logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2019
16m 47s

How synthetic biology could wipe out hum...

TED
About this episode

The world-changing promise of synthetic biology and gene editing has a dark side. In this far-seeing talk, author and entrepreneur Rob Reid reviews the risks of a world where more and more people have access to the tools and tech needed to create a doomsday bug that could wipe out humanity -- and suggests that it's time to take this danger seriously.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
The Mystery of Sea Creatures (1/5): A coral reef love story | Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Over the course of hundreds of scuba dives, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love -- with a fish. In this ode to parrotfish, she shares five reasons why these creatures are simply amazing (from their ability to poop white sand to make colorful "wardrobe changes") ... Show More
8m 53s
Today
The Mystery of Sea Creatures (2/5): A giant Jurassic sea dragon, unearthed | Dean R. Lomax
Among the dinosaurs, giant sea dragons roamed the ancient ocean. Millions of years later, paleontologist Dean R. Lomax and his team freed the remains of one of these colossal creatures from the Earth. Settle in to learn about the once-in-a-lifetime discovery of the 10-meter-long ... Show More
15m 33s
Today
The Mystery of Sea Creatures (3/5): Could an orca give a TED Talk? | Karen Bakker
What if we could hear nature's ultrasonic communication -- and talk back? From a bat's shrill speech to a peacock's infrasound mating call, conservation technology researcher Karen Bakker takes us through a sound bath of animal noises that are far outside humanity's range of hear ... Show More
15m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2021
How To Avoid Destroying Humanity - Rob Reid - #346
Rob Reid is an entrepreneur, podcaster and an author. The last 15 months have been a terrifying taster of just what a global crisis is like, except it wasn't lethal enough to be a threat to our long term survival - but just because this one wasn't, doesn't mean that more deadly e ... Show More
2h 11m
Apr 2021
Special Episode: Engineering the Apocalypse
In this nearly 4-hour SPECIAL EPISODE, Rob Reid delivers a 100-minute monologue (broken up into 4 segments, and interleaved with discussions with Sam) about the looming danger of a man-made pandemic, caused by an artificially-modified pathogen. The risk of this occurring is far h ... Show More
3h 41m
Sep 2024
Are Robots Going to Take Over the World?!?!?
AI technology is super trendy, but can also be super scary! The 3D Printing Doctor not only makes really fun trinkets and videos with his machines, he is actually a real scientist who specializes in AI and robotics! We asked him if there was any real possibility of robots taking ... Show More
54m 17s
Sep 2024
The Future of Robot “Servants”
The human world is increasingly 'assisted' by a pantheon of automations. Yet this emergent reality brings to bear fundamental philosophical quandries about the nature of not only the mind but the soul of things called 'artificial.' In tonight's episode, sponsored by Illumination ... Show More
1h 14m
Jul 2023
How much should we fear artificial intelligence?
<p>Scientists have been sounding the alarm about the potentially catastrophic dangers posed by artificial intelligence. Gideon talks to Anu Bradford, professor at Columbia University and author of a forthcoming book on the global battle to regulate technology about the different ... Show More
29m 57s
Mar 2023
How will AI change the world? | George Zaidan and Stuart Russell
In the coming years, artificial intelligence is probably going to change your life -- and likely the entire world. But people have a hard time agreeing on exactly how AI will affect our society. Can we build AI systems that help us fix the world? Or are we doomed to a robotic tak ... Show More
7m 45s
Aug 2023
555. New Technologies Always Scare Us. Is A.I. Any Different?
<p>Guest host Adam Davidson looks at what might happen to your job in a world of human-level artificial intelligence, and asks when it might be time to worry that the machines have become too powerful. (Part 2 of "<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/how-to-think-about-a ... Show More
47m 33s
Nov 2018
X Risks
Humanity could have a future billions of years long – or we might not make it past the next century. If we have a trip through the Great Filter ahead of us, then we appear to be entering it now. It looks like existential risks will be our filter. (Original score by Point Lobo.) I ... Show More
39m 5s