Innovation:_Life,_Inspired《世界新奇事》

简述

社会科学类纪录片，PBS、National Geographic 频道 2004 年出品。

封面

影片信息

官方网站

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/innovation/

影片原始规格:

• 　中文片名　：世界新奇事
• 　中文系列名：
• 　英文片名　：Innovation: Life, Inspired
• 　英文系列名：
• 　电视台　　：PBS/National Geographic/PBS
• 　地区　　　：美国
• 　语言　　　：英语
• 　时长　　　：约 47 分钟/集
• 　版本　　　：TV
• 　IMDB链结　：http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0912933/
• 　发行时间　：2004

影片内容介绍

剧情简介

　　向您介绍世界上新奇的科技发明的过程历史，讲述未来的无限发展可能。

分集介绍

　【越蓋越高】Building to Extremes

It's a race that hasn't slowed down in more than 70 years. Walter Chrysler added a spire to the building that bears his name, making it the tallest in the world and beating out the Bank of Manhattan Trust. One year later, the Empire State Building reigned, not to be unseated until the World Trade Center opened in 1972. Then, two years later, the Twin Towers was eclipsed by the Sears Tower in Chicago. In 1998, the competition expanded overseas -- Malaysia's Petronas Towers took over as the world's tallest building, soaring further into the sky than any building before. When Taiwan's Taipei 101 topped out recently, it earned the title of world's tallest to date. But the Shanghai World Financial Center, currently under construction and expected to be completed in 2004, is poised to climb even higher.

Despite what happened to the World Trade Center on September 11th, architects and engineers around the globe haven't pulled out of their heated race to build the most soaring skyscraper on earth. But in the horrifying wake of the Trade Center's collapse, designers do worry about what went wrong that morning, about why such seemingly mighty structures fell so quickly. Had there been a fatal flaw in the towers' design? What could be done to protect their own projects -- what could be done to make not only the tallest buildings, but the safest?

In "Building to Extremes," the masterminds behind such buildings as Taipei 101 and the Shanghai World Financial Center take viewers deep into the heart of the planning and construction process, focusing on the serious challenges and controversial issues facing contemporary skyscraper builders in a world where the threat of terrorism, severe weather and international competition to be "the tallest" must all factor in to the architecture and engineering. From the United States to the far reaches of Asia, "Building to Extremes" underscores the importance society places on height as a symbol of national prowess, and how that emphasis helps fuel the race to build increasingly tall buildings.

The program looks at the efforts of engineer Les Robertson, who designed the World Trade Center, and architects from the New York firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, retained in 1997 to craft Shanghai's massive World Financial Center "super tower." Robertson, Eugene Kohn and William Pederson discuss their experience on the project, a sleek-looking, 1,500-foot tower with a 164-foot cylindrical "moon gate" carved out of its top. Interspersed with the story of the Shanghai World Financial Center is that of Taipei 101, a 1,671-foot structure that towers over the skyline like a stack of gift boxes. Find out how the builders handled everything from financial problems, professional shake-ups and cultural differences to the threat of deadly typhoons and events such as September 11th and the massive earthquake that hit Taiwan during construction.

　【人体修补站】Human Body Shop

　　医疗科技新世代已经降临，科学家使用仿生技术重建身体，以前所未见的方式连接人工装置与人体。微型电子结合精准外科技术，加上对人体的了解渐增，医生可达到新的治疗境界。有些专攻四肢，有些则尝试在脑中植入电子，这对与事者来说是个未知领域，病患为求失而复得，将必须无所不用其极。

　【捕谍网】 SpyCatchers

　　每年都有七八万人申请加入联邦调查局FBI，其中有九百人将接受间谍训练。中央情报局CIA不愿透露确切人数，只表示刚结训的新干员人数已创下新纪录。情报界的新兵发现，FBI和CIA正不断改良训练方式，以应付日新月异的威胁，努力赶上敌人的改革脚步。在这个敌我不明的世界，他们的任务已不只是逮捕敌人，更要找出敌人是谁？我们的摄影机将首度进入FBI情报训练学校，他们改良了过去捕捉间谍的技巧，以便捕捉现代的恐怖份子。从冷战时期到恐怖战时期，有件事始终没有改变，胜利者通常是见解最高明，最不落俗套和最有创意的人。

　【21世纪战争】A 21st Century War

　　2003年3月19日，伊拉克战争即将爆发，这场战争展示新一代军事科技。开火后接连几天都是密集攻击，目标是地下指挥部、政府机关及其它代表伊拉克政权象征物。巡洋舰从远处发射飞弹所引发的这场冲突被称为资讯时代的第一场战争。在伊拉克作战所使用的科技，将彻底改变美军作战方式。

　Crash Site Secrets

Business people making same-day trips between New York and Chicago. Elderly couples heading north from Florida to visit their grandchildren. Families on long-awaited vacations -- millions of us fly for millions of reasons. And though we're told that car accidents are far more common than air crashes, many of us experience at least some degree of trepidation every time we board those big commercial jetliners. In the wake of terrorist attacks like those of September 11th and the bombing of Pan Am 103, and given air disasters like TWA 800 over Long Island and SwissAir 111 over Nova Scotia, such concern is understandable.

Too often, gaping holes in airport security or structural problems with aircraft go undetected --or worse, ignored -- until they result in the death of hundreds of innocent people. Then, fueled by public outcry and the demand for "something to be done," technology is hustled forward, legislation is rushed through, and new devices are implemented to ensure that a particular accident never happens again. This kind of "tombstone technology" -- improvements made after the problem has had a deadly impact -- is the subject of "Crash Site Secrets."

This documentary profiles some of the worst tragedies in aviation history, looking at what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how -- ironically -- the failures make flying safer for all of us. Former NTSB Air Accident Investigator Greg Feith guides the program with his unique insight as "Crash Site Secrets" traces the key technologies in aviation safety, many of which were developed long before they were put into use but kept on hold because of industry resistance. The mysterious loss of three early jetliners prompted the use of the black box, but pilots and airlines were vehemently opposed to it at first. The demand for cockpit video recorders after the presumed suicide crashes of two flights -- a SilkAir 737 in Indonesia and an EgyptAir flight off the coast of Nantucket -- was once again resisted by the pilots. There's also the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which was set in place after a mid-air collision over Los Angeles in the '80s event though it had actually been in existence since the 1960s. Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), which detects lethal windshear pockets before the pilot hits them and is considered the "most dramatic" improvement in air safety yet, wasn't pushed forward until after a number of deadly windshear accidents. And the fuel tank inerting system, devised in 1983 but opposed by the industry because it was too heavy, would have prevented the explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800.

Astonishingly, these delayed safety decisions are often due to simple cost/benefit analysis. The airlines weigh the cost of installing the most effective new safety technologies against what they determine is the cost of a crash -- not until a safety feature becomes financially viable are changes implemented. Today, of course, the threat of terrorism is paramount among passengers' concerns. "Crash Site Secrets" highlights the startling Assisted Recovery System, which can detect the presence of mountains or buildings like the Twin Towers and override the pilots, preventing them from accidentally or even intentionally steering the plane into harm's way.

　Miracle Cell

For people with heart conditions, spinal cord injuries, and a host of incapacitating diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, stem cells offer promising prospects for effective treatments and possible cures. These unique cells are with us throughout our lives and they manufacture and repair the 200 different types of cells that make up the human body. Their use and manipulation as a new medical innovation may be on the verge of revolutionizing medicine. Known as regenerative medicine, the technique seeks to harness this natural ability of the body to renew and heal itself.

Outside the United States, patients are already benefiting from remarkable experimental trials currently underway that utilize patients' own stem cells for treatment. Early results are already shattering the normal recovery expectations from severe heart attacks and spinal cord injuries. And similar stem cell trials seem poised to get the FDA go-ahead in this country in the not-too-distant future.

"Miracle Cell" goes to the front line of these new procedures. With unprecedented and exclusive access, the program explores the current successes and future potential for stem cell therapy. We meet Dr. Carlos Lima and some of the six American spinal cord injury patients who have traveled to Portugal to undergo his experimental stem cell operation. A neurologist who heads a special spinal cord injury treatment team at the Egas Moniz Hospital in Lisbon, Dr. Lima oversees a group of surgeons in the harvesting of patients' stem cells from their noses. The cells are then transplanted into the sites of the spinal cord breaks.

Discussing their work and the promise that these mysterious, multi-purpose cells offer are leading clinicians and scientists, including Prof. Andreas Zeiher, University of Frankfurt, Germany; Dr. John Martin, Professor of Cardiovascular Science, British Heart Foundation; and Prof. Geoffrey Raisman, National Institute of Medical Research, U.K. We also hear from Dr. Steven Hinderer, Director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan at the Detroit Medical Center, who sent the first handful of American patients to Dr. Lima and is working to bring the spinal treatment to the United States.

"Miracle Cell" travels to Portugal to document on film, for the first time ever, the harvest and transplant operation. The film also tracks the progress of several of Dr. Lima's patients in the ensuing months. For some, improvement has been dramatic. As Dr. Hinderer assesses 19-year-old quadriplegic Laura Dominguez six months after her surgery, he concludes: "I've never seen recovery like this in 25 years of practice ... I can tell my patients they may walk again, rather than saying life from a wheel chair can be good." Two months later, Laura is able stand up on her toes and move her foot on command. Another of Dr. Lima's patients, paraplegic Joy Veron, is seen on the road to recovery after undergoing the treatment last August. Joy's injury is the result of a tragic accident in which she was run over by her SUV in an attempt to stop it from rolling off a cliff with her children inside. She began to experience some sensation in her leg almost immediately after surgery, and through intensive rehabilitation and fierce determination, Joy continues to make dramatic gains.

In Germany, "Miracle Cell" spotlights the remarkable strides being made by heart attack victims following the implanting of their own bone marrow stem cells into their damaged hearts. We follow a patient through the procedure and see how others have made a rapid recovery as the heart seems to regenerate healthy tissue instead of scar tissue. The program also tells the extraordinary story of Michigan teen Dimitri Bonnville, whose heart was punctured during a horrific nail gun accident. Despite a desperate prognosis, he has made a full recovery following stem cell treatment similar to that performed in Germany. His physician, Dr. William O'Neill, Director of Cardiovascular Disease, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, tells about the decision to go for the stem cell treatment instead of a heart transplant, and how that gamble paid off.

　【光纤革命】Light Speed

　　旧金山湾的浮筒标示出直达亚洲的电缆的位置，电缆在海底延伸了一万哩。当我们剥去电缆外部一层层橡胶和金属后，露出了十几根细细的玻璃纤维丝，这种最纯净的玻璃改变了世界的面貌，是人类通讯史上的最新发展，是科学家、工程师和企业家战胜自然的壮举。这项探索的代表作就是光纤，这项科技结合了光的惊人特质和玻璃的透明无瑕。

　Brain Fingerprinting

Watch any murder mystery on television, read any crime story in the papers, and there's bound to be a mention of a lie detector test. Today, most of us think of the polygraph's spikes and drops as a classic (but flawed) indicator of truth and deception. But a revolutionary technology called "Brain Fingerprinting" may be about to change our perceptions. This episode takes viewers onto Oklahoma's death row, where convicted murderer Jimmie Ray Slaughter is awaiting execution. In a last-ditch attempt to get the case back into court, Slaughter's attorneys have called upon Dr. Lawrence Farwell, the neuroscientist who developed this controversial new test.

While conventional lie detectors rely on fluctuations in respiration, perspiration and blood pressure, "Brain Fingerprinting" is based on a sub-set of brain waves that register as brief electrical patterns when a person recognizes familiar stimuli. Imagine, for instance, that a murder suspect maintains his innocence. While in custody, he is read certain words related to the crime in question. A computer measures the brain's response to these stimuli, yielding results that suggest whether or not the suspect's memory holds information about the crime that only the perpetrator could know. But is this emerging technology ready for public acceptance?

After performing the test on Jimmie Ray Slaughter, Farwell has announced that the inmate did not know certain key facts about the crime. Slaughter, who claims he is innocent, hopes his lawyers will be able to use the test to get him a stay of execution. But others, including the Oklahoma District Attorney, claim the "Brain Fingerprinting" test is severely flawed. Dr. Farwell's former mentor Dr. Emanuel Donchin, also weighs in with his viewpoints about applying the brainwave science outside of a laboratory environment.

"Brain Fingerprinting" is a portrait of a technology at the tipping point -- only time will tell whether it is all its inventor claims it to be, or a tool that has been caught up in its own hype. Is it a powerful forensic tool that will far surpass the accuracy of the polygraph test and permanently change the way suspects are convicted or freed?

With a first ever death-row interview from Jimmie Ray Slaughter, and detailed explanations about how the "Brain Fingerprinting" process works, this film follows the real-life introduction of this controversial new technology, and follows what could be the last battle of a man condemned to die.

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Category:片名 Category:PBS Category:National Geographic Category:2005 Category:4. 应用科学类 Category:4.1 医药 Category:4.13 人体生理学 Category:4.14 生物科技 Category:4.2 电机工程 Category:4.21 电信领域 Category:4.4 土木工程 Category:4.41 土木建筑 Category:4.3 机械工程 Category:4.34 航空器 Category:5. 社会科学类 Category:5.6 军事 Category:5.626 大规模杀伤性武器 Category:缺翻译