Spending two days in the Global Research Center is like a candystore of science experiments. The interesting thing to me is that everything going on at GRC is applied science - there is at least one engineer on every science team, and their challenge is to take raw science and figure out the most useful thing to do with it. There is an objective.
One of the reasons I’m so excited to be working on this project is that I am a big nerd. I love science. I actually went to school for a bit for physics and engineering, and then the internet showed up and turned out to be my new favorite thing. So this is pretty much an ideal situation, science + internet = awesome.
The research lab is a treasure trove of interesting stuff going on and it seems like we could make a bunch of different episodic shows about whats going on at GE that will be actually interesting.
A few here:
Lighting Show – a competition reality show where different sorts of lighting and industrial designers spend a couple days with the OLED lighting guys and come up with crazy new lighting designs. Then maybe there is a touring show of the results. Could be anything from avante garde lighting to retail designs to home design.
Nano Cooking Show – I was at one of my favorite bars in new york talking to Cory the bartender about my fun trip and told him about the superhydrophobic materials I saw, and he said he wanted a honey spoon made of that material. Firstly, it was interesting that he knew about it, and secondly it got me thinking that it would be interesting to do a mixology/cooking show where expert chefs and bartenders used crazy technology to make interesting food and drink.
Student Films – What if we made a deal with a film school where we had student filmmakers come in and make a bunch of short documentaries about projects going on at GE ? Noah thinks it would be fun to have little kids come in and ask questions too.
UPDATE: from advice in the comments, here’s a video of Ferran Adria cooking with nitrogen
Definitely a science cooking show. I would watch that. There’s a reference to it in a lot of the shows on television today, like Iron Chef, but I think it could carry an entire series. Plus, we could sell some of the technology for everyday folks to use at home. I presume GE might make some stuff that people could buy, like say, a liquid nitrogen tank or a vacuum machine. Ha.
Benjamin, check out Ferran Adria. He’s the chef that has been doing what you described, combining cooking with pure science. He created carrot foam and chilled things in nitrogen or hydrogen, I don’t remember. Maybe GE should have a test kitchen!