The World Transformed

Latest Episodes:

Better than You Think? Part 3: Environment, Energy, and Food Oct 27, 2017

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Why the World Is (Still) Better Than You Think—New Evidence For Abundance Update Polio to be eradicated this year! Environment the global annual death rate from natural disasters has plummeted over the past centuryFaster, cheaper, easier, and more accurate tracking of animals via dronesFighting deforestation via drones and machine learning Our example The Billion Oyster Project Energy more people around the world have access to electricity than ever, and the absolute number of those without access to electricity is dropping (despite population growth).India has gone from 45 percent access to electricity in 1990 to nearly 80 percent in 2014Afghanistan [went] from 0.16 percent of the population in 2000 to 89.5 percent of the population in 2014. Our Examples Basic Power Alternative Energy and the Future Food Globally, 18.6 percent of the population was undernourished in 1991; by 2015, it dropped to 10.8 percent.Human-Free FarmsFood From Electricity Our Example Child and teen obesity rates soar globally, WHO reports Bonus IBM scientists say radical new ‘in-memory’ computing architecture will speed up computers by 200 times GEEK OUT! WT 363-673

Better Than You Think, Part 2: Healthcare Oct 25, 2017

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Continuing their discussion of unexpected and often unnoticed positive change, Phil and Stephen, discuss recent encouraging developments related to health care. The starting point for this series is a recent article by Peter Diamandis: Why the World Is (Still) Better Than You Think—New Evidence For Abundance https://goo.gl/RDa98R 2. Health No matter where in the world you are, mortality rates have dropped precipitously over the last 300 years. The following chart shows life expectancy at birth in various countries. Just 100 years ago, a child born in India or South Korea was only expected to live to 23. Fast forward to today, and India’s life expectancy has tripled. South Korea’s life expectancy has quadrupled and is now higher than in the UK. Peter’s examples: Plummeting Teen Births Exponential Tech Impact on Health: RoboticsVirtual RealityCRISPR/Gene Editing Our Examples: Anti-Aging Gets Real The Hackable Human: Frontiers of Human Augmentation DIY Gene Editing and Other Health News WT 362-672

Better Than You Think, Part 1: The Global Economy Oct 23, 2017

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Phil and Stephen review positive economic change, beginning with a new essay by Peter Diamandis: Why the World Is (Still) Better Than You Think—New Evidence For Abundance. 1. Global Economy The first area to explore is our global economy. Over the last 200 years, the world’s GDP has skyrocketed 100-fold. Humankind has never been more prosperous and productive. Peter’s examples: Banking the Unbanked (Universal Basic Banking?) Blockchain and Government Our Examples: Ending Poverty: Multiple Approaches goo.gl/kRgjwX Future Wealth: Universal Basic Income and Alternatives goo.gl/dE3A7H WT 361-671

DIY Gene Editing and Other Health News Oct 20, 2017

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After 15 Years in a Vegetative State, Nerve Stimulation Restores Consciousness Scientists Have Discovered a Drug That Fixes Cavities and Regrows Teeth This Rare Medical Condition Makes You Love Everyone Child and teen obesity rates soar globally, WHO reports Human Myostatin Knock-Out Targeting CRISPR-Cas9 Plasmid This plasmid expresses Cas9 and a gRNA targeting exon 1 of the human myostatin gene. DIY Human CRISPR Guide This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive guide and is instead meant to show people the ease at which CRISPR-Cas9 can be used to modify the adult human genome. This Guy Says He’s The First Person To Attempt Editing His DNA With CRISPR “I want to live in a world where people get drunk and instead of giving themselves tattoos, they’re like, ‘I’m drunk, I’m going to CRISPR myself,’” said Zayner, who has a few tattoos of his own, in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “It sounds crazy, but I think that would be a pretty interesting world to live in for sure.” GEEKOUT Blade Runner 2049 vs. Thor Ragnarok WT 360-670

Computer Artists, Brain Hacks, and the Amazing Electric Bus Oct 18, 2017

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Phil and Stephen review a grab-bag of news stories indicating that the future will be here sooner than we think. It’s Getting Hard to Tell If a Painting Was Made by a Computer or a Human In a randomized-controlled double-blind study, subjects were unable to distinguish the computer art from two sample sets of acclaimed work created by flesh-and blood artists (one culled from the canon of Abstract Expressionist paintings, the other from works shown at the 2016 edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong). Electric bus sets record with 1,101-mile trip on a single charge Think it was impressive when a Tesla club drove a Model S nearly 670 miles? It has nothing on what Proterra just managed. The startup just drove a Catalyst E2 Max electric bus a whopping 1,101.2 miles on a single charge. Quantum Computing Will Change Everything, and Sooner Than You Expect Inside this box could be the future of carbon capture DARPA Is Planning to Hack the Human Brain to Let Us “Upload” Skills In March 2016, DARPA — the U.S. military’s “mad science” branch — announced their Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program. The TNT program aims to explore various safe neurostimulation methods for activating synaptic plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to alter the connecting points between neurons... WT 359-669

Fast Forward -- The Sentient Enterprise Oct 17, 2017

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How can businesses stay agile and competitive in the face of massive data volumes, exponentially increasing complexity, and the growing need for real-time answers, decisions, and responses? In his new book The Sentient Enterprise, technologist and visionary Oliver Ratzesberger, along with co-author Mohanbir Sawhney, outlines a revolutionary methodology for aligning data, systems, and people within the organization to make agility and decision-making scalable commodities. In this edition of FastForward, Oliver provides an overview of this methodology and explains why a new approach is so needed for businesses today. Why “Sentient?” The core understanding the new model begins with some very simple observations. An enterprise is made up of people. Each individual within the organization is a sentient being. As humans we share in some common behaviors and tendencies: we listen; we think; we interact, we learn. These traits are critical to business success, and yet they are enormously difficult to scale. They do not transfer easily from the individual to the group. “The problem is that the more of us you put together in a company, the less we do those things,” says Oliver. In other words, an enterprise made up of hundreds or thousands of sentient beings fundamentally lacks the ability to listen, to think, and to make decisions. It is quite a paradox. Real-World Results In the podcast, Oliver cites several diverse examples of companies already achieving success with the Sentient Enterprise methodology, including Volvo, Blizzard Entertainment, and the San Francisco Giants. And he predicts that there are many more such stories to come. --- FF 001-668 Music: www.bensound.com Sponsored Content

Future Wealth: Universal Basic Income and Alternatives Oct 16, 2017

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Phil and Stephen discuss variations on the idea of Universal Basic Income What is UBI? goo.gl/hz9s6D IGP's Social Prosperity Network publishes the UK's first report on Universal Basic Services goo.gl/sxAZdK Building on the ethos that saw the establishment of the NHS and public education – that essential services should be free at the point of need – the plan would “raise the floor” of basic services all citizens can expect, providing better protection for workers in the face of rapid advances in technology and automation. To fix income inequality, we need more than UBI—we need Universal Basic Assets goo.gl/CLrqh6 Assets aren’t just cars and money: They’re the primary resources that people can leverage to generate income. Ownership or access to assets—such as equity shares, certain types of land, education, and social connections—is what gives people the foundation to generate an income and therefore create more wealth. Brian Wang’s Basic Power goo.gl/9RLZE3 Universal basic infrastructure as an alternative to UBI? Post Scarcity goo.gl/3JmZr2 Post-scarcity is an economic theory in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor needed, so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely. WT 358-667

Cities of the Future Oct 13, 2017

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Futurist Thomas Frey joins Stephen Gordon in a discussion of the future of cities. Topics include: The technologies, social forces, and economic drivers that are transforming cities and the way we live in them. The surprising role that autonomous vehicles will play in redefining cities Why the biggest changes of all are yet to come WT 357-666

Self-Driving Cars: a Stranger Future than You Think Oct 11, 2017

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(Listen to part one of our three-part series with Thomas Frey.) Futurist Thomas Frey joins Stephen Gordon in a discussion of his recent article: 25 Shocking Predictions about the Coming Driverless Car Era in the U.S. Are you ready for a future in which... ...no one owns a car ...the average lifespan of a car is a year or less ...repurposed parking lots become a real estate bonanza ...1 in 4 jobs is gone ...auto insurance companies take huge losses ...location no longer matters Join us WT 356-665

Peak Electricity: The Future of Power Oct 09, 2017

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Futurist Thomas Frey joins Stephen Gordon in a discussion of issues related to the future of power. We seem to consuming less electricity than we were before. Will the trend hold up? And where will the next breakthroughs come from? Thorium nuclear reactors? Solar power from space? Discussion Topics come from Thomas Frey's Peak electricity and 17 seismic forces of change that will make you want to shift careers The Electricity Plateau Past the Peak and Falling The Economy Decouples from Electricity Who’s Using the Juice Overtaking Lane More Bang for Your Buck Seismic wildcards that will impact the future of electricity Power Generation Power Distribution Electric Storage Changes in Demand WT 355-664

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