Topic: Science and Technology (general)
Dr. Moira Gunn interviews Alva Noe, author of the book Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness, in which he challenges the assumptions underlying neuroscientific studies of consciousness.
Moira speaks with Astrophysicist Mario Livio, who asks and answers the question: "Is God a Mathematician?"
Changes in the size, speed, and capabilities of databases underlie every major technology change in capital markets. Investors want to store more, do it faster, and be able to compare the present to any arbitrary period in the past--and do it all in real-time. While that has never been possible, entrepreneur and computer scientist Dr. Michael Stonebraker gives a talk about data, traditional database vendors, the next generation of database engines, and what it all means--on and off Wall Street.
In India and Africa, syringes are frequently reused, despite the obvious dangers of cross infection and death. Marc Koska talks about his involvement with Star Syringe, which designed and licensed an auto-disable syringe that prevents syringe reuse. He discusses how single-use syringe adoption is progressing in India, and also talks about the activities and aims of his charity SafePoint Trust.
Simonie Wilson, a senior speech scientist working at Intervoice, shares her thoughts about, and experiences in the field of VUI's (Voice User Interfaces). Today's VUI's aren't really that good, and people know this; or do they? Simonie, an expert in the field, would like us to believe something else; that the majority of the systems in use today are merely patchworks; that there are, in fact, much better technologies just waiting to be put to use to provide people with satisfactory interfaces.
Moira speaks with Neil Degrasse Tyson, Hayden Planetarium Director and author of The Pluto Files. He talks about all the flack he took for downgrading Pluto from a planet to a dwarf.
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with two scientists involved with new companies formed to work with new medical discoveries. Dr. Carolee Barlow discusses newly updated knowledge about anti-depressants and how they work. Then, Dr. Paul Rubin talks about the science of fish oils.
Robert Laughlin talks about his new book "The Crime of Reason and the Closing of the Scientific Mind." Professor Laughlin explores the inherent conflict between the government's efforts to support and protect the commercialization of Intellectual Property and the scientific researcher's need for free access to information in order to expand our knowledge in critical areas. Will ignorance be the price we inadvertently pay for safety and commerce?
Vinod Khosla, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, says he used to be an environmentalist, but is now more of a "pragmentalist." In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored audio lecture, Khosla turns conventional wisdom about what passes for "green technology" on its head. He takes a hard look at how innovations such as hybrid cars and fuel cell buses may, in fact, be exacerbating our problems, and offers concrete, iconoclastic suggestions as to what science, business, and government should be focusing on instead.
In this conversation with Bob Jennings, a longtime user and designer of alternative heating systems, host Jon Udell reviews the rationale for his own recently-installed wood gasification boiler. And Bob Jennings explains why trees and the sun will be key ingredients of New England's renewable energy mix.
