Spark

Spark episodes:

• 04.12.2024

  Should robots work for us or with us?

  Strides in AI software are finding their way into physical robots. It's promising a new era of human-robot interaction, where robots can assist us, respond to our needs and to cues in the environment. Question is: are we ready for...

  
• 04.05.2024

  Building more responsive, AI-driven infrastructure

  Like most of us, you probably only think about infrastructure when it doesn't work: the power goes off, the roads flood. But in the face of climate change and the increasing energy demands of our digital tech, how can we...

  
• 03.29.2024

  How yeast and bacteria could be key to future fashion design

  One of civilization's oldest technologies, textiles have long been linked to money, power, and politics. Now, researchers are looking to produce novel, more sustainable textiles using organisms like yeast, fungus, and bacteria.

  
• 03.22.2024

  Being Human Now - Play

  What does play mean in a digital age, when so much happens on our all-consuming phones, and tech erases the boundaries between work and play?

  
• 03.15.2024

  Can we put a watermark on reality?

  In an age of misinformation and generative AI, how do we know if anything we read or hear is even real anymore? From the latest trends in internet search to watermarking images to (re)establishing trust in journalism, we examine the...

  
• 03.08.2024

  Predicting problems before they happen

  Digital twin technology is growing rapidly across multiple industries. From race cars to the human heart to the entire country of Canada, a look at how these virtual replicas use real-time data to model and predict the future.

  
• 03.01.2024

  Being Human Now - Work

  We keep hearing that AI is going to revolutionize jobs. But what if the language of inevitable automation hides the ongoing need for distinctly human skills?

  
• 02.23.2024

  Confronting bias and privacy for better tech tools

  Along with huge advances in data-driven technologies like machine learning and digital health, there are troubling concerns about our data privacy in healthcare, and persistent problems with bias in artificial intelligence. So how do we get the tools we want...

  
• 02.16.2024

  How 'compassionate ageism' made its way into designing new tech

  By some measures, nearly 90% of Canadians 65 and older use the internet every day. And yet, the design of new technologies and platforms often leaves out the needs, desires and interests of seniors. But if older people are using...

  
• 02.09.2024

  The extraordinary power of terrestrial radio

  In honour of World Radio Day, we explore the magic behind one of the most important technological creations in history, the innovations it inspired and its enduring power in an increasingly digitized world.

  
• 02.02.2024

  How to set our imagination free to build the technological futures we want

  Imagination is often dismissed as childish, or a frill. But it also lets us picture alternative futures, and technologies that haven't been invented yet. So how do we harness our imagination? And in an age where Big Tech promises to...

  
• 01.26.2024

  Being Human Now - Memory

  In a world where our digital tools keep an accurate record of handy facts and events, what is our fragile, fallible human memory good for?

  
• 01.19.2024

  Pushing the limits of athletic performance

  The competition in sports equipment is heating up — with everything from high-tech "super shoes" for marathoners to "smart blades" for ice skating. Beyond the hype, how much difference can these innovations make to you and me?

  
• 01.12.2024

  Surprising reasons to be optimistic in 2024

  Sure, the tech we use every day is littered with disinformation, bad behaviour and privacy violations…but it's not all bad news! To mark the 600th episode of Spark, we look at the surprising reasons to be optimistic in 2024 —...

  
• 01.05.2024

  Predicting the present

  How sci-fi can help us harness the power of imagination and visionary storytelling to inspire real-world innovation and frame our collective visions of the future. An updated episode from June 2023.

  
• 12.29.2023

  Bring a little more balance to your digital life in 2024

  Is it possible to control our compulsive—and reflexive—use of our digital tech so we can savour the space for rest, relaxation and restoration? We offer a start of the year check up, exploring tech overuse and how to restore some...

  
• 12.22.2023

  Being Human Now - Belonging

  The feeling of belonging is a core, human drive. And feeling excluded is painful. But has our desire to belong—and how we try to achieve that—changed in digital culture?

  
• 12.15.2023

  Surprising new uses for DNA tech and the deep questions they raise for our human future

  DNA-based technologies are increasingly used for real world, high impact purposes—from tracking biodiversity, to designing crops for climate change, to treating debilitating diseases. How do we democratize the availability while mitigating the risk?

  
• 12.08.2023

  The Fight For Your Right To Repair

  Since most things in our life now are electronic and increasingly rely on software, they're not as easy to repair or noodle around with as mechanical devices once were. And sometimes you can't repair them even if you know how,...

  
• 12.01.2023

  Gamifying investment and sports betting

  Thanks to fun apps and celebrity endorsements, the gamblification of sport has long been on the rise and continues to grow. And, there's a whole spate of fintech apps that are hot on the trend as well. So what are...

  
• 11.24.2023

  Intimacy - Being Human Now, part 3

  How long do you wait to text after a date? What did that emoji *really* mean? Is it healthy to feel emotionally attached to an AI chatbot or celebrity you follow on social media? Our tech nourishes intimacy, but it...

  
• 11.17.2023

  Designing tech for everybody

  The most vulnerable users can offer designers insight into safety and security loopholes in their tech, which leads to better products for all.

  
• 11.10.2023

  20th century tech still powers our 21st century world

  The technology that powers modern life is vulnerable to severe disruption. A look at what it will take to modernize and secure our aging electrical grid, as well as how to combat the growing ransomware industry.

  
• 11.03.2023

  Rage Against the Machine

  From knitter revolts to unionizing content moderators, online communities are rebelling against the constraints, labour abuse, and bad behaviour of tech platforms.

  
• 10.27.2023

  Being Human Now 2: Death

  Despite the growing digital dimension of our lives, death is still a largely analog experience. A look at the uses and limits of tech at the end of life and in the afterlife.

  
• 10.20.2023

  Supertalls and superhighways

  Stacking up the social and ecological impacts of our tallest buildings and expansive road networks, and how roadway innovation, alongside building vertical cities, can combat urban sprawl and protect wildlife.

  
• 10.13.2023

  V-tubers and digital identity

  As avatars and filters get more sophisticated, is that changing how we think of our real physical selves? We look at the v-tubers phenomenon, and the expression of gender, sexuality and identity online.

  
• 10.06.2023

  Can we design cities that foster well-being?

  There's a powerful connection between our built environment and our mental health, and architects are approaching the design of buildings and cities to better serve people.

  
• 09.29.2023

  Being Human Now, Ep. 1: Creativity

  What does it mean to be human in this particular, technological moment? For the first episode of this series, Spark examines the ways that humans experience, interact with and confront creativity

  
• 09.22.2023

  Robotaxis and a future with driverless cars

  The promise of autonomous vehicles is they'll be safer, and reduce congestion. But designing them to anticipate rare events is a tough nut to crack. With robotaxis already on U.S. city streets, are self-driving cars ready to hit the road?

  
• 09.15.2023

  The future of remote work

  Employers are laying down the 'back to the office' law, but with digital tools that make remote work possible, what does it take to build a hybrid workplace that really takes advantage of being together?

  
• 09.08.2023

  Is there life beyond algorithms?

  As the EU brings in the Digital Services Act, we reflect on the role of algorithms in determining what we see, and imagine a future of self-curated content.

  
• 09.01.2023

  Butterfly Effect 10 - The Audio Recorder

  From the phonograph to field recordings to the cultural impact of mixtapes — a look at how recorded sound gives us access to history, fantasy, joy, and moments of genuine awe from around the world.

  
• 08.25.2023

  Butterfly Effect 9 - The Camera

  The impact of the camera — from its technical evolution, to the changed way we see ourselves and historic events.

  
• 08.18.2023

  Butterfly Effect 8 - Refrigeration

  How the ability to create cold on demand changed our relationship with food forever.

  
• 08.11.2023

  Butterfly Effect 7 - The Pill

  The enormous impact of the birth control pill on our culture, society, and human rights.

  
• 08.04.2023

  Butterfly Effect 6 - The Compass

  The lasting influence of the compass and the evolution and future of navigation technology.

  
• 07.28.2023

  Butterfly Effect 5 - The Lock & Key

  How the 6,000-year-old invention has come to shape how we keep our valuables safe — physically and digitally.

  
• 07.21.2023

  Butterfly Effect 4 - The LED

  The surprisingly long history and bright future of the light-emitting diode, or LED.

  
• 07.14.2023

  Butterfly Effect 3 - The Personal Audio Player

  How the Sony Walkman paved the way for the iPod and streaming a million songs, TV shows and movies from our smartphones.

  
• 07.07.2023

  Butterfly Effect 2 - The Battery

  The evolution of the battery, and how the need for stored energy became one of the biggest demands of our time.

  
• 06.30.2023

  Butterfly Effect 1 - The Microchip

  How the integrated chip changed the world, powering nearly every device we use, from toasters to Telecasters.

  
• 06.23.2023

  How to stop the scroll and enjoy this summer

  Tackling technology overuse with a toolkit and a challenge to digitally disengage. Just in time to get out and enjoy the summer.

  
• 06.16.2023

  Butterfly Effect 10 - The Audio Recorder

  From the phonograph to field recordings to the cultural impact of mixtapes — a look at how recorded sound gives us access to history, fantasy, joy, and moments of genuine awe from around the world.

  
• 06.09.2023

  How to improve workplace collaboration

  A designer, an environmental psychologist and an AI expert to help us get better at workplace collaboration: understanding why it matters, and where it's going.

  
• 06.02.2023

  How science fiction helps us harness the power of imagination

  From inspiring innovation, to framing collective visions of the future — a look at the imaginative power of science fiction.

  
• 05.26.2023

  Butterfly Effect 9 - The Camera

  The impact of the camera — from its technical evolution, to the changed way we see ourselves and historic events.

  
• 05.19.2023

  Digital data's environmental cost

  Data centres are enormous facilities that store and give us access to our digital lives. But as the amount of digital data we produce soars, so does the energy data centres demand. This week, an updated episode from November 2022.

  
• 05.12.2023

  Why is innovation so difficult to sustain?

  The new movie, BlackBerry, has us thinking about the dizzying heights, and seemingly inevitable decline, of innovation in organizations. The film's director talks about what really happened there, and we look at why it's so hard to keep up the...

  
• 05.05.2023

  Power, politics, fungi, bacteria: the surprising history and creative future of textiles

  One of civilization's oldest technologies, textiles have long been linked to money, power, and politics. Now, researchers are looking to produce novel, more sustainable textiles using organisms like yeast, fungi, and bacteria.