The Future According to Now

As big data evolves from giving us public transit updates to influencing some of the biggest decisions in our daily lives, technologists are trying to harness its potential to revolutionize the field of healthcare. Not only can big data be used to change the way an individual patient is treated, it can also help track and treat the outbreak of infectious diseases. Can big data help curb the next big flu epidemic? This is The Future According To Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

As we look more and more toward renewable energy, wind turbine farms have exploded in popularity. But no longer are we limited only to traditional wind farms in large open prairies. Intrepid engineers have turned to the ocean, where they operate wind farms, some of them even floating like buoys, bobbing above the tide. And perhaps sooner than we expect, offshore floating wind farms could power a significant percentage of our homes. This is The Future According To Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

With six billion new internet users wielding smartphones and the evolution of e-commerce and mobile payment platforms, money is being moved faster and more frequently than ever before. In this episode we will speak with experts about how new models of digital infrastructure are being cultivated in emerging markets, and what we can learn from them. This is The Future According To Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

The promise of 5G networks is already propelling innovators to design new modes of communication. From remote robotic surgery to ultra-responsive autonomous cars, the 5G network leans into a world of higher reliability and lower latency. In this episode, we talk to experts revolutionizing the way we transfer skills via the technology of touch. We’ll also hear from a Fidelity expert on how this move to the fifth generation will effect a fundamental building block in the tech industry. This is The Future According To Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

Feeding our ever-growing appetite for faster and more convenient delivery, shipments from online purchases are set to almost double in the next few years. A future in which drone and autonomous vehicle deliveries could be as common as checking the mailbox seems closer everyday. But before we can get there, first we must solve a major logistical problem: the nearly four billion people without addresses. We talk to the experts transforming the way we think about location and we’ll hear from an investment expert about the solutions he’s tracking. This is The Future According To Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

An app for diabetes. A video game for ADHD. VR for post-surgery pain. In the face of an expensive health care system and devastating addiction crises, a class of accessible and virtually side effect-free digital therapeutics and digital health technologies are challenging existing models of treatment. We talk to industry leaders and an investment expert about this growing field and consider the question: Could your next prescription be an app? This is The Future According To Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

Shopping habits are changing. Mobile purchasing is the future. Brick-and-mortar retail is dead. We’ve all heard these stories—but they don’t give the full picture. In an increasingly digital world, people still crave the experiential element of shopping. Enter augmented reality. In this episode, we explore the groundbreaking technologies and hear from an investment expert on what she is watching in the retail sector—technologies that might just save brick-and-mortar shopping. This is The Future According to Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

The space race is no longer just about science for science’s sake; today, private companies see tangible investment opportunity in the great void. But before they can capture it, they must solve one problem: the prohibitively high cost of getting there. We talk to industry leaders and an investment expert about reusable spacecrafts, scramjets, and hypersonics—technologies that could revolutionize space travel and open up access to the final frontier. This is The Future According to Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

The Internet of Things already lets you warm up your house before you arrive and control your speakers from your wrist. What will become possible when that technology enters the laboratory, untethering scientists from the rote aspects of research? We talk to scientists and industry leaders bringing connectivity to the lab, and an investment expert who explains how this kind of automation could revolutionize individualized medicine. This is The Future According to Now, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments, with production support from At Will Media.

Battery-operated cars and homes are not far off. Scientists are already imagining the ways that a new type of battery will change the world–but first, they have to create it. Several groups are on the cusp of a portable power revolution. We explore the potential of a new type of battery, and the challenges scientists face in creating it, in this episode of “The Future According to Now”, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic and Fidelity Investments.

Technologists are building computer algorithms that will soon match something that has, until now, been uniquely human: The ability to recognize a person as soon as they walk into a room, even if they’re not looking right at you. There will soon be a day when your home knows exactly who you are. We explore the potential of 3D scanning technology, and the ethical questions surrounding its adoption, in this episode of “The Future According to Now”, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic and Fidelity Investments. Follow along at theatlantic.com/fidelitypodcast, @atlanticrethink, or let us know what you think of the program by leaving us a rating or review.

Plastic was once considered revolutionary, but as our oceans become clogged with plastic waste, and the petroleum-based production process continues to expel massive amounts of greenhouse gases, the material we rely on so heavily is now considered an environmental hazard. Several startups are introducing eco-friendly alternatives, and they’re being rewarded with contracts from large-scale manufacturers. We explore the burgeoning eco-plastics revolution in this episode of “The Future According to Now”, a podcast from Atlantic Re:think, the branded content studio at The Atlantic and Fidelity Investments.

By the year 2050, more than 60 percent of the world’s populations will live in cities. Researchers, entrepreneurs, and policy makers are working on ways to give our huge urban areas a technological upgrade, planning the connected infrastructures that will support tomorrow's "smart cities."

When a crash is inevitable and a human is at the wheel, the driver makes a split-second decision. In a car controlled by algorithms, this choice is predetermined by a programmer. Should your car hit a pedestrian to save your life? Should your car sacrifice your life to save the lives of others? Self-driving cars will become a reality in the near future, but what of the moral quandaries involved?

The artificial intelligence marketplace is primed to surge from $8 billion this year to $47 billion by 2020. AI’s prime contribution will be to work through the enormous amount of data that modern technology is producing, make sense of the big data by discovering trends and patterns, and suggest ways forward. Already, algorithms are conducting research for law firms and writing stories for newspapers, among other tasks. As AI continues to evolve, it will continue to transform the way businesses function and how people live their lives, augmenting—not replacing—human intelligence and expertise.