Tough Tech Today with Meyen and Miller

What do you do when the sky stops behaving the way the textbooks say it should? For decades, talk of unidentified flying objects (“UFOs”) sat on the margins. That’s become harder to shrug off when decorated pilots, radar operators, and intel officers are raising their right hands in Congress and saying, I saw something I couldn’t file away as a drone, jet, or planet. In this episode, we (JMill and...

The way to improve physical intelligence is to simulate, discover, and do. A dropped box tells the truth. That little skid and thud is a progress report one can feel. In this episode, Tough Tech Today Co-Hosts Forrest and JMill trace the full arc of “physical” intelligence: how we simulate the world, discover what to build, and then make hardware that learns while doing real work. First, simulate...

Under New York City lies a patchwork of long-dormant dark fibers that are now illuminating with entangled rubidium atoms. In our conversation with Noel Goddard, CEO of Qunnect, we learn about the tough tech testbed named GothamQ. Qunnect is pioneering the future of the telecom industry by transforming existing fiber optics into quantum networks, providing a robust, secure communication channel for...

Melding quantum mechanics with artificial intelligence is going to change how we understand our world. Several years ago, a small team was pursuing a deeper understanding of the quantum sciences while tracking advancements in machine intelligence. Combining two complex and misunderstood fields of study, Fernando Dominguez Pinuaga, Vice President, and his colleagues formed SandboxAQ, a growing jugg...

Where is the money in oceanographic research? Fundamental understanding of the watery parts of our planet (i.e. most of it) is woefully under pursued. However, just as it seems some ocean systems are almost falling apart – coral bleaching, rising tides, species extinctions – we are beginning to see more attention paid to exploring the depths. "There will be unicorns of the ocean, very success...

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… technically a flying boat!  When challenged to imagine how to electrify aviation, Billy Thalheimer, CEO and co-founder of REGENT Craft, and his team set to work looking at what has been done with hydroplanes before – and what emerging technologies are available today that change the equation for what is possible and economically achievable. “Building with atoms is...

The blue parts of our planet are beautiful yet stunningly punishing for even our toughest of technologies. Dark, crushing, unexplored, and unknown – the depths of the seas are where an explorer like Jeff Smith has devoted his career to understanding. As the Vice President and General Manager of Autonomous and Undersea Systems at Saab, Inc. , Smith has experience developing submersibles of nearly e...

Tough Tech Today is transitioning seasons, recapping our Season 3 themes exploring the tough tech domains of biology, space, and fusion energy. We are also preparing for the show's fourth season and we are really excited for it! Upcoming themes: Blue tech – The advanced technologies of the maritime industry. Incredible machines, sustainable oceans, and mysteries to solve in our planet's...

If this company perfectly combines lasers and atoms, the reaction could be worth trillions of dollars. Focused Energy’s Thomas Forner, CEO, and Pravesh Patel, CTO, join us to talk about making lasers. Lots and lots of lasers. But for what aim? They are pointing hundreds of directed beams at a tiny target: a millimeter-sized plastic capsule of deuterium and tritium, about the size of a peppercorn....

Investors are betting big on clean energy becoming the norm. Tina Tosukhowong of TDK Ventures joins us for a review of the major approaches to curbing carbon emissions in hard-to-abate industries. A thorough assessment led Tosukhowong to opportunities for practical, grid-scale fusion. TDK Ventures invested in Type One Energy Group, a private fusion company affiliated with the University of Wiscons...

How do we harness the power of the stars to deliver clean energy on Earth? It has been a collective goal – and, perhaps, an impending imperative – for human civilization to secure renewable energy sources for its present and future needs. The team at Proxima Fusion ( https://www.proximafusion.com/about ), led by co-founder and CEO Francesco Sciortino ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-sciorti...

Standing up a space force within the world’s largest bureaucracy is not for the faint of heart. Preston Dunlap – former (and first) Chief Architect / Chief Technology Officer of the United States Air Force and Space Force and present CEO of Arkenstone Ventures – has developed a privileged view into the government machinations necessary to design, develop, and buy the right mix of tough tech capabi...

An early-stage startup will offer unparalleled weather data when it unfolds its orbital sensors. Captivated by the stars and focused on improving life on Earth, Mithril Technologies founder and CEO, Scarlett Koller, is venturing into weather awareness and storm tracking by launching and commercializing a large space-based sensor. In this episode, we have the privilege of learning how Koller and he...

In one sentence: The space economy is booming in more ways than one. Space-based assets are changing the way industries operate on Earth. Chad Anderson – Founder and Managing Partner at Space Capital – is one of those individuals who has a deep perspective on the what it is like backing the entrepreneurs who are launching the newest breed of space companies. An investor by profession and explorer...

In one sentence... The interactions of the microbial world within us has been incredibly difficult to see – until now. From the depths of our intestines to the surface of our skin, our bodies are host to trillions of microbial cells spanning thousands of species. While critical to helping us to fend off illnesses and digest complex foods, we know very little about the complex interactions among th...

In one sentence... Aging is malleable and there is a particular, mysterious protein of interest that may enable new therapies for age-related diseases such as stroke, diabetes, and obesity. Young blood in old bodies has been demonstrated in several studies to counteract some age-correlated ailments. Mark Allen, a medical doctor by training and an entrepreneur in practice, co-founded Elevian to und...

In one sentence... Computational biology is enhancing our understanding of intrinsically disordered proteins, leading to exciting new medical treatments. Overview From videogames to protein discovery, high performance computing impacts how we understand and engage with each other and the world around us. Virginia Burger , CEO and Co-Founder of New Equilibrium Biosciences , epitomizes the value of...

Join a tag-up among JMill and Forrest as we reveal something really exciting for what’s ahead: the launch of the newest season of Tough Tech Today! Plus, we mention work and babies. We set the stage for our new monthly cadence, with a new release occurring on the second Tuesday of each month. Each quarter (3 months), we focus on a theme. The next three themes are Biology (2023Q2), Space (2023Q3),...

Digitization of the physical world brings new synergies and expanding attack surfaces – so it is key to invest in those who defend us. ————— Overview:  Probing the cybersecurity of 3D printing, scaling the digital transformation of manufacturing, and developing quantum-safe encryption for the next evolution of the Internet, Matt Goldstein , Managing Director at M12 , Microsoft’s Venture Fund, shar...

In one sentence: “Synthesizing” and “food” are uncommon word pairings, but the engineered dishes they serve may be an appetizing feast for the senses. Overview: Climate change, a growing global population, and maturation of new biotechnologies are driving the motivation for – and means of – producing more food. Engineering is improving traditional agricultural means for food production, yet, in ou...

In one sentence: We can make cancer cells tell us exactly where they are. ————— Overview: Consumer internet entrepreneurs lack many of the skills for the life sciences revolution – or do they? Cyriac Roeding , CEO and co-founder of Earli , shows us what his team of bioengineers are accomplishing by applying fast-learning software development discipline to hard life science problems. Earli’s mouse...

Just a quick Tough Tech Today update as we take a bye week and prepare for our guest in two weeks.

In one sentence: When the frontiers of geology overlap with the frontlines of contested regions, international collaborations help protect minerals core to our civilization. ————— Overview: There’s a world of minerals in every electronic device. Anything that cannot be grown must be mined, Emily King tells us. A global mining expert and founder of Prospector Portal, Emily shares stories and advanc...

In one sentence: Unlocking new mRNA treatments will save lives, but it's not as simple as that. ————— Overview ————— Jake Becraft of Strand Therapeutics is an expert in designing and programming mRNA, critical strands of genetic material that provide instructions for making proteins. As one suite of tools in the emerging synthetic biology toolkit, mRNA is a twenty-first century harbinger of l...

In one sentence: A needle shaped like a hockey puck is a ‘revolutionary’ medical device that can deliver epinephrine during a severe allergic reaction on Earth or in space.   ————— Overview ————— EpiPens and other emergency auto-injectors have changed little for decades, though there are known limitations in their accidental (mis)use. Conor Cullinane, co-founder of Pirouette Medical, shows us his...