>> THERE IS NO WAY
THAT WHEN YOU'RE DOING
SPACE EXPLORATION,
YOU'RE GONNA TAKE ALONG WITH YOU
EVERYTHING YOU NEED,
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO REPAIR,
EVERYTHING YOU NEED, UH,
FOR THE ASTRONAUTS.
YOU'RE GONNA
HAVE TO MAKE THINGS.
AND PROBABLY IF YOU WANT TO DO
EFFICIENT SPACE EXPLORATION,
YOU'LL HAVE TO RECYCLE THINGS.
AND THAT MEANS
TAKING THINGS APART
AND PUTTING THEM BACK TOGETHER
AND BUILDING THINGS,
BUILDING COMPLEX THINGS,
BUILDING MACHINES,
BUILDING TOOLS,
BUILDING ARTIFICAL BODY PARTS.
AND YOU CAN BE SURE
THAT ONE OF THE AIMS
OF WHAT WE'RE DOING
IN THE SEARCH
FOR ARTIFICIAL LIFE
IN THIS ECHO SYSTEMS
AND ACTIVE METAMATERIALS
IS TO MAKE DEVICES, MACHINES
THAT ARE BIO-COMPATIBLE
AND MAYBE USED
IN ARTIFICAL LIMBS
IN-IN THE REPAIR OF BODY PARTS
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THE MORE WE UNDERSTAND,
PROBABLY THE MORE INTERACTIONS
WE'LL SEE THAT WAY.
WE'RE NOT INTERESTED
IN FIGURING OUT HOW
INDIVIDUAL, UH, COMPONENTS
OF A BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM WORK,
BUT RATHER WHAT
THE ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES ARE
OF ACTIVE MATTER.
THAT'S A BIG PART
OF UNDERSTANDING, UH,
THE ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES
FOR LIVING THINGS
AND FOR OTHER DYNAMIC THINGS.
WE HAVE STARTED
TO MAKE PARTICLES
WHICH CAN SENSE ONE ANOTHER,
WHICH CAN BIND SPECIFICALLY
TO OTHER PARTICLES,
WHICH CAN CHANGE SHAPE.
AND AGAIN, MICROGRAVITY
WILL PLAY A BIG ROLE.
AND THE REASON IS JUST AS WITH
THE EQUILIBRIUM PARTICLES,
GRAVITY TENDS TO MASK
LOTS OF THINGS ON THIS SCALE.
IT WON'T MASK THINGS
ON THE SCALE OF ATOMS,
BUT ON THE SCALE
OF MORE COMPLEX OBJECTS,
COLOIDS, POLYMERS,
LIQUID CRYSTALS,
UM, GRAVITY PLAYS
A SIGNIFICANT ROLE,
AND IT CAN MASK THE EFFECTS
THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SEE.
SO IF WE WANT TO REALLY
UNDERSTAND PHENOMENA LIKE THAT,
WHAT WE HAVE TO DO
IS ISOLATE WHAT'S IMPORTANT
IN DIFFERENT ASPECTS
OF THE PROBLEM.
AND TO DO THAT,
WE HAVE TO GET RID OF GRAVITY.
BECAUSE OTHERWISE, FOR EXAMPLE,
THE SWIMMERS THAT WE MAKE,
WHICH AGGREGATE
LIKE FLOCKS OF BIRDS
OR LIKE SCHOOLS OF FISH,
THEY IN GRAVITY ON EARTH
ESSENTIALLY ARE CONFINED
TO TWO DIMENSIONS.
EVERYTHING JUST SETTLES
TO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SAMPLE.
AND SO THINGS THAT WE'RE
INTERESTED IN DOING
ARE TAKING THESE THINGS
IN MICROGRAVITY
WHERE THE SMALL OBJECTS,
3-DIMENSIONAL LIKE,
CAN MOVE IN THREE DIMENSIONS
AND EXPORE SPACE THE WAY
LARGER OBJECTS ON EARTH,
BIRDS AND FISH
AND SUCH MOVE
AND HOW THEY
ORGANIZE THEMSELVES.