Big Picture Science

The moon jellyfish has remarkable approach to self-repair. If it loses a limb, it rearranges its remaining body parts to once again become radially symmetric. Humans can’t do that, but a new approach that combines biology with nanotechnology could give our immune systems a boost. Would you drink a beaker of nanobots if they could help you fight cancer? Also, materials science gets into self-healing with a novel concrete that fixes its own cracks.  Plus, why even the most adaptive systems can be stretched to their limit. New research suggests that the oceans will take a millennium to recover from climate change.  Guests: •  Lea Goentoro – Professor of biology, California Institute of Technology •  Michael Abrams - Biologist, California Institute of Technology •  Sarah Moffitt – Paleo-oceanographer, Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis •  Mark Miodownik – Materials scientist, director of the Institute of Making, University College, London. Author of “Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous