2019 Programme
Event #32
Barbara Mazzolai
Robots of the future and plants
When one speaks of plants, no one would ever think about taking them as a model to imitate to create the robots of the future, machines that are able to operate in contexts outside factories and capable of adapting to extreme and ever-changing environments. Though, nowadays technology is investigating vegetable’s chemical communication, movement and defense so as to transfer them to avant-garde machine serving the humanity. Barbara Mazzolai, inventors of the plantoide, – the first robot inspired to the plants world that will be able to find employment in various fields: from special exploration to environment monitorization – tells why, to be able to imagine an eco-sustainable future, it is necessary that biology and technology will proceed together to investigate nature’s mysteries.
Barbara Mazzolai, a biologist with a PhD in Microsystem Engineering and an international master's degree in Eco-Management at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa (Italy), directs the MicroBioRobotics Centre of the Italian Institute of Technology of Pontedera (Pisa, Italy). In 2012 she was coordinator of the European project that gave life to the first robot plant in the world, the plantoid, capable of reproducing the behavior of the roots. Today she is the head of the GrowBot project for the creation of robots capable of climbing and adapting to the surrounding environment, just like plants do. In 2015, Robohub, the world's largest scientific community of robotics experts, included it among the 25 most brilliant women in the industry. She has received, among others, the Marisa Bellisario Award and the Carla Fendi Award. With Longanesi she recently published La natura geniale.
Event #6
Alessandro Barbero
Popular revolts in Medieval Europe.
The Jacquerie of French peasants (1358)
Event #16Approfonditamente
Dario Bressanini, Lucilla Titta
Yesterday’s and tomorrow's diets. How to survive fake news?
Event #21
Paolo Colombo, Michele Tranquillini
Ernst Henry Shackleton. The hero who defeated the Arctic
Event #25
Roberto Celada Ballanti
The destiny of a community and many religions: is there a dialogue for the future of humanity?
Event #31Approfonditamente
Marco Ortenzi, Marco Parolini
The real truth about plastic and bioplastic (maybe)
Event #62didatticaMente
Alberto Pellai, Barbara Tamborini
The emotive education of the hyper-connected generation
