Hard Reset

Change is hard - people have been trying and failing to reform society for generations. But what if we had to? This is a show about rebuilding the world from scratch and reimagining everything from first principles. How should we design cities? What about schools? Power grids? Prisons? Money? Or the Internet? If we were starting over, what would we do differently? Because in the aftermath of 2020, we are. This is HARD RESET.

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Should war robots have “license to kill?”

War is changing. As drones replace snipers, we must consider the ethics of machines making life or death decisions.

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All Episodes (47)

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This tiny pill spies on your stomach

A close-up of a person's fingers holding a small, transparent electronic component with a green background.

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3x faster air travel at a fraction of the price: this jet engine could change everything

“This is a system that will enable the sub-thousand dollar ticket from San Francisco to Tokyo in 3.5 hours.”

A jet engine undergoing a test, emitting a blue flame, with various wires and components attached.

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The most secure wireless connection ever: Your body

What if your body could become a USB cable? Ixana, a cutting-edge wearable hardware company, is revolutionizing how we connect our devices by using our bodies as conductors.

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How the DIY engineering boom will change the world

$20,000, 100 days, no job, 1 garage. This family built a self-driving car during the pandemic. Now, they’re starting a company.

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Disrupting one of the world’s dirtiest industries: Meet the 3D loom

Fast-fashion is over. “Automated Apparel” is here to reduce waste, fit everyone better, and save human time and labor.

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This company is winning the race to create the first factory in space

The race to build the first space factory is on — and this team is beating everyone to the finish line.

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See the robots turning a $250B industry into a one-button click

It takes years to fix a complex fighter jet. Machina Labs' robo-factory could do it at the click of a button.

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Can underground tunnels make instant delivery possible?

McNuggets delivered in < 10 min for just $1? This underground “Amazon Prime”-like delivery service is the closest thing humans have to teleportation.

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Getting to Mars isn’t enough: Why staying alive will be the biggest challenge

Meet Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, the self-proclaimed space bastards who are urging us to rethink space colonization.

A person in an astronaut suit against an orange-hued cityscape background.

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The tech of tomorrow: Haptics, Desktop CNC, Hyundai E-Corner

Would you use a desktop CNC? What about no-snow skis? Could a car with 90º wheels make parking easier? We went to the biggest tech event in the world to try out viral tech for ourselves.

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Bryan Johnson lives by one rule: “Don’t die”

“We are losing when we create a lesser version of ourselves.” Bryan Johnson has created a blueprint to reverse-aging, and a vision for the future of humanity.

Man performing pull-ups under red lighting.

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Large-scale, lab-grown meat: Step inside a cultivated meat factory

Have your buffalo wings, save the chicken. Step inside a lab-grown meat factory with us to see the future of food.

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Meet Apollo, the real-life robot who wants to give you more free time

Will robots replace us? Apptronik, creator of the general purpose robot Apollo, has crafted a product that would only take the undesirable tasks away from humans.

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Animating in real time? This suit is changing cinema forever

This suit is changing the future of video game development, streaming, and motion graphics.

Two men with glasses and a beard in front of a purple background.

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Does Bryan Johnson’s $2m biohacking routine actually work? We tested it to see

18-hour fast, 100 pills, bizarre tech - we tried Bryan Johnson’s age-reversal routine for 1 month.

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What is Generative AI? It’s going to alter everything about how we use the internet

Artificial intelligence is bigger than image prompts and idea generation. Much bigger. This veteran technologist says Generative AI will bring about “The New Internet.”

3d rendering of a broken computer with mountains in the background illustrating how Generative AI will impact the internet.

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Starlink’s newest competitor is using next-gen satellites to create internet for everyone

Four billion people are not connected to the internet. This company wants to change that, using satellites in geostationary orbit.

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This device is 1,000 times more efficient than your computer

This model of computing would use 1/1000th of the energy today’s computers do. So why aren’t we using it?

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How can a water bottle cost negative 10 cents?

27 million likes on TikTok. A $0.00 product. How does the "FreeWater" company work?

Free yoghurt packaging - free yoghurt packaging - free yoghurt packaging - free yoghurt packaging.

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“Metamaterials” will put sci-fi tech into your phone

This company is building a new kind of “metamaterial” that can change the way we see reality.

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Here’s why you won’t starve from overpopulation

How will we feed 8 billion people? New tech is making it possible.

two men standing in a field with a tractor.

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Laser “death ray” kills weeds 80x faster than humans

This farming robot kills 200,000 weeds per hour with lasers.

a tractor with a green light in the middle of a field.

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We went to MIT to see the first test of a new electric thruster system

These tiny electrospray thrusters cut spacecraft payload so that we can explore the asteroid belt, outer planets, and beyond.

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The farming robots that will feed the world

Food waste is a ridiculous problem. Enter the robots.

a robot is holding a strawberry on a blue background.

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The bionic 3rd thumb anyone can add to their hand

We flew to the UK to learn more about the designer 3D-printing third thumbs.

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Hacking the Anthropocene with survivalist robots

80% of our ocean floors have never been studied. This robot sailboat is unlocking the most treacherous parts.

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Inside a “Zome”: A DIY tiny home made of carbon-negative cement

Could bringing back ancient pyramid-building techniques make carbon-negative housing a reality?

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The future of high energy density batteries

Picture an entire city charged by batteries. This new battery design may unlock a new era of energy.

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The robot solving America’s trash crisis

This robot sorts trash with 99% accuracy.

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The future of energy starts with rebuilding the battery

Millions of tons of batteries are headed to landfills. Here’s the plan to save them.

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Engineering oleophilic sponges to save the oceans

“A new wave of material sciences could help us start cleaning the environment instead of just, well, using it as a trash can.”

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Megafires: Fixing 100 years of mistakes in 10 years

Most forests in the world may become fireproof in just ten years with this technology.

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This slime is 10x more fireproof than water

A one-armed surfer invented this fireproof slime when a disaster tried to take his town.

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How to build neighborhoods we actually like

Where you live has more of an impact on your physical, emotional, and mental health than you think.

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Tiny satellites and a new view of humanity

These tiny satellites uncover daily images of climate change, Chinese labor camps, and hidden government areas - and make them publicly available.

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Should war robots have “license to kill?”

War is changing. As drones replace snipers, we must consider the ethics of machines making life or death decisions.

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‘Canceling’ carnivores won’t save the planet. Flexitarianism might, though

The average American eats 200 pounds of meat per year. What would happen if we took it out of one meal a week?

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We’re using our streets all wrong

COVID-19 turned city streets into pop-up restaurants. What if we didn’t go back?

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Inside Zoox: The robot vehicle totally changing transportation

Take an exclusive ride in the vehicle with no steering wheel that’s aiming to make car ownership a thing of the past.

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Inside the lab growing leather from mushrooms

Even Hermès is using this ‘shroom leather. Are biomaterials going mainstream?

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What if we restarted civilization from scratch in 2022?

If we could redesign the world from scratch, what should we do differently? Find out in all-new episodes of Freethink’s Hard Reset coming in January 2022.

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The underdog challenging McDonald’s and Wall Street

Everytable is scaling access to wealth through a healthy fast food revolution.

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What will the Disneyland of the future look like?

VR theme park experiences are adding a new dimension to an industry that’s long relied on 20th-century technology.

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Murder-free chicken nuggets: Real meat grown in a lab

Would you eat lab-grown chicken meat? This Singapore restaurant is the first to serve cell-cultured meat to diners.

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How mirrors could power the planet… and prevent wars

If adopted globally, concentrated solar power could make major waves in manufacturing, not to mention prevent wars over oil and mitigate climate change.

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Do buildings have to be permanent?

Modular construction involves transporting prefabricated buildings and connecting them on-site. It’s like LEGOs on steroids, and it could transform our cities.

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Vertical farms could take over the world

Vertical farming saves water, land, and energy — and it could be how we grow food on Mars.