Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Future of Everything
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best of: Better ways to build an airplane | 30 Aug 2024 | 00:26:28 | |
We want to wish our listeners in the states a happy Labor Day weekend. We hope, wherever you are, you’re taking some time to savor the last bit of summer. After a couple months full of travel and news about the airplane industry, we can’t help wondering — are there better ways to build airplanes? Our previous guest, Ilan Kroo, an expert in aeronautics, discusses how recent developments in fuels, engines, materials, and computer controls are leading to a new era of airplanes. We hope you’ll tune in and learn something new. Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your quest. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Host Russ Altman introduces guest Ilan Kroo, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University. (00:01:33) The Future of Airplane Design The technological advancements that are enabling new types of aircraft designs. (00:03:52) Designing Airplanes with Active Control Active control systems and their impact on airplane safety and efficiency. (00:05:03) Personal Flying Vehicles eVTOL vehicles as a promising future technology for personalized and commercial travel. (00:06:54) Scaling eVTOL and Air Traffic Control How companies and regulatory bodies are preparing for the rise of eVTOL vehicles. (00:10:21) Sustainable Aviation New engine concepts, composite materials, and sustainable fuels in commercial aviation. (00:16:42) Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft Hydrogen's potential as a sustainable fuel source and its impact on airplane design. (00:19:44) Climate Modelling in Airplane Design The intersection of climate science and airplane design for a more sustainable future. (00:22:04) Unconventional Airplane Designs New designs that may become the future of aviation, with benefits in sustainability and performance. (00:25:55) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The future of Russia and Ukraine | 23 Aug 2024 | 00:32:21 | |
Political scientist Kathryn Stoner is the Director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford and an authority on Russian/Ukrainian politics. She says views on the current war depend on which side someone is on: Many Russians and their leader Vladimir Putin say Ukrainians are Russians and have been since the 10th century. Ukrainians strongly disagree, likening the two nations to the U.S. and Great Britain. How the present conflict is resolved has important implications for other former Soviet states and the future of the European Union, as Stoner tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your quest. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Host Russ Altman introduces guest Kathryn Stoner, director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. (00:02:09) Historical Context of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict How historical narratives shape perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (00:05:38) U.S. and International Perspectives The strategic implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict for the United States and its historical agreements. (00:08:49) The Domino Effect and Regional Risks The potential risks to other former Soviet republics and the concept of the domino effect. (00:12:43) Democracy in the Post-Soviet States Analysis of the state of democracy in Ukraine, Georgia, and other former Soviet republics (00:18:59) The Unexpected Stalemate Why the Russia-Ukraine war has not gone as expected and the strategic missteps by Russia. (00:22:39) Domestic Impact in Russia The impact of the war on Russian public opinion and why Russians are not openly protesting against it. (00:28:46) Hope for the Future Potential sources of optimism for the future of Russia and its younger generation. (00:31:40) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Best of: The future of proteins | 21 Jun 2024 | 00:31:17 | |
We’re digging back into our archives with an episode with bioengineer Polly Fordyce. Polly studies the form and function of proteins. She refers to proteins as the “workhorses” that make things in the body happen, and her study of these molecules reveals a greater understanding of human life. We hope you’ll tune in to this conversation again, and enjoy. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Host Russ Altman introduces guest Polly Fordyce, a professor of bioengineering and genetics at Stanford University. (00:01:51) What are Proteins? The basics of proteins and their crucial roles in the body. (00:05:01) Protein Structure and Function The relationship between protein structure and function. (00:07:07) Innovations in Protein Research The high-throughput technologies used in the lab to study protein functions. (00:09:44) Mutant Proteins and Functional Variants How mutations in proteins affect their function and structure, using the example of the protein PafA. (00:14:24) The Impact of Protein Research on Medicine Insight into how protein mutations can aid in developing targeted therapies. (00:17:37) Proteins and DNA Interaction The role of proteins in reading DNA and regulating gene expression. (00:21:41) Transcription Factors and DNA Binding The relationship between transcription factors and specific DNA sequences. (00:25:36) Mechanisms of Transcription Activation The process of transcription activation and the role of co-activators and RNA polymerase. (00:28:15) Future Directions in Protein Research The future of protein research, including making advanced research tools more accessible. (00:30:36) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Computational modeling can help understand Alzheimer’s disease | 14 Jun 2022 | 00:27:19 | |
Physicians diagnose Alzheimer’s disease with tests that measure memory loss and behavioral change. But many years before these symptoms appear, the disease is changing the brain, leading to the buildup of misfolded proteins and brain shrinkage that cause cognitive decline. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Stanford mechanical engineer Ellen Kuhl explains how she’s using databases of brain images of both Alzheimer’s patients and healthy individuals to create computational models that show how the disease spreads through distinct parts of the brain and gradually impacts different brain functions. Kuhl and host, Stanford bioengineer Russ Altman, explore how these models have generated new insights into how Alzheimer’s affects the brain, as well as its diagnosis and its potential treatment. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Data is transforming our understanding of natural disasters | 14 Jun 2022 | 00:27:20 | |
Humans have been trying to predict when earthquakes will happen for centuries, with little success, by developing earthquake detectors and by wondering if unusual animal behavior could be a sign of an incoming temblor. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Eric Dunham, a geophysicist at Stanford University, explains that while we’re still unable to predict when earthquakes will happen, advanced computers and new sensors on the seafloor are pushing the field of natural-hazard modelling forward and providing new information about the nature of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. Dunham and host, bioengineer Russ Altman, discuss how this modeling could help us understand where large earthquakes and tsunamis are likely to happen – and how it could help us prepare for these potentially devastating events. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| How to develop ever better computer chips | 25 May 2022 | 00:27:00 | |
Computer chips are everywhere: your cellphone, your car, even your refrigerator. And they’re essential to enabling advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and faster and better computers -- and to solving global challenges such as climate change. The omnipresence of this foundational technology has been growing for decades, but the pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of society, significantly increasing the demand for more and better chips. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Stanford electrical engineer Philip Wong and host, bioengineer Russ Altman, discuss why filling that need will require a greater emphasis on semiconductor research in universities, global cooperation, and increased investment in both research and development (R&D) and manufacturing. They also discuss the importance of shortening the distance between the kind of computer chip innovations happening in university labs and the fabrication of the next generation of chips, or what Wong calls “the lab-to-fab gap.” Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Training the next generation of entrepreneurs | 25 May 2022 | 00:27:24 | |
Search online and you’ll find lists of all the skills entrepreneurs should have - among them are imagination, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship. But are entrepreneurs born with these relevant skills, or can they be taught? In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Tina Seelig, professor of the practice in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford, explains the differences between imagination, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, and how all four can be taught and then applied to finding solutions to big challenges. Join Seelig and host, bioengineer Russ Altman, as they discuss how to train a generation of entrepreneurs who will make positive contributions to the world. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| How to Fight Climate Change | 17 May 2022 | 00:27:32 | |
The consequences of climate change have already been devastating: wildfires, drought, coastal flooding, and increased temperatures, among them. And there are massive economic, societal, and geopolitical and security costs as well. It's no wonder that many people may feel the situation at this point is hopeless. But in this episode of the Future of Everything, Stanford’s Chris Field tells host and bioengineer Russ Altman that the world has made more progress than we might have expected a decade ago, and that we can still pave a way to a sustainable future, both by reducing emissions and by adapting to the impact of increasing temperatures through such things as technological innovation and improved infrastructure and land and resource management. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The physics of gel-like substances | 05 May 2022 | 00:27:34 | |
The vast majority of substances are neither liquid, solid, nor gas – but an alternative form that shares characteristics of liquids and gases. Among them are gels, glasses, and colloidal suspensions, and they’re an essential part of everyday products like toothpaste, paint, hair products, and even windows. Stanford chemical engineer Roseanna Zia is an expert on the gel-like substance known as colloids. In this episode of Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything, Zia joins host Russ Altman to talk about the physics of these substances, and how a greater understanding of colloids can improve our understanding of cells, biological processes, and human health and disease. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| What makes a surgeon great? | 15 Apr 2022 | 00:27:26 | |
Conducting a surgery is one of the most complex tasks an individual can do — but how do you recognize the difference between the highly skilled surgeons performing at the top of their game and those still honing their techniques? With the help of wearable sensors, motion tracking and video, physicians can now watch surgeons in action, quantify their movements, and determine how highly skilled physicians accomplish the unique choreography of surgery. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Carla Pugh, a professor of surgery at Stanford, discusses what we learn when we measure physicians’ movements, and how studying the movements of skilled surgeons can shorten the learning curve for their less experienced colleagues. Dr. Pugh joins bioengineer and host Russ Altman to explore the future of surgery. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| How social media can help gauge societal health | 07 Apr 2022 | 00:27:20 | |
Are U.S. adults happy? Sad? Depressed? One can answer these questions by calling thousands of people and surveying their psychological state, a strategy that’s both costly and time-consuming. But with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence, you can also measure a population’s well-being by turning to social media platforms and tracking what millions of people are talking about.
In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, computational social scientist Johannes Eichstaedt and host, bioengineer Russ Altman, discuss how social media can be used to gauge a population’s psychological state, including how events like COVID-19 have impacted well-being. They also discuss how social media has the potential to work as an early warning system for public health crises to help cities and counties deploy resources where they’re most needed. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| What happens when computers can write like humans | 04 Apr 2022 | 00:27:44 | |
Start an email with “I hope” and before you can type the next word, the program will suggest you complete it with “all is well.” You may not have realized it, but this is AI-generated text. In the past several years, this technology has advanced beyond completing sentences in emails: It can now respond to others’ emails, and write essays, hip-hop songs, public health messages, and much more. What’s more, it can sometimes be even more effective than humans at conveying certain messages. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Jeff Hancock, a professor of communication at Stanford, explores this phenomenon and its positive and negative implications for how we communicate and how we understand our interactions with one another and the world. Learn more with Hancock and host Stanford Professor Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The impact of income gaps on children’s health | 23 Mar 2022 | 00:27:51 | |
The world has made remarkable gains in pediatric medicine and public health over the past several generations. The average American child of the 21st century has access to clean water and milk, fully functioning sewage systems, and antibiotics, vaccines, and other medicines. Result: Child mortality rates have declined dramatically over the past century. At the same time, a widening income gap in the United States has led to vastly different prevalence rates for health conditions between low- and high-income families, says Stanford pediatrician Lisa Chamberlain. And COVID-19, she says, has put a spotlight on many of the health challenges associated with these wealth disparities. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Chamberlain joins host Professor Russ Altman to discusses these issues, and how telehealth might help overcome some of the burgeoning challenges in pediatric health. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The future of computer-aided education | 14 Jun 2024 | 00:32:17 | |
Chris Piech is a professor of computer science who studies how computers can help students learn. In comparing human- and computer-aided education, he says humans are great one-on-one, but AI is more consistent at grading and feedback. He and colleagues have created several generative AI grading apps to take advantage of these relative strengths, as he tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Host Russ Altmans introduces guest Chris Piech, a professor of computer science at Stanford University. (00:01:50) Defining Coding and Its Challenges What coding entails for beginners and the challenges associated with learning to code. (00:03:37) Enhancing Learning with Computers How computers and AI can be used to make learning more enjoyable and effective. (00:05:12) Human Connection in Education The significance of teacher-student relationships and how recent learners can be effective teachers. (00:07:02) AI and Coding Education The impact of AI on professional coding and how it can enhance the learning experience for new coders. (00:08:48) Joy of Programming The creative joy of programming and how AI tools can elevate the creation process. (00:11:57) Comparing Human and AI Tutors Results from experiments comparing the effectiveness of human and AI tutors. (00:14:43) Fair and Effective Assessment Challenges and strategies for fair and effective computational assessment of students' work. (00:16:42) Addressing Bias and Fairness in Grading Demographic fairness in grading algorithms and the potential biases in different subjects. (00:20:52) Interactive and Unstructured Feedback Using AI to provide feedback on unstructured and interactive student work, like games and apps. (00:25:30) Expanding Beyond Academic Tests Application of AI in non-academic assessments, such as medical tests, to improve accuracy and efficiency. (00:27:42) Generative Grading Introduction to generative grading, where AI generates potential misconceptions to help with grading and feedback. (00:31:37) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The crucial role of data compression | 13 Mar 2022 | 00:27:43 | |
It may not be immediately obvious, but there are huge financial, environmental and security costs associated with storing all the selfies, videos, documents and other digital assets the world is generating. One way to address this issue is by developing better compression algorithms that can represent the data more succinctly. Another is by creating new ways of storing the information itself, including, potentially, within biological molecules. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Stanford electrical engineer Tsachy Weissman discusses with host Professor Russ Altman the challenges associated with storing our ever-growing mountains of digital data – and how they can be addressed. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Regenerating and rejuvenating human tissues | 12 Mar 2022 | 00:27:29 | |
Children have an amazing capacity for healing after injury. Break a leg, the bone grows back; cut a finger, the skin heals. But as we age, most tissues no longer heal easily, and tissue loss is unavoidable due to aging, degenerative diseases such as arthritis, and cancer. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, Fan Yang and host and fellow bioengineer Russ Altman, discuss how biomaterials created in a lab can be injected into wound sites to enable tissue regeneration or rejuvenation by modulating stem cells, vasculature, or immune responses. They also discuss the potential of exploiting such biomaterials to create 3D cancer models to facilitate discovery of novel drugs with reduced time and cost. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Why AI must embody the values of its users | 22 Feb 2022 | 00:27:53 | |
You might not realize it, but AI-driven systems are integrated into virtually every aspect of our lives. But how can we be certain the values AI systems are striving for reflect what we want for ourselves and for society? And how can scientists and engineers do a better job of increasing people’s trust in AI? Stanford computer scientist Carlos Guestrin is a leading voice on how to advance and implement a more trustworthy AI. Learn about his work in this area, and his particular interest in AI and healthcare, on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, with host Professor Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| A more thoughtful approach to technology can improve medical care | 18 Feb 2022 | 00:28:00 | |
Anyone who’s ever been to a hospital knows that the healthcare system is extremely complex. Every patient has their own challenges – and they will typically see multiple physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare practitioners, and come into contact with a slew of medical technologies, protocols, and billing and insurance systems. Sara Singer, a Stanford professor of medicine, is an expert on integrated care – the development of tools, technologies, and processes designed to improve the interactions among patients, clinicians, and other providers to lower costs and improve health outcomes. In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, she explains how new technology, and its improved integration into the healthcare system, can enhance practitioners’ ability to care for patients. Learn more with host Professor Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| How do you build a better robot? By understanding people. | 10 Feb 2022 | 00:27:25 | |
Whether it’s autonomous vehicles or assistive technology in healthcare that can do things like help the elderly do core tasks like feeding themselves, some of the most challenging problems in the field of robotics involve how robots interact with humans, with all of our many complexities. Drawing from fields as varied as cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics, Stanford computer scientist Dorsa Sadigh is exploring how to train robots to better understand humans – and how to give humans the skills to more seamlessly work with robots. Learn more on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything, with host Professor Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| James Zou: Trust is AI’s most critical contribution to health care | 20 Jan 2022 | 00:27:18 | |
Among the many areas James Zou might have chosen to apply his considerable knowledge of artificial intelligence, he opted for health care. It was the most interesting, the most complex and the most impactful area of study. In short, it was the most exciting outlet for his expertise. Since that epiphany, Zou has gone on to publish influential studies that have improved the patient experience, shaped basic research and sped the development of new drugs. Among his most important contributions, Zou says, are efforts to expose and overcome bias in the data and algorithms. His latest project, Pathfinder, uses anonymized, real-world medical records to allow researchers to conduct synthetic clinical trials on fictional (but realistic) patients, as Zou explains in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Johan Ugander: How misinformation spreads faster than truth | 07 Jan 2022 | 00:27:16 | |
Stanford professor Johan Ugander is an expert in making sense of messy data. Lately he’s been working to tell fact from fiction online, as news stories spread on social media. He comes at the question from a unique angle, using machine learning to study the differing patterns in how both types of information spread (or don’t).
In so doing, Ugander has come to some interesting conclusions and, more important, suggests some novel strategies for preventing the spread of misinformation. False stories, he says, are more “infectious,” with wide-ranging consequences for how they spread. Strategies to slow or restrict this infectiousness range from increasing digital literacy to asking potential sharers to consider the factual accuracy of a story they are about to share.
Ugander has also started to take his research in a new direction, criminal justice, working to make sense of the complex data records that a Stanford team has collected to understand California’s parole system, as he tells listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Martin Fischer: AI and virtual reality can help society build better | 06 Jan 2022 | 00:27:35 | |
For a profession that has existed essentially since the beginning of human civilization, few people fully appreciate the importance of construction in our everyday lives, but Martin Fischer does. To build the key infrastructure of society, he says, requires intimate understanding of human nature, the environment, the materials and the ever-evolving techniques of building things. Fischer has grown frustrated with the present state of his profession and decided to change its trajectory using artificial intelligence and virtual reality to redefine what construction will look like in the future. It’s an effort he hopes will unite the profession in creating more efficient, safer and more livable homes, buildings, airports, bridges and more. Fischer muses all about the future of construction in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Gill Bejerano: How cryptogenomics advances both science and privacy | 05 Jan 2022 | 00:27:39 | |
Much of what the world knows about genetic diseases is learned by comparing the DNA of people with a shared disease against the DNA of otherwise healthy people to learn where the differences lie.
This is all well and good except that, written into all that DNA, is a lot of other information that the subjects would rather keep private. And that’s where Gill Bejerano enters the scene. He’s an expert in cryptogenomics, a discipline that marries the fields of cryptography and genomics to essentially scramble the genetic code to researchers in such a way that they can still glean valuable information from it without revealing the donor’s entire genetic code.
Bejerano’s efforts have been so successful he’s now applying a similar process to medical records, as he explains to host Russ Altman and listeners of this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Cynthia Lee: How to teach computer science | 13 Dec 2021 | 00:28:59 | |
As the field of computer science has evolved over the last half century, so too has the way in which computer science is taught and to whom it is taught.
Stanford lecturer Cynthia Lee says she is encouraged by the diversity she sees as she looks out over her classroom. But that wasn’t always the case, particularly when she, a woman, was in college. Lee has since dedicated her career to changing that mindset from a fixed and rigid outlook to one that is more open and welcoming of diverse backgrounds and skills.
Change, she says, can come from the top in how classes are structured and at the foundation in undoing preconceptions about who can excel in the field. Diverse faces, myriad skills and interests, fewer lectures and more hands-on, peer-to-peer collaboration are in order, Lee tells listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The future of effective communication | 07 Jun 2024 | 00:30:01 | |
Guest Matt Abrahams is a master communicator who helps others overcome their fear of speaking — before live audiences, in small groups, or even one-on-one. His catchphrase, “Think Fast, Talk smart,” describes a mindset that, he says, is key to speaking well. Thinking fast is the ability to recognize and respond to patterns in order to talk smart — becoming more salient, relevant, and concise in the process. Abrahams coaches host Russ Altman on how to talk smart on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Host Russ Altman introduces Matt Abrahams, an expert on communication and lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business. (00:02:04) The Power of Thinking Fast and Talking Smart Matt explains the concept behind his catchphrase and podcast, "Think Fast, Talk Smart". (00:06:22) Addressing Speaking Anxiety The prevalence of speaking anxiety, its evolutionary roots, and how it has evolved with modern communication tools. (00:08:46) Impact of AI on Communication How LLMs like ChatGPT can aid in preparation for speaking engagements and assist non-native speakers with communication. (00:11:33) Virtual vs. In-Person Communication Differences between in-person and virtual communication and how individuals can adapt to virtual communication environments. (00:13:59) Handling Difficult Questions Strategies for responding to questions when you don't know the answer or can't legally or ethically provide one. (00:17:18) Structuring Effective Communications Methods for structuring communications to ensure clarity and impact. (00:22:10) Cultural Influences on Communication The impact of cultural differences on communication styles and the importance of sensitivity and adaptation. (00:25:11) Reevaluating the Use of Presentation Tools The appropriate use of PowerPoint and other visual aids in presentations, with tips for making visuals effective and audience-focused. (00:29:21) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Chelsea Finn: How to make artificial intelligence more meta | 15 Nov 2021 | 00:28:00 | |
In one of computer science’s more meta moments, professor Chelsea Finn created an AI algorithm to evaluate the coding projects of her students. The AI model reads and analyzes code, spot flaws and gives feedback to the students. Computers learning about learning—it’s so meta that Finn calls it “meta learning.”
Emboldened by results in class, Finn is now applying her breadth-over-specificity approach to her other area of focus, robotics. She hopes to develop new-age robots that can adapt to unfamiliar surroundings and can do many things well, instead of a few, as she tells host Russ Altman and listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Kayvon Fatahalian: How the pandemic changed the virtual world | 03 Nov 2021 | 00:27:45 | |
For experts in digital graphics and visual perception, like computer scientist Kayvon Fatahalian, the recent pandemic has been a call to arms. Fatahalian says he and others in the field felt an urgent responsibility to harness their background in computer graphics and interactive techniques to improve life for people across the globe. He says new, virtual tools have proved better than past, real ones in improving certain aspects of our everyday lives.
His job as a computer scientist is to make those experiences more successful, more of the time. His role as a teacher is a case in point. While the virtual world is not a replacement for face-to-face interaction between students and instructors, Fatahalian notes there are many aspects of the live virtual lecture experience that enable more students to participate, and participate more frequently than in a physical classroom. Fatahalian is now busier than ever discovering where and how the virtual world excels and creating new tools to meet the evolving need, as he tells listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Kuang Xu: How to make (and keep) genetic data private | 18 Oct 2021 | 00:27:59 | |
One underappreciated fact about the explosion in genetic databases, like consumer sites that provide information about ancestry and health, is that they unlock valuable insights not only into an individual’s past and future, but also for that individual’s entire family. This raises serious concerns about privacy for people who have never submitted their genetic information for analysis, yet share much the same code as one who did. Today’s guest, Kuang Xu, is an expert in how genetic information can and should be used. He says that the DNA problem weighs heavily on privacy experts in fields ranging from law and engineering to public health and criminal justice. The fundamental question is: Can we create methods for accessing genetic data while maximizing the privacy of all involved? The problems will only grow more intense as time and data accumulate, Xu says, unless we resolve them now, as he explains on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Eric Appel: Gels are changing the face of engineering ... and medicine | 04 Oct 2021 | 00:28:00 | |
Readers of Eric Appel’s academic profile will note appointments in materials science, bioengineering and pediatrics, as well as fellowship appointments in the ChEM-H institute for human health research and the Woods Institute for the Environment. While the breadth of these appointments does not leap to mind as being particularly consistent, the connections quickly emerge for those who hear Appel talk about his research. Appel is an expert in gels, those wiggly, jiggly materials that aren’t quite solid, but not quite liquid either. Gels’ in-betweenness is precisely what gets engineers like Appel excited about them. Appel has used gels for everything from new-age fire retardants that can proactively prevent forest fires to improved drug and vaccine delivery mechanisms for everything from diabetes to COVID-19. Hence the appointments across engineering and medicine. Listen in with host and bioengineer Russ Altman as Appel explains to Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast why gels could be the future of science. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Lianne Kurina: How controlling confounders makes better epidemiology | 01 Oct 2021 | 00:27:59 | |
As the world has learned through the recent pandemic, epidemiological studies can be complicated by many unanticipated factors. Lianne Kurina is an expert in the design of epidemiological studies who says that the key to greater confidence is better design. The gold standard, she says, is the randomized controlled trial—a study that compares groups that are essentially identical by every apparent factor but one— the vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated, for instance. In the case of COVID-19 vaccinations, Kurina stresses that investigators did an exemplary job of this. In situations where we can't use a randomized controlled trial, achieving a similar balance and specificity is far harder. Kurina says that researchers working with observational data, rather than trial data, must always be attuned to the overlooked factors—“confounders” she calls them—that can muddy the data and render a study moot. However, Kurina notes, the better one controls the confounders in these observational studies via better design and data collection, the greater confidence we can have in the end results, as she tells listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Priyanka Raina: How computer chips get speedier through specialization | 18 Sep 2021 | 00:27:55 | |
For decades, the general-purpose central processing unit—the CPU—has been the workhorse of the computer industry. It could handle any task—literally—even if most of those capabilities were unnecessary. This model was all well and good as chips grew smaller, faster and more efficient by the day, but less so as the pace of progress has slowed, says electrical engineer Priyanka Raina, an expert in chip design. Raina says that, to keep chips on their ever-improving trajectory, chip makers have shifted focus to chips that do specific tasks very well. The graphics processing unit (GPU), which handles the intense mathematics necessary for video and gaming graphics, is a perfect example. Soon, there’ll be a faster, more efficient chip for every task, but it’ll take industry-wide cooperation to get there, as Raina tells listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Biondo Biondi: How to measure an earthquake through the internet | 24 Aug 2021 | 00:27:59 | |
Most people know the seismograph, those ultrasensitive instruments that record every small shift in the Earth’s crust. But did you know that the very latest method for measuring earthquakes involves fiber optic cables that carry internet data around the world? Stanford geophysicist Biondo Biondi says that the waves of energy sent forth by an earthquake cause fiber optic cables to stretch and contract ever so slightly. Using precise mathematical algorithms, experts like Biondi can measure earthquake intensity, making every meter of fiber optic cable a potential seismograph and dramatically increasing the data experts can gather in a day. Biondi’s sensor arrays are so sensitive they can detect sinkholes, landslides and even the rumblings of failing urban infrastructure. These new technologies – and the secrets they might reveal – are only starting to emerge, as Biondi tells listeners in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Emmanuel Candès: How to increase certainty in predictive modeling | 23 Aug 2021 | 00:27:56 | |
Anyone who’s ever made weekend plans based on the weather forecast knows that prediction – about anything – is a tough business. But predictive models are increasingly used to make life-changing decisions everywhere from health and finance to justice and national elections. As the consequences have grown, so has the weight of uncertainty, says today’s guest, mathematician and statistician Emmanuel Candès. Candès knows this paradigm all too well. He is an expert in identifying flaws in today’s highly sophisticated computer models. He says the secret to better prediction rests in building models that don’t try to be right every time, but instead offer a high degree of certainty about things of real consequence. In that regard, the old scientific maxim holds, he says. Correlation does not equal causation. The statistician’s job, therefore, is helping to sort through the noise to find the nuggets of truth in the things that really matter, as Candès tell listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Srabanti Chowdhury: New forms of semiconductors are key to the future | 19 Jul 2021 | 00:28:00 | |
Electronics are everywhere these days, so much so that often we don't even register that we are using them. The use of electronics will only grow over time as engineers solve societal challenges through increased connectivity, faster computation, new high-tech gadgets, and energy sustainability. Against that backdrop, electrical engineers like Stanford’s Srabanti Chowdhury have been searching for new semiconductors that can expand the application space beyond the ubiquitous silicon. Among the options she’s exploring is an old familiar friend—diamond—and a few new ones, too, like gallium nitride. The diamonds Chowdhury works with are a far cry from the sparkly gems a jeweler might prize. These diamonds are “doped” with other elements to achieve optimal electrical performance. Meanwhile, gallium nitride has shown promise in LEDs and lasers, as well as in cutting-edge radar systems—among other applications. While these new semiconductors have raised hopes of scaling new heights where even silicon cannot reach, much work remains if they are ever to move from lab bench to laptops and myriad other electronic devices. The payoff, however, will be smaller, faster, more powerful, more energy efficient, and more versatile electronics, as Chowdhury tells listeners to this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Simona Onori: How ready are we for our electric future? | 27 Jun 2021 | 00:27:52 | |
It now seems more certain than ever that the world will make the all-important transition to electric vehicles, but that shift raises important questions about global preparedness. The world is going to need a lot of batteries to make it happen and engineers are rightly concerned about everything from the availability of raw materials to how many miles can I drive before I run out of juice? Simona Onori is an electrical engineer by training and a professor of energy resources engineering as well as an expert in creating computer models of what that electric future will look like. For instance, she is developing mathematical battery management systems that assess the internal chemistry of a battery to predict how much life is left in it, how safe it is and, yes, how long until that next charge is needed. Onori likens her analyses to “battery biopsies” that can help engineers and everyday drivers get more life out of their batteries. Don’t fret, our electric future is in good hands, Onori reassures listeners in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Best of: What happens when computers can write like humans | 31 May 2024 | 00:27:14 | |
We’re bringing you a timely best-of episode, given the recent advances in generative AI tools like ChatGPT. A couple years ago we interviewed Jeff Hancock, a Stanford professor of communication whose research explores the psychological and interpersonal processes at play when people communicate with each other and with computers. At the time of this conversation, ChatGPT wasn’t yet available to the public, but today Jeff’s insights about how such technologies impact the ways we communicate seem more relevant than ever. We hope you’ll take another listen and enjoy. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Host Russ Altman introduces guest Jeff Hancock, a professor of communications at Stanford University. (00:03:04) Evolution of Communication How social media and AI tools like spellcheck have changed the way we communicate. (00:04:08) AI in Everyday Communication The role of AI in daily communication tasks, like email responses, and whether this is beneficial or problematic. (00:06:35) Authenticity and Bias in AI Communication The potential biases in AI-generated language and its societal implications. (00:08:42) Large Language Models and Their Capabilities Overview of large language models like GPT-3 and their ability to generate human-like text. (00:10:34) Practical Uses and Implications of AI-Generated Text Practical applications of AI in generating text for marketing, education, and other fields. (00:12:18) Tailoring AI Messages The potential of AI to create personalized messages for different demographics. (00:14:49) Ethical Considerations in AI-Assisted Writing The ethical dilemmas in education regarding AI-assisted writing. (00:17:15) AI and Disinformation The risks associated with AI-generated disinformation and its impact on society. (00:21:06) AI in Advertising and Marketing AI's role in advertising and marketing, including the ethical considerations of using AI to create highly persuasive content. (00:22:38) Building Resilience Against Disinformation Tips for individuals to build resilience against disinformation. (00:26:35) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Irene Lo: How math makes markets fairer | 26 Jun 2021 | 00:27:58 | |
Engineer Irene Lo studies markets, but not traditional marketplaces based in cash. Instead, she studies markets for goods/resources that place a high value on social goods like diversity, fairness and equity. Thus, Lo came to help San Francisco create an algorithm to assign kids more fairly to public schools across geographic, social, racial and economic boundaries. As it turns out, math is just the first step. The most challenging part was getting families to trust in the system, begetting a multi-year community engagement effort. Lo is now turning her attention to other markets with social impact, like her work on the system that places medical students in residency programs across the country or one trying to make the palm oil supply chain fairer for farmers. Listen in as Irene Lo explains the changing face of markets to host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Joseph DeSimone: How 3D printing is changing medicine | 13 Jun 2021 | 00:27:58 | |
Oft-heralded 3-dimensional printers can build objects ranging from simple spoons to advanced running shoes. While those objects are usually made very slowly, the latest printing technologies portend a new era of 3D printing in real-time for use in health care. The possibilities are endless, says Joseph DeSimone, who is an expert in translational medicine – the field of transferring promising technological breakthroughs into real-world products. He says printers he developed have led to the first FDA-approved 3D printed dentures, ultra-thin microneedles that make it easier and more effective to deliver vaccines, and even implantable chemotherapy devices that kill tumors while reducing side effects for patients. From dentistry to oncology, the promise of 3D printed medical devices is only just emerging, as DeSimone explains in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Tina Hernandez-Boussard: How data improves the quality of health care | 12 Jun 2021 | 00:27:53 | |
Tina Hernandez-Boussard is an expert in biomedical informatics who says a new era of understanding the real outcomes of our health care systems is on the horizon thanks to big data, artificial intelligence, and the growing availability of electronic health data. She says that the combination of these tools and data holds the promise of providing never-before-possible insights into whether health procedures truly improve patient quality of life and for which populations. With these tools, she says, her field can peer into the “real-world” details hidden in the medical records, even going so far as to use natural language processing to analyze the freeform notes and emails to and from the provider. The examples are virtually limitless: matching health records against data from wearable devices to know when a knee patient is not getting enough physical exercise, cross-referencing prescriptions to learn whether a patient might be susceptible to adverse drug combinations, or even revealing undisclosed medical events such as past mild heart attacks. It’s all there in the data, waiting for us to explore, as Tina Hernandez-Boussard tells bioengineer and host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Nate Persily: How to restore faith in America’s elections | 03 Jun 2021 | 00:27:44 | |
Nate Persily is a professor at Stanford Law School and an expert in election law. He sees the most recent presidential election as a fundamental change in the way Americans vote. For the first time ever, the majority of voters cast their ballot by mail, rather than at a polling place. It “was an earthquake,” Persily says, speaking metaphorically about the 2020 election’s profound implications for future elections. But not all agree it was a success. Republicans and Democrats are further apart than ever in their beliefs as to whether the recent presidential election was free and fair. Addressing polarization in beliefs regarding the fairness of the election will be very difficult. Until leaders come together in a bipartisan fashion to affirm the legitimacy of an election winner, reform will not be able to do much to address this underlying problem. Failing that, we need to bolster the institutional position of all nonpartisan election administrators who are placing the public interest over party, as Persily tells host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Krishna Shenoy: How brain-computer connections could end paralysis | 02 Jun 2021 | 00:27:48 | |
Whether by injury or disease, paralysis has afflicted humans through the ages. Only now have science and technology converged to a point where scientists can contemplate a day when computers and the human mind can communicate directly to restore a certain degree of independence to people with debilitating spinal injuries and other physical conditions that impede or prevent movement. Electrical engineer Krishna Shenoy is an expert in such brain-computer interfaces and has built machinery by which humans can control the movement of computer cursors with mere thoughts. Using small chips implanted in the brain itself, Shenoy “listens intelligently” to the electrical “chatter” among a hundred or so of the 100 billion neurons of the brain’s motor cortex and then translates the meaning into language a computer can understand. In this way, Shenoy has allowed a man with paralysis to “write” his thoughts at some 17 words per minute, a record more than double the previous standard. Work remains, but the future of brain-computer interfaces is on the horizon as Krishna Shenoy tells us on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Sam Wineburg: How to improve American students’ fact-checking skills | 16 May 2021 | 00:27:48 | |
Sam Wineburg, a research psychologist at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, recently conducted a nationwide study of the fact-checking skills of thousands of American high school students. He didn’t go about it with a survey asking the kids to self-report their own behaviors. Instead, he devised a live experiment that charged the 3,000 students in the study to determine the veracity of a now-famous bit of fake news from the 2016 election. Wineburg and team were then able to follow along as students tried to find the true source of the video, which had been produced in Russia as part of a disinformation campaign. In the end, just three students – one-tenth of one percent – arrived at the right answer. Rather than blame the kids, however, Wineburg says fault lies with the tools they are using, which have changed so dramatically in speed and scope that their fact-checking skills have had trouble keeping up. All is not lost, he promises, but fixing the problem will require changing not just what information students consume, but the way they think about it, as Wineburg tells host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Julie Parsonnet: How faith in herd immunity may be misplaced | 16 May 2021 | 00:28:00 | |
Many have now become familiar with the term herd immunity, an idea few outside the infectious disease community knew just a few short months ago. It’s an elusive concept to comprehend, and harder still to achieve, but Stanford epidemiologist Dr. Julie Parsonnet says it’s important to understand just what herd immunity does – and doesn’t – mean for today’s pandemic. Broadly speaking, herd immunity is reached when enough people have either recovered from or have been fully vaccinated against an infectious disease and there are no longer enough susceptible people in the entire population (the herd) to sustain transmission. Herd immunity doesn’t mean there won’t be cases, only that when they crop up, they will then die out. Parsonnet says this term is meant for epidemiologists to model what things will and won’t work; herd immunity is never really a public health goal in and of itself. Parsonnet also says that, in models, there are many obstacles to attaining herd immunity, including vaccine hesitancy, especially in people most likely to transmit the infection (young adults); imperfect effectiveness of the vaccine; movement of people; carriage of the virus in non-human hosts; and the continuous appearance of variants. Importantly, Parsonnet says, herd immunity is unlikely to be permanent. Society must remain vigilant, continuously limiting the number of susceptible people to keep the herd safe. She therefore counsels deemphasizing the concept and instead bringing the diversity of communities into the conversation to achieve high levels of protection in the U.S. and globally. She says every vaccine given is a step in the direction of “normal.” In this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, host Russ Altman and Parsonnet also talk about her other research showing that average human body temperature is on the decline worldwide. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Maneesh Agrawala: How AI is changing video editing | 04 May 2021 | 00:27:48 | |
Imagine typing words into a text editor and watching on a nearby television as a well-known celebrity speaks those words within seconds. Computer graphics expert Maneesh Agrawala has imagined it and has created a video editing software that can do it, too. Given enough raw video, Agrawala’s application can produce polished, photorealistic video of any person saying virtually anything he types in. While he acknowledges concerns about manufactured “deep fakes” of political leaders or others speaking words they never said, Agrawala chooses to focus on the profound upside. He envisions the television and film industries using his technology to forgo costly reshoots, for instance, or medical professionals helping people with damaged vocal cords regain their natural voices. In the end, while ethical and legal frameworks are being developed to address deep fakes with all due seriousness they deserve, Agrawala says the benefits of the technology, and his passion for it, gets at the most basic of all human endeavors — better communication. Agrawala tells host Russ Altman all about it in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Noah Rosenberg: How biology is becoming more mathematical | 03 May 2021 | 00:27:56 | |
Biology is not typically considered a mathematically intensive science, says Noah Rosenberg, an expert in genetics, but all that is about to change. Math, statistics, data and computer science have coalesced into a growing interest in applying quantitative skills to this traditionally qualitative field. The result will be better and more accurate models of life, ranging from genetic inheritance to the entirety of human society. The yield will be a greater understanding and, quite possibly, revolutionary interventions into disease, ecology, demography, and even evolution itself. The tools of mathematical biology have never been more apparent, Rosenberg says, as mathematical models of the spread of infectious disease have been central around the world in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With applications in health care, forensic genetics, and human evolution, the tools of mathematical biology are proving more relevant and more needed than ever, as Noah Rosenberg tells Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, with host bioengineer Russ Altman. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Ram Rajagopal: How the grid is becoming more human-centric | 22 Apr 2021 | 00:27:35 | |
Slowly but surely, the highly centralized, industrial electric grid that supplies power to the vast majority of American homes and business is changing. Our existing system of massive power plants and huge networks of high-voltage wires is giving way to a much leaner, decentralized system of small-scale power generation on a more personal, neighborhood- or residence-level scale. In other words, we’re going from an “infrastructure-centric” model to a “human-centric” one, says grid expert Ram Rajagopal. He says that the new grid will be much smarter, more inclusive and better able to adapt to the individual needs of users, helping them to schedule power-intensive tasks, like laundry or charging of electrical vehicles, to off-peak times of the day. Before that day can come, however, Rajagopal says we’ll need new sorts of sensors and algorithms that will provide much more data about who, how and when people are using power, as he tells listeners to Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host bioengineer Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| The future of the universe | 24 May 2024 | 00:30:11 | |
Astrophysicist Risa Wechsler studies the evolution of the universe. She says that our understanding of how the universe formed and how it will change over time is changing as new technologies for seeing and measuring space come online, like a new high-resolution camera that can quickly map the full sky to see everything that moves, or new spectrographs that will map the cosmos in 3D and enable us to get new clues about the elusive dark matter. You can’t understand the universe or our presence in it until you understand dark matter, Wechsler tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Episode Reference Links:
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Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Russ Altman introduces guest Professor Risa Wechsler, professor of physics, particle physics, and astrophysics from Stanford University. (00:01:46) Tools for Studying the Universe Technologies and methods used to study galaxies and the universe, including the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time. (00:04:37) Understanding Maps of the Universe The concept of mapping the universe in two and three dimensions, the significance of redshifts, and the application of spectroscopy. (00:08:56) The Structure and Scale of the Universe The age, expansion, and overall structure of the universe, touching on its isotropic nature and clumpiness on different scales. (00:12:23) Delving into Galaxy Formation and Evolution An in-depth look at galaxy formation, the role of dark matter, and how galaxies have evolved over billions of years. (00:14:49) The Diversity of Galaxies and Their Structures The various types of galaxies, including satellite and dwarf galaxies, and how they form and evolve differently. (00:18:56) Dark Matter and Dark Energy The fundamental aspects of dark matter and dark energy, their role in the universe, and the challenges in studying them. (00:22:32) Mapping the Universe with Modern Tools How current technologies and methods contribute to our understanding of the universe’s expansion and structure (00:24:57) Applying Cosmic Understanding The SAGA Survey and its implications for understanding the Milky Way in a broader cosmic context. (00:29:29) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Meagan Mauter: How freshwater supply is becoming more circular | 21 Apr 2021 | 00:27:56 | |
The world’s once linear — take it, treat it, use it, dispose it — model of freshwater usage is changing fast. Despite two-thirds of Earth being covered in water, just 2.5% of it is fit for human consumption. And that share is dwindling by the day, says civil and environmental engineer and expert in water treatment and distribution systems Meagan Mauter. With a rapidly increasing population and climate change disrupting traditional weather and distribution patterns, access to freshwater is headed for, if not already amid, a worldwide crisis. Avoiding calamity will require industrial scale desalination and other technologies that can separate precious freshwater from other less desirable substances in the water, but also a shift to a more circular model where every drop of water is treasured and reused. Doing that, Mauter says, will demand doing away with not only inefficient practices but also the very notion of “waste” water, as she tells us in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host bioengineer Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Catherine Gorle: How cityscapes catch the wind | 07 Apr 2021 | 00:27:47 | |
Humankind has long harnessed the wind to its advantage. From ancient mariners to millers grinding grist, the wind has been an ally for millennia, but only now do engineers have at their disposal advanced computer simulations to better understand the details of wind flow and to optimize designs. Catherine Gorle is one such engineer who has made it her career to design better built environments able to improve walkability, temper extreme winds, shuffle air pollution far away and dissipate heat islands arising from so much sun-beaten concrete in our cities. Once, that work had to take place in wind tunnels, but now transpires through advanced computer simulations that both speed her work and add critical detail to her understanding of the close interrelationship between wind and human society. Join us as Catherine Gorle tells host bioengineer Russ Altman all about the future of wind on this episode Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||
| Anthony Kinslow: How to close the clean-energy divide | 06 Apr 2021 | 00:27:58 | |
As the world moves to more efficient and cleaner energy solutions, there is a growing divide between the clean-energy haves and have-nots, says Anthony Kinslow II, PhD, a lecturer in civil and environmental engineering. Too often the divide falls along racial and socio-economic lines, as minority and low-income communities do not benefit from clean energy to the degree that whiter and wealthier communities do. The problem is founded in history and in the federal government’s askew system of financing and incentivizing clean and renewable energy systems. The money flows to certain communities and not to others, Dr. Kinslow says. Fixing the problem won’t be easy, but solutions might begin with energy audits of minority and low-income homes and communities to better understand where the gaps are and how wide they have become, as well as greater diversity in federal appointments to energy and finance positions in government. With audits will come opportunities for low-interest loans and other financing to transition to greater efficiency, as Dr. Kinslow tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Listen and subscribe here. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. | |||