Tiny Tech

Episode 060 Imagine if a piece of plastic in the ocean could be degraded using a crew made of living stickers. Not all bacteria are bad. Some quietly munch plastic...

Episode 059 Did you know that many electronic devices contain tiny amounts of gold? They do, because gold makes excellent corrosion-resistant electrical contacts...

Episode 058 Scientists are always looking for better ways to kill germs. Recently, researchers have been investigating coatings of an ultrathin boron-based material called hydrogen boride...

Episode 057 What would it be like to have self-healing walls of your building? Or that the concrete you are standing on would last decades without cracking because it contains particles smaller than a virus?...

Episode 056 Have you ever closed your eyes and tried to identify an object by running your fingers over it? This is what an atomic force microscope does but on a very small scale...

Episode 055 DNA is the blueprint of life – the genetic code that shapes every living organism. But beyond genetics, DNA can be used not just for making humans: it can also be used for making tiny machines, such as turbines...

Episode 054 Doctors know that a treatment for cancer is probably working if the tumor shrinks in size. Today, tumor size is usually measured every couple of months or so, but it would be useful if the size could be monitored continuously...

Episode 053 Scientists and engineers are always trying to develop better ways to make patterns on surfaces. Such patterns are the basis for how lots of things work....

Episode 052 In comic books and movies, Spider-Man uses wrist-worn devices called Web Shooters to capture enemies and swing between buildings at high speeds. The Web Shooters emit streams of liquid, which solidify and stick to the intended target. Awesome! But is this possible in real life?....

Episode 051 Scientists and engineers are always looking for ways to make computers more powerful. Some have speculated that this might be possible using DNA, the molecules in our bodies that store genetic information....