NOVA scienceNOW - 56 : Magic and the Brain, Can Machines Think Like Us, Magnetic Mind Control

How Does the Brain Work

This episode of NOVA scienceNOW delves into some pretty heady stuff, examining magic and the brain, artificial intelligence, magnetic mind control, and the work of neuroscientist and synesthesia researcher David Eagleman. Can we really believe our own eyes? Will machines one day think like us? Can magnetic wands effectively control brain functions and treat depression? Explore this and more.

Magic and the Brain - 02:10

Are the secrets behind the world's greatest magic tricks actually wired into the human brain? Eccentric magicians Penn and Teller and Las Vegas trickster Apollo Robbins team up with neuroscientists to reveal how our brains process visual information. Can you really believe your own eyes?

Can Machines Think Like Us - 14:17

Can we make a robot that really thinks, learns, and acts like us? Replicating the human brain is a lot tougher than it looks; the promise of walking, talking "androids" is still just a fantasy. But scientists are edging closer with machines like Watson, an IBM computer which is gearing up for a first-of-its-kind challenge: Taking on human contestants on the game show Jeopardy.

Magnetic Mind Control - 27:27

Obi-Wan Kenobi used it to get his droids past policing stormtroopers in Star Wars. The Communists used it to turn a captured soldier into an assassin in The Manchurian Candidate. But now the thrilling, terrifying prospect of controlling another's mind using invisible forces is stepping out of the movies and into the lab, as scientists "hack" into the human brain.

Profile: David Eagleman - 38:16

How does the brain construct reality using the information it takes in? Neuroscientist David Eagleman is using a unique brand of "guerilla science" to study time perception--dropping people 100 feet into a net--and synesthesia, a bizarre crossing of the senses in the brain.

Cosmic Perspective & How Brain Works - 49:55

Turkish subtitles will be added soon.

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