As anyone with chronic disease knows, access to health care doesn’t always equate with equitable health care outcomes, says guest Alyce Adams , an expert in innovations in health policy. Too often, care delivery breaks down along racial and socioeconomic lines. Our focus should be on better outcomes for all people, she says. Adams now develops interventions to help communities and health systems improve care delivery — and health equity — as she tells host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford...
Aug 04, 2023•32 min•Ep. 225
We’re on the cusp of another election season. As people across the country educate themselves on the issues and candidates on this year’s ballot, one question they will have to ask themselves is, how do I tell fact from fiction? In early 2022, my guest Johan Ugander shared his research to better understand the ways information spreads online. We’re re-running this episode today, and I hope you’ll take the time to hear a few of the strategies he recommends for preventing the spread of misinformat...
Jul 28, 2023•26 min
Delve into the possibilities of silicon photonics as a game-changer in chip manufacturing. This is a re-run of a show that Russ did with David Miller back in 2021. David is an electrical engineer, and works in the field of photonics. As he shares in this conversation, there’s great potential for the field of photonics to help solve the problems posed by an increasing demand for computing power. Silicon-chip computers are starting to hit fundamental limits, and advances in the field of photonics ...
Jul 21, 2023•28 min
Chaitan Khosla is a chemical engineer who says that the world’s most advanced drug factories are not behemoths of the industrial age, but microscopic bacteria. These tiny creatures have evolved enzymatic assembly lines that ingest raw materials and churn out valuable other molecules, like life-saving antibiotics. By engineering new microbes, we hope to create next-generation drugs, Khosla tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Chapter S...
Jul 14, 2023•31 min•Ep. 224
Explore the frontiers of 3D printing in healthcare and its potential to revolutionize personalized medicine, reshape prosthetics, and reimagine drug delivery systems. In this episode we're re-sharing a conversation Russ had in 2021 with Joseph DeSimone , a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University. This one is about health, and Joe tells us how 3D printing is transforming healthcare. His group is using it to make vaccine delivery easier and more effective. They're also creating im...
Jul 07, 2023•29 min
Neuroscientist Kalanit Grill-Spector studies the physiology of human vision and says that the ways computers and people see are in some ways similar, but in other ways quite different. In fact, she says, rapid advances in computational modeling, such as deep neural networks, applied to brain data and new imaging technologies, like quantitative MRI and diffusion MRI, are revolutionizing our understanding of how the human brain sees. We’re unraveling how the brain “computes” visual information, as...
Jun 30, 2023•34 min•Ep. 223
Guest Debra Kaysen is a psychologist specializing in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who says that promising new cognitive and behavioral therapies are, quite literally, giving people “their lives back.” These therapies work without drugs to help patients manage their disease and its symptoms and, perhaps, even cure PTSD. We’re providing tools to change how they think, Kaysen tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. For...
Jun 23, 2023•29 min•Ep. 222
Hi everyone, Russ here, we’re running a best-of episode this week to re-share a conversation I had in 2021 with Karen Liu, an associate professor of computer science here at Stanford Engineering. The conversation is relevant today because, as we all know, AI is having a moment, and robotics is an important part of that. Karen and her lab have a goal of enabling robots to contribute in caregiving roles - think of tasks like helping medical patients get dressed each day - and they’re using physics...
Jun 16, 2023•28 min
Guest Bill Mitch says it’s no secret the world is running short of fresh water. As a civil and environmental engineer, he sees wastewater as a potential solution, if only we can eliminate the impurities. Mitch designs systems to remove toxic chemicals from wastewater to enable its reuse as a drinking water supply. It’s not easy, but it costs half as much as desalinating seawater, Mitch tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Show Notes &...
Jun 09, 2023•30 min•Ep. 221
Guest Matteo Cargnello approaches the challenge of greenhouse gases from a different perspective. He doesn’t study how harmful chemicals got in the skies, or even the consequences. Instead, Cargnello is using his skills as a chemical engineer to turn them into other benign or useful chemicals. So far, he’s turned greenhouse gases into valuable industrial chemicals, polymers, renewable fuels, and even ethanol. Useful products from greenhouse gases, that's the dream, Cargnello tells host Russ Altm...
Jun 02, 2023•29 min•Ep. 220
This episode of The Future of Everything podcast with Srabanti Chowdhury first ran in 2022. We’re sharing it again to offer a glimpse into research being done to identify new materials for semiconductors that could lead to smaller, faster, more powerful and more energy efficient electronics. Since we recorded this episode, the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law, creating a $280 billion dollar investment in the field over the next 10 years, and in light of the renewed commitment to this te...
May 26, 2023•28 min
Deborah Cullinan ’s job is to integrate arts of every form across campus. She says art has the power to heal and may be the answer to many of our present-day societal problems, such as growing political polarization and social isolation borne by the pandemic. Art advances equity, improves health, and enhances well-being for all, she says. Everyone should see themselves as artists—engineers, physicians, political scientists alike. "We all want to have creative lives," Cullinan tells host Russ Alt...
May 19, 2023•29 min•Ep. 219
Helen Bronte-Stewart is a neurologist and an expert in movement disorders, like Parkinson’s. She says new approaches, such as closed-loop deep-brain stimulation, and new digital health technologies that chart subtle changes in movement are reshaping the field, leading to new understandings and new treatments for this once-untreatable disease. To modulate behavior, you first have to measure it, Bronte-Stewart tells host Russ Altman . It’s the future of movement disorders in this episode of Stanfo...
May 12, 2023•32 min•Ep. 218
Our guest, Christopher Manning , is a computational linguist. He builds computer models that understand and generate language using math. Words are the key component of human intelligence, he says, and why generative AI, like ChatGPT, has caused such a stir. We used to hope a model might produce one coherent sentence and suddenly ChatGPT is composing five-paragraph stories and doing mathematical proofs in rhyming verse, Manning tells host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The...
May 05, 2023•33 min•Ep. 217
This episode of The Future of Everything podcast with Mehran Sahami first ran in 2019. We’re sharing it again to offer a glimpse into the ways our faculty are thinking about computer science education, an increasingly popular and impactful field of study. Earlier this week, Sahami and another of his colleagues, Chris Piech, launched the third offering of Code In Place , a free online course that offers coding education to people all over the world. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>&g...
Apr 28, 2023•28 min
Kathleen Eisenhardt is an expert in strategy and organizational behavior. She studies corporate decision making. She says the most creative companies are like jazz bands. Bound by a few simple rules, they are able to innovate continually. Other companies are like orchestras, tied to rigid scores and complex rules; they find it hard to improvise. If innovation is your metric, Eisenhardt says, having a few simple rules is the best path to success, as she tells host Russ Altman on this episode of S...
Apr 21, 2023•28 min•Ep. 216
While DNA may be the blueprint of life, proteins are the workhorses, says Polly Fordyce , a bioengineer, explaining how one of her favorites, kinesin, “walks” in 8-nanometer steps transporting chemical cargo through the body. More remarkable still, Fordyce says, kinesin is just one among thousands of “incredible” proteins that make life happen, as she tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>&g...
Apr 14, 2023•32 min•Ep. 215
Rising temperatures and rainfall from climate change will have a surprising effect on human health, says biologist Erin Mordecai , an expert in diseases borne by mosquitoes, ticks and other living creatures. Such conditions are perfect breeding grounds for parasites that will bring deadly diseases to the U.S. and other places once thought out of reach. Hope may rest in mathematical models to guide smarter environmental policies, as Mordecai tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engi...
Apr 07, 2023•32 min•Ep. 214
When we’re sick, the time between onset and diagnosis is critical, sometimes life-saving. It turns out the human immune system is pretty good at knowing what’s making us sick. In fact, it’s telling us all the time, but only now is science tuning in to what nature has to say, explains Purvesh Khatri . The immune system is a “perfect diagnostic,” he tells host Russ Altman in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> T...
Mar 17, 2023•28 min•Ep. 213
When one has a medical procedure in America, it is often an algorithm that figures out how much of the cost will be reimbursed. That leads to a lot of unfairness, worse health outcomes for many and a group of insurers who learn to game the system, says guest Sherri Rose , a statistician and health policy researcher who studies the causes of such inequities. Rose is using artificial intelligence to root out these bad incentives and to bring greater equity and better care to the American health sy...
Mar 10, 2023•27 min•Ep. 212
With the advent of wearable devices and omnipresent monitoring of heart, lungs, blood and more, scientists can now gather unprecedented amounts of personal medical data. Just ask guest Michael Snyder , referred to as “medicine’s most-measured man.” He is the author of Genomics and Personalized Medicine: What Everyone Needs to Know and has collected billions of bytes of his own biodata. Snyder says that all this data can lead to earlier diagnosis than ever before, often before symptoms appear, as...
Mar 03, 2023•29 min•Ep. 211
While many users remain blissfully unaware, a battle is raging for the future of the internet. On the one hand are the large phone and cable companies who want to promote their services and to charge more for video and other data. On the other are people, like guest Barbara van Schewick, a lawyer, who champions a more democratic approach known as net neutrality. Net neutrality guarantees unfettered access for all and makes sure that we get to choose what we do online, van Schewick tells host Rus...
Feb 24, 2023•29 min•Ep. 210
Beatriz Magaloni is a lawyer and a professor of political science who studies the challenges at the intersection of governance, poverty, and police violence in Latin America. On this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, Magaloni tells host Russ Altman that the solution to these challenges begins with studying the root causes as explained by people living in the communities that are most impacted. Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Every...
Feb 17, 2023•33 min•Ep. 209
Guest Nicholas Bloom has studied telecommuting for 20 years. Prior to the pandemic, he says, just five percent of days were “worked from home,” but the number is now closer to one in three. It looks like the hybrid workplace is here to stay. What was once thought to be a boon to employee morale has also helped companies slash real estate budgets. But, it’s not all sunshine and roses, as Bloom tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast. Conne...
Feb 10, 2023•28 min•Ep. 208
On this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, guest Mac Schwager talks safety in multi-robot systems, like those controlling the autonomous vehicles that will soon fill our future. Some engineers are helping robots communicate better among themselves while others are working on “emotionally aware” algorithms able to pick up on subtle cues in how others are driving to help robots make better on-the-road decisions. Never fear, Schwager says, the future is in good hand...
Jan 27, 2023•30 min•Ep. 207
Our guest on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, Ilan Kroo , is an expert in aircraft design. But when Kroo talks of aircraft, he means a new generation of flying vehicles that could transform our very concept of transportation—like personal flying cars that take off and land vertically or commercial airliners fueled by clean-burning hydrogen. Kroo says the rapid changes he’s seeing in the industry could lead to safer, less expensive, more efficient—and quiet...
Jan 20, 2023•26 min•Ep. 206
Helen Blau is a stem cell biologist and expert in why, as we age, our muscles weaken, even if we get exercise and try to stay fit. In an age when humans are living longer, our muscles are critical to living life to the fullest and Blau is helping them keep pace by recruiting stem cells to regenerate youthful muscle in older people. Join us on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast as Blau and host Russ Altman discuss the science of muscle regeneration. Connect Wi...
Dec 16, 2022•27 min•Ep. 205
This episode's guest on Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast is Lawrence Wein , an expert in the science of catching criminals using DNA left behind years or even decades prior. All it takes is a snippet of the killer’s DNA and for a relative of the killer to have registered their DNA with one of the many genealogy websites in operation today. Armed with those few details, genetic detectives quickly narrow in on the suspect. They’ve used it to capture some of the most reviled,...
Dec 02, 2022•30 min•Ep. 204
Natural sounds in the world around us are based on the principles of physics. Today’s guest on S tanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, Doug James , uses those same principles to create computer-generated sounds to match the imaginary computer-generated objects and creatures that inhabit almost every movie or game these days. His algorithms speed the animator’s work and make the final product all-the-more believable, as James tells host Russ Altman on this episode of The Future ...
Nov 18, 2022•30 min•Ep. 203
This episode's guest on Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, management science and engineering professor Melissa Valentine studies a workplace phenomenon known as the flash organization. These ad hoc groups of experts are assembled online and exist only long enough to solve a particular problem—perhaps a week or few months at a time. As soon as the problem is solved, the flash org dissipates, and the participants get paid for their time and expertise. It’s a whole new way to...
Nov 11, 2022•30 min•Ep. 202
