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Architect Terry Beaubois discusses how technology can be used to create home and office space that’s functional, versatile, aesthetic and ecologically sound. Terry has been creating new architectural models for many years, and was the director of the ecoSMART house project in Bozeman, Montana that won the “House of the Year” Award from the U.S. Green Building Council. He says that housing designs prepared for astronauts can also be applied to structures on Earth, and chaired a joint committee of NASA and the American Institute of Architects.
A discussion of long term trends in artificial intelligence, and the need to make sure that we don’t lose sight of basic human values while rushing to embrace this new technology. The guest is Steve Omohundro, who has worked in AI for many years as a scientist, professor, author and entrepreneur, and who recently founded Self-Aware Systems , a think tank dedicated to studying the implications of AI. The conversation covers how building intelligent machines gives us greater understanding of natural intelligence, and goes on to discuss the nature of thought and of consciousness and how we define what constitutes a “good life.”
A discussion of recent advances in genetic science, practical applications of genomics, and ethical issues raised by genome technology. The guests are Michael Snyder, Chairman of the Genetics Department and Director of the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University, and Russ Altman, MD, Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics and Medicine and former Director of Stanford's Bioengineering Department. The discussion includes how genome science can help predict susceptibility to disease, and whether altering a genome carries ethical risks.
Computational imaging enables cameras to take pictures that can be refocused after the picture has been taken, and create 3D images that can be printed on a 3D printer. This episode features an interview with Paul Gallagher, VP of Strategic Market Development at Pelican Imaging, a leader in the field of computational imaging. Their PiCam camera, small enough to fit in a smartphone, has 16 apertures which each record a picture from a slightly different angle. Using the parallax effect, it calculates the distance of each pixel, enabling effects such as isolating people or objects within a picture and dragging them into another picture without being concerned about backgrounds.
An interview with atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson, director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University, who says that all of the world’s energy needs can be filled through clean and renewable sources of wind, water and solar power, without recourse to fossil fuels. He is an expert in the physical and chemical processes involved in air pollution, and looks for ways to integrate clean energy sources into the power grid. A winner of the American Meteorological Society’s Houghton Award for his contributions to modeling aerosol chemistry, his computer models of the atmosphere have been used by many researchers in the field.
An interview with olfactory scientists who are trying to do with the sense of smell what we can already do with the senses of sight and hearing, namely record aromas by mechanical means, store them digitally in computers, and reproduce them at will. The guests are Chris Hanson, founder and President of Aromyx, Inc., and Luke Schneider, Board member of Aromyx and also Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Target Discovery, a cancer diagnostics company. We discuss the current state of olfactory research, the many possible uses of this technology, and the hurdles that have to be overcome to bring the technology to market.
The Millennium Project is a global network of futurists looking for ways to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Supported by public and private agencies and operating in 50 countries, they’ve defined 15 Global Challenges which they see as especially urgent. On this episode we discuss two of them: the issue of peace and conflict in the world, and the need for sustainable agriculture. The guests are Brock Hinzmann, Chairman of the Silicon Valley Node of the Millennium Project and a 30 year veteran of SRI International, and Charles Ostman, long time participant in the Millennium Project, a veteran of Los Alamos National Laboratory and cofounder of a company called General Hydroponics.
3D printing is similar to ordinary printing except that the output is not ink on paper, but solid 3-dimensional objects . The program includes a visit to the Menlo Park TechShop for a 3D printing demonstration, and also a visit to the 3D printing facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The studio guests are Clay Lambert, General Manager of the Menlo Park TechShop, a do-it-yourself workshop that provides members with access to a wide range of tools, and Blaine Dehmlow, General Manager of the San Francisco TechShop. Blaine is also on the Advisory Board of Type A Machines, a company that designs and builds 3D printers.
A look at efforts by NASA to find planets in other solar systems that could be capable of supporting life, including the very successful Kepler Mission. The guests are Pete Worden and Rus Belikov. Pete Worden is director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, one of the world’s top space research facilities. He’s a retired Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force with a Ph.D. In Astronomy, and is an expert in almost every area of space science, both civilian and military. Rus Belikov is an astrophysicist at Ames who’s working on experiments to do direct observations on newly discovered planets to see if they might be able to support life.
A look at the I4J Summit, a gathering of about 60 leaders that met in Silicon Valley in March 2013. The attendees came from different sectors of society as well as several different countries. The goal was to find ways to use technological innovation to create more and better jobs for more people. The studio guests are Curt Carlson, President and CEO of SRI International which hosted the Summit, and David Nordfors, chief organizer of the Summit. Interviews from the Summit itself include Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, Swedish politician Sven Littorin and educational innovator Esther Wojcicki.
