Episodes
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Ibrahim's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahim-maigari-455427188/
RiceAfrika: https://riceafrika.com/
Ibrahim previously co founded and led Livestock247 to become Nigeria's leading online livestock platform, and he is currently the founder and CEO of RiceAfrika an agriculture optimization service that provides everything a smallholder farmer in Tanzania and Nigeria needs to increase yields and profits, which directly correlates to increased food security for smallholder farming households, and decreased poverty. It's hard to summarize everything RiceAfrika is doing in just one sentence, so we deep dive into the why behind providing these services to smallholders, and the how with Ibrahim.
In this episode, we talk about what Ibrahim and RiceAfrika call the 7 touchpoints, 7 inputs and resources that smallholder farmers need access to, so that they can generate the yields on par with those in the western world. These touchpoints are like the root causes at the end of the root cause analysis of why smallholder farmer yield's across africa are so low and almost 40% of the population is living in poverty.
We also talk about scaling solutions, why it's so important to treat quote on quote social impact as a business, not as a charity, and we do a mini dot connecting session of the problem of poverty, agriculture productivity, paired with smallholder farmers and beneficiaries across the supply chain.
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Livestock farming makes up 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 77% of global farming land is used for grazing and growing food which livestock eats. And animal agriculture uses 20% of global freshwater. In other words, livestock farmer uses an atrocious amount of resources, making it one of the top contributors of climate change. In this episode of the Luminexus Podcast, we talk with bioengineer and entrepreneur Vanessa Small about the solution to this problem of livestock farming: cellular agriculture.
This episode is about the “how” of cell ag and the research that is being done right now to find the ‘secret sauce’ to make cultured meat taste just like real meat.Learn about Vanessa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-small-a498b916/
Learn about Alcheme Bio: https://www.alchemebio.com/
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Missing episodes?
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Welcome to the 27th episode of the Luminexus podcast! In this episode, we spoke to Garrett Smiley, founder and CEO of Sora Schools an innovative online school for students in 6th-12th grade.
This episode is centered all around AI, especially its uses in education.
In this episode, we talk about topics ranging from AI as an important tool for the 21st century and how Sora is approaching addressing and implementing it to How AI can be used to enable non-technical experts to create products and the realm of misinformation in this field.
This conversation was flooded with budding ideas and interesting perspectives. So, whether you're new to the topic or have budding ideas of your own this episode is perfect for you. -
Quantum computing - it’s such a buzz word now and everyone is talking about it for what it might be able to do decades off in the future. And while these futuristic conversations about quantum computing are interesting and inspiring, they are not realistic, because before we get to this point where quantum computing can accomplish all these crazy feats, we first need to solve all the technical problems that limit large scale adoption of quantum computing. And there are a lot of technical problems. Decoherence, low malleability and the extremely cold temperatures quantum computers operate at are massive technical problems that must be solved before we can even think about quantum computers taking over the world.
So in this episode, we talk with Nick Johnson, a trapped-ion physicist and quantum engineer at Riverlane, about the problem of scaling quantum computing, and these hard technical problems with quantum computing. Nick holds a PhD in physics from the university of Sussex where he researched a scalable demonstrator for trapped-ion quantum computing using modules connected by electric fields.
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You may have clicked on this episode hoping to find a crystal clear answer to this billion-dollar question. An answer like increasing fertilizer application, or creating a crazy new drone technology to monitor individual plants. But *spoiler alert* this conversation is not about one perfect solution to producing more food. Because this solution doesn’t exist.
Instead, you will find that there is no singular solution to producing more, and no silver bullet for a better food system, technology is creating many opportunities for improvements in agriculture across the globe.
In this episode of the Luminexus Podcast, we explore the complex and interconnected world of agriculture, with Ariel Patton, creator of the Topsoil newsletter, about what makes agriculture unique, and how change can happen given the status quo.
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Jagriti Agrawal | Kira Learning
The education system across North America is outdated. It was created in the height of the industrial revolution (in 1871) to transfer basic knowledge into children so they could grow up and work in factories. That education system created in the 1870s is the same education system we have today. And spoiler alert, it’s way past it’s due date.
We no longer need to create cookie cutter kids to work in factories - we should be creating kids that can solve hard problems in the world, apply knowledge to make an impact, and challenge kids to think critically and not flip to the back of the textbook for an answer.
In this episode of the Luminexus podcast, we talk with Jagriti Agrowal, co-founder of Kira Learning, a company that is disrupting how children learn and what they learn about. We talk with Jagriti about the importance of CS and AI education, and why this is the most important tool of the 21rst century that every body should know (+ how Kira is making this a reality!), and Jagriti’s journey developing the 2020 Perseverance rover, then doing a complete 180 and creating an EdTech startup.
In this episode, we talk about the importance of AI in education, and how artificial intelligence can solve the biggest problems in our education system to create the changemakers of tomorrow.
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Hannah Claridge | TTP
One in six people suffer from a neurological disease like Parkinson and Alzheimer disease. And currently, none of these diseases have a cure - there are some therapies and medicines that can temporarily reduce symptoms, but no cure.
Traditionally, finding a cure to a disease happens from thousands of hours in a lab, then that discovery gets created into a vaccine. But what if we ditch this framework and look for a cure to the deadliest neurological diseases from the top down (literally). Starting at the brain and mapping out how the disease works and progresses, and creating a neurotech device that can mitigate and stop the disease from occurring or progressing. This is the radical kind of change that we talk about on the Luminexus podcast, and we are happy to be joined by Hannah Claridge, who’s work revolves around creating healthcare products to cure neurological diseases.
In this conversation we talk with Hannah about her work and research in Parkinson’s disease, and the process of designing, creating and bringing that healthcare product to market.
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Eva Goulbourne | ReFED website | Littlefoot Ventures
In the USA, 35% of all food produced ends up in the dump. This is 90 billion meals worth of food annually, equaling out to the same climate footprint as the entire U.S aviation industry. When I first learned these facts my mind was blown. All I could think about was why do we let this happen?
So to answer this question, we break down the problem of food waste and food loss with the World Economic’s Forum food waste/loss expert, Eva Goulburne. We run through a route cause analysis exercise to break down the problem, and understand different route causes. We follow the journey of a little potato from seed to table, and all the possible places throughout this system where out little potato will get wasted. And we also explore solutions that have been implemented, and ways that these solutions have been sucessfull, but also how they have failed.
This is a classic Luminexus episode, where we spend an hour connecting the dots between the route causes of a problem and failed solutions, and come out the end of our conversation with more clarity and understanding about why the problem exists, and what we need to do about it to help address the problem.
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Sonya Kotov
Everything humans make starts with a design. A rough sketch on paper, a flow chart, an outline. Humans have become masters at designing perfectly engineered products to make our lives easier and buildings so tall it’s hard to fathom.What if we take this same design approach that goes into products and buildings and apply it to designing solutions to hard problems? Using the beauty and logic of design to create solutions that will benefit humans across the planet and everything else on it (including the planet itself). In this conversation we talk with Sonya Kotov who is studying design impact at Stanford University, about how to actually design an innovative solution to a problem, and the kinds of solutions that are needed to create real change in the world.
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Alexander Titus | Colossal Biosciences
By 2050 half of all animal species could go extinct. Currently 6 species go extinct each hour. That is a MASSIVE number.
What if I told you that there was a way to eliminate this catastrophic reality? A way to save species, restore balance to Earth and combat climate change all at the same time?
This is the exact question we seek perspective on in this conversation with Dr. Alexander Titus, head of computational sciences at Colossal Biosciences. What Colossal is doing sounds straight out of a sci-fi movie: they are working to bring the woolly mammoth back to live, a creature that has been extinct for over 300 000 years. And Colossal isn’t doing this for bragging rights - they are doing it for the enormous environmental impact this could have on the world. The weight of woolly mammoths walking on the tundra thousands of years ago trapped greenhouse gases in the tundra. The extinction of the mammoth has released megatons of CO2 from the permafrost. Re introducing the mammoth back to it’s stomping ground could reverse this and eliminate close to 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.🦣
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Brian Lenahan | Quantum Strategy Institute
Quantum computing is one of those buzz words that has been in the media a lot lately. There is a lot of hype and ‘coulds’ being thrown around. “Quantum could discover new drugs.” “Quantum could create better batteries.” “Quantum could increase data security.”But these ‘coulds’ are very misleading, when the truth is that there are a lot of technical barriers (like decoherance) with quantum computing which must be solved before quantum computing will disrupt any industry.
But this doesn’t mean that quantum computers aren’t powerful and have a lot of potential. Quantum computers are incredibly powerful and are solving real problems right now as you read this. So in this conversation, we talk with award winning quantum computing author Brian Lenehan about what quantum computing is doing right now.
One of the most interesting points Brian raises is that for quantum to solve some very important and niche problems, it must be paired with other technologies like AI or ML. And the intersection between quantum computing, artificial intelligence and healthcare is exactly what we dive into in this episode of the Luminexus podcast.
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Anie Akpe | African Women in Tech (AWIT) | IBOMLLC | Innov8tiv
Silicon valley (and the rest of the world) get’s caught up in the ‘next big thing’. The next big technology or breakthrough, weather that be blockchain, web3 or NFTs. Founders and investors alike chase these technologies in hopes of mining some of the metaphorical gold that each technology brings.
But what if the real gold lies right in front of investors eyes? It’s not a flashy new technology or complicated scientific breakthrough - it’s diversity. Could different ethnicities, races, cultures, genders and backgrounds provide a new perspective among founders that could drive an even larger impact then the next big tech could?
Anie Akpe, founder of African Women In Tech says that the answer to this question is yes. Currently, less than 0.7% of all VC funding goes to female black founders, and Anie is on a mission to raise this number by empowering African women to unlock their full potential in technology, through mentorship, workshops, hackathons and more.
Here’s why diversity is more important than the next big technology.
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Stefania Druga | X Moonshot Factory
Our current education is an outdated, archaic, system. And while most people accept that education will never change, Stephania Druga, PhD resident at Google X, is designing the future of education.
This episode is our conversation with Stephania, weaving in her work and research about computer supported coding, smart toys, AI literacy and educational platforms with AI.
The central question Ciara and Rachel seek to gain perspective on is: will the current education system ever change? And Stephania says yes.
We dive into the exciting world of how a technology can be applied to solve a problem (how AI and smart toys can change an outdated education system, or how computer supported coding can give thousands of children in Sub Saharan Africa an education.) This is the perfect example of a cool technology being leveraged to solve a hard problem (changing education in the West and access to education in developing countries).
Hear the future of education from the woman building it’s future.
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Shely Aronov | InnerPlant
"If you don't try, you fail. And if you want to succeed, you at least have a chance by trying. If you try enough times and have the right team to support you, the right attitude, and the right mentors, you might actually change the world.” - Shely Aronov
These are the kinds of knowledge bombs Shely drops in this conversation. Shely is the co founder and CEO of InnerPlant, a company combing AI, drone technology and gene editing to detect pest infestations on crops in real time. They genetically engineer the plant to fluoresce under certain external conditions (like a pest is attacking them), and this fluorescence is detected by drones in the sky which sends the data to the InnerPlant app to alert farmers immediently. With this approach, every single plant can be individually cared for, and specific nutrients, water, fertilizer and pesticides can be tailored to every single plant instead of entire fields.
In this conversation we talk with Shely about the importance of agriculture, and the big problems with our agricultural system that must be addressed to feed our growing population. We talk about Shely’s path to founding InnerPlant, and the technicalities of how InnerPlant operates. And we wrap up our conversation with Shely’s take on the mindsets of a changemakers, and skills all changemakers should equip themselves with if they want to make an impact in the world.
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Dana Ware | The VOID
What drew Dana to the field of location based entertainment and VR is that it allows the creator to see the big picture. Dana says “VR and AR can give you insight into the future. Future trends. And even draw connections about problems that you wouldn’t have been able to see before.”
Dana a creative director and VR/AR specialist at The VOID, where she is designing the future of gaming, entertainment and virtual and augmented reality every day. In this conversation we talk about Dana about where her inspiration comes from when literally creating the future, and what she does each day to get her creative juices flowing.
We also talk with Dana about the future of AR and VR, and all the areas of our everyday lives that AR/VR will disrupt, and the massive societal changes coming down the road as AR/VR is integrated into [almost] every aspect of society.
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Christine Gould | Thought For Food
We hear about problems like climate change, poverty and malnutrition all the time in the media. But what if I told you that there is an overlying problem which contributes to each of the three problems I just listed? That overlying problem is agriculture.
Agriculture affects every industry on the planet, and is the most important sector in the world. It sustains humans (food) and provides billions of people with a livelihood.
But agriculture is also damages the environment, contributing to climate change and lacking to provide food for close to one billion people worldwide. Why is this happening? It’s simple - agriculture is a failed system. It is outdated and needs to change.
We currently use 33% of land worldwide to grow food for animals. We currently use 70% of global freshwater for agriculture. Currently, close to 15% of global greenhouse gases is due to agriculture. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the problems with agriculture. There are so many, and each problem in ag directly effects (or even causes) other global problems like malnutrition.
So in this episode we talk with Christine Gould, a global thought leader, food innovator and founder of Thought For Food about the massive problems in our agricultural system, and what needs to change to feed 10 billion people on a hotter planet.
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Kevin Davies
The crazy thing about revolutions is that no one knows if you’re living through one until dozens of years later. Kevin Davies, internationally recognized author and journal editor, argues that we are currently living through a revolution. The CRISPR revolution. Quite similar to the scientific revolution through the 15th and 16th century, Kevin says that the CRISPR revolution will be as impactful as the scientific revolution.
We start this conversation where every good story should start: at the beginning. And we understand how CRISPR-Cas9 was discovered, and how the system works together to edit DNA. As our conversation progresses, we fast forward from the past (CRISPR’s discovery), to the present: what CRISPR is currently being used for, research CRISPR is currently being applied to, and success stories of CRISPR curing diseases. And at the end of our conversation, we move to the future of CRISPR. The possibilities and things that CRISPR has the potential to do in the next 10, 20, 50 years. Massive things like curing cancer, reversing aging and creating perfect crops which could fundamentally change how humanity operates.
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Aadeel Akhtar | PSYONIC
Aadeel Akhtar is the founder and CEO of PSYONIC, a revolutionary bionic limb company which has created the world’s fastest, first ever touch sensing bionic hand that is covered under Medicare in the United States. In this conversation we talk with Aadeel about PSYONIC - why Aadeel transitioned from medicine to found a bionic limb company, how the ability hand works, and how the ability hand will improve lives for millions of prosthetics users worldwide.
It is incredible inventions like the ability hand which change the course of history, and we are honored to have had the opportunity to talk with Aadeel about the ability hand and how it will change the course of history moving forwards.
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Matthew Espinoza | Agora Labs
Out of the many tech buzz words that have been gaining attention in the media lately, Web3 and blockchain are the two biggest.
So in this episode of the Luminexus podcast we talk with Matt Espinoza, a web3 and blockchain developer, and founder and CEO of Agora Labs. This conversation is designed perfectly for someone with no knowledge of web3/blockchain to become familiar with the basics of how each technology work. Think of this episode like a workshop to take you from 0 to 1 in web3 and blockchain, and open your eyes to practical use cases of both technologies apart from just NFTs. (And how NFTs could be used to make a big impact as well.)
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Samir Hamadache | Forest City SynBio
Synthetic biology is cool. That is one of the only words I have to describe it. With synbio, it is possible to make leather without using an animal, plants that are resistant to extreme weather, and meat grown in a petri dish. The applications are truly endless.
In this conversation, we talk with Samir Hamadache, who has a PhD in biochemistry and is the co founder and CTO of Forest City SynBio. Samir is leading the synthetic biology revolution, so we talk with him about his vision for global problems synbio will be applied to. And Samir says that practically every industry will be infiltrated with some form of synthetic biology.
We start this episode with a definition of synthetic biology, and understanding the process of synbio (the example we use in this episode is the process of creating leather without the animal), and the technology and science that powers all synbio creations.
And at the end of the episode we zoom out (away from the single petri dish of synthetic leather) and explore the massive crossroads that humanity finds itself at: we have the power to change what it means to be human. Will we use this power or not? Who will create the rules that will regulate this technology?
Welcome to this conversation where we start small scale and examine synthetic biology under the microscope, before zooming out to view what synbio means for humanity.
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