Tech Tmrw: Recent Episodes
Hit Start Media
Self-driving cars, designer babies, and 3D printed guns are no longer looming in the distant future: the future has arrived, and so has a tidal wave of technological innovation. On Tech Tmrw, we do a deep dive into the possible pros and cons of today’s innovations. We open each episode with a short-form science-fiction narrative exploring a hot topic in tech. Then, host Theo Miller, CEO and Founder of Hit Start Media, has an open conversation with the writers, technologists, and others who are most immersed in this new technology to investigate its consequences.
Literacy is the most important skill for anyone to possess, as it opens the door to all types of learning. Finland recently published a national strategy focused on that very skill, aiming to become the most literate country by 2030. Catalin Voss, Co-Founder & CTO of Ello, shares a similar goal. Ello is the worlds’ first virtual reading coach that works with real books to empower children as they learn to read. And while Catalin believes heavily in AI fostering the future of education, he also discusses the reality and limitations that we are experiencing today.
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With all these new cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and digital stock brokers, it can feel hard to keep up at times. But armed with the wealth of knowledge online, more Americans own stock than ever before. Mark Elenowitz, Co-Foudner of Upstream, is working to bridge the crypto and physical worlds by allowing investors to use alternative forms of currency to buy into US Equities and more traditional asset classes. Mark believes these new methods of investing will continue empowering individuals, but that it might take longer than expected for them to be fully accepted.
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Logistically, humanity has never been as connected as we are now. Emotionally…jury might still be out on that one. Dr. Benjamin Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Florida, admits that human behavior has always been complicated and that we’ve only begun to touch the surface of understanding what makes us tick. Hear the arguments Benjamin makes for and against our hyper-connected lives, and how society can evolve to build healthier relationships moving forward.
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Imagine a world where space travel becomes as trivial as booking an airline ticket. Sure, you still might encounter headaches like neverending security checkpoints, tight sitting arrangements, and wailing children, but you’ll be headed to a new planet hundreds of thousands of miles away. That’s what we discuss today with Sohrab Haghighat, Co-Founder and CEO of SpaceRyde, a deep space logistics company building a network of rockets to provide on-demand cargo transportation in space. Hear how the modern space race is accelerating innovation on and off our planet, and why it's worth paying attention to.
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While the ability to work from anywhere has led to dramatic increases in productivity, many people are unfortunately now grappling with screen fatigue. Our ever increasing digital interconnectivity often makes it difficult to ignore notifications and decompress. Fred Stutzman, Founder and CEO of Freedom, recognizes that innovations like the newsfeed are not going away anytime soon and that individuals need assistance in taking back control. Learn how Fred maintains a balance of work, socials, and offline time in his daily life, and how you can too on this week’s episode.
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Now that the traditional workplace dynamic has been turned on its head, many professionals are left wondering what’s next in regards to their 9-5. Today, we look at how the desire for the highest efficiencies might affect the office of the future. Joining us is Zerzar Bukhari, Founder and CEO of Zynq, an office management platform for companies who want to give their employees the best of both worlds. Zerzar fears an overcorrection in the coming years with the return of full time work in office, and discusses how this problem can be addressed ahead of the curve.
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The technologies of science fiction stories often are transformed into reality, such as the credit card and video calling. Today we hear a story revolving around a writing duo stuck trying to make up the next big movement. This writers’ block resonates with Martha Wells, author of the famous book series, The Murderbot Diaries. Hear her talk about her writing process, where she draws inspiration from, and how she feels about Elon Musk.
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Everyone wishes they could go back in time and talk to Jesus, if only to prove what he actually believed. In today’s story, we portray a tech mogul who has created his own digital Jesus, though it doesn’t behave quite as he’d hoped. Professor Randall William Reed hasn’t quite done that just yet, but he’s on his way. He and his team are working on an AI programmed with the complete sayings of Jesus from multiple translations of the gospels. Once it’s completed, it should be able to comment on current events with fascinating insight. Professor Reed also discusses what religion means to Gen Z, and how their relationship to technology shapes their beliefs.
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Everyone talks about the water crisis, but no one knows what it really means. Is there not enough? Too much? Is it clean? Do we need to ration? Today’s story suggests a particularly…unpleasant method of generating more water. Retired Air Force lieutenant general Steve Kwast dispels a lot of these misconceptions as he talks with Theo about his company, Genesis Systems. They use new technologies to pull the water right out of the air. Steve shares how there’s as much fresh water around us as in all the major rivers combined, and suggests that his solution would go a lot further than rationing. He also discusses growing up in Africa and how that changed his perception of water.
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Everyone’s got bleak predictions for the future of the human body. Including us! In today’s story, where we depict an individual for whom going outside is a dangerous prospect. We’re going to get fatter, slower, and wheezier. David Roger may not be able to fix all that, but he founded his company Felix Gray to provide blue-light filtering eyewear that prevents your vision from deteriorating. And it’s stylish too – keeping you from looking like Cyclops the X-Man. He talks with Theo about all the ways his company is working to save human vision from those pesky computer screens. They also talk about instances where technology is actually preventing us from becoming total mole people.
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There’s a lot of doom, gloom and speculation about what climate change will look like–but Francesca O’Hanlon is here to tell you its effects are quite visible in parts of Africa and Central America. As a self described “water professional” and founder of the B2B Water Treatment company Blue Tap, she wants you to know climate change is definitively a water problem–and that despite misinformation campaigns from big oil, our conservation efforts are making an impact on rising temperatures. Francesca sat down with Tech Tmrw to tell you some good news about climate change, and what to expect from the Earth in our lifetime.
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We are flooded with dating sites and apps that promise a real shot at love. Developments in machine learning are sparking conversation about digital matchmaking–would computer programs have a better grasp on what we might need in a partner?
Jessica Alderson is the co-founder and CEO of So Syncd, a dating site that suggests potential matches based on personality. So Synced uses a 16 personality assessment to match compatible users. Jessica sat down with Tech Tmrw to discuss online dating, and the future of finding love.
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Investors and other early adopters have been trying to convince the world to care about cryptocurrency, and in 2021 it looked like they might have succeeded. When Beeple sold his digital artwork for a record setting $69 million, it sparked a fiery discussion around what non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are, and why they’re selling at these prices.
NFTs have only grown in popularity–the digital art is showing in museums. But why should we care? Easely co-founder Connor Wen sits down with Tech Tmrw host Theo Miller to talk about why he’s betting big on blockchain. Connor breaks down the security that blockchain provides, defines web3, and shares the inspiration behind his NFT marketplace.
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Adam Keating is the CEO and co-founder of CoLab Software. Since leading development for one of the world’s first hyperloop vehicles for SpaceX’s international competition in 2017, he’s devoted his career to building better software for mechanical design teams.
In this episode, host Theo Miller sits down with Adam to discuss the future of engineering communication, and the differences between hardware and software development. The pair discuss a future where hardware is stackable and as cutting edge as software, making tech more accessible, and why digital communication is the way forward.
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As climate change intensifies, society is looking to assign the blame. Breaking down our global carbon budget, it’s easy to single out particular groups for their ecological footprint, and wonder if our individual conservation efforts make much of a difference.
In this episode, the co-founder of Abatable, Maria Eugenia Filmanovic sits down with Tech Tmrw host Theo Miller to discuss the blame game of climate change. As an expert in carbon sequestration, Maria shares why companies need to reduce their emissions first, the most successful ways to contain carbon dioxide, and her views on the future of our planet.
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Teaching machines to think has long been a goal of computer scientists and a mainstay in sci-fi stories. We’ve done our best with artificial intelligence (AI), which relies on feeding computers large amounts of data and finding more precise solutions. But what if computers had their own logic?
Artificial general intelligence is the idea that computers will be able to learn as humans do. This technology would unlock the ability to solve troubling puzzles like quantum physics. But with computers that can learn and understand, where does that leave humans–and the value of our thoughts? Tech Tmrw host Theo Miller sits down with Forethought co-founder and CEO Deon Nicholas to unpack the future of AI, self-driving cars, and productivity in this episode of Tech Tmrw. Looking for more? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or sign up for our Newsletter for exclusive content!
As climate change shapes the world around us, leaders are trying to make us more conscious of our own impact on the environment. This looks like reducing our water usage, using solar panels, driving electric vehicles, or simply eating less beef. In this episode of Tech Tmrw, we learn how important individual action is in the fight to reduce climate change.
Markus Gilles is the CEO and founder of Klima, an app that helps users track their individual carbon footprint, and cut back on their emissions. Markus aims to give his users the language to understand and measure the impact of their daily choices. By building carbon reduction into our activities, he believes we can mobilize more people to make better choices for the planet.
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As of 2022, there are 7.9 billion people living on Earth, and there’s plenty of food on the planet to feed everyone—but the UN’s hunger map estimated that in 2021, a tenth of the world population did not have enough to eat. Not everyone has access to enough food, let alone nutritious food, leaving hundreds of millions of people vitamin deficient or starving.
New technologies in the agricultural sector have the potential to relieve these crises. Genetically modified foods, like Golden Rice, are being engineered to have a higher nutritional value and higher crop yield–which means that more food can be cultivated on less land. Biofortified crops could save millions of lives, especially those of infants and young children, who are disproportionately affected by vitamin deficiencies in developing countries. But, with a growing stigma against genetically modified foods, will we get the chance?
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Historians can’t pin down exactly when humans started domesticating dogs and cats—it could be anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 years ago. Either way, dogs and cats have been co-evolving with humans since before recorded history, and their ability to communicate with humans reflects this. Dogs can recognize words like “treat” and “walk,” understand commands, and use vocalization and body language to express their needs. Cats even started meowing solely as a way to communicate with the humans who cared for them.
Cutting-edge technology is bringing us closer than ever to our pets, and taking Doctor Dolittle from fantasy to nonfiction. Researchers are exploring the potential advances in animal communication far beyond speech buttons and sign language, including methods that would allow humans to more accurately understand animals’ feelings. Ranging from using AI to read animals’ body language to using fMRI to track their mental states, humans are trying to speak with their pets. What do you think your pet will say to you?
Education is supposed to open up opportunities, but these opportunities have always had barriers. The success of a student’s education doesn’t just depend on their personal commitment to learning—it’s also influenced by outside factors, like socioeconomic status, race, gender, and disability status.
Technology in the classroom–or edtech–plays an important part in making education more accessible and mitigating biases. Edtech companies are creating devices with disabilities in mind, making education more engaging, and helping teachers use technology in their classrooms. Edtech’s success largely depends on our ability to make it accessible to everyone, and this is especially true in the face of the ongoing pandemic. Despite the struggles of remote learning, the pandemic has revealed countless new opportunities to make education more accessible, such as more flexible schedules, hybrid learning, and increased online literacy, to name a few.
So, what changes should we look out for over the coming years as edtech continues to reshape the ways we learn? Tech Tmrw takes a look.
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On the modern web, when we enter data into a site, that data is stored in a server. Many of those servers are owned by big tech companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, who collect our data and sell it to other companies. The majority of data is controlled by a few companies, leaving it vulnerable to hacking and data leaks.
Web3 is considered the next generation of the internet–and it’s focused on making data safer. With web3, data is collected and stored using blockchain technology. Blockchain technology doesn’t have what’s known as a “single point of failure,” meaning that even if someone were able to hack part of the system, they would not be able to access everyone’s information. Web3’s supporters argue that it will give data ownership and access back to individual users. With web3, no single corporation can control everyone’s data through access to a server. But is that a realistic vision for the future? Tech Tmrw, Explored takes a look.
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There may not be a magical fountain that promises eternal youth, but that doesn’t mean that humans have given up on the quest to stop aging. Wellness brands constantly produce new products that will “turn back the clock.” But in reality, anti-aging isn’t as simple as applying a cream every night. How we age is determined by genetics, lifestyle choices, disease, and nutrition. Over time, our cells become less capable of repairing damage, leading to a number of physical and mental health problems.
Now, scientists are looking to reverse signs of aging from the inside out. New experiments are exploring how gene therapy, altered microbiomes, hormones, and drugs can slow down the aging process so that we can avoid the health problems that come with old age—and look younger in the process. These treatments could potentially prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s or stop cancer cells from forming in the first place. Tech Tmrw, Explored takes a look at what happens as we age, and the science behind keeping our bodies young.
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Every year, we create an estimated 380 million tons of new plastic–an excellent and cheaply produced insulator with a long lifetime. According to the BBC, only 9% of all plastics on earth are recycled into new plastic materials. At the rate we’re going, our planet will have 3.4 billion tons of plastic on its surface by 2050, which is bad news for not only humans, but for the animals dealing with an onslaught of non-degradable material in their ecosystems. Plastic has permeated nearly every facet of our lives: it’s in our houses, in our food, even in our bodies. There’s an island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean three times the size of France.
With such a threat at hand, scientists are rushing to come up with a solution. We take a look at several promising prospects–melting down existing plastics into a reusable resin, and bacteria that evolved to break down plastics in landfills. As plastic permeates our planet, people are clamoring for answers. How much of a difference does recycling actually make? How are we handling plastics currently? What impact does it have on our environment? And, most importantly, will we be able to get a grip on the plastic crisis before it’s too late?
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Neil Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash debuted what he called the metaverse: a VR version of the internet where characters play as avatars of themselves, escaping their everyday troubles. Now almost 30 years later, some of the biggest tech companies in the world are backing Stephenson’s vision; most notably Facebook, which recently rebranded to “Meta” and announced a $10 billion investment plan to build out the metaverse.
The concept is still in its infancy, but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is confident that the metaverse is the future of the internet, and he isn’t alone. A Forbes article refers to the metaverse as a “$1 trillion revenue opportunity,” while a Business Insider article calls it “a worse version of the world we already have.” The metaverse is an online space that users can access via virtual reality headsets—and, although Facebook rebranded as “Meta” in reference to the metaverse, the metaverse won’t belong to one company. In fact, it won’t belong to anyone—just like the internet, the metaverse is intended to be universal.
People everywhere are clamoring for more information on the mysterious metaverse. What defines the metaverse? What does it feel like to be immersed in it? Who will be able to access it? And how soon can we expect to use it?
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Micromobility is the use of shared lightweight vehicles—bikes, scooters, and segways—to reduce carbon emissions. Private vehicles account for about 60% of carbon emissions worldwide. Shared bikes and scooters let people ditch their car, instead unlocking bikes that are returnable nearby. In 2019, the micromobility market was projected to be worth $500 million by 2030.
Despite plummeting use during the pandemic, micromobility startups are determined to recover. Many investors expect the market to ramp up in coming years, and we have a lot to look out for. How will the pandemic change the way we look at bikeshares? How will micromobility affect the infrastructure in our cities? Why are investors so drawn to this emerging industry? And how will bikeshares change the way we look at transportation?
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In 2019, Israel produced a tiny heart, just about big enough to fit a rabbit. Submerged in a small cube of liquid to sustain it, the heart wasn’t able to pump blood—in fact, the cherry-sized, anatomically correct heart couldn’t function like a real heart at all, but its remarkable potential made it a historic invention despite its inability to function.
This was the first 3D-printed human heart. Although the technology is still in its infancy, scientists have discovered the key to making transplantable printed organs: bioink, made up of fatty tissue from a donor mixed with collagen and proteins. The heart had the same tissue layers as a human heart, including an intricate network of miniscule blood vessels scaled to size. Scientists have been working on engineering working organs for years, from kidneys to livers to corneas, and the success of the first heart—an incredibly difficult organ to recreate—is a massive step for medicine.
Doctors have been using bioprinting to create skin, cartilage, bladdars and muscle tissues since 1999, but this development has massive implications for the 102,000 Americans on the waiting list for an organ transplant in 2021.
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In 2015, Snapchat released its first set of augmented reality (AR) filters with instant success. The first iterations of these “Lenses” were limited to heart eyes, puppy ears, and other quirky embellishments for selfies that captured the hearts of users around the world.
Now more brands are trying to get in on the action—it seems as though AR try-ons could be the future of fashion. Some businesses are already integrating AR try-ons into how they market their products. Luxury fashion retailer Farfetch, for instance, has integrated cloth simulation into their Snapchat campaign, allowing customers to see how the clothing might move in real life without actually putting anything on.
How will virtual fitting rooms impact your shopping habits?
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Obsolescence is a natural part of innovation—as long as people have been inventing new technologies, old technologies have been going out of style. Technology from our recent past—like landlines, fax machines, and DVD players—were phased out as modern technology has evolved to meet our needs.
Old tech not only serves as a trendy reminder of the recent past—it’s also likely that the return of these relics from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s indicates a push against planned obsolescence in modern technology. It’s no secret that today’s tech isn’t built to last—and that makes tangible, quality-made vintage devices all the more appealing.
If the recipe for success calls for tactility and longevity, what lies ahead for our disposable tech culture?
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On August 5, 2021, the Biden administration announced that by 2030 half of new vehicles on the market in the US will be powered by electricity. Electric vehicles represent 4% of vehicles on US roads today, so some experts wonder: can we bridge the gap?
Today, nearly 80% of the world’s energy is supplied by burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas, and some research shows that our oil wells could run dry in as little as 30 years if we continue mining at our current pace.
That’s where alternative fuel sources come in—such as hydrogen fuel or electricity—and if made widely accessible, they could end our century-long reliance upon burning gasoline to power vehicles.
Heavy investment into renewable fuel sources and infrastructure could reroute the trajectory of the climate crisis. On this episode of Tech Tmrw, Explored, take a deep dive into how electric vehicles use a page from the past to shape our future.
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Nineteen-year-old Miquela Sousa, or “Lil Miquela,” is the first member in a generation of CGI influencers created by Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou of Brud— an LA-based media company specializing in robotics and artificial intelligence. The Brazilian-American musician, model, and influencer has over three million followers on Instagram and was named one of Time Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People on the Internet in 2018.
As of 2021, the influencer marketing industry is valued at $13.8 billion, a staggering jump from it’s 2020 valuation of $9.7 billion. Real influencers can be unreliable and more expensive— where startlingly human-looking fictional influencers are unproblematic, and can be designed and manipulated to sell products however and wherever companies want them.
They are, in short, the perfect brand representatives—their accounts tell rich and curated stories of complex, modern individuals loved by millions of real fans across the globe. As influencers continue to blur the line between marketing and entertainment it begs the question: does it matter if they aren’t real? And how far will companies go to garner attention?
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In 2013, chef Richard McGeowan prepared the first cell cultured hamburger. The reviews weren’t raving—it was a bit dry, not terribly flavorful, and cost $300K to produce— but the world’s first taste of lab grown meat had huge implications.
Lab grown meat could disrupt the meat and dairy industry, which account for nearly 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Alternative protein sources would disrupt millions of jobs, and could take decades to land on grocery store shelves— but research suggests it’s closer than we imagine. Some sources predict that cultured meat could reach price parity with real meat in 10 years, meaning that we’ll soon actively be choosing between real meat and a highly realistic meat alternative.
What will your choice be?
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