Future Technology

Former physicist Andrew Maynard threads together his love of science-fiction movies with his expertise on emerging technologies to engage, entertain, and make you think about the relationship between technology and society. Through the imagination and creativity of science-fiction movies, Maynard introduces listeners to the profound capabilities presented by new and emerging technologies, and the complex personal and societal challenges they present.

Technology rules us as much as laws do. It shapes the legal, social, and ethical environments in which we act. Every time we cross a street, drive a car, or go to the doctor, we submit to the silent power of technology. Yet, much of the time, the influence of technology on our lives goes unchallenged by citizens and our elected representatives. Our embrace of novel technological pathways, Sheila Jasanoff shows, leads to a complex interplay among technology, ethics, and human rights.

Space isn't just the final frontier—it's big business! From exploration to space vacations, learn how private businesses are transforming the future of space travel and exploration.

As humans continue to make amazing discoveries in outer space, we also face a unique challenge—living in an environment that we're not meant to live in. Find out how long-term exposure to outer space affects the human body and what scientists are doing to combat it.

Over the last 400 years, telescope technology has come a long way. From dying stars to burping black holes, take a look at the most exciting discoveries in deep space.

The moon is more than a giant rock orbiting Earth—it could become a gateway into deeper space! Find out how NASA and other international and commercial agencies are working together to explore and build on the moon.

NASA's Orion spacecraft is pushing the limits of space travel and exploration like never before. The ultimate goal is a mission to Mars! Learn about the challenges that scientists, engineers, and astronauts must overcome to make this dream a reality.

Satellites may exist out in space, but they let us study Earth from the outside looking in. From climate change to natural disasters and more, find out how scientists are using satellites to tackle some of our world's most challenging problems.

In Fusion Strategy, world-renowned innovation guru Vijay Govindarajan and digital strategy expert Venkat Venkataraman offer a first-of-its-kind playbook that will help industrial companies combine what they do best-create physical products-with what digitals do best-use algorithms and AI to parse expansive, interconnected datasets-to make strategic connections that would otherwise be impossible.

Probes can explore the depths of space in ways that would kill human beings. The information they provide can spur countless innovations here on Earth. Learn how probes work and the exciting possibilities that their discoveries may inspire.

In Democratizing Artificial Intelligence to Benefit Everyone, Dr. Jacques Ludik takes us on a holistic sense-making journey to synthesize and better our understanding of AI, its applications, its benefits, its risks, its limitations, its progress, and its likely future paths. As a founder of multiple AI companies with three decades of experience in AI and its world-wide applications, Dr. Ludik's audiobook offers specific solutions that address designing for social good, building human-compatible AI, and so many more ideas for reshaping civilization for beneficial outcomes!

Free and open source is the foundation of software development, and it's built by people just like you. Discover the fundamental tenets that drive the movement. Take control of your career by selecting the right project to meet your professional goals. Master the language and avoid the pitfalls that typically ensnare new contributors. Join a community of like-minded people and change the world. Programmers, writers, designers, and everyone interested in software will make their mark through free and open source software contributions.

Take a look at the vehicle sitting in your driveway. It may be the last one you ever own. With an estimated 33 million fully autonomous cars and taxis projected to hit the road by 2040, an automotive renaissance is soon to be upon us. Personal car ownership currently costs the average sedan owner $9,000 annually. But car ownership may soon be a thing of the past.

Our world order is under pressure as never before. From new authoritarian regimes in the US, Turkey and Russia to the imminent breakup of the European Union and a social media awash with intolerance, things look set to fall apart just as abruptly as the Soviet Union did some 30 years ago. How did we get here, and what do we do now? In this searching new exploration of our crisis, Paul Mason argues that at its heart lies an attack on the idea of humanity itself.

Today, not only is everything digital getting faster, cheaper, and smaller at an exponential rate, we also have the Internet. When these two revolutions - one in technology and the other in communications - joined, an explosive force was unleashed that changed the very nature of innovation. And with any change, we have seen many strategic blunders and extraordinary learning curves along the way.

In an unparalleled collaboration, two leading global thinkers in technology and foreign affairs give us their widely anticipated, transformational vision of the future: a world where everyone is connected - a world full of challenges and benefits that are ours to meet and to harness. Eric Schmidt is one of Silicon Valley’s great leaders, having taken Google from a small startup to one of the world’s most influential companies. Jared Cohen is the director of Google Ideas and a former adviser to secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.

Flash crashes. Speed dating. Instant messaging. From the devices we carry to the lives we lead, everything is getting faster, faster. But where did this great acceleration come from? And where will it lead? In this vitally important new audiobook, Robert Colvile explains how the cult of disruption in Silicon Valley, the ceaseless advance of technology and our own fundamental appetite for novelty and convenience have combined to speed up every aspect of daily life.

Artificial intelligence may be the most transformative technology of our time. As AI’s power grows, so does the need to figure out what—and who—this technology is really for. AI Needs You argues that it is critical for society to take the lead in answering this urgent question and ensuring that AI fulfills its promise.

Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world's cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it's in their own best interest to limit their growth.

The digital age we live in is as transformative as the Industrial Revolution, and Joshua Cooper Ramo explains how to survive. If you find yourself longing for a disconnected world where information is not always at your fingertips, you may eventually be as useful as the carriage maker post-Henry Ford. It's practically impossible to know where the marriage of imagination and technology will take us (sorry, Betamax and Kodak), and the only certainty is that in the networked world we will only become more intertwined.