Thirteen/WNET New York's eight-part series INNOVATION tells the dramatic stories behind some of today's most exciting breakthroughs, delving beyond the "wow" of technology and into the personalities, politics, inspirations, and serendipity that take them from concept to reality. The first four episodes premiere on consecutive Tuesdays, February 10, 17, and 24 and March 2, 2004 at 9 p.m. (ET) (check local listings). The series continues with four new episodes in the spring.

This episode introduces viewers to an evolving technology that looks directly into the brain to pinpoint and chart the very origin of deception. Given its seeming ability to reveal an individual's memory of an event and its details, brain fingerprinting has great potential in crime detection. The F.B.I. and C.I.A. hope it will become one of the most significant breakthroughs since the advent of DNA analysis. Following current court cases and local police departments, INNOVATION looks at the way this technology could revolutionize the legal system. But even as brain fingerprinting seems poised to be a major step forward, critics are raising scientific, ethical, and legal questions. Is this technology ready to leave the lab? Will it simplify criminal investigations and be a catalyst to the truth? Will it hold up in the courtroom?

Watch any murder mystery on television, read any crime story in the papers, and there's bound to be a mention of a lie detector test. Today, most of us think of the polygraph's spikes and drops as a classic (but flawed) indicator of truth and deception. But a revolutionary technology called "brain fingerprinting" may be about to change our perceptions.

While conventional lie detectors rely on fluctuations in respiration, perspiration and blood pressure, "brain fingerprinting" is based on a sub-set of brain waves that register as brief electrical patterns when a person recognizes familiar stimuli. Imagine, for instance, that a murder suspect maintains his innocence. While in custody, he is read certain words related to the crime in question. A computer records and measures the brain's response to these stimuli, yielding results that suggest whether or not the suspect's memory holds information about the crime that only the perpetrator could know. Or the system might also suggest if a suspect is a terrorist by indicating that he or she recognizes classified details of an enemy training camp.

"Brain Fingerprinting" is a portrait of this new advancement, a powerful forensic tool that may far surpass the accuracy of the polygraph test and permanently change the way suspects are convicted -- and freed. The program investigates the validity, benefits and drawbacks of the brain fingerprinting process. Dr. Lawrence Farwell, the neuroscientist who developed this technology, offers his vantage point, as do members of the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA and other agencies that are funding his research. Ethicists, legal scholars and scientists who support or oppose the implementation of the advancement also weigh in. The program puts a face on the topic by following a current court case to observe how "brain fingerprinting" is making its way into the legal system - and the potential impact it may soon have on suspects and the criminal justice system itself.

Brain fingerprinting may be a powerful forensic tool that may surpass the accuracy of the polygraph and permanently change how suspects are convicted -- and freed.

 (Broadcast date: May 4, 2004)

Other Episodes in the INNOVATION series:

In this episode, INNOVATION follows the architects and engineers who have dedicated their lives to reaching new heights, travels around the world to see giant buildings under construction, and investigates the risks and benefits of building tall. Can innovative materials and design techniques overcome critical new safety issues?

In medical research facilities all over the world, engineers and doctors are hard at work to make once debilitating conditions a thing of the past. From the most sophisticated metal leg prostheses to jaw-dropping artificial vision systems and astonishing advances in the translation of brain signals, this installment of INNOVATION explores the complex and futuristic world that is melding human and machine.

This episode of INNOVATION explores the beguiling world of international espionage. Relating the true stories of two CIA master spies, "SpyCatchers" illustrates how today's agents are adjusting their classic Cold War techniques to counter threats from a changing, ill-defined enemy.

Looking back at the successes and failures of the modern weapons and communications systems used in the recent war with Iraq, this episode of INNOVATION follows the soldiers who actually used the technologies, and the engineers back home who developed them. "Hi-Tech War" investigates how a new generation of weapons is forever altering the political and technical reality of combat.

Despite all the time, money, and effort that go into the development of aircraft, the history of commercial aviation is littered with devastating, deadly crashes. The investigations that follow such disasters are driven by the need to find out "what went wrong" and prevent whatever did go wrong from happening again. The experts call this "tombstone technology" -- big advances in air safety that come about in the aftermath of a catastrophe. From the black box that became standard after accidents in the 1950s to the installation of Doppler radar in response to wind shear accidents in the '80s to a traffic control device (TCAS) that has eliminated all mid-air collisions in the U.S. since 1990, this episode tells the stories of accidents that changed the way we fly, the groundbreaking technologies that rise from the ashes of disaster and the on-going quest for even greater safety in the skies.

A young mother, the victim of a car accident that has left her paralyzed, travels to Portugal to undergo a radical treatment. Adult stem cells will be harvested from her nose, amplified, and then injected into her spine. The hope is that instead of forming scar tissue, the cells will renew and heal the spinal cord. Even the experts are excited about the results. Miracle Cell goes to the front line of regenerative medicine to follow spinal cord and heart patients undergoing stem cell treatments and track their rapid recovery in the months that follow. This is just the tip of the iceberg in a promising but controversial field that has the potential to revolutionize the way medicine is practiced.

In 1970, a team of researchers at Corning Glass made a discovery that would revolutionize the way we communicate. Their development of a fiber optic cable was one step in an ongoing process of research and experimentation in a number of diverse fields of study. More than 30 years later, fiber optics is a technology that nearly outgrew itself, but one that is an almost omnipresent element of modern communication. Just about every international phone call we make relies on fiber optics somewhere along the way, and newly developed high-bandwidth cables have even allowed scientists to recreate the sense of touch via the Internet, and to perform remote tele-surgeries across continents. Light Speed centers on the brilliance, foresight, challenges, and sheer luck that have led to the proliferation of the worldwide network of fiber optic cables and the revolution of global communications.

TOP       HOME