Finding Genius Podcast

Marcus Eriksen, Co-founder & Research Director of 5 Gyres Institute (5gyres.org) leads an informative discussion on the ever-growing plastic trash problem that is having a detrimental impact on our seas, sea life, and planetary health. Eriksen's experience in the area of marine research is vast, as he has led multiple expeditions around the globe to specifically research plastic marine pollution. As a pioneer in this field of study, Eriksen's work, and subsequent discovery of plastic microbeads in the Great Lakes was so startlingly significant that it lead to the passage of the Microbead-free Waters Act of 2015. As a noted author on the subject and experienced researcher with a PhD in science education, Eriksen, and his wife Anna Cummins, launched the 5 Gyres Institute after completing an exhaustive 88-day trek from California to Hawaii on a raft built from 15,000 plastic bottles. The institute takes its name from the root word 'gyre' that is defined as a large-scale system of surface currents in the ocean that are driven by the wind. The research director discusses his expeditions, the voyage with Captain Charles Moore (the oceanographer who discovered the sea trash accumulation zone), and the eureka moment when he realized that there were thousands of sea miles free for study. Eriksen's realization that the Arctic, the Antarctic, the Bay of Bengal, the Mediterranean Sea, and the equatorial waters were barely travelled and wide open for scientific research, spawned an idea. The idea was to embark upon major scientific expeditions to collect data and publish their findings on the sea plastic trash problem. After six years of study, their results were staggering. They concluded that there were an estimated 5.25 trillion bits of plastics floating in the oceans from a quarter of a million tons of trash. The 5 Gyres co-founder details how cups, plastic bags, polystyrene, bottles and more are degraded into smaller bits by ocean currents, fish nibbling, and the sun's rays, and how these microsized bits are causing real damage to wildlife. Eriksen states that the ideal solution, other than simply not allowing any plastics to make it into the ocean altogether, would be to harness the trash plastics near coastlines, before they get out to sea. Eriksen gives an eye-opening introduction to the strategies needed to tackle this global problem successfully. Ultimately, he states, the real solution is to tighten up community and municipality recycling programs from city centers all the way down to the individual homeowner. Getting a handle on the recycling of plastics at the source, and ending the production of single-use plastics would help to prevent the sea plastic trash problem before it happens. Unfortunately, recycling programs currently aren't meeting the challenge. In regard to sea life health, toxins such as DDT, PCB, flame-retardants, etc. are being ingested. Thus sea life is ingesting chemical toxins from the volume of microplastics that exist within our oceans and the long-term effects to aquatic life, as well as human life, could be deleterious, but more study is needed. Eriksen's team believes that the current implementation of recycling plans and programs only scratches the surface of the greater need. Eriksen affirms that truly successful recycling strategy would suggest that every manufacturer of a plastic or disposable item have an 'end of use' plan for their items. Ideas might include 'buy back' plans such that manufacturers take back their product, and provide coupons for their receipt, that would then provide discounts for secondary purchases, and so forth. He'll discuss society's need to adopt stricter recycling strategies that put an end to carry out containers and usher in the concept of a 'bring your own' carry out container way of life. Additionally, the science educator discusses other concepts that walk us away from our disposable culture habits, such as 'heirloom culture,' which is the concept of buying things that might be more expensive but are built to last for years, perhaps decades. To make a dent in the plastic and disposable trash problem, we must consider intelligent packaging, reduction of single-use, ending unnecessary plastic use, and rethink recycling and non-compostable waste strategies, etc.

Kidney failure? No problem. Need a new heart? Check, working on it. Let's just head on over to the 3D printer and print one up and send you on your way. While this sounds like science fiction, and currently still is, the advances in biofabrication and 3D bioprinting may intersect in a jaw-dropping, historical moment some day in our future. To learn more about the stunning advances in medical biofabrication that are being put to work today, listen to Dr. Lorenzo Moroni's intensive discussion of the present and future of modern medical science. Lorenzo Moroni, a professor of biofabrication for regenerative medicine at Maastricht University delivers a dense foundation of information on the advances in biofabrication models, and how they may open the door to medical breakthroughs in drug therapy. Specifically, biofabrication is the production of intricate living as well as non-living biological entities from natural biological materials such as living cells and biochemical molecules, etc. Moroni holds a master's degree in biomedical engineering from Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, and in nanoscale sciences at Chalmers Technical University, Sweden, as well as a Ph.D. cum laude from the University of Twente. Moroni's lab works to originate medical applications toward the creation of biological models to test treatments for new drugs, and to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the pathology of diseases in three dimensions. The biomedical engineer details how biofabrication offers a more physiological, three-dimensional environment of a targeted tissue area or organ where the testing of new treatments and drugs is focused. Further, Dr. Moroni explains how testing drugs on cells of a three-dimensional substrate also enables higher quality testing of the efficacy and potency for these new drugs, chemical compounds, and therapies. As our bodies are three-dimensional, the testing of new drugs and therapies in three dimensions is more efficient, and provides better results than the traditional methods utilized in a two-dimensional laboratory cell culture testing environment. Moroni discusses how biofabrication and 3D scaffolding allows for more targeted study and development of treatments and therapies for conditions or diseases that affect cartilage, heart valves, vascular tissue, and beyond. He touches on how these 3D processes are paving the way for a possible future that could see bioprinting of organs come to fruition, but cautions that we are still a long way away from reaching that monumental moment in history.

Robotics and automation have come a long way since the development of George Devol's 'Unimate' in the early 1950s. Before Unimate was impressing audiences on the Johnny Carson show in '66, the world of manufacturing was completely reliant on human power. Today, engineers are moving fast and forward with prototypes that may advance various industries. Listen in as Shashank Samala provides an overview of how his company, Tempo, is providing nearly real time feedback in the digital environment that pushes robotic automation to the next level. Shashank Samala, Co-founder and VP of Products at Tempo (tempoautomation.com), expounds upon his company's core belief that innovation can best be achieved by cycling rapidly from the origin point of an idea to its conception and realization. Through the creation of process fluidity, Samala's mission is to make it possible for engineers to explore and realize ideas at a faster pace—to reduce the time gap that begins at design and ends with testing. While simulation is helpful for engineers and designers, the creation time needed for their circuit boards is patently slow, and this is precisely the area that the Tempo co-founder expects to further facilitate. Whereas many prototypes are produced on the high volume manufacturing system that is designed to churn our millions of units, Shashank Samala and his team at Tempo are rethinking this traditional model. Tempo fabricates their boards and sources parts in a matter of days, cutting the time lag down significantly. By retooling the traditional manufacturing model, essentially auto-configuring a factory and optimizing it for low volume by reprogramming automation robots for the new tasks, Samala hopes to revolutionize the prototype process. Tempo's proprietary automation software creates an intact digital thread that rolls seamlessly from design through delivery. Engineers can upload their design and see real time manufacturing feedback in a matter of minutes, and setup times are decreased as each machine can take its proper manufacturing outputs directly from the design, all within the digital environment. Tempo uses machine learning to precisely predict delivery times, which can greatly enhance engineers' ability to maximize their work flow. The automation VP states that Tempo's work has been utilized for a swath of industries including automotive, aerospace, and medical, and that they are proud to play a small role in the development process and path to innovation.

Author and consultant, Whitney Johnson, President and Co-founder of Rose Park Advisors' Disruptive Innovation Fund discuss the power of disruption theory and how it can release the better self in all of us. With a background on Wall Street covering emerging markets and telecom, Whitney Johnson came to some important realizations about the personal challenges we all face in our careers, and the reasons we become stymied along the way. Johnson's books, Disrupt Yourself and Build an A-Team, focus on achieving goals through her core philosophy of 'disruption.' The consultant provides an overview of her mission to help people become better bosses and team builders and achieve higher goals by being cognizant of the moments when we are at the top of a learning curve and it may be time to move on. Disruption deals with recognizing this and making a change. Johnson outlines how disruption theories suggest that one take on market risk, new markets that may not as of yet be fully actualized or even exist, as opposed to the competitive risk that comes with inserting oneself into a saturated market. Additionally, Johnson advocates playing to one's strength, for when individuals focus their challenges in areas where they have outstanding abilities they will be emboldened to attempt new challenges in unfamiliar markets, which could lead to successes. The author and consultant details how the basic tenets of disruption philosophy can be utilized to help corporations and businesses build better teams. Building great teams come through optimizing learning curves. Johnson explains that businesses should strive to have approximately 70% of their team at a point in the learning curve where they know a sufficient amount but are not masters of the information. It is in this steep part of the learning curve that they are achievers and innovators. Further, about 15% of the team should be at the lower end, such that they are not completely proficient and therefore ask many questions about process and reasoning. And through this question and answer process, innovative ideas often spring forth. Finally, 15% should be at the high end, and these are the masters of the information who provide the structure and guidance to keep the team moving forward. The Innovation Fund co-founder stresses the importance of considering disruptive constructs such as: 'am I taking on market risk,' 'am I playing to my strengths,' 'is the task hard but not debilitating,' and 'am I gaining momentum.' Johnson advises individuals to appraise the variables and let the signs point them to their next career move, be it a disruption that takes them to a new uncharted adventure or one that moves them into a novel and challenging area within their company.

Nitin Agarwal - Founder of B21 joins Future Tech Podcast.B21 is a personal wealth management platform exclusively for crypto assets. Our mission is to make it easy for everyday investors to easily create and manage diverse portfolios of crypto assets.

Ultra is bringing the blockchain revolution to the gaming industry and creating a fair ecosystem for the future of games distribution With cutting-edge technology, Ultra aims to shake up the gaming industry by putting the power back into the hands of developers and players, paving the way for a first-class game publishing platform.

Juan M. Hernandez - Founder, CEO at OpenFinance Network joins Future Tech Podcast. The OpenFinance Network is a blockchain-based protocol and framework for the trading, clearing, and settlement of cryptocurrency security tokens and other alternative assets. The OpenFinance Network is the leading trading platform for alternative assets, working with the millions of investors who hold assets in the $7.7T alternatives market (e.g. hedge funds, private equity, limited partnerships, non-listed REITs, business development companies (BDCs), Regulation D, Regulation A+, Regulation CF and other crowdfunded assets).

Veryan Goodship, Co-founder and CEO of Truba (truba.news), provides a detailed discussion on his company's technology-based news delivery, and how it was born of specific needs that occurred within the Canadian Financial Industry. The Canadian economics graduate discusses his startup's mission to rethink the ways in which users receive news in our 24-hour, complex, streaming and constant news-heavy world. The news tech CEO outlines how current problems with the dissemination of news has created a situation where many people are actually less informed than perhaps pre-tech times. Goodship explains how his company, Truba, works to deliver news via various methods that tailor a reader's news to their interests, in formats that they are comfortable with and may find more convenient. One such method is via Truba's "Daily Snap" product, which provides readers top-trending news that would be available through social media but through a newsletter format that allows the user to avoid social media altogether. Additionally, Truba provides personalized news feeds that are comprised from a particular user's click data input. Essentially whatever the analytics have demonstrated the user is interested in due to their clicks and links followed, etc., would become the foundation for a tailored news platform. One of the benefits of this offering is that it can provide the interested reader with personalized news without the fear of being targeted or marketed to, or the fear of having their data being sold to third parties. Goodship discusses the process that Truba uses to personalize a reader's news platform, including inputting of initial user information and the training of algorithms through user input. And he'll provide insight into how the AI algorithms use linear regression to decipher which features are most important. The news tech CEO gives an overview of the many and various input that are used to customize news feeds, from term frequencies (such as how often terms show up in text), to term comparison, to title sizes and more. And he'll give us some notes on how machine vision (recognition of pictures and video) and audio analyzation (wave length and speed) play a part in the process of news selection algorithms.

Vertical farming is a practice that involves the cultivation of crops on multiple levels in a fully enclosed environment equipped with optimal artificial lighting and an optimal atmosphere. The results? Fresher, better, and healthier crops that are grown without the use of pesticides and are available to those who may otherwise be unable to access them--especially those who live in urban environments. Gus van der Feltz is the head of member relations at the Institute of Vertical Farming, which works to both promote and advance the industry of vertical farming, as well as look after the interests of its members. This includes ensuring that employees receive quality training, and that operations remain compliant with rules and regulations. The benefits of vertical farming include the ability to closely control the temperature and lighting in various growing systems, and in some cases, increase yield. For example, under the best possible circumstances, a head of lettuce can be grown outdoors in about 60 days; in a vertical farming environment, the same head of lettuce could be grown in about 35 days. In addition, the taste profile of vertically-farmed crops has been recognized as superior to those grown outdoors in an uncontrolled environment. But at least one challenge remains: lowering the cost of these high-quality crops. Hit play for the full discussion.

Humaniq is a simple and secure financial services provider on a mission to help eradicate poverty using pre-eminent technologies including blockchain and biometrics. Humaniq is not just a commercial project. It is a worldwide mission, aiming to give people in developing nations more power to change their lives.