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  • Can a Chatbot Treat Depression?

    Nick Jacobson and his team at Dartmouth medical school spent over 100,000 hours trying to build an AI chatbot that can serve as a safe, effective therapist. After a few false starts, they seem to…


  • Will AI Radically Change the World by 2027?… from Risky Business

    This week, Nate and Maria discuss AI 2027, a new report from the AI Futures Project that lays out some pretty doom-y scenarios for our near-term AI future. They talk about how likely humans are…


  • Is the Future of Flight Supersonic?

    Blake Scholl is the founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. Blake’s problem is this: Can you build a commercial airplane that flies faster than the speed of sound – and that makes economic sense? See…


  • The Secrets of Silk

    Fiorenzo Omenetto is a professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts University and the director of Silklab. Fiorenzo’s problem is this: How do you turn a material people have been using for thousands of years into…


  • Infiltrating an International Ransomware Gang

    A few years ago, a ransomware gang called LockBit rose from obscurity to extort over $100 million from organizations around the world. A security strategist named Jon DiMaggio wanted to understand how the organization worked.…


  • Preparing for the Future of War

    Christopher Kirchhoff helped launch a Defense Department office that aimed to bring Silicon Valley technology to the US military.  Christopher’s problem is this: How can the giant bureaucracy that is the US military keep up…


  • Stopping HIV Without a Vaccine

    Jared Baeten is senior vice president in virology at Gilead Sciences. Jared’s problem is this: In a world without a vaccine, how do you make a medicine that people will actually take to help prevent…


  • Harnessing the Heat Deep Beneath Our Feet

    Carlos Araque is the co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy. Carlos’ problem is this: How do you make drilling for geothermal energy as routine, widespread, and profitable as drilling for oil or gas? The answer…


  • The Brain Implant That Could Change Medicine

    Ben Rapoport is the co-founder and CSO of Precision Neuroscience. Ben’s problem is this: Can you build a device that allows a paralyzed person to use a computer with only their thoughts – without damaging…


  • Building a Mass Market Robot

    Jeff Cardenas is the co-founder and CEO of Apptronik. Jeff’s problem is this: Can you make a safe, reliable humanoid robot – for less than $50,000? In the short term, Apptronik’s robots will work in…