Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers

- Season 15

(2005)

In spite of the risks, people are lining up to solve their weight problems in the operating room. And if the latest device -- an implantable stomach "pacer" -- works out, millions more will be taking the surgical way out.

The fully automatic car may be down the road a ways, but cars that do your thinking for you are just around the corner -- they watch out for hazards, they listen to you, they read your lips, they even know when you're distracted.

A look back at the decades of effort that culminated in the deep sub Alvin reaching the ocean floor, and a look forward to what's next now that Alvin's retiring.

A visit with an engaging if unruly bunch of cousins that we formally broke up with about 6 or 7 million years ago - with whom we share almost all of our genes but not a lot of our lifestyle. Why the difference? Maybe it's in how we learn.

So you think global warming won't affect you? Wait until the great Atlantic Conveyor shuts down. And find out what's already happening in Alaska.

We've all heard of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, but what will it take to get there from here? How can we create hydrogen from renewable sources like the sun - and how do we store it safely once we've got it?

If you think you know why you do things, you're probably wrong. Explore how our unconscious determines our behavior - including why we buy things that are "cool."

The best kept secret of American archeology is now revealed - an entire canyon of perfectly preserved 1,000-year-old remains. Who were these people - and where did they come from?

Replacement synthetic senses for people are now a reality. Children as young as 12 months are already getting artificial hearing - while the first trials of electronic retinas for the blind are just beginning.

To be really useful, robots need to behave as cooperative partners rather than mindless machines. We'll meet three robots - including a future member of an astronaut team - that are trying to better understand us.