technology

William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, programmer, inventor and philanthropist. You probably know him as Bill. He has done a few things, most notably, perhaps, building the software empire Microsoft. Although Bill Gates has stepped away from the daily operations at Microsoft, he’s still chairman of the board. And some influential Microsoft investors are calling for Gates to step down. That’s according to a story from Reuters Corporate Board Correspondent, Nadia Damouni.

The plot of many a dystopian novel or movie is predictable: first technology advances, then humans become dependent on that technology and, finally, that technology turns on us. But what if the brain that makes the smart computer is being made smarter by the computer? Ross Reynolds sits down with Clive Thompson about the new book, "Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better."

When Facebook shows you an ad for the pasta that you had for dinner that night, you might feel a little squirmy, find it creepy even. But what exactly is the worry of companies having access to more personal data? University of Washington law professor, and co-founder of UW's Tech Policy Lab, Ryan Calo, has been trying to answer that question. Ross Reynolds talks with Calo about the use and regulation of big data.

Earlier this month, a University of Washington researcher was able to send a brain signal over the internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.  What do emerging brain technologies mean for the future of privacy and identity?  Sara Goering joins us with some answers – and some questions.  She’s a professor of philosophy at the UW and she leads the ethics thrust at the UW Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering.

With so many global challenges — climate change, overpopulation, natural-resource depletion — Ramez Naam argues that the only solution is innovation. Naam is a computer scientist who spent a decade at Microsoft, where he helped develop early versions of Outlook and Internet Explorer. He’s currently adjunct faculty at Singularity University.

Brain surgery is now done by lasers. But doctors must still open up the skull in an incredibly difficult procedure. Scientists are developing a transparent skull to make it easier. The transparent skull will serve as a window into the brain allowing immediate access to check the progress of cancer without repeated surgeries.  It could take a decade before the see-through skull is perfected. Ross Reynolds talks with Masa Rao, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at the University of California Riverside who is working on the skull.

The University of Washington's Center for Game Science has an outrageous claim: By playing a computer game called DragonBox Adaptive for 90 minutes, 92 percent of first graders can master algebraic linear equations.

But that's not just an untested claim — it's the result of tests done in Washington state's public schools. Amazingly, that statistic also held for the few kindergarten classes that have tested the game. Most school districts don't introduce this material until middle school. Today, Ross Reynolds speaks with the Center for Game Science's director, Zoran Popović.

University of Washington computer science professor Oren Etzioni will lead a new institute on artificial intelligence founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Etzioni designed the technologies behind startup companies Netbot and Farecast. He talks with Ross Reynolds about what he could do working for Allen that he couldn’t do at the University of Washington.