The Future And You
Ideas and opinion about the future based on verifiable facts of today.
 
The Future And You--December 25, 2013

Topic: Things Which, in the Future, Will Disappear.

Examples include: hand-held cell phones; the ability to get lost; not just privacy but also anonymity; paper (not just documents but also snail-mail, junk mail and personal checks); the physical versions of newspapers, magazines and greeting cards; and maybe even physical books. And a number of other things.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 25, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_12_25.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:30pm EDT

The Future And You--December 18, 2013

The 8th Anniversary Episode.

Eight years ago (on December 15, 2005) the very first episode of The Future And You was made available to the global public. And so in today's episode I will talk a bit about those very early episodes; how the show started; that all past episodes remain freely downloadable; and why--after eight years--I'm still doing the show and have no intention of stopping.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 18, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_12_18.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:30am EDT

The Future And You--December 11, 2013

Topic: technological and scientific developments so far this year.

Examples include: a breathalyzer-style test can now detect stomach cancer; caffeine reduces the probability of suicide; a new form of lithium-ion battery is thousands of times more powerful than current battery technology; a tiny exoplanet is discovered about the size of the Earth's moon; the US Supreme Court decides that naturally occurring genes can not be patented by medical companies; and, for the first time, a robotic aircraft lands on an aircraft carrier on the high seas.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 11, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 18 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_12_11.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

The Future And You--December 4, 2013

Topic: Future Predictions from Wikipedia and from Popular Mechanics.

Examples include: Solar powered drones which can fly for five years without coming down may take the place of more expensive satellites; Instantaneous translation for all languages as a cell phone app; Google's ongoing plan to digitize every book ever written in any language; and the soldiers of the United States Army being increasingly replaced by robots.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 4, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 29 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_12_4.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

The Future And You--November 6, 2013

Topic: Your host recommends a number of TV shows and movies which depict the future. 

These include: Almost Human, Ender's Game, Continuum, Prometheus, Firefly, Serenity, Timer, Time Traveler, Delete, The Social Network, Cloud Atlas, The Terminator, Terminator 2, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 6, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 23 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_11_6.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:55am EDT

The Future And You--October 30, 2013

Topic: The website FutureTimeLine.net.

FutureTimeLine.net is an impressive body of work which includes hundreds of predictions about the future, conveniently arranged by year, decade and century. Everything from next year to the ultimate heat-death at the end of the universe are covered with clear explanations and footnotes to the source material for the predictions. Your host reads sample predictions and critiques the website.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 30, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 29 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_10_30.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:01am EDT

The Future And You--October 23, 2013
Topic: How the U.S. electric power grid will suffer and struggle economically due to the continued rise of electricity produced from sunlight.
This suffering has already begun in places where photovoltaics are in rapid adoption such as Hawaii and California. But this struggle has only just begun. During the next decade or two it's going to get ugly--really ugly. The slow agonizing death of an industry is not an easy thing to watch. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be eliminated. And for those investors who cling endlessly to what was once a reliable source of prosperity, fortunes will be lost. The future is not always pretty, but we must face the trends which are measurable as they grow strong in front of our eyes. It's the only way we can decide how best to respond to the changes which are being dropped into our lap.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 23, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future

Direct download: TFAY_2013_10_23.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:31pm EDT

The Future And You--October 16, 2013

Topic: Part TWO of our panel on Transhumanism.

Panelists include: Stephanie Osborn (space scientist and SF author), Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist), Lillian Price (microbiologist in the final months of her doctoral work), Daniel M. Hoyt (programmer and SF writer), Sarah A. Hoyt (author and polyglot), Robert Hoyt (SF writer with a fresh BS in biology), me (your host, Stephen Euin Cobb), and Dr. Tedd Roberts (neuroscientist and researcher) as the panel's moderator.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 16, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] This is the second half of a discussion panel which was recorded before an audience on June 29, 2013 at the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN. The first half was in last week's episode.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_10_16.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:16am EDT

The Future And You--October 9, 2013

Topic: Transhumanism. This is a panel discussion with eight participants--a mixture of scientists and science fiction writers.

Panelists include: Stephanie Osborn (space scientist and SF author), Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist), Lillian Price (microbiologist in the final months of her doctoral work), Daniel M. Hoyt (programmer and SF writer), Sarah A. Hoyt (author and polyglot), Robert Hoyt (SF writer with a fresh BS in biology), me (your host, Stephen Euin Cobb), and Dr. Tedd Roberts (neuroscientist and researcher) as the panel's moderator.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 9, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] This is the first half of a discussion panel which was recorded before an audience on June 29, 2013 at the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN. The second half will be in next week's episode.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_10_9.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:31am EDT

The Future And You--October 2, 2013

Anthony Thomas, M. Doc Geressy and Chuck Carte are our featured guests; with Stephen Euin Cobb as moderator.

Topic: Part TWO of New Media. The nature and effects of the many different newly-invented forms of media which have grown large thanks to the overwhelming popularity of the Internet--without which they could not exist. This includes: streaming TV, wiki's, facebook, podcasts, blogs, twitter, pintrest, and many other tools for sharing information digitally.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 2, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes] This is the second half of a discussion panel recorded before an audience on June 1, 2013 at the science fiction and fantasy convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC. The first half is in last week's episode.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_10_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:28am EDT

The Future And You--September 25, 2013

Anthony Thomas, M. Doc Geressy and Chuck Carte are our featured guests; with Stephen Euin Cobb as moderator.

Topic: "New Media" (as opposed to traditional media). An informal examination of the nature and effects of the many different newly-invented forms of media which have grown large thanks to the overwhelming popularity of the Internet--without which they could not exist. This includes: streaming TV, wiki's, facebook, podcasts, blogs, twitter, pintrest, and many other tools for sharing information digitally.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 25, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes] This is the first half of a discussion panel recorded before an audience on June 1, 2013 at the science fiction and fantasy convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC. The second half of this panel will be in next week's episode.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_9_25.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

The Future And You--September 18, 2013

Michael Nuschke (Retirement Futurist) is our featured guest.

Topic: Part TWO of Retirement planning in the age of the Singularity.

Michael Nuschke is a Professional Retirement Planner who is also a Futurist and Life-Extensionist. By combining his profession with his futurism he has written a report entitledThe End Of Retirement As We Know It. This report is available as a free pdf download from his website (www.retirementsingularity.com). I've read it and it's excellent. In my interview with Michael we discuss his report at length. We cover his assessment of how things are changing, and his advice which you can use to improve your personal future. As he says on his website: "I specialize in retirement income planning–how to ensure you don’t run out of money before you run out of life. This gets tricky if you live well past age 100 in good health."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 18, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on August 31, 2013. This is the second half of his interview; the first half was in last week's episode.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_9_18.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:39pm EDT

The Future And You--September 11, 2013

Michael Nuschke (Retirement Futurist) is our featured guest.

Topic: Retirement planning in the age of the Singularity (Part One).

Michael Nuschke is a Professional Retirement Planner who is also a Futurist and Life-Extensionist. By combining his profession with his futurism he has written a report entitled The End Of Retirement As We Know It. This report is available as a free pdf download from his website (www.retirementsingularity.com). I've read it and it's excellent. In my interview with Michael we discuss his report at length. We cover his assessment of how things are changing, and his advice which you can use to improve your personal future. As he says on his website: "I specialize in retirement income planning–how to ensure you don’t run out of money before you run out of life. This gets tricky if you live well past age 100 in good health."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 11, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on August 31, 2013. The first half will be presented in this week's episode, and the second half will be presented next week.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_9_11.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

The Future And You--September 4, 2013

Frederik Pohl, one of the legends of science fiction, passed away just a few days ago on September 2, 2013. In memory of his life and work today's episode contains an interview he gave me back in 2010 shortly after he'd turned 90 years old.

Topics: How he and Arthur C. Clarke became friends many decades ago; and how in Arthur's declining years Arthur asked Fred to finish a book that he had started but could not complete. Fred's years working as a literary agent--during which he became Isaac Asimov's first agent, and sold Isaac's first novel: A Pebble in the Sky. His work as the editor of various magazines including Astonishing, Galaxy and If--which is when he bought Larry Niven's first few professional stories, and when he hired Judy-Lynn del Rey as his secretary at Galaxy Magazine even though she knew nothing about Science Fiction at the time. (This was long before she worked at Ballantine Books, married Lester del Rey, and became so influential at Ballantine that they put her in charge of an imprint and named it after her.) Miscellaneous topics include: how he came to write for Playboy Magazine; why he wrote under so many pseudonyms; his method of collaborating with other authors; and how he become Encyclopedia Britannica's first official authority on the Roman Emperor Tiberius; predicting the future using the Delphi Method; his co-founding ofThe Futurians; his nonfiction books: The Way the Future WasOur Angry Earth, and Science as a Spectator Sport; the Americanization of the world (which he has witnessed by traveling to more than 50 different nations); his modest contribution to democracy in Moscow; how he was excluded from attending the very first WorldCon; and a few insights about his long-term friends: Donald A. Wollheim (the creator of DAW Books), andIsaac Asimov.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 4, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 61 minutes] This interview was recorded on January 30, 2010.

Frederik Pohl is a science fiction writer, and has been a book and magazine editor, as well as a poet, critic, literary agent and teacher. He edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine If, winning the Hugo for If three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_9_4.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:19am EDT

The Future And You--August 28, 2013

Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist and professor) is our featured speaker.

Topic: The Singularity, and some of the things which might prevent it from occurring.

Dr. Ben Davis earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame. For several years he then taught mathematics, programming, astronomy and physics. He now works in the biometrics industry. His personal interest include: futurism, skepticism, science fiction, and history.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 28, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 51 minutes] This is a presentation recorded before an audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_8_28.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:31pm EDT

The Future And You--August 21, 2013

Catherine Asaro (theoretical physicist, author and SIGMA consultant), Stephanie Osborn (former NASA payload specialist and author) David L. Burkhead (who works at a scanning electron microscopy facility, and writes science fiction as well) and your host: Stephen Euin Cobb.

Topic: Nanotechnology. What is being done today and what it may produce in the future.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 21, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 53 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before an audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_8_21.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:55am EDT

The Future And You--August 14, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: A Timeline of Humanity's Future in Space.

Specifically: When are we likely to do each of the following: return to the Moon; put the first footsteps on an asteroid; land people on Mars; visit the outer planets (or the moons of the outer planets) such as those of Jupiter and Saturn; and, of course, when are we likely to send people to a solar system other than our own--which is to say... When will we travel to the stars?

A recurring side topic: Is it appropriate for us to make use of celestial objects, or should we preserve them in their original state? And if we preserve them, who exactly are we preserving them for?

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 14, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 60 minutes] This panel discussion (originally titled "Why Aren't We In Space?") was recorded before a live audience at the science fiction and fantasy convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_8_14.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:06pm EDT

The Future And You--August 7, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Gray Rinehart (writer and editor), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: Global Climate Change. Evaluating its possible solutions for effectiveness and political achieveability.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 7, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 58 minutes] This panel discussion was recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_8_7.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

The Future And You--July 31, 2013

John Ringo (best selling author), Larry Correa (best selling author), Catherine Asaro (theoretical physicist, author and SIGMA consultant), Les Johnson (author and NASA administrator), Tedd Roberts (brain scientist), Michael Z. Williamson (author), Julie Cochran (author), Patrick Vanner (author) and Lillian Price (microbiologist and medical student) are today's speakers.

Topic: "Ten Ways Civilization Might Die."

Ways discussed include: another Carrington Event, an eruption of the Yellowstone caldera, an asteroidal impact, The Singularity, a computer virus with unexpected catastrophic secondary and tertiary effects, a human engineered virus or bacteria, cyber attacks against infrastructure, EMPs (electromagnetic pulses), the vulnerabilities of digital patient medical records, the rise of artificial intelligence, universal apathy in a wired world, The Law of Unintended Consequences, and the obvious--Global Nuclear War.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 31, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 60 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_7_31.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:33am EDT

The Future And You--July 24, 2013

Seventeen diverse interviews from LibertyCon 2013.

Topics: Trends and insight into what is happening behind the scenes in a wide variety of professions, interests, enthusiasms and fields. This collection is partly intended give you a sense of the trends which are creating the future, but also to provide you with a bit of the flavor of the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon.

Our guests today in the order in which they appear:

Catherine Asaro (author, scientist, dancer, singer and LibertyCon's Science Guest of Honor).

Kevin J Anderson (best selling author and LibertyCon's Literary Guest of Honor) accompanied by his wife Rebecca Moesta.

Larry Correia (best selling author and LibertyCon's Master of Ceremonies).

John Ringo (bestselling author).

Toni Weisskopf (head of Baen Books).

Michael Z. Williamson (author of military SF).

Patrick Vanner (author).

Stuart Jaffe (author & podcaster).

Elayna Little Cook (volunteer working in the LibertyCon art room).

Melissa Gay (professional artist).

Brandy Spraker (LibertyCon's new chairperson).

Kennith I. Roy (engineer and space engineering researcher).

Gail Sanders (costume maker and vendor).

Warren Buff & Jeff Orth (SF&F convention organizers).

Cathe Smith (insect geneticist and LibertyCon volunteer).

Geoffrey Mandragora (author of The Thunderbolt Affair).

Lillian Price (author of Thin Places).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 24, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 133 minutes].

Direct download: TFAY_2013_7_24.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:07am EDT

The Future And You--July 17, 2013

Catherine Asaro (theoretical physicist, author and SIGMA consultant), Les Johnson (author and NASA administrator), Sarah Hoyt (author), Tedd Roberts (brain scientist), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist), Jeff Barnes (FAA safety engineer and SF writer), Lillian Price (microbiologist and medical student), Chuck Gannon (author and SIGMA consultant) and Jim Beall (nuclear engineer) are today's speakers.

Topic: "Where's My Flying Car?"  And other broken promises about the future from science fiction.

Subtopics: tricorders; jet packs; nuclear fusion; teleportation; faster than light travel; anti-matter; space tourism; foods that won't spoil; supersonic commercial airliners; and robot servants that do the laundry, wash the dishes and cook meals. Also all those cool things from the movie "Back to the Future" such as Doc Brown's time machine and Mister Fusion; Marty Mcfly's hover board, self-tying shoes and self-drying clothes; and the national weather service's right-on-time weather control.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 17, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 59 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_7_17.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:22am EDT

The Future And You--July 10, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Gray Rinehart (writer and editor), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: "The Year in Science" (Part 2).

Subtopics: grid parity; smart grids (verses the dumb grids we have now); photovoltaics and the rise of solar cells; solar panels on residential roofs; George Orwell; so called joule theives (such as the one that charges your cell phone with the stray radio waves around you, or charges it using the special T-shirt you are wearing which produces electricity from your body). Also: the promises and hopes of augmented reality verses the much talked about privacy fears; the BMW prototype of augmented reality (which is far better than Google Glass); and how augmented reality may very well produce new waves of unemployment.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 10, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes] This is the second half of a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_7_10.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:33pm EDT

The Future And You--July 3, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: "The Year in Science" (Part 1).

Subtopics: The good and bad of 3D printers. Such as the 3D printing of food for human consumption, of a mouse kidney for transplant, of replacement parts for US army weapons, of artificial limbs for amputees, and of impossible to find parts for antique cars. But also the unemployment which will likely be a byproduct of 3D printers.  Also discussed: the discovery of a transitional ancestor of turtles with only half-developed shells; and the universe taken as whole might not be elegant after all since the Higgs boson has turned out to be too light to bring balance to the universe. Dr. Adrian Bowyer's self-replicating rep-rap machine is also described. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 3, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] This is the first half of a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_7_3.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:50pm EDT

The Future And You--June 26, 2013

Twelve diverse interviews from ConCarolinas 2013.

Gathered from locations throughout the Hilton Hotel in Charlotte NC during the weekend of ConCarolinas, these interviews provide trends and insight into what is happening behind the scenes in a wide variety of professions, interests, enthusiasms and fields. This collection is partly intended give you a sense of what is likely to come in the future, but also to provide you with a feel for the flavor of the annual convention.

Our guests today in the order in which they appear:

Kandyse McClure (a regular on Battlestar Galactica for 4 years, she recently appeared as Dr. Clementine Chasseur in the original series Hemlock Grove).

Jason Carter (best known for his role as the Ranger Marcus Cole on the series Babylon 5, he has also appeared on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Angel, and Charmed).

Timithy Zahn (Hugo Award winning author of 10 Star Wars Extended Universe novels).

Stuart Jaffe (author and podcaster). 

John G. Hartness (author and poet). 

Logan (fan and performance artist).

Gale Z. Martin (author and podcaster).

Glenda Finkelstein (author and independent film-maker).

Stage Slave Gavin (a theatrical performer who was promoting the movie The Gospel According to Booze, Bullets and Hot Pink Jesus. For the sake of promotion, he was in full-body hot-pink makeup as "Hot Pink Jesus").

Taylor Gibbson (an artist who was sitting under a sign which read "Cartoonify yourself").

Roy Mauritsen (writer and fine artist).

Sarah L. Covert (writer, editor, and publisher at SheNeverSlept.com).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 26, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 104 minutes].

ConCarolinas is one of the sources for the many science-oriented discussion panels which have graced this show over the last seven years. It is a multi-genre multi-media convention which covers all manner of speculative fiction: science fiction, fantasy and horror. It hosts a variety of fandom related events and guests, including gaming, discussion panels, costume events, music events like Klingon Karaoke, a charity auction, SCA events, fan groups like the 501st Stormtroopers, Starfleet, and Klingon Assault Group, and something different every year.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_6_26.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:50am EDT

The Future And You--June 19, 2013

James Maxey (author), Anthony Thomas (programmer), Jim Craig (planetarium director) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: Transhumanism.

Subtopics: is transhumanism inevitable?, computers hardwired into the human brain, artificial red blood cells, nootropics (smart drugs), augmentation as a personal choice verses as a product of social coercion, Marshal Brain's short story Manna, prenatal surgery, eugenics, should we slow down the rate of human augmentation?, life extension, google glass, the human connectome project, and having all of your organic cells replaced with artificial cells which accurately mimic living cell as described in your host's transhumanist novel Plague at Redhook.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 19, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 65 minutes] This panel discussion was recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_6_19.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:15pm EDT

The Future And You--June 12, 2013

Dr. Robert E. Hampson (neuroscientist, writer and public speaker) is today's featured guest.

Part 3 of our 3 part exploration of: How memories are stored in the human brain. 

Subtopics include: The Blue Brain Project, The Human Connectome Project, President Obama's BRAIN Initiative, Artificial Intelligence, Alzheimer's disease, Trends in Teaching Methods used in Colleges, Distance Learning, Prosthetics for the Brain, and the problem of obsolescence of brain prosthetics which might require replacement and thus suffering through a second session of brain surgery.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 12, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 44 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on May 26, 2013.

Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a researcher in the field of "neuroscience" –the structure and function of the brain.  After receiving his doctorate in Physiology and Pharmacology from Wake Forest University in 1988, his research focus has been on the hippocampus (a brain area involved in the processing of short-term memory) and in the prefrontal cortex (an area responsible for behavior and decisions involving memory).  His laboratory work includes the study of: 1) nerve cell function, 2) behavioral mechanisms, and 3) detection of the patterns of neural activity, underlying learning and memory in rodents, nonhuman primates and humans.  These studies have required the development of computer models of neural activity patterns associated with processing of memory, investigation of drugs that alter memory function, examination of the effects of sleep and sleep deprivation on cognitive (memory) processing, and comparative studies of memory across different animal species.  Dr. Hampson is also part of a multi-university team working to develop a "neural prosthetic" capable of restoring memory by connecting between different regions within the brain.

Dr. Hampson's interest in public education and brain awareness has also led him to serve as a member of the Science and Entertainment Exchange (a service of the National Academy of Science) which supplies subject matter experts to the entertainment industry, and from there to the field of Science Fiction.  Writing science fact and fiction blogs and articles as "Tedd Roberts," he also gives public talks on science fiction for SF conventions, student and civic groups, and writes nonfiction articles for Baen Books.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_6_12.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:07pm EDT

The Future And You--June 5, 2013

Dr. Robert E. Hampson (neuroscientist, writer and public speaker) is today's featured guest.

Part 2 of our 3 part exploration of: How memories are stored in the human brain. 

Subtopics include: recording electrical activity deep inside a living human brain; common misinterpretations of the goals of brain research; deep brain stimulation (a treatment for Parkinson's disease); pharmaceuticals for brain research, and ways in which the Internet has forced peer-reviewed scientific journals to change. One such change has been the adoption of a new form of peer-review known as "open-review"--a wild and woolly free-for-all.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 5, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on May 26, 2013.

Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a researcher in the field of "neuroscience" –the structure and function of the brain.  After receiving his doctorate in Physiology and Pharmacology from Wake Forest University in 1988, his research focus has been on the hippocampus (a brain area involved in the processing of short-term memory) and in the prefrontal cortex (an area responsible for behavior and decisions involving memory).  His laboratory work includes the study of: 1) nerve cell function, 2) behavioral mechanisms, and 3) detection of the patterns of neural activity, underlying learning and memory in rodents, nonhuman primates and humans.  These studies have required the development of computer models of neural activity patterns associated with processing of memory, investigation of drugs that alter memory function, examination of the effects of sleep and sleep deprivation on cognitive (memory) processing, and comparative studies of memory across different animal species.  Dr. Hampson is also part of a multi-university team working to develop a "neural prosthetic" capable of restoring memory by connecting between different regions within the brain.

Dr. Hampson's interest in public education and brain awareness has also led him to serve as a member of the Science and Entertainment Exchange (a service of the National Academy of Science) which supplies subject matter experts to the entertainment industry, and from there to the field of Science Fiction.  Writing science fact and fiction blogs and articles as "Tedd Roberts," he also gives public talks on science fiction for SF conventions, student and civic groups, and writes nonfiction articles for Baen Books.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_6_5.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:34pm EDT

The Future And You--May 29, 2013

Dr. Robert E. Hampson (neuroscientist, writer and public speaker) is today's featured guest.

Topic: How memories are stored in the human brain. As well as ways living neurons behave similarly to neural nets written in software; why holograms are a good metaphor for memory storage in the brain; and new tools and equipment which are opening the door to entirely new research. Such as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Functional MRI) which is an MRI procedure that measures brain activity by detecting associated changes in blood flow; and Magnetoencephalography (MEG)--a technique for mapping brain activity by recording, from outside the brain, magnetic fields produced by electrical currents occurring inside the brain which are a physical manifestation of mental activity. We even take a moment to discuss the Alpha brain-wave bio-feedback machines which were a big fad back in the 1980s.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 29, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 48 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on May 26, 2013.

Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a researcher in the field of "neuroscience" –the structure and function of the brain.  After receiving his doctorate in Physiology and Pharmacology from Wake Forest University in 1988, his research focus has been on the hippocampus (a brain area involved in the processing of short-term memory) and in the prefrontal cortex (an area responsible for behavior and decisions involving memory).  His laboratory work includes the study of: 1) nerve cell function, 2) behavioral mechanisms, and 3) detection of the patterns of neural activity, underlying learning and memory in rodents, nonhuman primates and humans.  These studies have required the development of computer models of neural activity patterns associated with processing of memory, investigation of drugs that alter memory function, examination of the effects of sleep and sleep deprivation on cognitive (memory) processing, and comparative studies of memory across different animal species.  Dr. Hampson is also part of a multi-university team working to develop a "neural prosthetic" capable of restoring memory by connecting between different regions within the brain.

Dr. Hampson's interest in public education and brain awareness has also led him to serve as a member of the Science and Entertainment Exchange (a service of the National Academy of Science) which supplies subject matter experts to the entertainment industry, and from there to the field of Science Fiction.  Writing science fact and fiction blogs and articles as "Tedd Roberts," he also gives public talks on science fiction for SF conventions, student and civic groups, and writes nonfiction articles for Baen Books.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_5_29.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:14am EDT

The Future And You--May 22, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topics: Future trends as depicted on the TV show Continuum; grid parity of photovoltaics across America as depicted on a Solar Equivalency Interactive Map; my intentions to Invest in Photovoltaics over the next two to four years; a warning that the price of stock in solar companies will likely suffer from a series bubbles of ever increasing size over the next few years, each one followed by a crash; a clever invention called Gravity Light; Oculus Rift (a Virtual Reality display device which will be available this summer) and its use by Jimmy Fallon; and a little robot with big gooey feet.

Also: a brief prediction from Jose Cordeiro (founder of the World Future Society's Venezuela Chapter, chair of The Millennium Project Venezuela Node, and faculty member of Singularity University).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 22, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_5_22.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:15am EDT

The Future And You--May 15, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topic: Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Their rise; utility; strength; weakness; easy and difficult ways of aquiring them; their short and long term trends; and the scammers who cheat those who sell them on eBay.

Cryptocurrencies include: Bitcoin (BTC)Litecoin (LTC), PPCoin (PPC), Namecoin (NMC), FeatherCoin (FTC), NovaCoin (NVC), Devcoin (DEV), Freicoin (FRC), ChnCoin (CNC), Terracoin (TRC), Liquidcoin (LQC), IxCoin (IXC), I0coin (I0C), Tonal Bitcoin (TBC), and many others.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 15, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 38 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_5_15.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:12am EDT

The Future And You--May 8, 2013

Les Johnson (author, speaker and NASA administrator) is today's featured guest.

Topic: Sky Alert: When Satellites Fail (Les Johnson's latest nonfiction book). Les describes how much we depend on our fragile network of satellites orbiting the earth, how vulnerable they are to various dangers, and how our day-to-day lives would suffer if they were destroyed.

Les Johnson serves as the Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He was the technical consultant for the movie Lost in Space. And In his spare time he writes popular science books and articles--for example. In collaboration with C Bangs (an artist) and Greg Matloff (a professor of astronomy) he wrote:Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth (2009); Living Off the Land in Space (2007); and with Greg Matloff and Giovanni Vulpetti he wrote Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel (2008). And with Jack McDevitt Going Interstellar (2012).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 8, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 52 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on April 30, 2013.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_5_8.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:58am EDT

The Future And You--May 1, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

News and commentary on a variety of topics, including: Google glass are not welcome in Brighton shop; Old age is the killer app for Google Glass; Regulation changes the US Post office have made recently in the hope of massively increasing the junk mail you receive; Nanosponges soak up toxins released by bacterial infections and venom; and An IT industry assessment of how many Google Glass are likely to sell between 2013 and 2016.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 1, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes]

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

And a prediction from Brandy Spraker (the new Chairperson of LibertyCon) which was just a few hours too late to be included in last week's big prediction fest.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_5_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:22am EDT

The Future And You--April 24, 2013

This is the 300th episode of The Future And You.

A hundred new predictions about the future from dozens of past guests, a few possible future guests, several listeners and an assortment of people actively building the future we are all going to live in.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 24, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 48 minutes].

And If you enjoy the many predictions in this episode you may also enjoy the 200th episode (May 25, 2011) which also contains over 100 predictions from past guests.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_4_24.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:05am EDT

The Future And You--April 17, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topic: Google Glass. News, commentary and predictions of how Google Glass and other augmented reality glasses will alter our future.

Links: How Google Glass will Change Porn, 5 ways medics could use Google Glass, Google Glass for cops: How Taser plans to bring wearable, real-time tech to the police frontline, BMW “Augmented Reality” Glasses Show Mechanics How to Fix A Car, Anti-Google Glass Group Galvanize Masses Against Cyborgs, Most consumers won't pay $1,500 for a Google Glass, Watch the Google Glass SXSW Presentation.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 17, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 45 minutes] 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Announcement: Next week (April 24) will be the 300th episode of The Future And You. To celebrate I will read many predictions by past guests--as well as some future guests. If you have a prediction that you would like for me to read into the 300th episode, please email it to me@stevecobb.com. Please keep it brief. I expect a lot of predictions, so I need to be able to read yours in under thirty seconds. And, If you would, please send in your prediction sometime this week. I'll be recording them on Friday night (April 19, 2013) and Saturday afternoon (April 20, 2013). If they arrive too late, I may still read them into the show, but not into the 300th episode. Thanks.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_4_17.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:23am EDT

The Future And You--April 10, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topics: Life Extension and The Technological Singularity. (Stephen asks himself some of the many questions about the future he generally asks his guests.)

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 10, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 38 minutes] 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_4_10.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:41am EDT

The Future And You--April 3, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Various Nanotechnology Topics: Nanotechnology in Furniture; Nano-particles are shown to kill the HIV virus using bee venom; assembling and dissembling nano-structures composed of DNA using a "programmable assembly" method has been demonstrated by nano-encrypting Morse code messages; gold nano-rods split water into hydrogen and oxygen when exposed to sunlight.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 3, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 19 minutes] 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_4_3.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:21pm EDT

The Future And You--March 27, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topics: News and commentary concerning: The first implanted brain-computer interface which is wireless (it's from Brown University); The Human Brain Project intends to simulate an entire human brain; A new Exoplanet-Hunting Telescope which takes adaptive optics to a whole new level; A 3-D Printer which creates microscopic objects; And the world’s smallest implant for monitoring blood chemistry can tell your smart phone when you’re about to have a heart attack. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 27, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 28 minutes] 

NOTE: In today's commentary about 3-D printers, the professor I mentioned interviewing some years ago was Dr. Adrian Bowyer (inventor of the RepRap Machine, an open-source 3-D printer any hobbyist can make). If you'd like to learn about Dr. Bowyer's pioneering work in open-source 3-D printers check out the September 17, 2008 episode. That episode is 83 minutes long because we went onto a lot of detail.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_3_27.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:27am EDT

The Future And You--March 20, 2013

Robert G. Kennedy and Kenneth I. Roy (engineers and researchers) are today's featured guests.

Topic: Building Shell Worlds. Shell Worlds are a method of building comfortable biospheres over the entire surface of celestial bodies which are too small to retain an atmosphere by their natural gravitational attraction. Such objects include the moon, the planets Mercury and Mars, and the moons of Jupiter and other gas giant planets, perhaps even some asteroids. Sub-topics discussed include: the methods, benefits, difficulties and vast natural resources this would make available.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 20, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 57 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 in Chattanooga Tenn, at the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon.

Robert G. Kennedy is an author, speaker, and engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Kenneth I. Roy is an author, speaker, and engineer with the US Department of Energy. (Neither is speaking for their respective agency in this discussion.)

Direct download: TFAY_2013_3_20.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:08am EDT

The Future And You--March 13, 2013

Robert G. Kennedy, Dr. Gregory L. Matloff, Les Johnson, Dr. Ben Davis and Phillip R. Cox are today's featured guests.

Topic: Building a Dyson Dot, which is a very small segment of a Dyson Sphere.  A Dyson Sphere is an object Freeman Dyson suggested we look for if we wish to discover alien civilizations in our galaxy. It is a spherical device which completely surrounds a star, and collects all the radiant energy from the star so the energy can be used by the civilization which built it.  Such objects would be large and glow brightly in the infrared. 

Sub-topics: Reasons we should build a Dyson Dot (it would solve for Global Climate Change and pay for itself by providing our civilization with more energy than we currently use); reasons we should not build a Dyson Dot (it may break space treaties and it's scary-big); and the engineering hurdles its construction would require us to overcome.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 13, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 55 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 in Chattanooga Tenn, at the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon.

Robert G. Kennedy is an author, speaker, and engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Dr. Gregory L. Matloff is assistant professor of physics at New York City College of Technology. He has consulted for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, is a Fellow of the British interplanetary Society, is a Hayden Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, and is a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Les Johnson is the Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Dr. Ben Davis earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame. For several years he then taught mathematics, programming, astronomy and physics. He now works in the biometrics industry.

Phillip R. Cox has been an engineer in the military-industrial complex for the last thirty years. His career has included the development of many fine spacecraft and weapons of mass destruction.

Past episodes which feature one or more of today's guests include: Space Law pt1 & pt2Space Junk pt1 & pt2Trends in Space Exploration pt1 & pt2, and What if we lose all our satellites and how might that occur?
Direct download: TFAY_2013_3_13.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:20am EDT

The Future And You -- March 6, 2013

Dr. James K. Woosley (physicist and lecturer) is our featured guest.

Topic: Areas within particle physics which still offer the promise of discoveries in the near and distant future. Some of these discoveries may yield new energy sources to power our growing civilization, or the propulsion methods needed for interstellar travel to become reality. Some may even allow us to engineer our way around the light barrier and build faster-than-light spacecraft.

Sub-topics Dr. Woosley covers: Antimatter, Tachyons (particles that can only travel faster than light), Neutrinos, Quarks, Quantum Chromodynamics, String Theory (manifolds and membranes), higher and lower dimensions of space, Supersymmetry, Preons, the Rishon Model (by Haim Harari), and a bit about the Higgs Boson.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 6, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 66 minutes] These audio segments were recorded on June 21, 2012 in Chattanooga Tenn, at the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon.

Dr. James K. Woosley received his bachelors in Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics from Western Kentucky University. From Vanderbilt he received a masters in electromagnetic analysis of nerve impulses, and a doctorate in experimental particle physics. After which he went on to a career in the aerospace industry in Huntsville.

[Side note:] Dr. Woosley's description of preon theories surprised me because I had created a preon theory myself back in the 1980s and 1990s, though I did not call it a preon theory since I'd never heard of such a thing. I called my fundamental particle a pip, and described in detail how all the known subatomic particles were made of pips and nothing else; as well as how the fundamental forces of nature were created by the behaviour of pips and nothing else. In the mid 1990s I tried to get some attention for my theories by mailing them to a couple of scientific journals, but they were never published. Eventually I used my preon theory as backstory and local color in my novel Skinbrain. I did this by summarizing it into the rantings of an alien physicist being tortured by a human physicist who kidnapped him for his advanced scientific knowledge. If you're curious and wish to read MY version of a preon theory, Skinbrain is available from Amazon, in Kindle format, for just $2.99. The reviews have been excellent.   They average four and a half stars.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_3_6.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:38am EDT

The Future And You -- February 27, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topics include: An update on Google Glass; Google's contest which will allow you to buy your own google glass for $1500 (your host has entered this contest); carbon nanotubes woven into conductive threads may replace copper for electrical wiring in aircraft and help wearable computers become woven into clothing; an impressive new antibacterial gel from IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology; and the first bionic eye to get FDA approval is an implanted artificial retina which gets its image wirelessly from an external camera. Also: your host offers his own little contest which piggybacks on Google's contest.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 27, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_2_27.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:39pm EDT

The Future And You -- February 20, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topic: The Millennium Project. Its assessment of some of today's trends, and the likely changes to our future these trends may produce. Trends described include: robotics, surgery, medicine, computing, energy, education, automobiles, clothing, the Internet, smart phones, nanotechnology and nanorobotics, 3D printing and open source hardware, supercomputers, free online education, artificial intelligence, life extension, computational biology, smart dust, and CERN's achievement of containing 309 atoms of antimatter for an astonishing 17 minutes.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 20, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes] 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_2_20.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

The Future And You -- February 13, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (author and futurist) is today's speaker.

Topics include: Entropia Universe--a huge online game somewhat like World of Warcraft but with an economy pegged to the US Dollar. (Players are allowed to put money into the game and to take money out. Apparently some people are making their real-world living by playing the game.) Also: A push to make more advanced robotic prosthetic arms for amputees; a pacemaker-like device which has been used to produce deep-brain stimulation which has shown good results in reducing the effects of Alzheimer's disease; and a website called GovTrack.us which allows any person to track what any member of congress is doing, saying and voting for.

Also: your host's recent guest-blog entry for the online magazine SF Signal (in which he makes some positive predictions about the future); his being interviewed for the online magazine Hofstra Pulse (about why movies, TV shows and novels so frequently depict an awful future no one would want to line in); comments on your host's experiences writing and training neural nets (a form of artificial intelligence); and his conviction that our "do-nothing" Congress is a direct product of our elected officials constantly squirming under the massive scrutiny of the voters watching them through the unblinking Internet.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 13, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 36 minutes] 

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_2_13.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:51am EDT

The Future And You -- February 6, 2013

Stuart Jaffe (author and co-host of The Eclectic Review) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Google putting together a convention this month for app developers to come and write apps for Google's new eyeglass computer; Google calling for the end of passwords and pushing for some method which might be more secure than passwords; Casual terrorists verses Dedicated terrorists; the new 4K and 8K TVs (which have four times and 16 times the resolution of HD TVs); David Brin's prediction of a future without privacy (in his novel Earth) and the curious effects in Nancy Kress's novel A Beggar in Spain; the life-changing convenience of streaming TV shows and movies; ways Japanese and Korean movies are different from America movies; as well as Life extension and what Stuart might do differently if he knew he would probably live to be 300 years old.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 6, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes]

Stuart Jaffe is the author of The Max Porter Paranormal-Mysteries, The Malja Chronicles, a post-apocalyptic fantasy series, and After The Crash as well as the short story collection, 10 Bits of My Brain, and many other short stories which have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He is the co-host of The Eclectic Review -- a podcast about science, art, and well, everything. He also plays guitar, is active in the theater, and holds a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_2_6.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:28am EDT

The Future And You -- January 30, 2013

Stuart Jaffe (author and co-host of The Eclectic Review) is today's featured guest.

Topics: the future of traditional publishing after the ebook revolution is over, Stuart's own efforts and experiences in book promotion, his results in podcasting, his expectations of the future, his impression of 3D movies, and his impression of Vocaloid (the popular software used to create the singing voice of the also popular animated Japanese performer Hatsune Miku).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 30, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes]

Stuart Jaffe is the author of The Max Porter Paranormal-Mysteries, The Malja Chronicles, a post-apocalyptic fantasy series, and After The Crash as well as the short story collection, 10 Bits of My Brain, and many other short stories which have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He is the co-host of The Eclectic Review -- a podcast about science, art, and well, everything. He also plays guitar, is active in the theater, and holds a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Listener Email: Brian J Piccioni wrote to point out that we are far deeper into the transition from film projectors to digital projectors in movie theaters. To support his statement he provided links to two articles: Difference Engine: Ne plus ultra and Movie Studios Are Forcing Hollywood to Abandon 35mm Film. But the Consequences of Going Digital Are Vast, and Troubling.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_1_30.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:19am EDT

The Future And You -- January 23, 2013

Stuart Jaffe (author and co-host of The Eclectic Review) is today's featured guest.

Topics: trends in movies, TV and book publishing. Stuart's love hate relationship with CGI; will CGI ever completely replace actors?; and why George Lucas's long push for digital projectors in theaters still has yet to succeed. Also: Stuart's analysis of the ebook revolution based on his 20 years of personal experience in publishing.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 23, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes]

Stuart Jaffe is the author of The Max Porter Paranormal-Mysteries, The Malja Chronicles, a post-apocalyptic fantasy series, and After The Crash as well as the short story collection, 10 Bits of My Brain, and many other short stories which have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He is the co-host of The Eclectic Review -- a podcast about science, art, and well, everything. He also plays guitar, is active in the theater, and holds a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_1_23.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:43am EDT

The Future And You -- January 16, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (your host) is today's speaker.

Topics: Human augmentation, autonomous vehicles (both ground vehicles and aircraft), 3D printing, cyberwarfare, battles over fresh water, and the rising power of cities (compared to the stagnating power of nations). This is part 2 of my discussion of Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 16, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes]

News Items [1]: How impressively easy it is to help in the search for extrasolar planets. Your host uses and critiques the website www.planethunters.org. [2]: Scott Nicholson, a horror author, is one more concrete example of how Amazon's Kindle program is giving authors far more control over their own careers.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_1_16.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:16am EDT

The Future And You -- January 9, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (your host) is today's speaker.

Topic: Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds is a careful and thorough estimation of what the future holds for us all on a global scale. This document is created every four years and presented to the President of the United States of America in the weeks before he is sworn into office. Your host reads snippets from its pages and summarises some of its predictions.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 9, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 38 minutes]

News Item #1: Newsweek has ceased publication as a print magazine and is now strictly an online magazine. December 31, 2012 was the last print issue of the magazine. If you didn't get a copy, check for it on eBay. It's bound to be a collectors item.

News Item #2: The entire run of Omni magazine is online and readable for free. Omni was a big beautiful glossy print magazine covering both science and science fiction which ran from 1978 to 1995. I used to subscribe to it myself--it was excellent. Its editor was the legendary science fiction author Ben Bova. I had the pleasure of interviewing him several times for past episodes of this show, as well as for a magazine feature article about his career. (You can listen to my interviews with Ben Bova in the following four episodes: August 26, 2009; September 2, 2009; October 20, 2010; October 27, 2010.)

Listener Email: Robert D. Edmonds, Jr. describes, in an unusually heartfelt email, why he is against autonomous cars: he enjoys driving at a fundamental level.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_1_9.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:27am EDT

The Future And You -- January 2, 2013

Stephen Euin Cobb (your host) is today's speaker.

Topic: Autonomous Cars (also known as driverless cars and self-driving vehicles). What they are; how they will change our lives; and especially the powerful forces which may accelerate their dominance of all roads and highways by mandating the elimination of human-driven cars.

Google's work on autonomous cars, and their recent lobbying for laws making them legal in Nevada, Florida and California. It's beginning to look as though autonomous cars might become available and popular within this decade. 

Source material mentioned in today's episode: A Wall Street Journal article dated Sept. 24, 2012, written by Dan Niel, which provides an excellent analysis of what autonomous cars are all about, effects they will have on our lives and on civilization, and forces which may propel them to dominate the road at a surprising rate. The NOVA documentary, The Great Robot Race (available in DVD and streaming format from Netflix) which details the 2004 and 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge to create an autonomous vehicle for the US military. And the 1976 novel A World Out of Time, by Larry Niven, which described autonomous cars in the deep future.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 2, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes]

News Item: While at LibertyCon in Chattanooga a few months ago, I had the privilege of interviewing the convention's Literary Guest of Honor: the bestselling author Brandon Sanderson. This interview was different from the almost 400 I've done over the last seven years. This one was videotaped (in HD) by a professional. The professional, Derek Pearson who has been producing music videos for some time, was looking for a project to help him showcase his skills in videography as well as post production with the intention of moving his career into TV show production. The resulting video interview is now available online for your viewing pleasure, and at the traditional Internet price: Free.

Direct download: TFAY_2013_1_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:43pm EDT