Steven Koonin, theoretical physicist and Undersecretary of the US Department of Energy in the Obama Administration, examines the scientific evidence regarding of claims that climate change will bring about catastrophic effects to the planet if large and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are not made.
Marian Tupy, co-author of Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet, describes how human creativity and innovation have led to an era of “superabundance,” in which individual buying power and material prosperity is growing at a higher rate than the global population.
Starting with the premise that any substance can be poisonous depending on the dose, Josh Gilder, founding partner of Reach Global Strategies argues that government policies related to synthetic pesticides, GMOs, and organic farming is reducing years of massive gains in agricultural production and is leading to declining crop yields and malnutrition.
A panel featuring top execs at Microsoft, Plus, OTOY, and Rec Room discuss the future of work and play in both physical and digital spaces. Where will they occur and what will they look like? And what are the implications for productivity, privacy, security, and human fulfillment?
Dr. Carver Mead, computer pioneer and Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science at California Institute of Technology, reflects on the promise of self-training neural networks.
We are on the cusp of a Roaring 2020s. Mark Mills proposes that the convergence of revolutions in three technology spheres is unleashing the next great economic boom: the means for accessing and propagating information, the machines that represent the means of production, and the materials domain from which we fabricate everything that exists.
At COSM 2021, Dr. Julie Love, Director of Quantum Computing Business Development at Microsoft, describes the challenges of quantum computing, exposes some of the myths regarding the technology, and describes the types of applications that quantum computers are best suited to address — including clean combustion, energy, and water, and energy efficiency.
Dr. Jim Tour, Professor of Chemistry at Rice University, gives a riveting tour of how waste products can be converted to graphene, an extremely valuable material with a host of useful applications — from medical applications to new strong and lightweight materials to an energy source for zero CO2 emissions.