Author Archives: Nora

Learning to Chat Again, and Psychedelics for Mental Health

Posted on May 7, 2021 | Leave a comment

Hello! Hope you are safe and healthy. Cathi Bond and Nora Young connect over video chat for another ep.

Nora talks about this great Guardian article by Rhik Samadder on how we've lost the art of small talk in our socially isolated pods, and why the pandemic-imposed isolation has just sped up our tech-driven communication problems.

Cathi talks about this article on the therapeutic uses for psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, in treating depression. 

Thanks for listening, and be well!

 

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How to change your mind, and hydrogen innovation

Posted on April 5, 2021 | Leave a comment
This time on the podcast, Nora Young talks about Adam Grant's new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You don't Know. Great article and summary here. Cathi Bond looks at a pilot project to use pre-existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen for use in vehicles (via New Atlas).  [iframe style="border:none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/18606680/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/standard/tdest_id/237069" height="100" width="480" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Download MP3

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Posted in Energy

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Wild Innovations in Retail and the Hidden Cost of Machine Learning

Posted on March 17, 2021 | Leave a comment

We are back! Cathi Bond and Nora Young got together (virtually!) to talk future of retail and carbon footprint.

Cathi talks about Showfields, a digital/physical hybrid store in New York, and their new Magic Wand app (via PSFK). 

Nora talks about this article from two Université de Montréal professor/researchers on the 'hidden infrastructure' required for machine learning: the carbon footprint of training machine learning applications on lots of data. 

Hope you're all well and coping ok! 


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Trends in Autonomous Vehicles and Streaming Video

Posted on February 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

This time, Cathi Bond and Nora Young "get together" virtually from their respective homes for a pandemic-appropriate recording.

Nora talks about Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company (check out the details and images at Fast Company). The shuttle design reminded Nora that Toyota is aiming at a similar shuttle application, and that autonomous vehicles supported by LIDAR technology was a buzzy topic at this year's CES. 

Cathi Bond has been thinking about Netflix, which has commissioned a ton of original content for 2021. She wonders if it could signal a return to the old Hollywood studio system for a new era.


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Renewable Shipping and Ebike Crackdown

Posted on December 6, 2020 | Leave a comment

Before the December deep chill set in Cathi Bond and Nora Young got together in Nora's backyard to talk tech.

Cathi Bond talks about Oceanbird, a huge, wind-powered shipping vessel that relies on very innovative technology. It's being designed by Wallenius Marine out of Sweden. Check out the images at Dezeen.

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about this Guardian article about a pilot project in the Netherlands to cut the power to speeding ebikes. Sensible safety measure or nanny state run amok? 


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Trends in Robotics: Fire fighting and moving buildings

Posted on November 16, 2020 | Leave a comment
On this podcast, Nora and Cathi continue from Nora's backyard with a couple of contemporary robotics stories. Nora mentions fire fighting robots rolling out for use in Los Angeles (via Core77). As we've seen during the pandemic, there are plenty of roles for robots to work in dangerous situations, but is it time for international rules to govern the uses robots can be put to? Cathi has an innovative use too: little walking robots that can move huge buildings to make way for a new development. Watch the video of them in action here. [iframe style="border:none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/16830584/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/standard/tdest_id/237069" height="100" width="480" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Download MP3

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Posted in Robotics

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Home Security Drones and Micro Power Generation

Posted on October 9, 2020 | Leave a comment
Hey there! This time, Nora Young talks about the news that Amazon-owned Ring home security company is releasing the Ring Always Home camera and drone to patrol your house. Cathi Bond talks about the news that they are also planning a car cam which you can engage when you're pulled over by police. Cathi Bond talks about this fascinating research into tiny power generators that harness the breezes that blow by while we walk. [iframe style="border:none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/16339844/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/standard/tdest_id/237069" height="100" width="480" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Download MP3

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Posted in Energy

Trends in Quieter Cities and Pro Sports

Posted on September 13, 2020 | Leave a comment
Cathi Bond and Nora Young are back in Nora's COVID-compliant backyard with looonnng mic cables! This time, Nora talks about this Scientific American article on research into noise cancelling tech for bigger spaces, so you can open the windows (amen!) in urban environments and still have peace and quiet. Meanwhile, Cathi talks about speculation that Major League Baseball will use drones to police mask wearing in the stands, if/when fans are allowed in the stands again (via Gizmodo).   [iframe style="border:none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/15990068/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/standard/tdest_id/237069" height="100" width="480" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Download MP3

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Posted in Health

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Summer Travel Special – Pandemic Edition

Posted on August 20, 2020 | 1 comment

Cathi and Nora are in Nora's backyard again for a couple of takes on how to enjoy summer vacation when many of our conventional travel plans have been disrupted by the pandemic.

Cathi Bond brings you the Luno Air Mattress, an inflatable mattress designed to fit in the back of your vehicle, so you can camp in your car in comfort. Cathi and Nora reminisce about old timey camping with terrible gear!

Nora Young talks about Drive and Listen, a charming website that lets you virtually drive around various cities around the world while listening to local radio from those cities. They chat about the indie internet and VR.


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Astounding Skyscrapers and the Real Future of Augmented Reality

Posted on July 19, 2020 | Leave a comment
Cathi Bond and Nora Young are back for another physically distant podcast in Nora's backyard.  This time, Cathi has an update on architect Moshe Safdie's eight skyscraper development in Chongqing, topped by a horizontal skyscraper called The Crystal. Now you can go and tour the development and take a 50 second ride to the top. See Cathi's previous look at Raffles City Chongqing here. Find renderings of the development here. Meanwhile, Nora mentions Stacey Higginbotham's podcast and newsletter. Recently, Stacey weighed in with some thoughts on the real use case for Augmented Reality: in the workplace, and in particular, in helping workers in the field do repairs or complete other production processes. The thought is that this can help address the shortage of skilled, experienced older workers by using AR to walk employees through a complex process using the visualization capabilities of AR. Perhaps, in the COVID era, older workers can work from home, coaching younger workers with AR.  [iframe style="border:none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/15265388/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/standard/tdest_id/237069" height="100" width="480" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Download MP3

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Posted in Architecture, Virtual Reality

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