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A discussion of how our lives are being changed by new graphic capabilities of computers. The guest is Jon Peddie, President of Jon Peddie Research, a technically oriented consulting firm that specializes in everything having to do with computer graphics. He is a past president of Siggraph Pioneers, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the CAD Society, and author of the recent book, “The History of Visual Magic in Computers.” The conversation includes computer graphic basics, practical uses of CG in fields such as medicine, industrial design and the military, and progress in virtual reality and augmented reality.
In recent years we’ve made huge advances in fields like genomics and stem cell research, but we’ve made very little progress in understanding the social implications of these advances. In this episode, we discuss where these advances may be leading us, and what kinds of challenges they may pose to us in the future. The guest is Hank Greely, Professor of Law at Stanford University and Director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences, where he specializes in the legal and ethical implications of new biomedical technologies. Prof. Greely is also chairman of California’s Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee.
A discussion of how nanotechnology and materials science can be combined to develop brand new substances with a host of useful properties. The guests are Yi Cui and Sarah Heilshorn, Professors of Material Science and members of the interdisciplinary Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials at Stanford University. In their laboratories they do basic research into the properties of matter at the nanoscale level. Yi Cui focuses on energy storage, including increasing the energy density of lithium batteries, which could have a huge impact on electronics devices, while Sarah Heilshorn develops new biomedical materials made entirely of engineered proteins for use in regenerative medicine.
Singularity University is a technology incubator that teaches students the latest advances in technology, gives them an overview of the world’s biggest challenges, and helps them start companies to meet the challenges. We recently attended the graduation celebration of the latest graduating class, including 80 students from 35 different countries. We show interviews with Singularity University co-founder Peter Diamandis and many of the student entrepreneurs, and the in-studio guest is Daniel Kraft, Director of SU’s Medical Track, entrepreneur, inventor, pilot in the California Air National Guard and finalist in NASA’s astronaut selection competition.
An interview with "innovation catalyst" Thomas J. Buckholtz, who has worked with corporations and governmental agencies, pioneering new technologies, helping employees become more innovative and effective, and saving hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. He’s the author of the book “Create Crucial Insight” which explains his system for catalyzing innovation. Another of his books is called “Information Proficiency,” which describes how to use the new information technology to be more successful in business. He is also a theoretical physicist who has written a book tackling some of the hardest questions in modern physics.
The goal of the OMEGA Global Initiative is to solve energy problems and environmental problems at the same time by building floating algae farms next to wastewater treatment plants where the algae consume the waste, purify the water, and are then turned into oil. The guest is Jonathan Trent, founder and director of the Initiative. A scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Jonathan has spent most of his career researching microbiology, biochemistry and nanotechnology. He’s also an adjunct professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz and has a Ph.D. In biological oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The OMEGA Global Initiative is Jonathan’s private project and is not affiliated with any government agency.
This episode features wildlife activist Dean Bernal, who has maintained a unique 30 year friendship with a wild dolphin named JoJo who lives near the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. Their friendship has been portrayed in numerous books and television shows, and even an IMAX movie that was nominated for an Academy Award. Part of Dean’s work with JoJo is an attempt to study dolphin intelligence and the way dolphins communicate among themselves. Dean has worked with marine life in many parts of the world, and is also well known for leading whale encountering expeditions.
A discussion of what the globalization of technology really means, and how it’s going to affect our lives. The guest is Richard Dasher, director of the US-Asia Technology Management Center at Stanford University, and executive director of the Center for Integrated Systems, also at Stanford. Dr. Dasher maintains an active consulting practice, advising governments and private companies in the US and Asia on technological trends and new business opportunities. He speaks fluent Japanese and was the first non-Japanese ever asked to join the senior governance of a major Japanese university. He’s also served as director of the US State Department’s training centers in Japan and Korea.
An interview with two leaders of Silicon Valley grassroots organizations that are seeking new approaches to the world’s most pressing problems. Sam Hahn is co-founder of Program for the Future, largely based on the ideas of the late Silicon Valley pioneer Douglas Engelbart. The goal is to find new ways to leverage our collective intelligence in order to solve major problems. Mei Lin Fung is co-founder of Franchise for Humanity, based on the idea that social innovation is the key to solving most of the world’s problems. The program also features interviews with several speakers from a recent Franchise for Humanity conference at Stanford University.
A discussion of recent advances in robotics with three guests. Erin Rapacki, Marketing Director of Suitable Technologies, demonstrates the Beam Telepresencing Robot and discusses its possible uses. Nate Koenig, senior robotics engineer and Chief Technology Officer of the Open Source Robotics Foundation, discusses the work and the mission of the Foundation, and Karen Shakespear Koenig, mechanical engineer and robot designer at SRI International, discusses the medical and surgical robots she works on. All three guests show video clips pertinent to their work.
