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Arts & Culture

NOVA: Making Stuff: Stronger

David Pogue, host of NOVA "Making Stuff," on an aircraft carrier. Pogue travels from the deck of a U.S. naval aircraft carrier to a demolition derby to the country's top research labs to check in with experts who are re-engineering what nature has given us to create the next generation of strong stuff.
Courtesy of Powderhouse Productions
David Pogue, host of NOVA "Making Stuff," on an aircraft carrier. Pogue travels from the deck of a U.S. naval aircraft carrier to a demolition derby to the country's top research labs to check in with experts who are re-engineering what nature has given us to create the next generation of strong stuff.

Airs Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 3 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.

"Making Stuff Stronger" - What is the strongest material in the world? Is it steel, Kevlar, carbon nanotubes, or something entirely new? NOVA kicks off the four-part series "Making Stuff" with a quest for the world's strongest substances. Host David Pogue takes a look at what defines strength, examining everything from steel cables to mollusks to a toucan's beak.

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Pogue travels from the deck of a U.S. naval aircraft carrier to a demolition derby to the country's top research labs to check in with experts who are re-engineering what nature has given us to create the next generation of strong stuff.

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

This episode originally aired in 2011.

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

NOVA: Making Stuff: Interview with host David Pogue