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!

Future News - Sick NASA Burn, Martian Colony Food Options, World Economic Forum Breakthrough Tech

Listen Now to Future News 6.28.2016

A fun news session today, not just because of our scintillating personalities, but also because we had our second guests participate in commenting on the news. That would be Aubrey Anderson and Mark Buchanan, tech entrepreneurs creating the first round computer for your pocket. (More on that in their interview).  They added quite a bit to this news segment, enjoy!

Future News - New Drone Rules, Autonomous Bus Debuts, China Builds New Supercomputer without US chips Wearable Dialysis Unit, Taylor Barcroft reports on What's new from Apple's WWDC, and Gregory Panos reports on E3 in LA

Listen Now to Future News 6.21.2016

Happy Summer to you!  We begin the new season with two reports from our trusted agents in the field, the first by Taylor Barcroft on the latest from Apple Computer at their World Wide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco.  Get ready to update your thinking about texting!  Our second report is from our VR expert, Gregory Panos, who just attended the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in LA.  Keep an eye on Sony and their new VR system, to be debuted by Q4 2016..

We also have new rules for drones, a very cool new use for IBM’s Watson AI, a Chinese supercomputer with all processors made in China, a wearable portable kidney dialysis machine, a study on the neural density of birds brains, a floating Tesla, and more to keep you informed and entertained by the likes of us. Enjoy!

An Electric Autonomous Bus driven by Watson, IBM’s AI