The Future And You

Nine members of the Aiken Robotics Club (including some of the 2010 International FIRST Tech Competition winners) are today's featured guests. Topics: How robot building, designing and international competitions motivate students to greater academic activity and encourages them to cooperative team building. Also how--by being a roll-up-your-sleeves and get-your-hands-dirty activity--it's not just for the bookish, but also for kids who enjoy power tools. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 1, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 40 minutes] This interview was recorded on July 17, 2010 at the University of South Carolina at the B.I.T. (Business, Innovation and Technology) Expo. The Aiken Robotics Club was prominently featured at the Expo, were they provided demonstrations of many of the robots they had built, including the one that won them the world championship title.

Robert G. Kennedy and Kenneth I. Roy (engineers and researchers) are today's featured guests. Topic: (Second of two parts.) Shell Worlds: the methods, benefits, difficulties and vast natural resources to be derived by building comfortable biospheres around airless moons and asteroids, such as our own moon, the planet Mercury, and the countless asteroids of the asteroid belt. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 25, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] Recorded in front of a live audience on July 10, 2010 at LibertyCon in Chattanooga. Robert G. Kennedy is an engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Kenneth I. Roy is an engineer with the US Department of Energy.

Robert G. Kennedy and Kenneth I. Roy (engineers and researchers) are today's featured guests. Topic: Shell Worlds: the methods, benefits, difficulties and vast resources to be derived by building comfortable biospheres around airless moons and asteroids, such as our own moon, the planet Mercury, and the countless asteroids of the asteroid belt. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 18, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] This was recorded in front of a live audience on July 10, 2010 at LibertyCon in Chattanooga. Robert G. Kennedy is an engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Kenneth I. Roy is an engineer with the US Department of Energy.

Les Johnson (NASA physicist and manager) and Dr. Gregory L. Matloff (professor of astronomy) are today's featured guests. Topic: (Second of two parts.) How the half million items of space junk orbiting the earth at 25 times the speed of sound have now become a danger to everyone's technologically dependant lifestyle. Or at least to all those who use cell phones, credit cards, checking accounts, the Internet or electricity. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 11, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37minutes] This was recorded in front of a live audience on July 10, 2010 at LibertyCon in Chattanooga. Les Johnson is Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In his spare time he writes popular science books and articles. He was the technical consultant for the movie Lost in Space. Dr. Gregory L. Matloff is assistant professor of physics at New York City College of Technology. He has consulted for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, is a Fellow of the British interplanetary Society, is a Hayden Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, and is a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. His pioneering research in solar-sail technology has been utilized by NASA in plans for extra-solar probes and in consideration of technologies to divert Earth-threatening asteroids. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 research papers and eight books, which have been cited about 400 times. One of his books, The Starflight Handbook (Wiley, 1989), was co-authored with MIT science-writer Dr. Eugene Mallove and helped establish interstellar-propulsion studies as a sub-division of applied physics. In addition to being scientists, public speakers, and friends, Les and Greg have collaborated on a number of popular books. They joined forces with C Bangs for Living Off the Land in Space (2007), as well as for their latest book Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth (2009). With Giovanni Vulpetti they wrote Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel (2008).

  Les Johnson (NASA physicist and manager) and Dr. Gregory L. Matloff (professor of astronomy) are today's featured guests. Topic: how the half million items of space junk orbiting the earth at 25 times the speed of sound have now become a danger to everyone's technologically dependant lifestyle. Or at least to all those who use cell phones, credit cards, checking accounts, the Internet or electricity. (First of two parts. This week they describe the problem, next week they discuss what can be done about it.) Many other space-related topics are touched upon as well, since this problem effects them all. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 4, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] This was recorded in front of a live audience on July 10, 2010 at LibertyCon in Chattanooga. Les Johnson is Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In his spare time he writes popular science books and articles. He was the technical consultant for the movie Lost in Space. Dr. Gregory L. Matloff is assistant professor of physics at New York City College of Technology. He has consulted for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, is a Fellow of the British interplanetary Society, is a Hayden Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, and is a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. His pioneering research in solar-sail technology has been utilized by NASA in plans for extra-solar probes and in consideration of technologies to divert Earth-threatening asteroids. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 research papers and eight books, which have been cited about 400 times. One of his books, The Starflight Handbook (Wiley, 1989), was co-authored with MIT science-writer Dr. Eugene Mallove and helped establish interstellar-propulsion studies as a sub-division of applied physics. In addition to being scientists, public speakers, and friends, Les and Greg have collaborated on a number of popular books. They joined forces with C Bangs for Living Off the Land in Space (2007), as well as for their latest book Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth (2009). With Giovanni Vulpetti they wrote Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel (2008).  

  Tony V. Baughman (journalist, DJ, comedian and actor) is today's featured guest. Topics: surprises he witnessed as a journalist riding on the John Edwards campaign bus; how politicians are now actors first and politicians second; why not being an actor may have contributed to John McCain losing the last presidential election; the danger that future organizations may hoard information; our civilization's vulnerability to its computerized distribution system; how acting a theatrical role alters a person dramatically but at a subconscious level; and one last mention of the cultural significance of events such as Bonnaroo. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 28, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 39 minutes] This interview was recorded at the WKSX studios on July 10, 2010, in Johnston, South Carolina. Tony V. Baughman has won awards for his journalism and for his stand-up comedy. Formerly a staff reporter for a daily newspaper, today he is Program Director and Afternoon DJ on 92.7 WKSX FM  in the Aiken/Augusta market. As an actor he has performed in various regional and community theater productions, and was an extra in Disney's 1997 remake of the movie That Darn Cat and the 2007 movie Who's Your Caddy? As a stand-up comedian he won the 2007 Battle of the Comedians in Augusta, Ga., sponsored by The Imperial Theatre, and has opened for Jimmy Brogan and Mark Schiff.  

Tony V. Baughman (journalist, DJ, comedian and actor) is today's featured guest. Topics: why most kids today don't even own a radio, and yet how it is that many of them love The Beatles; the value of the annual Bonnaroo Music Festival and why some consider it the modern day equivalent of Woodstock; how theater can be considered performance therapy; the lure of acting as a career as opposed to the safety of not striving for its lofty heights; and references to the Spencer Tracy movie Inherit the Wind, and the Meryl Streep movie Doubt. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 21, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes] This interview was recorded at the WKSX studios on July 10, 2010, in Johnston, South Carolina. Tony V. Baughman has won awards for his journalism and for his stand-up comedy. Formerly a staff reporter for a daily newspaper, today he is Program Director and Afternoon DJ on 92.7 WKSX FM  in the Aiken/Augusta market. As an actor he has performed in various regional and community theater productions, and was an extra in Disney's 1997 remake of the movie That Darn Cat and the 2007 movie Who's Your Caddy? As a stand-up comedian he won the 2007 Battle of the Comedians in Augusta, Ga., sponsored by The Imperial Theatre, and has opened for Jimmy Brogan and Mark Schiff.

Tony V. Baughman (journalist, DJ, actor, comedian and program director at WKSX-FM) is today's featured guest. Topics: a behind the scenes look at the trends effecting newspapers and radio stations; how newspapers and radio stations are responding to the Internet stealing their listeners and readers; the one powerful advantage that all local newspapers and radio stations have over their national and Internet-based competition; and how radio stations are automated to sound like it's a live show when it's not. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 14, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 38 minutes] This interview was recorded at the WKSX studios on July 10, 2010, in Johnston, South Carolina. Tony V. Baughman has won awards for his journalism and for his stand-up comedy. Formerly a staff reporter for a daily newspaper, today he is Program Director and Afternoon DJ on 92.7 WKSX FM  in the Aiken/Augusta market. As an actor he has performed in various regional and community theater productions, and was an extra in Disney's 1997 remake of the movie That Darn Cat and the 2007 movie Who's Your Caddy? As a stand-up comedian he won the 2007 Battle of the Comedians in Augusta, Ga., sponsored by The Imperial Theatre, and has opened for Jimmy Brogan and Mark Schiff.

Robert V. Aldrich (author and public speaker) is today's featured guest. Topics: we are in a wonderful boom-time for books, comics and movies, making this a great time to be a fan; and yet how the fans of anime are killing their beloved industry. He also gives commentary on Cowboy Bebop, Studio Ghibli, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, the new Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek movies; and he talks about  bit torrent and other methods of illegal downloading. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 7, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes] This interview was recorded in Charlotte NC, on June 5, 2010 at the science fiction and fantasy convention ConCarolinas. Robert V. Aldrich is the author of the anime-style novels Crossworld and Queendom. He is a popular speaker at SF&F conventions where he shares his special depth of knowledge in areas of popular culture including anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy.

​Edmund R. Schubert, Rich Sigfrit, Gail Z. Martin and one of ConCarolinas' venerable volunteers are today's featured guests.Topics: last week's relaunch of the redesigned Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show online magazine; the recent explosion in the popularity of online magazines; the few ways in which online magazines are actually better that paper magazines; and how Amazon is confusing the magazine publishers they hope will publish their magazines in electronic format on the Kindle. Also: how the Internet allows first-time authors to get the word out about their book; the importance of authors developing a relationship with their readers through social networks; and singing the praises of the iPad. As well as miscellaneous references to: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, A formal Steam Punk ball, and Klingon Karaoke.Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 30, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 43 minutes] Today's show was recorded in Charlotte NC, on June 5, 2010. This episode was recorded at, and is dedicated to, the science fiction and fantasy convention ConCarolinas (which this year had the honor of hosting Deep South Con and featured as Literary Guest of Honor, one of our past guests: Jerry Pournelle).Edmund R. Schubert is editor-in-chief of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show (the poplar online magazine of science fiction and fantasy). Rich Sigfrit (widely known as Podcasting's Rich Sigfrit) is a pioneering podcaster, as well as talented voice actor and comedian. Gail Z. Martin is the author of The Chronicles of The Necromancer fantasy series of novels.

​James Maxey (author of the Dragon Age fantasy series and Nobody Gets the Girl) is today's featured guest.Topics: scientific efforts in creating artificial life; computer displays built into the lenses of eyeglasses; the Google Goggles iPhone app; microbes designed to produce crude oil and diesel fuel; hard numbers on peak oil and peak coal; BP's Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and the robots being used to seal the leak; as well as cheap solar cells and new battery technologies.Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 23, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] Today's show was recorded in front of a live audience at ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC, on June 5, 2010.James Maxey is the author of the Dragon Age fantasy series which includes the novels Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed. Set a thousand years in the future, after the fall of our modern civilization, in a world dominated by the intelligent dragons we created through genetic engineering. Humans are reduced to slaves, and the remnants of long forgotten nanotechnology make the world a wondrous place of magic.

​James Maxey (author of the Dragon Age fantasy series and Nobody Gets the Girl) is our featured guest.Topics: an attractive new female android built in Japan; soccer playing robots; life in antarctic lakes; the increasing practicality of building an elevator to earth orbit; the matter/anti-matter balance of the universe; massively parallel processing in popular game computers; fresh new craters on Mars; how computers are now playing the stock market even more than human beings; and a new nano-fiber material with incredible strength which is made out of old t-shirts dipped into a boron solution and then heated in an oven (a miracle substance become cheap and easy to make).Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 16, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] Today's show was recorded in front of a live audience at ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC, on June 5, 2010.James Maxey is the author of the Dragon Age fantasy series which includes the novels Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed. Set a thousand years in the future, after the fall of our modern civilization, in a world dominated by the intelligent dragons we created through genetic engineering. Humans are reduced to slaves, and the remnants of long forgotten nanotechnology make the world a wondrous place of magic.

​Robert Hooker (an Information Technology professional living in London) is today's featured guest.Topics: artificial intelligence; how and when conversational AI may appear in our lives; the semantic web as an AI platform; AI for Internet search; the money to be made in AI; simulating AI with a brute force program which is not intelligent at all; Wolfram Alpha; a new solution to the Fermi Paradox; the massive power of the social web; companies that try (and usually fail) to profit by crowd sourcing; how Wikipedia killed the old encyclopedias; Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; and why he (Robert Hooker) was once presumed dead for three days.Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 9, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes]Robert Hooker has a Bachelors degree in Cognitive Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a Masters degree in Sociology from the Open University in Britain. For most of the 1990s Robert worked first as a researcher in Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern University Institute for Learning Sciences (ILS) and then as Web Developer and Entrepreneur. While at the Institute for Learning Sciences he worked with Virtual Reality, web based video delivery, Internet learning and content indexing. Current he works for Fujitsu Services in the United Kingdom. He has lived in London for the last 10 years.

Robert Hooker (an Information Technology professional living in London) is today's featured guest.Topics: why Twitter is better than Facebook; examples of how Twitter has helped Robert promote his work; differences between the virtual world of Second Life and its new competitor Blue Mars; big and costly mistakes being made by those who own and operate both virtual worlds; and other assorted topics and trends.Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 2, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes]Robert Hooker has a Bachelors degree in Cognitive Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a Masters degree in Sociology from the Open University in Britain. For most of the 1990s Robert worked first as a researcher in Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern University Institute for Learning Sciences (ILS) and then as Web Developer and Entrepreneur. While at the Institute for Learning Sciences he worked with Virtual Reality, web based video delivery, Internet learning and content indexing. Currently he works for Fujitsu Services in the United Kingdom. He has lived in London for the last 10 years.

​Robert Hooker (an Information Technology professional living in London) is today's featured guest.Topics: a first-hand account of trends developing in England and Europe; the good and bad effects the Iceland volcano's ash cloud has had to business and to people as it spread across Europe; social trends which are specific to London (where iPad availability is still limited); why Apple's iPad is so popular and how this popularity will spawn a wave of similar pad-style computers from Apple's every competitor; how the iPad relates to ebooks and the continued decline of newspapers; trends in other popular media such as England's first political debate between candidates running for Prime Minister.Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 26, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 40 minutes]Robert Hooker has a Bachelors degree in Cognitive Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a Masters degree in Sociology from the Open University in Britain. For most of the 1990s Robert worked first as a researcher in Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern University Institute for Learning Sciences (ILS) and then as Web Developer and Entrepreneur. While at the Institute for Learning Sciences he worked with Virtual Reality, web based video delivery, Internet learning and content indexing. Current he works for Fujitsu Services in the United Kingdom. He has lived in London for the last 10 years.