World Changing Ideas

This week, we're taking a look at the brain and a world-changing idea that could overhaul how we approach brain surgery.

A company called Synchron is investigating how you restore, treat, and map the electrical activities of the human brain. And they’ve developed the first brain-computer-interface implant in the United States. It’s called a Stentrode, and when the device gets implanted, it can allow severely paralyzed patients to control personal devices without using their hands.

Producer Avery Miles sat down with Peter Yoo, Synchron’s director of Neuroscience, at last year’s Fast Company Innovation Festival to learn more about how this technology works.

We spend our whole lives living in human bodies, but even in 2023, there is so much that science doesn’t understand about how our body works, how it’s programmed, how it heals itself . . . or doesn’t. Despite all of our technological innovation, human life expectancy seems to have plateaued. In the U.S alone, it’s actually gone down for the past 2 years.

Biohackers around the world are making it their mission to optimize the body for its longest, healthiest life possible. In today’s episode, we follow one woman’s journey as she finds out how to heal her body using modern technology that borrows from age-old practices. We also found out how one company is bridging the gender health gap, and how tiny robots could help locate tumors and dissolve blood clots before they became fatal.

Protecting our most important resources is becoming a global problem that affects all of us. The impact of climate change and the demands of urban living are threatening so many of our essential sources of life. Water is one of the most precious commodities available to us. But we'll have to find some innovative approaches to collecting it. That's where fog catching comes into play. We also found out what one group is doing to protect the Amazon rainforest, its biodiversity and indigenous inhabitants.

Despite a dip in carbon emissions during the pandemic, the U.S is still the world’s second largest polluter. The country produced 5.6 bn metric tons of CO2 in 2022, and that’s up from last year.

So who’s got some world-changing ideas when it comes to decarbonization? We’ve found three pretty cool characters this week. And each one of them has gone all in on the power of plants.

There are lots of different definitions of what the Metaverse is or could be. At the moment, the whole thing is looking quite fragmented. You get all these buzzwords being thrown around like immersive, virtual reality, avatars and headsets, but it’s not really clear yet how this new virtual space will change the way we interact with each other.

On today's episode, we chatted with two people who are tapped into the scene, and they gave us their insights.

 In 2022, roughly 3 billion people, or one in every three people in the world, regularly played computer games, either on their phone, computer, or some kind of gaming console. Analysts predict that the video game market will bring in over $200 billion in 2024. If you think about it, people are wired to play games, it’s actually something that’s helped us evolve as a species.

The Arsht Rockefeller Foundation has put together an initiative to share climate-change-resiliency solutions by 2030. Their goal: to reach one billion people. Video games have shown they not only bring people together, but also help mobilize collective action. But what about the environmental impact? We take a look at what digital games can cost the planet as well as the benefits of designing climate-resilient video games.

We have a recap of one of our favorite episodes from last year and what better way to kick off 2023 than talking about toilets? Enjoy!

Amelia Hemphill, KC Ifeanyi, and Kate Davis discuss the biggest stories at Fast Company this past year and share their favorite moments from Fast Company podcasts. Amelia explains some of the most innovative approaches to sustainability, including a toilet that incinerates your bowel movement under water. KC reviews some of the biggest trends in the creator economy. Kate highlights The New Way We Work's 4-part miniseries "Ambition Diaries," which examined the effects of the pandemic on women's progress in the workplace. Finally, Kate, KC, and Amelia share their New Year's resolutions.

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Addressing the problems around climate change requires collective action and big ideas. But we also need to learn how to listen and how to change our perspective. This week, we speak to some leading environmental activists about storytelling and how to craft a message that sparks behavioral change.

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Farming is one of our most ancient practices. We can’t support human life on this planet without the food we grow from the soil. But the soil itself is also a living organism—and a crucial resource that desperately needs our global attention. December 5 is the UN’s annual World Soil Day—to bring awareness of the importance of healthy soil and ecosystems. So, let’s dig in here. . . .

Apricot Lane Farms: John and Molly Chester started out not knowing much about farming but have now created a world-famous case study of soil regeneration and biodynamic farming with Apricot Lane Farms, which spans 234 acres of countryside in Moorpark, California. They’ve also built a thriving business and produced an award-winning documentary called ‘The Biggest Little Farm’ about the couple’s farming journey and the challenges along the way.

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