Innovation
“Self Aware” Robots
Hod Lipson demonstrates a few of his cool little robots, which have the ability to learn, understand themselves and even self-replicate. At the root of this uncanny demo is a deep inquiry into the nature of how humans and living beings learn and evolve, and how we might harness these processes to make things that [...]
Surrendipity & Innovation
Billions and billions of dollars have been spent in the pursuit of new drugs but vanishingly few useful drugs are actually being developed. Dr. Safi Bahcall, the president and C.E.O. of the biotechnology company Synta Pharmaceuticals, talks with Malcolm Gladwell about how mistakes lead to great scientific discoveries and how big drug companies hamper innovation.
About [...]
Inventing and Giving
Innovator Dean Kamen lays out his argument for the Segway shortly after its official unveiling. As he loops gracefully around the stage, his fact- and figure-reeling betrays his intensity: 50 percent of the world population lives in cities; 43 percent of the refined fuel produced in the world is consumed by cars in metropolitan areas [...]
Inside the Google Machine
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin offer a peek inside the Google machine, sharing tidbits about international search patterns and the philanthropic Google Foundation project (which soon became Google.org). They talk about how their shared Montessori background led to the company’s “20 Percent Time” policy, which is directly responsible for success stories such as [...]
Everyday Inventions
Saul Griffith offers a glimpse into the future with this compelling overview of his works-in-progress and materials-in-progress. The award-winning inventor shares the inspiration (a droplet of water) behind his low-cost prescription lenses, produced by a machine the size of an inkjet printer. Other projects include Howtoons and Instructables (comics that show how to build things [...]
