Marketplace Tech

As we get closer to sending humans to Mars, there’s been more talk about the technology and money it will take to colonize the planet. But science fiction writers have been pondering this for some time. Andy Weir is author of “The Martian,” which showed us how to survive on Mars. His new book, called “Artemis,” is about a colony on the moon. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talked with Weir about the real research that went into his science fiction.

Americans spend 293 hours driving each year, according to AAA. That’s more than 12 days worth of data on where we go, what we listen to, and where we stop for lunch. And make no mistake, our cars are “watching” us. John Ellis, a former global technologist with Ford and author of a new book called “The Zero Dollar Car,” imagines that we’ll be able to trade in that data for cars one day. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talked with Ellis about the value of car data.

Digital home assistants like the Amazon Echo and Google are becoming more common. eMarketer estimates the number of people using virtual assistants will grow nearly 25 percent this year. With all these new talking machines around, does it matter how we speak to it?  Do we need to be polite? Does it matter if we’re mean? We pose those questions to Michael Littman, a professor of computer science at Brown University, who has thought a lot about how we treat artificial intelligence.

Americans eat and drink about 400 million pounds of cranberries each year. Twenty percent of that is during Thanksgiving. The technology that goes into growing, harvesting, and selecting cranberries has changed significantly in the last handful of years. Marketplace’s Adriene Hill talks with Hilary Sandler, director of the Cranberry Station, a research center at UMass Amherst, about how cranberry farming has changed.

For a lot of folks, Thanksgiving means family time. And for some folks, family time means board games. AdWeek reports sales of board games are up 28 percent in the last year. We might think of that industry as being very separate from technology. But it turns out, more digital elements are being incorporated into board games. Marketplace’s Adriene Hill talks with professor Mike Sellers, who directs the Game Design Program at Indiana University, about how board games might look in the future.

The National Retail Federation estimates that shoppers will spend around $680 billion this holiday season, up 4 percent from last year.  In an effort to compete with online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores are trying to figure out what tech they can add to enhance the shopping experience, like phone charging kiosks and interactive "magic mirrors." Marketplace’s Adriene Hill spoke with Forrester retail analyst Sucharita Mulpuru about how tech is changing how we shop in stores.

Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics in 2028. That gives the city more than a decade to plan the international event. But how do you do that if no one knows what technology will look like in 2028, and how it will affect the way athletes compete, judges judge and viewers at home watch? Marketplace’s Adriene Hill talks with Proday’s Sarah Kunst about everything from body-enhancing technology to LA’s notorious traffic.

Earlier this week, Uber announced progress toward a massive investment from the Japanese conglomeration SoftBank. If the deal goes through, it will be worth about $10 billion. But that’s not all. The deal would require changes to the board that would take power away from former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talked with analyst and venture capitalist Paul Kedrosky about what the deal means and if it’s likely to move forward.

Smart-city technology is becoming more common, from Singapore to San Jose. The latest city to incorporate this technology into its infrastructure is Toronto. It recently partnered with Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs to redevelop a section of city waterfront. Lots of sensors will collect data on traffic, noise and temperature. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talked with Toronto Mayor John Tory about the city’s tech investments and how data collection will be regulated.

This week, venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson left that firm following allegations of inappropriate behavior and an internal investigation. The company said he left by mutual agreement. Ellen Pao is a venture capitalist who sued another well-known firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, for gender discrimination in 2012. She lost the case, but it inspired other women to come forward. Marketplace Tech’s Molly Wood talked with Pao about how her public battle shined a light on venture capital’s culture.