and sends that information to the algorithms of these computers,
02:47and at the end of each attempt, it checks which positions it has been in and where it should have been,
02:52and in the next attempt, it compensates for the error.
02:55This is the smart feedback loop in action.
02:58Once you have learned the route, it is time to put the technology to the test.
03:04Now it's dropped. It looks like it's ready.
03:06Yes, it's ready, Jim.
03:17Perfect. Here you can see the route. It has learned it.
03:20It has gone through all the bars without touching them.
03:22Once the first machine has passed the challenge,
03:24it can be transferred to other machines that have not faced it.
03:28The new machines, without testing the circuit,
03:30would do it correctly the first time without making mistakes.
03:35It's impressive.
03:36These quadcopters are not only able to learn from their experience,
03:40but they can share it instantly with all the others.
03:47The process is very fast.
03:49They are able to learn to perform tasks of great complexity much faster than we humans would do.
03:55By updating their decisions based on the decisions of other machines.
03:59But how will this technology be given such a complex task as balancing an object?
04:04Dr. Rafael Odandrea is the leader of the project.
04:08Jim, I have a mission for you. Try to keep this stick upright with your finger.
04:12Okay. Normally, I'm good at these things.
04:16It is a challenge for anyone who is moderately coordinated.
04:20Of course, it requires a lot of coordination between sight and hand.
04:23Right now, three things are happening.
04:25First, you have to look at the stick,
04:27you have to process the information about what you have to do,
04:30and then you have to move your hand so that the stick does not fall.
04:34Yes, there are quite a few processes.
04:42The truth is that the quadcopters kept the stick in balance better than me,
04:46but would they be able to do something that for me would be totally impossible?
04:50Could this smart feedback loop make them able to throw the stick at each other?
04:59Wow, this is amazing. But how do they do it?
05:02On the roof, we have eight cameras mounted,
05:04which act as a kind of closed-door GPS system.
05:07The information is sent to various computers,
05:09and the orders are then sent to the quadcopters at a frequency of 50 times per second.
05:14The quadcopters then execute those orders internally a thousand times per second,
05:18so that the entire process takes about 20 milliseconds to develop,
05:22from the perception and sending of the information until the machines decide what to do.
05:26Ten times faster than people then, right?
05:28Exactly, at least ten times faster, and sometimes up to a hundred.
05:31But the most remarkable thing is that it is not remotely controlled by a human operator.
05:36That's right, it's a completely autonomous system.
05:39In fact, if a person would find it impossible to fly the quadcopter while keeping the stick in balance,
05:44imagine if he had to throw it up in the air so that another quadcopter would be below him and catch it.
05:53Wow!
05:55These machines were able to pass a stick from one to another,
05:58but what if we introduced an unforeseen factor?
06:01Something they couldn't control.
06:03In the next test, these machines, able to process and send information at high speed,
06:08will have to calculate the trajectory of an object that will be thrown at them randomly
06:12and make decisions about how to act.
06:14Well, here you have Jim.
06:15Go ahead, throw the ball hard into the area where the quadcopters are.
06:18They will have to be able to intercept it, to catch it.
06:20Okay.
06:21Very good.
06:22Wow!
06:23Very good.
06:24What they will do now is get closer and try to get it back to you.
06:26Yes?
06:27Get it back to me, right?
06:28Very good.
06:30All right, good.
06:31What is demonstrated with this?
06:33So what you've seen is obviously not something that a single quadcopter would be able to do.
06:37So they're working together to do a dynamic task together.
06:41They have to work together, otherwise the network could get caught.
06:45Each one has to pull it in a specific direction.
06:50And the quadcopters go one step further.
06:53They are able to throw the ball from one to another with incredible precision.
07:01As a concept, it is impressive.
07:04Machines capable of making decisions faster and with more precision than us.
07:10Is this finally the beginning of a new era?
07:15When do you think this kind of technology can start to be part of our lives?
07:21I mean, so long they've been acquiring relevance without a break.
07:24But you'll see how the process accelerates now that we can share all this information.
07:28I think we'll see how the effect of this mechanism increases the possibilities of these machines.
07:34So we're talking within a few years.
07:36I think so.
07:40In 2018, Raffaello believes that this technology has already been fully developed and that it will be working all over the world.
07:48Even the most conservative estimates predict that at least 7,500 devices similar to these will fly over the United States.
07:56The promise of having connected machines among them is one of the tangible examples of a hyper-connected world.
08:01A world in which machines learn from each other and collaborate without human intervention.
08:07You know, it's an impressive advance in artificial intelligence.
08:12These machines are much more intelligent than I expected.
08:15You know, the truth is that what I've seen here today has really impressed me.
08:18They're not simple intelligent toys.
08:20However, if there's one thing that's guaranteed, it's that this technology can only become more intelligent.
08:28Now, as more machines develop their ability to work together,
08:34people will stop directing them to supervise them.
08:39I can imagine countless ways to drastically change our day-to-day with a technology of this type.
08:45Helicopters that distribute mail.
08:47Unmanned truck fleets.
08:49Waiters.
08:50Surgeon assistants.
08:52All of this will be possible, and I think inevitable, by the end of this decade.
08:58Innovations are being developed using connections that operate on a microscopic scale.
09:05How can a small and popular creature that lives in the oceans
09:09go from serving us dinner to saving millions of lives every year?
09:17One of the most abundant creatures in the ocean has some hidden properties
09:22that could save millions of lives every year.
09:26The shrimp exoskeleton contains a natural coagulant agent.
09:31Daniel Kratz has gone to find out how scientists are using it
09:35to create a new blood coagulant agent
09:38by making several connections on a molecular scale.
09:49Every year in the United States, 30,000 people lose their lives in traffic accidents.
09:54Many of these deaths are caused by the time emergency services arrive
09:58and take the victims to the hospital.
10:02I am at the University of Maryland, on the outskirts of the city of Washington,
10:06to meet with a team that is developing a technology from nature
10:10and optimizing it to offer new solutions to hemorrhages and traumas.
10:15The crustacean exoskeletons began to be used in human healing in the 1980s,
10:19but this laboratory is going one step further.
10:21The developers are two biological engineers, Matt Dowling and Professor Srinvasa Raghavan.
10:26Hi, Srinvasa Raghavan.
10:28Nice to meet you.
10:29We started talking to some doctors from the Faculty of Medicine in Baltimore
10:32and they told us that the current hemostatic deposits designed to stop hemorrhages
10:36were not effective.
10:38And the inspiration came to us a few years ago, when Matt joined the team.
10:41Matt and Srinvasa study the gelatinous properties in nanoscale of polymers.
10:46Then we said, let's go further.
10:48We have a material that works in cellular structures.
10:51Could it also work in blood?
10:53The exoskeletons produce a material called chitosan.
10:56These biological engineers have found a way to improve their natural properties
11:01by adding small filaments that create a nanoscopic mass
11:04that, when mixed with blood, forms a coagulant.
11:09Is this your laboratory?
11:11Yes, this is our laboratory.
11:13And this is chitosan, the main basis of Hemogrip.
11:17What we are going to do now is to take the same chitosan powder that I have taught you
11:21and we are going to dissolve it in a glass to see what happens.
11:24After that, we will add a small amount of acid.
11:27Chitosan needs a little acid to dissolve in water.
11:31As it takes a while to completely dissolve,
11:33we have already prepared another glass with dissolved chitosan.
11:36To this we will add a few reagents that will transform normal chitosan into Hemogrip.
11:42Now we are adding fat molecules to the structure of the chitosan.
11:47This allows it to self-assemble,
11:49to form a physical seal when a biological fluid comes into contact with the blood.
11:54The fat waits until it comes into contact with the blood.
11:57When that happens, the altered chitosan comes into action
12:00and forms a biological precinct as resistant as a plastic film.
12:05Great, so this is your magic combination.
12:07Basically, you have a bottled biological deposit.
12:10Can we see it in action?
12:11Sure, we'll see it right now.
12:14Well, Daniel, let's take a look at normal chitosan first
12:17and its coagulant properties.
12:20Ian, can you add a little blood to the chitosan?
12:23Let's put it there, in a solution with normal chitosan.
12:27We mix it for a second and then we will reverse the route.
12:30And now we see what happens when it mixes with the blood.
12:33It remains like a viscous liquid that flows without problems.
12:36However, when we add the same amount of blood
12:38to the same volume and the same amount of chitosan hemogrip,
12:41we see that it quickly forms a gel that supports its own weight
12:44even when the route is reversed.
12:48Look at it yourself.
12:50In this case, the altered chitosan coagulated the blood instantly.
12:53The chitosan hemogrip is capable of making the blood
12:56become a million times more viscous than in its natural state.
13:01Arterial hemorrhages are currently the main cause of death for soldiers.
13:06Many victims would survive if there was a faster and more effective way to stop the hemorrhage.
13:12New technologies like this are urgently needed to save lives.
13:17Daniel, now I'm going to show you the uses that will be given to hemogrip in the field.
13:20The first of them is the deposit that we create in the test bench,
13:24which, after freezing and drying, becomes a material like this,
13:28which can be used for war wounds or for traffic accidents
13:31and even in surgical interventions.
13:33It is incredible to me that this can be put directly on a wound.
13:36It would give rise to a kind of mixture that would immediately stop the hemorrhage.
13:39Exactly. It has very strong mechanical properties that allow it to form deposits like these.
13:44Thirteen million civilians suffer from severe traumas every year around the world.
13:48Matt has developed a version of the chitosan that could be very useful in everyday emergencies.
13:56We have developed a foam format, a hemogrip spray in foam.
14:00Why don't you try applying it on the table?
14:04It is a foam capable of spreading in spray,
14:07which can be used in irregularly shaped wounds and in surgical wounds of people with coagulation disorders.
14:13But creating the deposit is only half the process.
14:16Matt has also devised a clever way to remove it.
14:20Well, let's say a patient arrives at the hospital with hemogrip covering the entire wound.
14:25The traumatologist will need to be able to remove it quickly and easily
14:29to be able to identify the injuries and operate without impediments.
14:33So, what we would have to do is add this reagent to the gel and then just give it a little mix.
14:43Incredible. Wow.
14:44So, using this agent, we invert its effect and we have liquid blood again.
14:48We have the hemorrhage under control.
14:50That's right. We can remove the hemogrip easily and effectively.
14:53Now that you can invert the hemogrip, it is incredibly useful for the surgeon,
14:57for the emergency doctor, who can see where the hemorrhage comes from,
15:00to operate and fix the problem.
15:04During the trip to the hospital, the patients are especially vulnerable.
15:08I wonder what a reputed traumatologist will think about this new discovery.
15:13In what contexts do you think this could be applied?
15:15Could it finally satisfy the needs of the traumatological sector?
15:18Some people think that our system of applying pressure and using machines like this is archaic
15:23and this new invention and the ease with which it is applied is a revolution for us
15:27because it completely cuts the hemorrhage.
15:30It should be noted that hemorrhage is the main cause of death in people with traumatic injuries.
15:34We hope that this will have an effect in many areas, that we can have it even in our kitchen.
15:39So, if someone cuts themselves with a knife, with a stabbing object,
15:42and a hemorrhage occurs, instead of applying pressure,
15:45this can be applied and stop bleeding until you get to the hospital.
15:49Then there is a great need to cover, Matt.
15:52When could it go on the market?
15:54Well, we hope that Hemogrip technology can be available in a matter of a few years.
15:59The chances of surviving an accident are increasing
16:03thanks to scientists who create molecular connections
16:06that make up the part of the crustaceans that we have left
16:09when we eat them in valuable medical products.
16:14Scientists from very different fields work together
16:17connecting their research in such a way
16:19that they could create a new kind of flying machine.
16:22One that is independent, smart, and above all,
16:26that flies as agile as a bird.
16:30Chris Elias Smith is going to find out
16:33if it is possible for pigeons to hide the secret of flying without a crew.
16:43There are thousands of pigeons in every city in the world.
16:47They are carriers of diseases, they damage our properties,
16:51they are considered winged rodents.
16:54Poor pigeons have a pretty bad reputation.
16:57I'm going to Harvard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
17:00where biologists and engineers collaborate
17:03on the connection between pigeons and planes of the future.
17:09First stop, the biologist Ivo Ross.
17:13I'm interested in how animals move,
17:16and the flight of pigeons is a form of movement,
17:19a movement that I find fascinating and that I wanted to know more about.
17:23Pigeons have been studied for years.
17:26Many investigations have been carried out
17:28on their motor skills and neurology, for example,
17:31and Ivo has used them to discover how they can fly with such agility.
17:36What we want to do now is combine all this
17:39to see how they use the tracks that give them some sense,
17:42like the sight, to control their flight.
17:44Do you have any of those little bugs here?
17:46Here we have a pigeon with a good tail,
17:48and this is the swinging movement.
17:50If I tilt it quickly in this direction, you see how the tail goes up.
17:53Yes, look what it does.
17:54It extends and raises it.
17:55Something similar happens with the wings.
17:57If I wanted to rotate one of them, the bird's reaction would be to extend it.
18:00Ivo's discovery occurred when he observed how perfectly still
18:03he kept his head and began to theorize
18:05that it was possible that this was related
18:07to how they see the world.
18:10So this is where you release it?
18:12Yes, we have a perch here on one side,
18:14and we release it so that it flies through these obstacles to the other side,
18:18and we study the decisions it makes.
18:20Now it's going to fly.
18:21There we go.
18:22That's it.
18:25It's very interesting that when the bird lands,
18:27it prepares the body, changes the position of the wings,
18:30and always lands on the perch without making a mistake.
18:32Yes, its senses provide a lot of information,
18:34and that's what we want to investigate.
18:36They also make a particular wing movement
18:38that consists of raising it,
18:40and we think that with this movement they create
18:42an aerodynamic force even when landing.
18:44To reduce the speed.
18:45To reduce the speed in particular.
18:46Yes.
18:47And to stay in the air.
18:48So can we see this bird do that too?
18:50We can put a few bars and see if the bird is able to sort them.
18:53Great.
18:54So one thing that we're very interested in
18:56is knowing if they're looking ahead and planning their journey
18:59based on their vision instead of resorting to previous knowledge
19:02about the configuration of the forest.
19:04If the routes that we propose here were very simple,
19:06it seems that they make their decisions at the last moment,
19:09when they are a meter and a half from the forest
19:11and start moving through the widest gaps
19:13that they see at that distance.
19:16This particular movement time is incredibly complicated.
19:19Yes.
19:20How do you analyze it and understand what's happening?
19:22That would be the next step.
19:24We want to know how they move, but in addition to that,
19:26we also want to know how they implement the control
19:28to execute these movements.
19:30Yeah.
19:31And that's what leads us to carry out
19:33a series of experiments in which we pay attention
19:35to what kind of signals we could use
19:37to control their flight trajectories
19:39and the orientation of their body.
19:41Ivo took me to the lab where the rigid theory is put to the test.
19:48What we do here is put small diodes to the animal,
19:51some small lights, these little batteries here,
19:54and we also use a small harness that we put on the bird and...
19:57A bird backpack.
19:58Yes, a bird backpack.
20:00And why do we put this backpack on it?
20:02The backpack has some small LEDs,
20:04some small lights that will shine
20:06and will allow us to use our program
20:08to track those markers
20:10so that we do not need to click on each of the frames.
20:13I understand.
20:14So now we have to try to find its spine
20:17to put the markers symmetrically
20:19and make things easier.
20:24In my life, I had imagined putting a backpack on a pigeon.
20:28So we have three on the body and one on each wing,
20:31and now we're going to put a little stick on its head
20:33and a LED on each side,
20:34which will show us the orientation of its head.
20:36I see.
20:37Knowing where the pigeon is looking is what interests us.
20:41Yeah, just set it up and it'll probably fly.
20:43That's it.
20:44It's gone to the other side.
20:45There it goes.
20:46Perfect.
20:47Could you explain to me what this is exactly?
20:49Yeah, basically it's a huge vertical cylinder
20:51with two perches at the top.
20:53What we're trying to do is make it fly in the dark,
20:55so we put the pigeon in here,
20:57we make it fly vertically,
20:59and then we rotate these vertical bars.
21:01Okay.
21:02At that point, we make it believe that the world is spinning,
21:05and what we want to find out is if the pigeon would spin with the world.
21:08So the backpack we put on the pigeon
21:10helps you make the measurements?
21:12Yeah, we just need the LED lights we put on the bird
21:14to capture it with the two cameras we're recording from above.
21:17Yeah.
21:18And then we reconstruct the trajectory in 3D.
21:20Great.
21:21Then we activate it so it rotates.
21:23We release the pigeon, and once it's up,
21:25we press the button, we pick up the information, and that's it.
21:28So this also makes the cameras stop recording
21:30and store the information we've got?
21:32Exactly.
21:33Okay.
21:34That's it. Okay, let's go.
21:35Okay, I'm ready.
21:36The world is spinning.
21:37We put the pigeon in,
21:38we press the button,
21:39and trigger.
21:40Perfect.
21:42Okay, so now we've got the information,
21:44and we've got the pigeon,
21:45so we're going to turn on the light,
21:46and see what we've got.
21:50Yeah, it's better with the bird in the hand.
21:52We press play, and see what we've got.
21:55Is this what we just recorded?
21:57What we see here is the individual points
21:59that follow the movement of the bird
22:01as it ascends through the tunnel.
22:03It's great.
22:04It's fascinating to see it at this speed,
22:06because it actually does it very quickly.
22:08They stabilize the head very well when flying,
22:10and that's something we're very interested in.
22:12It had already been proven previously
22:14that the pigeons stabilized the head
22:16and moved it like this before landing,
22:18but now we've discovered that they also do it
22:20in mid-flight, when turning, and even in slow flight.
22:28A team of engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
22:31is very keen to follow up on Ivo's research.
22:34Is it possible that the pigeons serve as an inspiration
22:37for an advanced robotic airplane
22:39to be able to fly like a real bird?
22:43Now it's getting really interesting.
22:45I've previously built brains,
22:47but linking them to artificial bodies
22:49presents a whole range of new challenges.
22:51Reproducing the fluidity of natural movement
22:53in a mechanical apparatus is not an easy task.
22:56A few years ago, we asked ourselves,
22:58is it possible to make a kind of robotic bird?
23:00This was one of the first mechanical birds available.
23:03There are a few more now.
23:05We affectionately call this one Phoenix.
23:07We know that birds are capable of doing spectacular things,
23:10like crossing forests at high speed.
23:12Until now, we didn't have much information
23:14about how they did it, and the data Ivo provides
23:16are the first to allow us, the engineers,
23:18to discover how they do such amazing things.
23:20Could I see how it works? I'd love to see it.
23:22Sure. Let's go.
23:24Andy has a joystick that controls the tail motors.
23:27This one here only controls the tail.
23:29It moves it in both directions.
23:31A new attempt to reproduce the control
23:33that we find in birds, right?
23:35Exactly. Would you like to take it?
23:37Okay, hold it.
23:38Yeah.
23:39There you go. Let's grab it.
23:41Careful, don't put your fingers in the gears.
23:43Gears?
23:44Yes.
23:45Wow.
23:46My goodness, it looks like it's going to take me flying.
23:49Unfortunately, it won't work that way.
23:51That would be awesome.
23:52So it can fly, really?
23:54That was its first autonomous flight.
23:56Yes.
23:57In the outside?
23:58Yes, in the campus of the Institute of Technology.
24:00Its system controlled everything.
24:02Wow.
24:03Until we decided it would crash into the building,
24:05so we decided to have it crash into the containers.
24:07Here we have another plane
24:09belonging to the next line of aircraft that we create.
24:11At that moment, we asked ourselves,
24:13well, what can a bird do that a plane can't do
24:15and that we could study?
24:16And we thought that finding out
24:18how they can land on a perch would be a good option.
24:21So, Joe, you made this plane?
24:23Yes, exactly.
24:24What are its main components?
24:26Basically, what we have here is a magnetometer sensor
24:29that perceives our magnetic field.
24:31We have a kind of accelerometers and gyroscopes
24:34that would give us the position of the plane,
24:36and we also use advanced techniques
24:38that, based on the measurements of the magnetic field,
24:40allow us to discover what position the plane is in.
24:42So those are the brains that control its body?
24:44Yes.
24:45Amazing. I'd love to see it in action.
24:47They took me to the motion capture laboratory.
24:50Right.
24:51So how does it decide to do a particular maneuver?
24:54Basically, this is a base station
24:56that is able to read the measurements
24:58taken by our motion capture cameras,
25:01identify the position where the plane is,
25:03and then execute a control algorithm
25:06that determines what kind of movements
25:08the depth rudder must make to land on the perch.
25:11Yep. Cool.
25:13The plane lands just like a bird.
25:15Getting it has cost the engineers a lot of work.
25:18As it comes off the launcher,
25:20it takes a picture of how fast it's going.
25:23They calculate the speed at which it goes
25:25and exactly what it has to do
25:27in order to lift the nose and land exactly on the perch.
25:30As you can see, the control system is deciding...
25:32Wow, that's amazing.
25:34...what the depth rudder has to do.
25:36Right.
25:37Basically, it uses the knowledge
25:39that the engineers have obtained
25:41from investigating the pigeons,
25:43based on what is seen at the last moment
25:45to make the correct avionics decision.
25:47Ivo set up some bars,
25:49and the pigeons had to go through that forest of bars.
25:52And we said, wow, that's very complicated.
25:54So what we were thinking of doing
25:56was a little bit more simple,
25:58putting two bars and trying to get the plane
26:00to go through the middle of them,
26:02but putting them closer together
26:04so that the gap is narrower than the width of the plane.
26:07So even if it's perfectly aligned,
26:09it can't go through in the middle like that,
26:11it has to do something, turn quickly.
26:13Right.
26:14In six consecutive flights,
26:16we've put two bars on each of them.
26:18What kind of use do you think
26:20could be given to this kind of technology
26:22once it's more advanced?
26:24I imagine a lot of short-term applications.
26:26We're building unmanned aerial vehicles
26:28capable of getting to places
26:30that you can't get to now.
26:32They could go through cities,
26:34get to buildings on fire,
26:36fight forest fires,
26:38places where we'd like to have unmanned planes
26:40and where they're not yet.
26:42Robotic pigeons, soon in your city.
26:44They will fly through the skies in 2020.
26:46But what else could biology
26:48contribute to engineering?
26:50As we unravel the mystery
26:52of bird navigation
26:54and the aerodynamics of their wings,
26:56will we see a completely different type of plane?
26:58Could we launch it again?
27:00Sure.
27:02The next generation
27:04of unmanned aerial vehicles
27:06will be able to fly hundreds of kilometers
27:08without the need for humans to guide them.
27:10If the connections between the birds
27:12and the planes
27:14are helping to define
27:16the future of unmanned aviation,
27:18could the connection between
27:20electricity and automobiles
27:22lead to a better performance
27:24than that of gasoline vehicles?
27:26With the high price of fuel
27:28and how harmful it is to the environment,
27:30it's clear that electric cars
27:32are the transport of the future.
27:34But can they be affordable
27:36and sporty at the same time?
27:38Karim Bondar
27:40has traveled to California
27:42to find out
27:44why the last thing on four wheels
27:46actually has three.
27:56The face-to-face definitive.
28:02The emotion of speed.
28:04The rise of adrenaline.
28:08Some of these monsters
28:10use turbochargers
28:12and others burn nitrous oxide.
28:14In any case,
28:16in races like these,
28:18everything revolves around one thing,
28:20combustion.
28:22But maybe not for long.
28:24Today we have a new car
28:26on the runway.
28:32This is the TORC EV Roadster.
28:34Yes, a high-performance sports car,
28:36but it's very far
28:38from being an ordinary car.
28:40It accelerates in an incredible way.
28:42It goes from 0 to 100 in 4 seconds.
28:48The surprise
28:50is that TORC is electric.
28:52But that's not all.
28:54Its technology means a qualitative leap
28:56ahead of its competitors.
28:58A new kind of sports car.
29:00I was determined
29:02to discover its secrets.
29:04Chris Anthony is the executive director
29:06of EPIC, a TORC manufacturer.
29:08I would like to start
29:10with the incredible and aerodynamic chassis
29:12that this car has.
29:14It looks like it's taken from the future.
29:16What is it made of?
29:18The chassis is made of carbon fiber,
29:20the lightest composite material
29:22we can find to reduce its weight to the maximum
29:24and make it as fast as possible.
29:26The TORC has many advanced features
29:28that you would expect from a sports car.
29:30Aerodynamic chassis,
29:32formula suspension,
29:34avant-garde braking system.
29:36But this is the result of the design
29:38of a sports car from a revolutionary perspective.
29:40To begin with,
29:42it only has three wheels.
29:44One thing people notice
29:46in front-wheel drive racing cars
29:48is that every time you turn abruptly,
29:50one of the rear wheels lifts.
29:52We wonder if in a four-wheel car
29:54it doesn't have this traction either.
29:56Why keep that wheel?
29:58Having only three wheels
30:00has two advantages over its rivals.
30:0290 kilos less weight
30:04and a better grip on the road.
30:08In this vehicle,
30:10which is missing the top part,
30:12you'll see that we've put a lot of batteries
30:14in places where you can't see them.
30:16But the most revolutionary technology
30:18that the TORC presents
30:20is its electric center.
30:22Most of the weight of the batteries,
30:24about 360 kilos,
30:26is between the central tunnel
30:28where the cells contain an exceptional nanomaterial
30:30called lithium iron phosphate.
30:32Lithium iron phosphate
30:34stores more charge,
30:36so that each cell
30:38contains more charge density.
30:40Its most important advantage
30:42is that they are 60% lighter
30:44and provide 20 times more energy
30:46than normal car batteries,
30:48all thanks to a specifically designed program.
30:50This is a smart system.
30:52If one cell is heated more than the rest of the cells,
30:54if one of them releases more energy,
30:56this control system performs a correction task.
30:58All of this is reflected
31:00in one aspect,
31:02performance.
31:04The power that comes to the engine
31:06is about 260 kilowatts.
31:08This power reaches the wheels
31:10passing through the differential,
31:12putting about 82 kilograms of torque
31:14on the ground.
31:16That's almost the same power
31:18as a Ferrari Testarossa,
31:20but with more power.
31:22Three wheels and some batteries
31:24with a lot of load
31:26should give this car an advantage
31:28over the others, in theory.
31:30In terms of road grip,
31:32will three wheels work better than four?
31:34I'll check it right now.
31:36Hi, Mike. Hi, how are you?
31:38Very good, more than ready.
31:40Oh, my God!
31:42What a ride!
31:44What I experienced
31:46was what is known as
31:48lateral G-force.
31:50The higher the G-force,
31:52the greater the road grip.
31:54Most high-performance sports cars
31:56barely exceed a G-force.
31:58Mike claims that the TORC
32:00is capable of much more.
32:06Well, it's been incredible
32:08and terrifying.
32:10How far have we gone?
32:12We got 1.17 G-force
32:14on the sides,
32:16more than a new Corvette.
32:18Exactly.
32:20God, now I believe
32:22in the power of electric cars.
32:24Engine fans, get ready.
32:30In the authorized car race
32:32in San Diego,
32:34supercharged cars
32:36compete for about 200 meters.
32:38The TORC is about to make
32:40its debut in the races
32:42and it's starting to stir.
32:44It's the first I've seen in my life.
32:46I've never seen anything like it.
32:48They can do it very well.
32:50And where do you put the purchase?
32:52Shelby, Camaro, Piper.
32:54The TORC has to face
32:56the big gasoline cars.
32:58To have any chance,
33:00it must reach the finish
33:02in less than 12 seconds.
33:04But at the beginning,
33:06it has a problem.
33:08The batteries give so much power
33:10to the wheels in such a short time
33:12that it can't grip the track.
33:14For a long time,
33:16seven laps later,
33:18it beats some of its strongest rivals.
33:28We did very well.
33:30We beat four of the seven
33:32cars that consumed gasoline.
33:34Our best time was nine seconds
33:36in a lap and we went from
33:38zero to 100 in four and a half seconds.
33:40We're losing traction.
33:42But apart from that,
33:44we've done very well.
33:46The TORC will be tripled
33:48from here to 2015.
33:50The price?
33:52$65,000.
33:54The future is electric.
33:58By 2020,
34:00world electric car sales
34:02will exceed 20 million
34:04and the battery market
34:06for lithium-ion batteries
34:08will be valued at $25 billion.
34:12The ability to reduce our dependence
34:14on fossil fuels
34:16leads us to the ultimate connection,
34:18to an atomic energy
34:20without limits that may be possible
34:22thanks to the elusive science
34:24of nuclear fusion.
34:28In 1917,
34:30humanity separated the atoms
34:32to create weapons and energy.
34:34I think it says a lot about our species
34:36that we were able to create
34:38a destructive reaction
34:40in another part of the universe.
34:42What does occur incessantly
34:44in the sun
34:46is nuclear fusion,
34:48which occurs when two atomic nuclei
34:50collide, join together
34:52and create an extraordinary amount
34:54of energy.
34:56Unlike fusion,
34:58fusion provides a safe,
35:00clean and virtually unlimited energy.
35:02The challenge is to create
35:04a fusion power plant
35:06that doesn't require
35:08that fusion occurs in nature.
35:10Several of the world's richest countries
35:12have allied themselves
35:14to carry out the most expensive
35:16scientific experiment ever carried out.
35:18Arati Prasat is in charge
35:20of investigating it.
35:26With a budget of about
35:2813 billion euros,
35:30everything related to the ITER project
35:32in France is something out of the ordinary.
35:34The workers build
35:36a 360,000 ton structure
35:38to test earthquakes
35:40the size of 60 football stadiums.
35:42It is expected that the reactor
35:44produces enough energy
35:46to illuminate
35:4850,000 homes without interruptions.
35:50It seems like
35:52the perfect solution
35:54for the planet
35:56in terms of electricity,
35:58but there is an obstacle.
36:02Fusion could be
36:04the perfect solution
36:06to create energy.
36:08It's safe.
36:10It doesn't produce pollution
36:12in the long run.
36:14It's just a problem.
36:16It's very difficult to produce it.
36:18This great project
36:20is an exceptional bet
36:22because no one knows
36:24for sure if it will work.
36:26Seven countries are participating
36:28and 34 more are lending resources.
36:30But we face the key challenge,
36:32I went to Calan,
36:34the fusion research center
36:36in Oxfordshire,
36:38where the fusion reactor
36:40known as JET is located.
36:42The main challenge is
36:44to keep a hot and unstable fuel,
36:46a hydrogen isotope plasma,
36:48inside the reactor without touching the sides.
36:50If that happens,
36:52it suddenly cools down
36:54and the reaction stops.
36:56This is an exact replica
36:58of the inside of the JET.
37:00It was designed by engineers and technicians.
37:02As you can see,
37:04this chamber is shaped like a dome
37:06and we use it to contain the plasma
37:08at the high temperatures required for fusion.
37:10Then we reproduce the process
37:12that creates the energy inside the sun.
37:14That's what we intend to do here.
37:16So we have very powerful magnets
37:18that surround the chamber
37:20and create a kind of magnetic bottle
37:22that contains a very hot gas
37:24at the necessary temperature
37:26for fusion to occur.
37:28So the idea is that the plasma levitates
37:30and does not touch any of the sides.
37:32Exactly. With the JET,
37:34we have shown that it is a process that works,
37:36that we can create fusion.
37:38And if we can create fusion for a few seconds,
37:40we can also create it
37:42for a much longer period of time.
37:44That requires a stronger magnetic field.
37:46The problem is how huge
37:48the necessary power would have to be
37:50to create a strong enough magnetic field
37:52to keep the plasma in place
37:54for longer.
37:56The JET has been able to generate
37:58up to 70% of the energy
38:00and that was only once.
38:02The results are usually worse
38:04and maintaining a temperature
38:06of 150 million degrees Celsius
38:08requires even more energy.
38:10In the tests that have been carried out,
38:12140,000 volts have been needed
38:14to keep the plasma away
38:16from the walls of the chamber.
38:20On the JET, we have been able
38:22to obtain a little energy
38:24but we had to invest energy
38:26to obtain energy.
38:28What we are hoping for the JET
38:30is that we can obtain energy
38:32with an initial investment
38:34of minimal energy,
38:36perhaps even zero.
38:38Once the reaction takes place,
38:40the intention is that it is self-sustaining.
38:42I would like to know
38:44what makes this progress possible
38:46and find out if this new reactor
38:48could bring us closer to the utopia
38:50of having an unlimited supply
38:52of hydrogen.
38:54In the sea water,
38:56we find an isotope of hydrogen
38:58in great abundance, deuterium.
39:00With less than 4 liters of it,
39:02the same energy could be produced
39:04as with more than 1,000 liters of gasoline.
39:06However, what is even more important
39:08is that it would sustain the reaction.
39:10Any type of impurity in the chamber
39:12would interrupt it
39:14and throw it away.
39:16Currently, the team is testing
39:18how carbon affects the plasma circle.
39:20Tests like this are fundamental
39:22for the design of the reactor,
39:24and I am part of one of them.
39:26We had to heat a quantity of fuel
39:28the size of a grain of sand
39:30at a temperature ten times higher
39:32than that of the center of the sun.
39:34By pressing a single button,
39:36I would create my own star.
39:38But how long would it last?
39:40If you are so kind,
39:42press that button there and say
39:44launch shot.
39:46Launch shot.
39:48Yes, there is my star.
39:54The life of my star was short.
39:56The carbon in the chamber
39:58caused my plasma to lose stability.
40:00With the help of high-speed cameras,
40:02the team analyzes
40:04the reaction obtained.
40:06It lasted less than half a second.
40:10The plasma contains a lot of energy
40:12and tends to move everywhere.
40:14Flashes and distortion occur.
40:16Those filaments that you see in eruption
40:18from the plasma are somewhat similar
40:20to solar eruptions,
40:22so we have to use magnetic fields
40:24to confine it,
40:26to keep it as stable as possible.
40:28Solving these problems is crucial
40:30to be able to materialize
40:32the dream of nuclear fusion,
40:34which is expected to become
40:36reality in 2026,
40:38when it is scheduled to activate the ITER.
40:40I can't help but think,
40:42what if we invested some of the billions
40:44in fusion reactors?
40:46We could make this dream a reality
40:48much sooner.
40:502026 may seem
40:52very far away yet,
40:54but looking at it in perspective,
40:56it will come in a blink of an eye.
40:58As the ITER advances
41:00to be completed,
41:02we no longer wonder
41:04if nuclear fusion will be possible,
41:06but simply when.
41:08Machines programmed to learn,
41:10deposits linked to biology,
41:12fast and fun electric motors,
41:14and limitless energy
41:16based on the power of stars.
41:18These are just some of the hyperconnections
41:20that will define the future
41:22of our planet.
41:24Thank you for your attention.
41:42Transcription by ESO. Translation by —