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TV Tidbits: Wake Forest scientists to be featured on History Channel show
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Published: July 24, 2009
Two Wake Forest scientists will appear next week in a program that looks at ways that technology can be used to extend life.
The program, "Eternal Life," is an episode of the science series That's Impossible. It is scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Tuesday on the History Channel.
Dr. David Carroll, the director of Wake Forest's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, will appear in a segment about nanotechnology, the process of using microscopic devices that, among other uses, can be injected into the body to find and eradicate diseases. And Dr. Anthony Atala, the director of Wake Forest's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will discuss growing body parts in a laboratory.
"Even though the concept (of growing organs) sounds difficult to imagine," Atala said, "I think it'll be easy for the viewer to understand."
He said he was impressed with the research that the producers had done before taping started earlier this year. "They asked very good questions," he said.
Even though Atala is featured in the program, he isn't sure he will watch the show. He doesn't watch much television, he said, "and I don't like watching myself."
Carroll said he is proud that their research will get such prominent placement on a national TV show. "I think it's going to be fantastic to have two people from Wake Forest University highlighted on there," he said.
The central question of the show is inherently intriguing, Carroll said. "We're all very interested in this concept of, ‘Will you be able to live forever?'" But he thinks that even with scientific breakthroughs, there's a limit to how far human life can be extended.
"Nature has a funny way of doing what it wants to do," he said. "In the end, people are really designed to die. They aren't meant to last forever."
If you missedthis year' MerleFest bluegrass festival -- or if you want to relive parts of it -- check out MerleFest Moments, an hourlong highlight show that will air at 5 and 9 p.m. Sunday on digital channel UNC-NC (channel 504 on Time Warner's digital tier, also available over the air). It includes performances by such musical acts as Donna the Buffalo, the Steep Canyon Rangers, Blue Highway, The Waybacks and Pam Tillis.
It has been two years since ABC pulled the plug on The Nine, a compelling drama about the survivors of a hostage situation who bond over a secret that they share. Four episodes were never aired on television. They were shown only online after the show was canceled because of low ratings.
Now, fans will finally be able to see those lost episodes -- if they have DirecTV. That satellite service has been showing reruns of The Nine on its 101 channel at 10 p.m. Wednesdays. The next episode is the first of the four unaired episodes.
Fans of Futurama, the Fox animated comedy set in the 31st century, were excited when Comedy Central and Fox recently announced plans to bring the show back. But fans may now have second thoughts. According to Variety, Fox is planning to recast the voice actors after contract negotiations with the original cast broke down. Fan protests are already in the works at such sites as GotFuturama.com.
This week's new TV-to-DVD releases include the first seasons of the 1980s primetime soap Hotel and the 1960s sitcom The Lucy Show, with Lucille Ball as a widow who shares her home with a divorcee (Vivian Vance); the second season of This American Life, the Showtime version of the public-radio favorite; and new volumes of two USA Network shows about quirky mystery-solvers, with the third season of Psych and the seventh season of Monk.
Also new to DVD are all three seasons of The Mighty Boosh, a surreal British sitcom that, although live action, has been shown in the United States as part of the Cartoon Network's late-night "Adult Swim" lineup. Each season is available separately.
■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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