What comes after Lithium-ion? It’s only one of the most important technology questions in the world! Everything in the future of electronics, road vehicles, renewables, the electricity grid and even commercial aviation hinges on the answer.  So I went looking for a true expert, a realist, a deep thinker and someone working at the absolute global cutting-edge of energy storage science and engineering. And I found Dr George Crabtree!

Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker. In this episode, we're examining the future of batteries with George Crabtree, a deep thinker at the absolute global cutting-edge of energy storage science and engineering. George is Director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) at Argonne National Laboratory. 

There are lots of highlights to this conversation. As well as batteries, we touched on superconductivity, minerals supply, long-haul trucks, aviation, ultracapacitors, the hydrogen economy and more. But the one I like best is George's confidence. Argonne and the JCESR scientists are aiming BIG. And while there are formidable challenges, it looks like those step-change improvements to Lithium-ion batteries and large-scale grid batteries are only a matter of time!
 
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Rejuvenation and regeneration, hope versus hyperbole, healthspans and lifespans. Such is the frenzied focus on the potential for new drugs to extend our lifespans right now, I cannot deliver a keynote on the future of healthcare or even the future of the world in general without addressing the possibility of ‘age reversal’ therapies. But it’s a complex field, with more than a few charlatans and opportunists promising new drugs that’ll buy you 150 years and more, which makes sifting through the rhetoric for the reality extra challenging. 

So I  asked one of the world’s leading geroscientists to help me out.

Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker. In this episode, we're examining the promise of new therapies for human rejuvenation and 'age-reversal' with Jan Vijg, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Jan offers one of the most accomplished voices on the subject. When he comments publicly, he does his utmost to stay grounded in the science and the data. The perfect person to cut through to the reality!

Jan was exceptionally generous in taking time out of his schedule to walk me through the complexities of his field. As you will hear, within minutes of shaking hands I also discovered he had a wicked sense of humor and shared a lifelong curiosity about broader trajectories in innovation.

It was a wonderful, brain-expanding conversation as we canvassed nothing less than tinkering with the future of our species!

For additional comments, and to read the interview transcript, check out the FutureBites post on the website.

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What does it mean for a robot to be conscious? Can a robot have feelings? Will we make robots that take care of one another, upgrade themselves, and reproduce?

I discussed these and other mind-bending questions about the future of robots with Hod Lipson, the brilliant founder of Columbia University’s Creative Machines Lab.

Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker. In this episode, we're looking at the extraordinary future lives of robots with Hod, a global pioneer in both the ‘hard’ mechanics and the ‘soft’ AI underpinnings of robotics. A Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Data Science and founder and director of the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University, Hod lives to push the boundaries of what robots can be and should be. He has BIG ideas about the future, and he and his colleagues prove out those ideas with real-world prototypes.

We met at his lab, and as he walked me through the happy chaos of robot limbs, spare parts and experiments-in-progress, it struck me that not one experiment was trivial. Each represented a potential game-changer.

Hod took me in unexpected directions and introduced me to many new possibilities. I particularly enjoyed his knack for distilling complex ideas into simple one-liners. We covered plenty of ground and could have gone on for hours. All the laughter on the recording gives you some idea of all the fun we were having!

I hope you enjoy listening to the podcast as much as we did making it.

For additional comments, and to read the interview transcript, check out the FutureBites post on the website.

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Can lawyers save the planet? I asked the world’s foremost climate lawyer.

Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker. In this episode, instead of examining science and technology pathways to a better future, we're looking at the role of litigation. 

Michael Gerrard is a globally-recognised leader in environmental law and a passionate lifelong advocate for sustainability. He is Professor at the Columbia Law School and Founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, has tried numerous cases in Federal and State courts, and is the author or editor more than 13 books on climate law, the most recent of which is Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States.

In his book-lined office at Columbia University we discussed the current status of climate litigation, the delaying tactics of defendants, what's next, future scenarios, and the role litigation can realistically play in curbing the behaviours of greenhouse gas emitters and securing a pathway to a better future for the planet. 

We also canvassed his personal journey, which goes back to the high levels of air and water pollution he encountered as a child in Charleston, West Virginia, courtesy of the petrochemical industry. Ever since, he has dedicated his entire professional life to environmental advocacy.
 
What a privilege it was to spend time with him! 

For additional comments, and to read the interview transcript, check out the FutureBites post on the website.

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Welcome to the second episode of FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe. In this episode, Dr Aykut Demirkol of the Harkness Eye Institute joins Bruce to talk about CRISPR gene-editing and the future of ophthalmology!

CRISPR is short for CRISPR-Cas9. The CRISPR-Cas9 system and a family of related tools have brought faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient methods to genome editing.  They are unquestionably one of the top technologies changing the world.

Dr Aykut Demirkol works in Professor Stephen Tsang's lab on new gene therapies to correct retinal diseases. This is SUCH an important area in the future of medicine, as so many people around the world are debilitated by eye disease. The team at Tsang lab have already used gene editing to successfully restore vision in mice suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, and used CRISPR to repair a genetic mutation responsible for retinitis pigmentosa in induced pluripotent stem cells derived from humans. 

We discussed heritable versus non-heritable factors, the two-pronged attack on retinitis pigmentosa, and what the future might hold. For the hundreds of millions suffering from eye diseases, Aykut and his colleagues really are changing the world!

For additional comments from Bruce, and to read the whole interview, check out the FutureBites episode transcript.

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Welcome to the first episode of FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe. In this episode, Prof. Rodolphe Barrangou of North Carolina State University joins Bruce to talk about CRISPR and gene-editing and the future of food!

CRISPR is short for CRISPR-Cas9. The CRISPR-Cas9 system and a family of related tools have brought faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient methods to genome editing.  They are unquestionably one of the top technologies changing the world right now.

Professor Barrangou was involved early in the process of proving out the science of the role CRISPR played in nature. He proved experimentally that CRISPR was responsible for the immunity effect in bacteria against phages.

He has since co-founded five  CRISPR-based companies spanning human therapeutics,  food and agriculture. He is editor-in-chief of the CRISPR journal, and runs the CRISPR lab at NC state where he is working on transforming the future of food and agriculture.

The episode explores how much editing could take place in agriculture through 2050 should we choose, the almost unlimited new editing opportunities opening up (not least of which is playing a key role in making the planet sustainable), what must happen before we can create that future, resistance and changing societal attitudes, the unique experimental challenges and stupendous skills shortages compared to the application of CRISPR in human therapeutics, and more. The future of food and agriculture is an exciting place!

To read the whole interview, check out the FutureBites episode transcript.

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See you in the future!