Future News - Solar Planes in the News- both Human and Robotic, Singularity's Future Now, Live Report from Siggraph 2016

Listen Now to Future News 7.26.2016

Summertime and the Future’s Easy.  Two great reports this week on solar planes, one that made it around the world, and another that promises Internet access to parts of the planet not yet covered very well. Plus we have a live report from Gregory Panos and Richard Cray on Siggraph 2016, the birthplace of Virtual Reality back in the 90’s, and now a hotbed of all things involving computer graphics and animation, including VR and AR. It’s a fun and informative show, enjoy!

Time for Siggraph 2016 in Annaheim, CA photo - Richard Cray

Future News - Bezos is Alien in Star Trek, Pokeman Go Ninetendo, nVidia VR Games,Digging Deeper with Turtle Shells, New Autonomous Approach, Guest Glenn Howard, Indy Scientist and epic record collector.

Listen Now to Future News 7.19.2016

It’s summertime and news is light, unless you are listening to all the mud-slinging on the US political scence.  No we prefer to think of the Amazon chief as an alien and Pokeman Go as a means of elevating our awareness..sadly not.. but the truth about turtle shells will amuse you, and meeting Glenn Howard we think you’ll find is a treat. He has a rich personal history, having been raised in Palo Alto in the turbulent 1960’s, exposed to beatniks and later hippies at a young impressionable age. He has collected one of the most valuable record collections in the world and we wanted to know about it and how it all started.  Enjoy!

Nirdvana Panel Takes on Future News and a few Big Planetary Issues

Listen Now to the Nirdvana Panel

This week we brought several of our guests from our Nirdvana Party, a gathering of geeks and artists, to the KSCO studios to discuss some Future News stories.   I think you’ll appreciate the different perspectives, insights, and humor of our guests, who include our regular Dr. Future contributors Bruce L. Erickson, Bobby Wilder, and our new fem agent, Substance TGI.  Hulu, KSCO’s canine mascot was present as well. News topics include the fatal Tesla crash, Facebook’s secret conversations, personal privacy with our persohal devices, the code of ethics on human augmentation, geoengineering, and how fire chiefs would make the best community leaders. A very engaging show, enjoy!

Future News - NASA Orbits Jupiter! Exploring the Fatal Autonomous Tesla Accident, Millions of Android User Infected, The Mystery Spots of Ceres Revealed, China's massive Alien Hunter Radio Telescope, Man Marries iPhone, Others Grow Drones, Ultimate Bed From Chimp Minds,

Listen Now to Future News 7.05.2016

One of the big issues of today’s show was the fatal Tesla accident in Florida that happened in May.  How does this incident, and it was bound to happen sooner or later, affect the adoption of autonomous vehcicles?  Mrs. Future (Sun) shares what happened with the first automobile accidents 150 years ago, and I point out that software upgrades will not simply improve the faulty car but all of the other cars using the Autopilot software.  If we could all learn so well from the mistakes of others..We got lots of calls discussing this topic.

And this week is a milestone for NASA, with successfully getting the Juno probe in the perfect orbit for studying Jupiter, which turns out to be not a gaseous giant, but a metal giant planet!  Enjoy..

And Now for Something Completely Different - Introducing the Runcible, and the long history of circular pocket devices.

Listen Now to Aubrey Anderson and Mark Buchanan on the Runcible

You may have noticed that your smartphones and tablets are very rectangular with rectangular screens.  Well, the future may not be so square if the circular Runcible becomes popular. As a device it brings back the circle, much like the old fashioned pocket watch, but with most of the capabilities of a modern smart phone.  Why circular? Because it feels and looks right, and has a timeless quality to it that make it feel like you are carrying something of an heirloom.  We were curious about his radical departure from the current form factors of mobile tech, so we invited the inventor of the Runcible, Aubrey Anderson in the studio, with Mark Buchanan, another circular tech designer, to investigate this approach more deeply.  Enjoy!