[via David Pogue]

Tonight starting at 8:00pm, the Discovery Channel will look fifty years into the future with a three-part series called 2057. The series will mix speculation from leading scientists with dramatic storytelling to try and envision how our world will change over the next few decades. One of the questions, of course, is whether or not we'll have flying cars, and more importantly, will Martian hookers be both plentiful and affordable? Okay, the second one is my own personal preference, but I think it's worth looking into.

The first part of the series, "The Body" airs at 8:00pm and looks at modern technology and what it holds for human health and longevity in the future: things like robotic surgery and custom-built organs. At 9:00pm, "The City," the second part in the series, will look at advances in robotics, automobiles and surveillance systems. Finally, at 10:00pm, "The World" will examine how technology will help transfer more information even faster than before, and the possibilities of space travel for average folks like us.

You can watch clips from the series here.

Tonight at 8pm on PBS, NOVA scienceNow will look at a competition to build an "elevator to space." Participants will compete to see whose prototype can go the highest, and the winner takes home a $150,000 prize. The episode will also focus on scientific research surrounding the carbon nanotube, a stronger-than-steel material that just might be used to create the cable for a real "space elevator" in the future. It would be awesome if such a thing were constructed in my lifetime, though with my luck I'd be stuck on this lengthy elevator ride with some guy who just polished off a beef and bean burrito.

Other segments from the episode will include research into "longevity genes" and how they may hold the secret to living longer; using satellites to uncover Mayan ruins; and studies in "Quorum Sensing," the way bacteria communicates.

Wired Magazine's new series for PBS, Wired Science, debuts this evening at 8pm. Alternatively, you can watch the entire pilot episode by clicking here. Just don't confuse the show with the '80s flick Weird Science. As far as I know, Oingo Boingo didn't compose any music for this new series. David Byrne of the Talking Heads, however, did compose the theme music, which is much cooler (no offense to Danny Elfman).

There was about a year and a half when I was completely addicted to CNBC. It was the mid to late 90s, around 97 or 98, when I was starting to write more online and became fascinated by how technology was driving the economy and stock market to new heights. I remember having CNBC on all day along (along with CNN and MSNBC), and I loved seeing all the numbers fly by the bottom of the screen. Sure, I had no idea what any of it meant, but CNBC also had a lighter, pop culture bent to it that made it entertaining. I watched Power Lunch every afternoon, I waited for interviews with the CEOs of companies I was intererested in (like Steve Jobs from Apple - that was a big comeback story), and I even got to know the anchors and reporters (oh, Maria Bartiromo!).

Then the bubble burst and people didn't really enjoy watching CNBC anymore. And now it's really a shadow of what it used to be. But now two guys are trying to make it good again. Ex-Today producer Jonathan Wald and ex-60 Minutes producer Josh Howard have been brought on to pump new life into the business network. The duo plans more documentaries, as well as other big changes for the network.

What do you think needs to be done to CNBC to make it better?