The Diginauts: Recent Episodes
None
There’s no way to say it without sounding clichéd, so we’re just going to let it fly: This century’s digital citizen lives a life that moves at the speed of tech. Diginaut Eric and Diginaut Deron will examine the trends and breakthroughs that promise to disrupt our digital lives, and the ethical implications for society. And they can’t stress enough how willing they are to receive free beta versions of your bleeding edge product to discuss on the show.
This week all the headlines have something to do with masculinity? Which one did Deron make up, and will Eric guess correctly.
Newest start-up from the inventors of Vine, artistic graffiti on privately-owned buildings, six ways humanity might destroy itself with tech.
Kaspersky Labs may have been a way in for Russian hackers. Artificial intelligence breakthroughs in selecting successful startups, mimicking the human voice, and bluffing. Renewable energy advances in evaporation, seaweed, blood, and tears. Plus, Can you pick the fake science headline?
Deron & Eric play "Three Headlines & a Lie" with stories about frogs. Other topics include carbon trapping, blockchain in every day life, and a breakthrough in soft robotics
Deron and Eric wonder if sound has been weaponized in Cuba, if computers can tell if you're gay, and whether cars should flip the trolley dilemma switch.
Seven Bill Gates predictions for the future. Will we reanimate Walt Disney’s frozen head soon? We’ve discovered ‘lost’ vegetation, and there’s a lot more carbon sink than we previously thought.
Russia's not-a-Terminator project. 3D printing from moon dust. We're NOT on track to stop global climate change.
- segment 1, Top of Mind -- Neuralink: Elon Musk doesn't have enough companies yet, so he's starting a new one to explore connecting human brains with computers.
- segment 2, Future File -- Synthetic Synapses: A team at the National Center for Scientific Research has created a "memristor," a first step in artificial brains.
- segment 3, Juris Prudent -- Patents Versus Ownership Rights: The Supreme Court is deciding whether companies can continue to maintain control over the use of their products, even after you buy them. Lexmark doesn't want you to reuse your printer cartridges via third-party suppliers, and we discuss the precedent that might set.
- segment 4, Let's Dig Some More: In Deron's Official Omnibus Offering of Mother Earth Dispatches, the Great Barrier Reef is terminally ill. Stories of robots replacing bricklayers, contractors, pizza delivery folk, financial corporate officers, and even lawyers and creative directors.
Call us! Tweet us! Let us know what you think! Give us a call and leave a voice message at 323.686.8255, or tweet @efader or @digitalderon.
Peter Thiel as both an investor in the NSA spy technology Palantir and a Trump advisor. SpaceX plans to fly two private passengers around the moon. More about Mamaphants and supeonas for Alexa.
Scientists employ CRISPR to introduce mammoth attributes into elephants. Confessed Gamergate perpetrators nonetheless not prosecuted. UAE plans to debut a fleet of flying taxis.
- segment 1, Top of Mind -- Twins! In! Spaaaaaaace! (0:00): NASA sent one twin into space, and kept the other on Earth. We'll talk about what they learned from the brothers' DNA.
- segment 2, If You Had To Choose -- Recent Governmental Maneuvers (8:00): Trump's FCC chair signals lack of interest in net neutrality. A federal magistrate rules that Google must turn over foreign emails to the FBI. And Congress rolls back environmental protection laws
- segment 3, Hope For Humanity -- Swearing & Honesty (32:39):A University of Cambridge suggests those who use curse words tend to be more honest.
- segment 4, Let's Dig Some More (36:52): Fukushima radiation has spiked dangerously, an alleged arsonist was trapped by his pacemaker data, and a Chinese factory has successfully replaced 90% of its human workers with robots.
A materials science company dreams up skyscrapers that clean the air. Advancements in computers reading human brains. A marketplace for the value of memes.
Self-proclaimed inventor of EMAIL files defamation lawsuit against TechDirt's Mike Masnick. More on automation and the end of humans working. And we need another word for when you “talk” to someone, when you never actually talked to them.
A new brain study sheds light on why it can be so hard to change someone's political beliefs. Police seek Amazon Echo data in murder case. And we discuss the Singularity, and the future of the human race, or perhaps of a human-computer hybrid race.
A German-led multi-national group of scientists has completed the next step in successfully harnessing fusion as an energy source. An artificial intelligence can create music by looking at an image. We share its Christmas carol creation. And the president-elect will be meeting with the top brass from Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more. Sooo…. they’ll probably talk sports?
The UK passed an extreme surveillance law allowing British government to record all phone and internet use of its citizens. The CEO of Reddit confessed that he changed some comments on the site without anyone knowing. We discuss humanity’s inevitable march to full automation… What will humanity do when there is no more work?
Dr. Sergio Canavero intends to perform a human HEAD transplant surgery, and he has a volunteer lined up for the procedure. Scientists have found that they can collect demographics of a neighborhood by analyzing skin flakes and bacteria left on an ATM. Which privacy invasion worries you more: cell phones with back doors, Snap Spectacles, or earbuds that record what you say?
We discuss at length the role of social media on public opinion and ultimately the victory of Donald Trump. A new technology allows transmission of password authentication via your body instead of wi-fi. A district court considers whether students can sue the U.S. government for being complicit in global climate change.
Trump v. Clinton results are coming in. The plots of Alien and Terminator seem to be getting their seeds in reality, thanks to the governments of Luxembourg and the US. See what we mean.
Documents reveal that telecom giant AT&T has been profiting by warrantlessly selling user meta-data to law enforcement. The U.S. government wants a ‘Ctrl-Z’ option for genetic engineering. University of Surrey researchers advocate that creativity will be maximized if we allow computers to own the intellectual property rights for inventions.
Factions of your government want search warrants to include pre-approved rights to force you to open your phone. Y-Combinator is taking heat for having a Trump supporter’s back. Scientists might have found the technology to save our planet. And Deron really wants everyone to behave as a citizen of a utopian society.
We revisit some earlier segments to talk about big updates from this week, like President Obama pointing the U.S. towards Mars, efforts to stem climate change, and another accident involving a self-driving car. Plus, we discuss whether animals have rights to their artwork, whether humans have reached the limits of their longevity, and the need for new words in the English language.
Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration have passed 400 parts per million. Are we doomed? Do you have to say goodbye once a friend dies, or might a digital avatar fill their place? Do you worry as computer companies move towards listening to every word you say? Does brain scanning mean better security, or might it further compromise your privacy?
Deron and Eric discuss research into overwriting human memory. We take a first listen to some music composed by an artificial intelligence. We discuss Elon Musk’s vision to go beyond Mars into the solar system, becoming an interplanetary species.
Eric and Deron would like to welcome you to our weekly conversation about technology's impact on society. This week we discuss Uber's experiments in driverless cars, North Dakotah's approval of non-lethal weapons on unmanned drones, and we invite your input on whether parents should share pictures of their kids on social media.