Finding Genius Podcast

One in two people around the world who have dementia will never receive a diagnosis for it, and those that do will likely receive it too late for existing treatments to be helpful. This is a problem that's not only depriving patients of quality time, but also costing significant amounts of money due to earlier needs for residential care. As it currently stands, testing for dementia usually begins only after a patient or their friends and family members notice cognitive impairment, usually in the form of forgetfulness. Once memory problems set in, however, it's usually too late to slow the progression of the disease. In addition, the current tests designed to identify and help a clinician diagnose dementia rely on rudimentary, pen-and-paper tests that depend heavily on self-reporting. Cognetivity is a company that's offering a new type of test that could change all of this. COO of Cognetivity, Tom Sawyer, explains that much like blood pressure or cholesterol check, their test can be completed as part of a routine physical exam. The premise of the test is quite simple and involves showing patients different images for a short duration and then prompting them to say something about the content of the images they're shown. Capable of detecting very small changes in cognitive function and mild incompetencies that no test before it has been able to, it can identify pre-symptomatic stages of dementia 10 to 15 years before most people would receive a diagnosis today. This significantly earlier detection allows for the implementation of behavioral and lifestyle changes, mental exercises, and some medications in order to delay the progression of the disease and the need for residential care. Tune in to hear the full conversation and visit cognetivity.com to learn more.

Miriam Kalamian, EdM, MS, CNS, discusses her work as an educator and nutrition expert, and talks extensively about the connection between diet and disease. Kalamian has devoted much of her life to the study of nutrition. She is board certified in nutrition (CNS), bestowed upon her by the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists. As a noted nutrition consultant and educator, she spends a great deal of her time focused on the importance of diet in an overall healthy lifestyle. And as a successful author and nutrition expert she is interested in the implementation of ketogenic therapies, and has written extensively on the topic. Kalamian holds a master of education (EdM) from Smith College and a master of human nutrition (MS) from Eastern Michigan University. Kalamian discusses her background and what led to her current career focus. As she recounts, her world was rocked back in 2004 when her young son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Standard therapies did not stop the aggressive progression of his disease, and thus it was clear to Kalamian that she simply had to go in a different direction to fight for her son. After much reading and research, Kalamian discovered Dr. Thomas Seyfried's extensive research that was based on the ketogenic diet as a means to fight cancer. She discusses in detail, the journey she went through with her son, and talks about the ways in which the body turns up its power to fight, when a stricter diet commands the body to work efficiently. The nutrition expert delves into the inner-workings of the body and its abilities to handle and process foods. She talks about the effects of too much protein in a diet, and explains what happens internally. She explains how cancer cells work and how exercise and diet combine to provide benefits. Kalamian explains fatty acids and ketosis, and the removal of glucose from the bloodstream. As she states, low-impact exercise, such as a nice walk, helps to remove glucose from the bloodstream in a safe and effective way. She explains that nutrition, when controlled, can benefit the body's health while simultaneously working against cancer. The effects of a ketogenic diet can have a significant impact on some cancer patients in combination with their doctor's other treatments and therapies. While keto may not be the sole solution, it certainly can enhance traditional medicine treatments.

Alyssa Crittenden, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Medicine, delivers a thorough overview of anthropology and diet. Crittenden has spent many years deeply researching the evolution of human behavior, specifically as it pertains to nutrition and reproduction. With a keen interest in the many questions that circulate regarding what makes our human species so incredibly unique, Crittenden's research taps into the direct links between diet composition, growth/development, as well as the formation of families and child rearing. Crittenden discusses her opinions on diet and nutrition. As a nutritional anthropologist, she is particularly interested in historical diets as they relate to what we know today. She delves into a discussion on the paleo diet. The paleo diet, short for Paleolithic diet, sometimes referred to as the caveman diet or stone-age diet is a complete diet that requires an individual to restrict their diet to foods thought to have been readily available to humans throughout the Paleolithic era. Crittenden explains the benefits of various diets and substitutes people can make to stay true to their particular diet. As she states, while the paleo diet is popular, many clinical nutritionists don't advocate it. From an anthropological perspective, she explains that the enlargement of human brains was related to higher quality food sources. The Ph.D. discusses how many diets exist in our society, but most of the world does not have the same dietary options or access. She delves into some of the questions we ponder in relation to our food sources and diet and relates how our microbiome is directly impacted by not only foods we eat but also our environment. She talks about worms and insects and how many people in the world commonly eat them, though most Americans are quite averse to the idea. She explains how the harvesting of insects is more sustainable, as large animals require significant amounts of land for grazing. She details some of the statistics that relate to food growth and crop productivity. Incorporating insects into the diet, Crittenden states is perhaps one of the best ways that we can enhance our food supply, with a lower impact. The professor discusses how access to adequate nutrition is still a privilege but not a right. Many people in the world are malnourished, unfortunately, and obesity adds another element that contributes negatively to global health. Crittenden has worked extensively with the Hadza of Tanzania, East Africa — one of the world's few remaining hunting and gathering populations. Crittenden's work has been published often in academic journals and highlighted in notable media sources such as The New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Psychology Today, and many others.

It's already been successfully accomplished in mice: the joining of sperm and egg cells that were developed from skin-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), and the consequent creation of healthy infants. But could the same thing be done in humans? And if so, should it? Dr. Hank Greely is the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and professor by courtesy of genetics at Stanford University with expert knowledge on the social, legal, and ethical implications of various research endeavors in genetics and the biosciences. He's also the author of The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction, a fascinating book that focuses largely on the concept of embryo selection, which, aided by the latest developments in stem cell and iPS research, could become a reality in the coming years. Imagine being able to flip through a catalog of hundreds of options of embryos—some with a high likelihood of having blonde hair and brown eyes and a low risk of developing a certain disease, and others with a high likelihood of having brown hair , or blue eyes, or a high risk of developing that same disease. Dr. Greely discusses a range of interesting topics, including the potential for the development of skin-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to allow hundreds of thousands of couples to have genetic children despite not having functional sperm and/or eggs, the potential for homosexual couples to have genetic children, and unibabies—the concept of developing an embryo created by egg and sperm cells from the same individual. What would that look like, and what's the next step after unibabies? Dr. Greely discusses all this and more, so tune in, check out his book on Amazon, and watch his Ted Talk by following this link https://law.stanford.edu/directory/henry-t-greely/#slsnav-featured-video.

Many of us have fond memories of playing with Lincoln Logs and Legos as children, constructing cities and vehicles and whatever else we felt like we needed. As an assistant professor of mechanical engineering with courtesy appointments in biomedical engineering as well as electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Rebecca Taylor gets to play out a version of those memories every day in her lab. How? By engineering and developing control schemes for 'DNA origami'—tiny DNA-based electromechanical systems from which rafts or giant bundles or elastic hinges or any number of other conformations and features can be made. Once programmed to follow a certain pathway, these systems essentially build themselves, making for immensely powerful tools in bioengineering. Dr. Taylor joins the podcast to discuss how exactly DNA origami works and the specific projects her lab is currently working on, which include the creation of microswimmers—tiny robots capable of swimming through the smallest passageways in the human body, such as capillaries measuring eight microns in diameter. Using DNA technology, Dr. Taylor and her team are able to control the assembly of these systems, dictating the level of stiffness, and where and how they'll function in the body. The future direction of Dr. Taylor's work will focus on engineering DNA origami that could act like molecular chaperones, facilitating their own more complex assemblies and changing shape dynamically, bending, twisting, carrying, and moving things into position in order to fulfill a variety of roles within the body. Tune in for all the details, and stay up to date with the latest developments by visiting https://engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/taylor-rebecca.html.

Returning guest and theoretical astrophysicist Ethan Siegel joins the podcast for an eye-opening and incredibly informative discussion that will lead you to question one of the most fundamental aspects of existence: how the universe began. Scientists and laypersons alike almost always point to the Big Bang theory, which posits that 13.8 billion years ago, all matter and energy that would give rise to the entire universe as we observe it today was condensed into a single dense point before starting to expand. In simple terms, the Big Bang theory was developed by extrapolating backward from what we observe today—an expanding universe that's becoming less and less dense as wavelengths are elongating and objects are getting further apart. So, what's the problem with the Big Bang theory? If you were to ask Ethan Siegel that question, he would respond with some questions of his own: "Why is the universe the same temperature in all directions to one part in 30,000? Why is the universe perfectly spatially flat and balanced between expansion rate and all energy in the universe? And why are there no high-energy relics left over from this early, hot, dense state if the temperatures got arbitrarily high?" According to Siegel and many other cosmologists who study the universe for a living, these are some of the puzzles that the widely accepted theory simply cannot account for. He explains each of these questions in detail (what exactly they mean, how they've come to be asked, and why it's important to answer them), and also what we need to do in order to move beyond this theory. What would a new theory capable of replacing the Big Bang theory even look like? And how would we go about determining if it gives correct predictions? Siegel discusses all of this, drawing from a seemingly endless wealth of information and making for a fascinating conversation that'll take you out of this world. Interested in diving deeper into this topic? Siegel is writing a whole book on it, which is set to be released during the first quarter of 2020 (and maybe even earlier). In the meantime, check out his blog, Starts With A Bang!

In an attempt to combat the Great Chinese Famine in the 1950s, the Chinese government ordered the cull of huge numbers of sparrows in order to preserve the grain that comprised the majority of their diet, but in the absence of sparrows, the insect population exploded, decimating crops and leading to the death of millions of people; this is just one example of ecological restoration gone wrong, and the catastrophic consequences of uninformed action. With the use of big data analytics and machine learning tools, Thomas Crowther, Ph.D. is making the most of data that was previously unavailable to us—data that will allow us to make better, more ecologically-informed decisions that will aid in the restoration of the planet's ecosystems and circumvent the potentially disastrous consequences of ecological reform gone wrong. Whether 'restoration' means changing the composition of soils, removing farm animals from sections of land in order to allow for the return of natural vegetation, or simply planting trees will depend on the geographical location in question and the nature of the ecosystem present. The Crowther Lab app is informing various restoration efforts around the world by allowing them to select and zoom in on a particular geographical region, and identify which form of action would best serve the ecological system. "We are a single location that brings together the full holistic ecological status of the system. There are lots of researchers around world working on soil microbes, soil bacteria, trees, etc., and we are providing a platform where we bring all of that information together," explains Dr. Crowther. Press play to hear the full conversation and learn more about ongoing research and restoration efforts by visiting crowtherlab.com

In all likelihood, you directly interact with at least three phases of matter on a daily basis—gas, liquid, and solid. But the same can't necessarily be said about plasma, the fourth phase of matter. In fact, some people might be inclined to say that plasma doesn't relate much to our daily lives at all…but they'd be mistaken. To understand the impact of plasma, it's only necessary to understand the impact of satellites—spacecraft that orbit Earth's atmosphere and allow for global telecommunications, navigation, weather forecasting, environmental forecasting, and so much more. Historically, the noble gas xenon has been the primary source of fuel for electric satellite propulsion, but the team at Phase Four is creating plasma propulsion technology that's allowing for cheaper, more efficient, and more flexible satellite missions. Phase Four technology allows for electric satellite propulsion to be fueled by any neutral gas (e.g., xenon, argon, and krypton) as well as novel propellants, such as water vapor, air, and methane. The ability to use such novel propellants will remove the necessity of carrying earthbound fuels into space, and allow for the use of locally available fuels, thereby making for cheaper and lengthier missions. CEO of Phase Four, Beau Jarvis, joins the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of this new technology, as well as a number of other interesting topics, such as the imminence of megaconstellations and the potential for space-delivered internet in the coming years. Interested in learning more? Tune in and visit phasefour.io.

Phil Deschamps, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Helius Medical Technologies delivers an overview of brain function and brain stimulation. Phil Deschamps has been on board with Helius Medical Technologies since 2013. Deschamps has amassed an impressive 28 years of continuous experience in the growing pharmaceutical and healthcare industry and has worked with major corporations such as Bristol Myers Squibb, GSW Worldwide, and MediMedia Health. Deschamps has overseen the strategic development of multiple companies and is a seasoned veteran and noted authority in the industry. Deschamps discusses his work at Helius and the new, advanced portable neuromodulation stimulator they refer to as simply, PoNS. He provides a detailed overview of how external stimulation of the brain works, with an emphasis on neuroplasticity. Helius focuses on noninvasive platform technologies, with the intent to provide outstanding new treatment options for many patients by amplifying the human brain's innate ability to actually heal itself. PoNS is a medical device that looks very promising in various clinical trials. Deschamps speaks about their work with traumatic brain injuries, but he states that over time they hope to be cleared to provide solutions for many more medical areas such as MS, Parkinson's, stroke, cerebral palsy, etc. The medical technology expert discusses rehabilitation in regard to brain function. He describes the exercises in physical therapy that help a patient recover, and how PoNS can enhance the physical therapy to provide permanent improvements. He delves into the design of their device and how it works, but he underscores that clinical trials are ongoing and with each new trial they continue to learn more about the benefits of this new technology. Scientifically, there is much to learn still, but researchers are working steadily to progress the tech to help many patients. Deschamps talks about their clinically significant results and their review process with the FDA. Additionally, he provides information on the various groups that they have worked with in regard to physical therapy. He discusses placebo and blinding, and the other means they use to gather the most honest data they can in their clinical trials. He expounds further upon specific trials and discusses some of their surprises, as well as some of the expectations they went into the trials with, that were met. He states that they found some significant brain changes that have been very encouraging. Down the road, Deschamps hopes to find even more advanced ways to help patients affected by neurological symptoms caused by trauma and disease.

The age of fifth generation cellular technologies is upon us, which means faster connectivity by three to 10 orders of magnitude, lower latency by 10 orders of magnitude, virtual and augmented reality capabilities, and within a few years, connectivity to IoT, including personal computers, vehicles, manufacturing plants, and homes. Ignacio Contreras is the director of 5G product marketing at Qualcomm, a company that has expedited the deployment of 5G technologies in response to unexpected and substantial consumer demand for greater data capacity and smartphone capabilities. He explains the evolution of cellular technologies over the years, starting from the 1980s when 1G—the first analog cell phones—was the breakthrough technology that the world had never seen before. He also details the fundamental differences between 5G and all previous generations of cellular technology, underscoring the globally transformative potential of 5G. Launches start this year across the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and China. Tune in and visit https://www.qualcomm.com/ to learn more and stay current on the latest developments.