Economics—but more complex!

Guest:  W. Brian Arthur, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute

Everyone says that economics is how we predict what people are going to do.  Apparently, though, we’re not that predictable.  According to W. Brian Arthur, the economy is much, much more complex than we’ve ever dreamed.

Are people good people?

Guest:  Nicholas A. Christakis, Director of the Human Nature Lab and author of Blueprint

A doomsayer and pessimist would point to the great abuses and calamities and even wars of human exploitation, oppression, and even genocidal chapters, to say that we’re a mess as a species. But Nicholas Christakis is not one of those pessimists. He puts forth the idea that we have come to operate, as a species, on something of a blueprint that inclines toward cooperation and mutual benefit. 

Tom, Dick, and Harry –The Farming Robots of the Future

Guest: Sam Watson Jones, Co-Founder of Small Robot Company

The Small Robot Company has developed three such small robots –Tom, Dick, and Harry –to revolutionize farming and soil health.

Lost dugong calf off the coast of Thai bonds with researchers 

Guest: Helene Marsh, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Science at James Cook University

Dugongs are sea cows –they graze on underwater grass, raise calves, and are believed to have inspired ancient tales of mermaids and sirens! A dugong calf off the coast of Thai named Marium was found and is being taken care of by researchers, in the hopes that she can survive and thrive in the endangered population.