. >> reporter: bell labs vice president theodore sizer is doing some of that creating. >> i said, folkse can make something this small. they said, "todd, you're crazy." >> reporter: but there it is. called the light radio. instead of 25,000 employees, today bell labs employs 1500. the scope of their research is narrower, tied to customers' needs. but their budget is still over $3 billion a year. >> are we as large in numbers as we were before? no. but the culture, the thirst for knowledge is still there. it's never left. >> i think there are lessons we can learn from bell labs. >> reporter: author john gertner. >> basic research and applied research can pay tremendous dividends. it can lead to products and devices and innovations that change the world. >> down through the years, bell labs people have received more than 17,000 patents. that's like one patent a day for 50 years. >> reporter: the number is close to 30,000 now. 2600 patents last year alone. that's seven a day. >> an embellishment it has. >> mason: next iman's second career. and later alpacas for fun and profit. impact wool