Acknowledging the scientists who blazed intellectual trails before him, Isaac Newton wrote, “If I have seen a little further it was by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In this special annual series, we invite our audience to stand on the shoulders of a modern-day giant. This year, we are honored to present an address by a titan of physics, Barry Barish.

In March 2014, scientists working on the BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole reported an incredible discovery: a swirling pattern in the cosmic background radiation that appeared to indicate the presence of gravitational waves.

What does fear smell like? Love? Can we use scent to control behavior? Do humans really sense pheromones? What if you could diagnose diseases just by smelling them? And exactly how does our brain convert floating organic molecules into chemical signals that our brain processes as odor?

There is a revolution underway in the world of medicine. As researchers identify the genetic variants responsible for cancer, schizophrenia and diabetes, and doctors tailor medications and diagnostic tests specifically for your genomic makeup, we inch closer to personalized medicine.

Often viewed as “spooky” or downright bizarre, quantum mechanics is fueling a powerful new era of amazing technology. In this program, today’s top quantum physicists discuss the information shake-up underway—and predict when we can expect a quantum computer of our own.

A novel intelligence has roared into the mainstream, sparking euphoric excitement as well as abject fear. Explore the landscape of possible futures in a brave new world of thinking machines, …