Finding Genius Podcast

Business operations are often bogged down by slow or inaccurate transfers of data, and project costs can skyrocket when specialists have to be called on site to redirect or explain specific tasks. Kieran Hall, head of strategic partnership development at Rokid, explains the solution he and the Rokid team have developed: Rokid Glass, an AI and augmented reality-enabled, wearable remote assistive device designed to streamline enterprise and B2B operations by speeding up the transfer of important information and allowing for two-way calls between workers in the field and specialists on off-site locations. How does it work? By combining computer vision technologies and AI learning, Rokid has developed glasses with a built-in camera that allows off-site managers or specialists to see exactly what their workers in the field are seeing and make real-time annotations in the worker's field of vision. For example, the specialist could circle a problem area or type directions in the worker's line of vision. In this way, a worker's attention can be drawn to the correct location at the correct time, they can receive pertinent information precisely when they need it, and the specialist can maintain full oversight and provide ongoing instruction from anywhere in the world. The AI aspect of Rokid Glass benefits the worker by not only providing them with important information about their environment, but even predicting and preempting them with the information they might need as they approach a new or changing work site, thereby keeping them prepared and informed. Hall discusses other use cases of this technology, one of which has already allowed a company to reduce their information overhead by 99% and to reduce a project's completion time by 66%. Tune in for all the details, and with the official launch just right around the corner this May, stay up to date by visiting glass.rokid.com

"The average patient doesn't understand what causes cavities, and quite frankly, the average dentist doesn't understand it well enough, although that's changing," says Dr. Kim Kush, who's been a practicing dentist in his hometown for 40 years now. It wasn't until about 20 years ago that he started realizing that if everything he was taught in dental school were all there is to it, then his patients wouldn't continue to get cavities, year after year. Rather than focusing on how to repair the damage of cavities once it's already occurred, Dr. Kush wanted to focus on identifying and targeting the factors that cause cavities in the first place. So, what are the causes? Why can some people go their whole life without a single cavity—and without particularly good oral hygiene—while others will have new cavities every time they see the dentist—despite flossing and brushing every day? Dr. Kim Kush has identified four main risk factors in his practice, the first of which has been validated in large clinical trials with over 12,000 people: dry mouth, diet, biofilm, and genetics. He discusses how and why each risk factor contributes to the development of cavities, and along the way provides surprising facts about bottled water, mouthwash, prescription medications, the importance of when you brush your teeth, and how almost everything having to do with dental health boils down the pH in your mouth. Dr. Kush offers a fascinating and informative conversation on today's podcast, so tune in and visit https://carifree.com/ to learn more.

One out of every three people in the world suffer from sleep problems, whether it's the inability to fall asleep, the inability to stay asleep longer, or just waking up feeling tired. Of all the complaints surrounding poor-quality sleep, one, in particular, is the most difficult for people to deal with: trying to get through the demands of the day. While some people will successfully locate a sleep clinic in their area, many others won't be able to; sleep doctors are in short supply and high demand. But what if you could train your brain to sleep better, from the comfort of your home, or whenever and wherever it's convenient for you? Guirec Le Lous is the co-founder of URGOTech, a company that's offering a product that will allow for just that. URGOTech's training material differs in no way from what sleep clinics and doctors use, which means you have the chance of receiving legitimate, medical-grade help with your sleep problem. It only takes three 15 to 20-minute training sessions per week to start seeing improvements within a month. In addition to falling asleep faster, users of URGOTech's product have seen a 53% reduction in the number of times they wake up at night. The product comes with a headband which measures your brain activity and an app which gives you feedback on how you're progressing along the way. Interested in learning more? Guirec Lu Lous explains all the details about how it works and when you can expect to get one for yourself. Learn more by visiting urgonight.com.

Solar One is a non-profit organization that launched about 15 years ago with the goal of both educating people in the Greater New York community on solar energy and sustainability and making solar energy more accessible to everyone—particularly those who wouldn't typically have access to it, such as community groups and affordable housing providers. There are three main programs being run by Solar One: a K-12 environmental education program that's been implemented in over 800 public schools in New York City, the Green Workforce Training Program that helps people obtain the skills necessary for entry-level positions in building operations and maintenance, electrical, carpentry, plumbing, and solar installation, and Here Comes Solar, a program dedicated to making solar energy accessible to everyone by providing technical support to groups and organizations in need. Noah Ginsburg is the program director of Here Comes Solar, which identifies organizations that are interested in utilizing solar energy, answers all of their questions, sets them up with preliminary solar designs for their buildings, creates financial savings estimates, and helps them get bids from local solar installers. The program has already helped 20 affordable housing communities go solar, and there are no signs of slowing. Ginsburg discusses several of the projects they're working on, one of which is a community-shared solar project making it possible for renters to participate in large solar projects occurring somewhere else in the city, and to benefit by not only saving on their energy bill but by gaining shareholder status in the cooperation. For example, their subscription will entitle them to a 15-20% discount on solar credits and a vote as to what is done with any profits from the cooperation. In this way, consumers hold the power, rather than corporations. Tune in for all the details, and learn more by visiting solar1.org. If you live in the Greater New York City area and are interested in becoming part of a cooperation, visit sunsetparksolar.org and herecomessolar.nyc.

"Even if listeners are not very familiar with virtual reality or not sure if they're interested in it, this really is just a universal story about a kid who invents something and decides to not sell out…and then he does end up selling out, which makes for a more interesting story," says Blake Harris, commenting on his newest book, The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality. It's the story of how a young, brilliant teenager named Palmer Luckey set out to develop the first virtual reality headset during a time when the concept of virtual reality was still a technological punchline—akin to the idea of flying cars and jet packs. But, driven by passion and determination, it wasn't long before he succeeded in his invention and founded Oculus, the virtual reality company that would soon catch the attention of Mark Zuckerberg and be bought out for more money that Luckey ever sought, or ever even imagined. Blake Harris is also the author of Console Wars, the behind-the-scenes business battle story between Sega and Nintendo in the early 90s, and he joins the podcast today to discuss a little bit about both books, as well as a range of other topics, including insider information he's gained from years of interest in the development of the virtual reality and gaming space, the material that he wanted to include in The History of the Future but couldn't, the backlash surrounding Facebook's acquisition of Oculus, how the emergence of virtual reality can be compared to the emergence of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, and where he sees the future of virtual reality going. Tune in for the full conversation, reach out to him via Twitter, and stay current on his latest work by visiting blakejharris.com.

The search for a drug that can effectively treat Alzheimer's disease remains ongoing and has been difficult to say the least—about 150 different drug trials for Alzheimer's have already failed. But why? And what can be done about it? Erik Gunther, Ph.D. is an associate research scientist at Yale University who is asking the same questions. He joins the podcast to give his opinion on why the search for an effective drug has failed up to this point, which leads to a discussion that touches on a host of other topics, including the beta-amyloid or plaque buildup hypothesis for what causes Alzheimer's, what happens as the disease progresses, the role of glial cells in the clearance of plaque, the distinctly unique nature of the brain's immune system, how the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier leads to hemorrhage and death in the late stages of Alzheimer's, the role of sleep in the clearance of plaque in the brain, the way in which Alzheimer's disturbs sleep patterns, and diabetes as a risk factor for Alzheimer's. Dr. Gunther also discusses his current research, which has led to the identification of a neuron receptor on which the beta-amyloid protein binds, allowing for the eventual build-up of the plaque that's hypothesized to cause Alzheimer's. By developing a drug that also binds to this receptor, his team has found a way to block the interaction between the brain's neurons and these toxic proteins, thereby preventing the buildup of plaque. It's a novel approach to a long-standing problem, and he discusses how and why it could change things moving forward. Tune in for all the details and visit https://medicine.yale.edu/lab/strittmatter/ to learn more.

Should we program machines to intentionally cause someone to die? "No, of course not," would be most people's immediate response. But what if doing so prevented a greater number of people from dying? The answer to the second question may be a bit more difficult to answer, which is the essence of the trolley problem in philosophy, and just one of the ethical issues that's commonly brought up in discussions about autonomous vehicles, an emergent form of technology generating excitement from some and concerns for many. Dr. Nicholas G. Evans is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts who focuses the majority of his research on national security and the ethics of emergent technologies. He joins the podcast today to discuss a variety of intriguing topics, including the susceptibility of programmed cars to hacking, the challenges of accounting for novel behaviors and the dangers of not doing so, corporate surveillance, and how the longer average lifetime of vehicles could drive the next big innovation in sensor and automated vehicle technologies. Interested in learning more about Dr. Evans' work? Visit nicholasgevans.com and reach out to him via Nicholas_evans@uml.edu.

In just over one year on July 26, 2020, the launch window for the European Space Agency's Mars rover (recently named Rosalind Franklin) will open. Once the mission lands on Mars, the public will have access to daily images and information about the precise location of the rover, Jorge Vago, PhD is a project scientist on the Rosalind Franklin rover mission, and he joins the podcast to provide a glimpse into what they hope to discover, how they hope to discover it, and how this mission will be unlike any other. Dr. Vago explains that, unlike previous missions to Mars, this one will not only explore over a half billion years further into the past, but will also drill significantly deeper than ever before—up to two meters as opposed to five to ten centimeters. By positioning themselves in a place to study Mars in its infancy and by employing the novel strategy of digging deeper to reach samples which have been protected from cosmic radiation, they hope to collect samples which will later--after exhaustive analyses and scrutiny--allow them to announce the existence of organic molecules and the possibility of life on Mars. Catch all the details by tuning in, and visit exploration.esa.int to learn more.

Frank Holmes, Interim Executive Chairman of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.'s board of directors, provides an analysis of blockchain, bitcoin, and the future of finance. Holmes is a seasoned investor and financial strategist. Throughout his illustrious career, he has helmed many financial entities, and is currently the chief executive and chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors, a forward-thinking mutual fund and asset management firm. Holmes talks about his background in finance. As a young analyst, he transitioned into corporate finance and pushed forward until he took his first company public. He became well known in the gold funds market and eventually discovered bitcoin and that was the beginning of his passion for the new currency. His excitement over the processing of these transactions led him to launch a company in the space. Holmes' passion for emerging financial markets is perfectly matched to his current role directing the board of directors at HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd., and he is leading the company forward evidenced by their significant innovation in the market. HIVE is a growth-oriented, TSX.V-listed company that has built a bridge from the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets. HIVE's team seeks to create significant long-term shareholder value. HIVE has formed a solid partnership with Genesis Mining Ltd. to create the next wave of blockchain infrastructure. HIVE even owns the actual GPU-based digital currency mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden that produce these new digital currencies like Ethereum. Holmes discusses HIVE's place in the market as a proxy, and he explains the interconnectedness of HIVE to the market, in terms of flow. He discusses the enthusiasm globally for blockchain, and he outlines the arrival of the JP Morgan coin that is backed by US dollars. Holmes goes on to explain regulations and speculation as they relate to investor interests. And he talks about the benefits of cash trades in the market and the future of emerging financial markets. Holmes discusses the mobile gaming industry and the astronomical revenue that is pushing that industry. Wrapping up, Holmes discusses volatility in the markets and how to steer in the right direction to financial stability as technology changes everything in our world. Holmes is a regular keynote speaker at various international investment conferences and his popular "Frank Talk" CEO blog is one of the most read in the financial industry.

Human beings enjoy a level of dexterity superior to most other species by virtue of what's called the corticospinal tract, which is a projection that reaches from the motor cortex in the brain, down to the brain stem and spinal cord, and connects directly to the muscles. As beneficial as this special pathway in humans can be, it comes at a cost: even a small amount of damage can have devastating results. When someone suffers from a stroke, it is this pathway that gets damaged and leads to many possible symptoms, including weakness, loss of dexterity, clumsiness, and the inability to isolate joint movements. The key to the best recovery from stroke is very early, very intense rehab, but it can be challenging to motivate people into maintaining such intense work. Dr. John W. Krakauer works in the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement (BLAM) Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he's not only studying the differences between movement in health and movement in disease, but also exploring and testing ways of engaging post-stroke patients in the intense rehab routines necessary in order to help them regain as much movement and control over their bodies as possible. He explains how important it is to create emotionally gratifying and motivating experiences for people early on in their recovery in order to engage them in ways that will best amplify the abilities they do have—the abilities they did not lose as a result of stroke. The same idea applies to all types of neurological diseases and injuries, including traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, cerebellar ataxia, and multiple sclerosis. At the BLAM lab, they are developing interactive, exciting, and engaging games specifically geared toward patients with neurodegenerative issues, encouraging them to perform miles' worth of movement without even noticing it. They are also working on forming cohorts of people who have suffered from stroke and who could benefit from working together in multi-player games. The idea is that this would build a sense of competition, thereby making it easier for people to sustain the level of rehabilitative intensity needed. Furthermore, by isolating problems with particular body parts to particular characters in games, each individual's specific problem area could be addressed in the most effective way possible. Interested in learning more? Tune in for all the details and visit www.blam-lab.org.