Across Indiana

I. Will take this trip across Indiana with one foot firmly planted in reality with the other rooted in the farthest reaches of the imagination. As we look at science fiction found in our state some of which is surprisingly real. But it's nothing to lose your head about. This trip across Indiana is made possible by viewers like you and by the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Oh. Greetings I'm Michael Atwood and welcome to an across Indiana that will boggle your mind. Should you be in the mood to have your mind boggled. We're here in master control at WFYI where concepts like HDTV and global satellites once in the realm of science fiction are as real as real can be.

It's a great starting point to look at real life science fiction in our state and our first stop is the second largest convention in Indiana. Number two is nothing to shake a light saber at. For the Gen Con convention is all about the kind of fun and games that would make a fan of Mr Spock's three dimensional chess set jealous and it's about busting stereotypes for Gen Khan is a huge gathering of folks that are normally stereotyped as not the most social of creatures. Here they can be themselves and that can be anyone or any thing in a world whose limits are up to the imagination. This. Is Jim Carr. Jim Kahn brings in over 30000 Wizards warriors and role players for the state capital. Now I played some dungeons and dragons in my day. Level 21. What.

Are you. Even a little magic. Yeah right. But to be honest I really had no idea what I was getting into. This is the 40th year for Jimmy Carter. And it's bigger than ever. Offering gaming rooms displays demonstrations if you. Ban. Hot girls in costumes. Some might say that the people at Gen Con are the antisocial kids from high school dwellers from their mothers basement only communicating is dark elf one twenty seven one instant messenger. This stereotype couldn't be further from the truth. If one of my feet got a new patent coming on. It was like you want more money. I mean it's really just a big social event it's like a one time one time thing a year where you get to get get together with people and see friends that you've made for years and years.

So it's not only playing the game but it's. Reuniting with people in place with last year and the year before. You see many of us get together to do things. The group might go out to the bar watch some football on the big screen or even play some golf. Gamers get to into a world where they become the hero that may just say the free world. This is a place where like minded individuals can find each other. Unite. And play. So many time and time is a GREAT so many qualifiers. WORLD thank you for everything. I mean you can this world. No one just can't Fullmetal Alchemist. I've resigned my World of Warcraft but. Level 70 character in raids on this year's chin Kang was the first to offer video to me as well. Now worlds are converging. The tabletop the TV screen. Jenkins really exciting for us because this is the first time. Then anybody outside of them lights even touched the gate for the first time the players are actually physically playing the game. Some are even trying to combine the best of both. So we want a high action first person shooters

out combat with all the nuts and bolts and gears that you get with the roleplaying style game. There's no doubt about it. If you're into fantasy. This is the place to be. Some people have even taken it a step further. Greenfield the Colosseum to life with real battle. Alright I'm here Gen Con 0 7 in the build your own foam weapons area. I'm going to see what this is all about talk to the guy who knows about building weapons with foam. And then fighting people with those foam weapons we are teaching people how to build a bomb Lebanon. It's a long weapon works how do you play. What is the rules for that. It's a very simple game. If I hit you before you hit me. Why when. There's a battle going on right now. I'm getting ready to fight. We refer to ourselves as our own fighters represent evil comment society where we do this time take people fighting so it's going to be our if I join value with absolutely no i have to warn you I am a mighty warrior and you're going to smoke. All right. I believe that. I don't have really ripped abs

about to die with. This is. My nemesis. It is the. Killing. Of James a big warrior overtly. I know that much better all over. Or maybe not. What I realized about this thing we call roleplaying. Is that the limits of what you can do or believe is equal to the limit of your own imagination. Sooner or later the day to day life seems to drag on. Especially when you know that in your newly created world you are becoming a warrior. With unlimited power. Destined to rule the earth. Check it out my Orpik. There can be only one. Edge.

Edge. You know I don't know about you but it's always concern me just a little that when they looked up into the sky the good people of Metropolis couldn't tell the difference between a bird and a plane. After all birds flap their wings and there is a significant size difference. Still it must have been a comforting feeling to know that the Man of Steel was overhead. What you may not know is that while Superman exercised his powers in Metropolis. He left as it does over here where you'll find his flying suit as well as countless other

memorabilia at the hero's museum. For those of you interested in comic books there's a new museum in town. You should check out on West Louisiana street a little place called the heroes museum. Millions of comic books are sold worldwide and in recent years they have been brought to life through television in film and along with that comes a load of memorabilia. It's guaranteed to make a comic book Eat foam at the mouth. Dana Bash is the owner of the curious museum and has turned his childhood hobby into a job. I've been collecting this type of memorabilia for a very very long time. And when you do this kind of collecting you get into a smaller and smaller circle of people to do this and have these type of pieces of vailable.

As you can see shelves and shelves of toys. These are toys and I've collected all my life many more Christmas and birthday presents from family and friends. A lot of peace that I've just simply picked out myself. Any of the comic books that you see those are comic books that I actually had as a child and saved and then a lot of the little figures and stuff again where most of those were guests at the entrance. You start with the first ever comic of Superman with action one comic book. And here is a replica of that particular comic book. And that is the very first public feeling of Superman. Dean has a little bit of something from every Superman anything. So I actually took my bidding card which is what this is. On the other side of this drawing are numbers my bidding numbers and he drew Superman on the back of my bidding card at the charity auction.

OK at the other internees you find out the Dane has room for one other superhero in his fortress of solitude. Here Dana has the Batmobile the bat and a few other things straight from Gotham. The only two pieces I do have in my museum that are not actual screen use Pieces is my replica of the 66 Adam West bat and my 89 Michael Keaton Batmobile the original owner of the bat moat simply will not sell it. I've tried and that's not going to happen. Warner Brothers will not sell an original screen use Batmobile. So instead I simply had them built. Now there is a reason Dana has decided to dedicate this museum to these two figureheads of comic culture today and they represent the kind of values we should live. But I grew up believing in Superman I grew up believing in truth justice and the American way. And those are principles still to this very day that mean a lot to me. This is supposed to be good clean family fun.

In the lobby sits a tribute to a real life hero. An example of what the hero museum is really about. Since the inception of this museum this has always been a main piece that I wanted to do and that's what I refer to as my real American heroes showcase. And let the kids see that there are real heroes out there that make it possible for all of us to have the freedom and safety that we do have this day. And it's all thanks to real heroes. The circle of Janice is one of Indianapolis is oldest and best established science fiction and fantasy clubs. You know what their members make great detectives to for when we heard that Indiana colleges were actually working to perfect all real life versions of Dr McCoy's tricorder. Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility and other such heretofore impossibilities. Who better to sin than folks who know both territory so well. And they filed this report via video mental telepathic three dimensional psychological communication

not being among the inventions they checked out. My name is Mike and it occurs to me that the three most famous words of science fiction are to make. But. That's right. Just good old Dr. McQueen's trusty tricorder. So one across Indiana wondered if a real life version of the same might be in the works. I roped in fill a circle just numbered date and headed off to the Purdue campus for a little diagnostic of our own long list below. Welcome to the chemistry department. The 21st century our century is the mass spectrometer. Somewhere down here in the somewhat bowels of the lab. So Dave Mike this is the commercial mass spectrometer that I was telling you about what's going on. It's like something oh. If it's intended to encourage people to think back to Star Trek and hopefully

I'm going to talk about this when I was anything. Yes we're just walking out the woods and something precious part of a flying saucer or a meteor or something. And I bring you a piece. What can you tell me. They could have a look at it and we could tell if there were living organisms in there or that had been in that flying saucer. So we can look for organic molecules. Molecules on your hand for example the molecules you're breathing out find out something about what you had with your cocktail last night. Yes I think we're all the way oh yeah yeah. Just hold it down. So for example if you're in the agricultural industry and you've been handling has decided to open it will see those. It would also detect explosives or other things in it. It would grow on this occasion it would it would certainly help and for and this would also detect cancer. No an illness or. Skin Disease is that's the direction we hope this is going. Which is where the mass spectrometer crosses over into tricorder reality. Dr Cook's aim is to have it precisely locate cancer molecules in biopsies further analysis would make

minimally invasive surgeries possible removing only disease and leaving healthy tissue intact. Let me show you something really nice you know this is this is a really large mass spectrometer. This is the POS This is 20 years ago and who compressed a roomful of equipment to the size of a shoe box. Liang a graduate student. Welcome to the future. But the surprises don't stop there. Dave and I are stunned to learn that a random test of a dollar bill reveals traces of cocaine. Not unusual. Professor Cook tells us for any dollar in general circulation. No comment needed. One day handheld spectrometers might be used by you and I to read our own hell or to check countertops and produce with things we are allergic to or pesticides or disease they refine and mold and different types of. Thanks I spin it so you'd be able to actually look at this before you actually bought the item at the store itself. One of the things I'd like you to remember is that scientists were not there yet.

Speaking of journeys ours is not done across Indiana calls and sends us to check out an even more fantastic line. Someone's found the theoretical underpinnings of an invisibility cloak here at the Berks enter a dauntingly high tech place. The stomping grounds of window designer of the clock. We do mean by the true invisibility as opposed to the other known techniques such as optical camouflage for stealth program a light coming from a source reaches the core and then around the cloaking device so that they could see what is in the background and then again the round the clock comes back and they have complete illusion that made the cloak exist. It's like it will parade. So I think it's awesome. Well I guess craziness and if you're crazy enough it's probably not a good theory. But here's the rub. The design been one wavelength at a time so only a completely red or blue

object could vanish. Sure you could try to bend every wavelength. But there's a more intriguing solution moving from color to color so rapidly your persistence of vision would fill in the blanks. The idea of sitting next to Jessica Alba unseen is intriguing but like the tricorder benefits of the cloak might be in what it teaches about light. But let's say I do the opposite to reverse clock and let's say I concentrate light in that area but then they could sense it like sensing of just a single molecule. I couldn't talk calcify just look it would say it's also we human being and say what kind of diseases of there we could maybe use that or thinking out of the budget you get for a telescope just seems. Like better coming from space. Well that's that's a lot of possibilities so I mean it's. Well I I always say that goes beyond my imagination. We're on a roll now. Remember Mr Fusion. Well there really is a device that converts organic waste to electricity. This generator was built through an S T T our grant partnership between companies the university and the army.

Its first application will be to provide power for a battalion 600 manned trash out about a tonne a day. They have a large chute here were bags of trash cardboard broken down can be poured in that grind the material and mixes it with water sprays it with water and that separates the food material from the plastic in the cardboard so that they can be processed separately. The plastic and the cardboard and paper make very good fuels for making a bio gas and the food is very good for making bio ethanol ethanol. Goes up in little peanut tanks up above were a combination of inns IMO technology and use technology can reduce the food waste into ethanol and it's all material the process is on the other side and not the calm to make small pellets and that's all burned in the generator that it's actually not burned.

What happens here is there is a small amount of oxygen that's added to get the reaction started but after this the organics part inverted into methane and then powers of the flange which drives the generator electrical generator. So the two streams combined are enough to make 60 KW of electricity. How much how much a 16 KW And what can you post if you like this. It's roughly equivalent to the power for three houses. So where people are and where electricity isn't this has a lot of uses. Imagine for Katrina example something like this could have been very useful. It's getting too many breakthroughs to list. But the profs are most proud of the Indiana team of companies pushing technology to its outer band. If you can imagine it you can you can do it it's just a matter of perseverance and continue work and effort. So many things we take for granted today were were not even imagined decades past. Now what science fiction piece would be complete without something that looks talks and walks like a human. But isn't human. Not Kevin Federline.

Androids. And the very human face behind them. Dr. Carl McDormand an assistant so postal definition. Well our goal is to build a 10 month old baby and now crying and sitting down and throwing a tantrum. Every day. It's going well you know that. OK one of the funnest cognitive behavior programs in the country is in Bloomington. This little guy is fun but they want to explore how infants learn behaviors and for that they'll need an android and when we talk about Android we're not just talking about something that looks roughly like a human being but something that aspires to look like a human down to the teeth with the fingernail or the type of skin and everything in every detail and the effort to do that has led to amazing technology. A material called for over fake skin with bubbles in it to create a life like texture.

Oh and meticulous attention to detail in programing reaction times and automatic responses to human interaction. The Android has the touch sensors that can sense a variable touch so if you taps on the shoulder as what is it you know non-discussion And if you if you touch is harder it gets angry. And what would you rather have in your house. A butler that's Robby the Robot out of from the planet someone who that looks just absolutely than regular human being or your little AI robot vacuum cleaner just running around doing its job. I think that a very human like robot would be able to press our Darwinian buttons you can think that this would be of benefit to your same person even if they knew it was really a robot. Yes they could. Yeah I think it's you know if they could factually I think I think it would be much better than having someone visit them who's paid to visit them. A very human like robot could actually see more sincere than a human being. So now we've heard that the human race is going to a huge history of dehumanizing another human

being. Now we're doing the opposite. We're humanizing non-human I think where human izing machines that's right and it could really be beneficial for using robots in rehabilitation after a stroke or after a heart attack. And so another surprise for all this creativity is not about teaching androids to think it's about learning how we think. I think my goal is really to understand what it means to be human. So I see them as being a kind of experimental apparatus experiments with human beings. And the reason we want them to look like human beings is so that we can control for the effects of appearance. And then we can just focus on the behavioral qualities. And that's where we'll leave it for when you think about it. All this technology is supposed to do is to connect the dots between us fellow humans. And to make us a little healthier and more thoughtful about the mysteries of this life we've been given. And that makes the future not such a bad place to be after all.

Remember the comic book hero the phantom He was known as the ghost who walks about in downtown Indianapolis after dark you may swear they've seen him for indeed Apple is has its very own phantom who ducks in and out of alleyways. Ever vigilant ever on guard against the forces of evil. And he does it without uttering a sound. I'm not here just to make sure everyone you know want to get a pickpocket or moderating. I try to get my route random that way I'm unpredictable. I would see people and they might ask me what I'm doing wrong I'm a superhero I'll look for a police car.

Because they're they actually law enforcement. But if they're not around I'll. Try to help where I can until they arrive. I was walking down the street I saw a man pushes girlfriend or his wife. So I walked over and stood in this way in the claim him of her what made him really angered the police were just like within earshot which they ended up coming and defusing the situation. They said I will take her and then like I just walked away I took my work very seriously in Indianapolis. I would completely risk my life for the people in Annapolis like if I felt someone trapped in a burning building I'd run and. Just something that the police can't change. Like maybe

someone being not behind the trees or something like that. I wouldn't have any power here gifts but I mean if you want to call it good being at like having high morals that would probably be appealing to those really scary and you know being able to read it like a college level. I know my limitations and I feel like I know what I can and can't do. I'm not going to lie for you the Eiffel Tower exploding white walls and teleport there or something I mean I just can't do that. Like I'd like to and for that I would be really convenient. Powers would be nice but you know we're in a bind and pretty much all you need is the will to go out and make a difference. The will to to be something good in the world. And just an imagination. If a supervillain does come all you know the deal that went out and I haven't had it yet and I've been doing this for over a year.

So when I found very careful that's a killer. The public's pretty accepting that you still get you know the few people who think you're a loser for doing it to dress up like a superhero and go out and wipe out people seems uncool zur. It seems like something a nerd would do. I guess I would be a nerd if you want to call me that. I pretty much knew in Annapolis and as an inherently good place to live we don't have any problems is like New York or Chicago. We could always be better because I've seen people like ball down unknown stuff to help them get out or no one hold the door open for someone. I think if we just did those few pairings. Like you would call like a cascade effect and maybe you know that's the kind of thing that changes the world to have some kind of satisfaction know that I'm contributing to the common good or the greater good. That's what I'm really out there for. As we get set to leave you this trip. Just a thought we've seen from tonight dirty through the

tears of the mind when confronted with life's problems. Let your imagination be your guide. Michael at what will see you next time we transport across India. This rip across Indiana was made possible by viewers like you and by the Arts Council of Indianapolis. I next trip across Indiana will have one foot firmly planted in reality but the other rooted in the farthest reaches of the imagination.

As we look at science fiction on our state some of which is surprisingly real but it's nothing to lose your head about. That's next time we go across India.