The World Transformed

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All Things Nanotech with P. J. Manney and Pearl Chin, Best of TWT Feb 10, 2017

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[First Aired 12/17/2007] Stephen Gordon and PJ Manney speak with Dr. Pearl Chin of the Foresight Nanotech Institute. Pearl specializes in advising on nanotechnology investment opportunities. She is a prolific writer on nanotechnology investing, business, management and social issues. Her articles appear in Nanotechnology Now and the Nanotechnology Law and Business Journal. And she is actively sought out to speak about and be interviewed on diverse nanotechnology related topics.

Nikola Danylov and Conversations with the Future Feb 09, 2017

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Nikola Danylov discusses his new book, Conversations with the Future. For generations, humanity stared at the vastness of the oceans and wondered, “What if?” Today, having explored the curves of the Earth, we now stare at endless stars and wonder, “What if?” Our technology has brought us to the make-or-break moment in human history. We can either grow complacent, and go extinct like the dinosaurs, or spread throughout the cosmos, as Carl Sagan dreamed of. For many years Nikola Danaylov has been interviewing the future and motivating people all over the world to embrace rather than fear it. "Conversations with the Future" was born from those interviews and Nik's unceasing need to explore "What If" with some of the most forward thinking visionaries in the world today. About Our Guest: Nik Danaylov is a Keynote Speaker, Futurist, Strategic Adviser, popular Blogger and Podcast host. His podcast, Singularity.FM, has had over 4 million views on iTunes and YouTube and has been featured on international TV networks as well as some of the biggest blogs in the world, such as BBC, ArteTV, TV Japan, io9, the Huffington Post, ZDNet, BoingBoing and others. Today Singularity Weblog is the biggest independent blog on related topics. The Singularity.FM podcast is the first, most popular and widely recognized interview series in the niche and, according to Prof. Roman Yampolskiy, Nikola has established himself as the “Larry King of the Singularity.” WT 264-573

Robert Zubrin and the Case for Mars, Best of TWT Feb 08, 2017

Show notes

[This show first aired 12/10/2007.] Phil Bowermaster and Michael Sargent had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Robert Zubrin. Dr. Zubrin is an aerospace engineer who is well known as an advocate for a manned mission to Mars and for his book The Case for Mars. After some unfortunate technical difficulties, Phil and Michael spoke with Robert about Mars and his newest book Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil.

Getting Closer to the Final Frontier: On to Mars and the Stars Feb 07, 2017

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Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon discuss colonizing Mars and exploring interstellar space. Trump may fund the Spacex Mars Colonization plan Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has made trips to Trump Tower. He met with Trump and the Washington Post has been reliably told, discussed Mars and public-private partnerships... How an Interstellar Starship Could Actually Explore Alpha Centauri As part of the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, Milner plans to invest $100 million in an effort to develop an ultra-light autonomous lightsail that can be accelerated to one-fifth the speed of light (60,000 km/s, or 37,350 miles/s). At this ludicrous speed, a sail-driven robotic probe could reach Alpha Centauri—the closest star system to Earth—in just 20 years, as opposed to 100,000 years using traditional chemical thrusters. Breakthrough Starshot Initiative Breakthrough Starshot aims to demonstrate proof of concept for ultra-fast light-driven nanocrafts, and lay the foundations for a first launch to Alpha Centauri within the next generation. Along the way, the project could generate important supplementary benefits to astronomy, including solar system exploration and detection of Earth-crossing asteroids. Question asked: is this a foretaste of ad-hocracy? WT 263-572

Hydrogen Metal, Fractal Books, and Spacesuits Just Like in the Movies Feb 04, 2017

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Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon explore a grab-bag of future-related topics. Hydrogen turned into metal in stunning act of alchemy that could revolutionise technology and spaceflight Metallic hydrogen could theoretically revolutionise technology, enabling the creation of super-fast computers, high-speed levitating trains and ultra-efficient vehicles and dramatically improving almost anything involving electricity. Every meal triggers inflammation When we eat, we do not just take in nutrients – we also consume a significant quantity of bacteria. The body is faced with the challenge of simultaneously distributing the ingested glucose and fighting these bacteria. This triggers an inflammatory response that activates the immune systems of healthy individuals... Scientists find evidence of mathematical structures in classic books The academics put more than 100 works of world literature, by authors from Charles Dickens to ... OTHER GEEK NASA's New Astronaut Suits Are Straight Out of 2001: A Space Odyssey WT 262-571

Revenge of the Geeks, Best of TWT Feb 03, 2017

Show notes

[This show first aired 12/02/2007.] PJ Manney's first appearance on Fastforward Radio / The World Transformed! Show highlights: Our Tales of the Paranormal feature is back. We learned that the "Association for the Study of Unexplained Phenomenon" is claiming to have a working "telephone to the dead."Does technology - the Internet, video games, etc. - does all that make us more or less empathetic?What does it mean to be a geek or a nerd? Is autism part of the picture?We listened to an excerpt from the pilot episode of CBS's new sitcom "The Big Bang Theory." Good news - the geeks are the heroes in that show.If you have a smart kid, do you praise the child for being smart or try to play it down?Lastly, we got a great story about PJ's Xena episode, "Is There a Doctor in the House?" PJ was too modest to mention it, but this episode is both a fan favorite and the favorite episode of Lucy Lawless.

What Will Things Be Like in Five Years? Feb 02, 2017

Show notes

Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon review predictions for the year 2022 and make a few of their own. IBM just posted 5 predictions about what life will be like in 2022 1. Thanks to AI, our speech will be a window into our mental health 2. Superhero vision will be possible with AI and powerful new devices 3. 'Macroscopes' will help us understand Earth's complexity in infinite detail 4. 'Labs on a chip' will revolutionise medicine 5. Smart sensors will detect environmental pollution faster than ever The Singularity is nearer: AI is learning to predict the future Related: Jeff Hawkins’s book On Intelligence lays out a thesis that intelligence basically means the ability to make predictions Scientists create new life form in a lab, altering the fundamentals of DNA Scientists have announced that they have created living organisms using an expanded genetic code. That could in turn lead to the creation of entirely new lifeforms, using combinations of DNA that couldn't possible have existed before. WT 261-570

Methuselah Mouse and Actuarial Escape Velocity, Best of TWT Feb 01, 2017

Show notes

[This show first aired 11/26/2007.] David Gobel cofounded The Methuselah Foundation and the The Methuselah Mouse Prize.Polio and The March of Dimes.The ongoing Sabin v. Salk controversy.Why Napolean is, in spite of himself, one of the great benefactors of humanity. He offered a food preservation prize that resulted in canning.David Gobel first proposed the concept of Actuarial Escape Velocity - a point in time at which the acceleration of advances in biomedical technology surpass the rate at which humans age .And, lastly, Dave Gobel explained how normal people with normal incomes are making the Methuselah Mouse Prize possible.Other than aging, what's the deadliest disease in the world? You might be surprised.

Affordable Health Care: Here Is What Will REALLY Work Jan 31, 2017

Show notes

Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon explore the role technology may play in making healthcare more abundant and affordable. Scientists May Have Found A Way To Regenerate Our Teeth The King’s College researchers put the enzyme inhibitoron biodegradable collagen sponges, stuck them in subjects’ teeth where cavities had formed and found they healed up without the need for any drilling or filling. Machine Vision Helps Spot New Drug Treatments First FDA Approval For Clinical Cloud-Based Deep Learning In Healthcare The first FDA approval for a machine learning application to be used in a clinical setting is a big step forward for AI and machine learning in healthcare and industry as a whole. Two Infants Treated with Universal Immune Cells Have Their Cancer Vanish "What Happens When Doctors Only Take Cash"? Everybody, Especially Patients, Wins The lucrative field of medicine gets demystified, prices go down, services go up, and everybody except insurance companies come out ahead. Join us! WT 260-569

The Future: Scary Cool, Scary Funny, or Just Plain Scary? Jan 28, 2017

Show notes

Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon three different kinds of scary future. There are a lot of different ways to be scary. Maybe the future can be scary in all three ways at once! Scary Cool This VR device will have you actually wanting to work out. https://www.facebook.com/mashable/videos/10154844196714705/ Scary Funny That Moment When Fox News Isn’t So Faux https://www.facebook.com/beingalibertarian/videos/597418697130836/?pnref=story Just Plain Scary Something Silent But Deadly Is Killing Galaxies http://gizmodo.com/something-silent-but-deadly-is-killing-galaxies-1791328049?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=Gizmodo_facebook OTHER GEEK Timothy Gordon Update 50th anniversary of The Gorn. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series) Coming soon, we will be able to honor Star Trek centennials. Join Us! WT 259-568

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