Science-Videos

The World Science Festival is a production of the Science Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. The Foundation’s mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

 

The World Science Festival’s signature event is an annual celebration and exploration of science that launched in 2008. Hailed a “new cultural institution,” by the New York Times, the Festival has featured such luminaries as: Stephen Hawking, E.O. Wilson, Sir Paul Nurse, Harold Varmus, Daniel Dennett, Eric Lander, Steven Chu, Richard Leakey, Sylvia Earle, Yo-Yo Ma, Oliver Sacks, Mary-Claire King, Chuck Close, Philip Glass, Charlie Kaufman, Glenn Close, Anna Deavere Smith, Bobby McFerrin, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Liev Schreiber, John Lithgow, Bill T. Jones, Charlie Rose, John Hockenberry, Elizabeth Vargas and Walter Isaacson.

Kinetic sculptor and artist Theo Jansen builds 'strandbeests' from yellow plastic tubing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vt1xp)

Dr. Gabor Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned tissue-engineer turned entrepreneur. His companies are pioneering 3D bio-printing technologies that will produce tissues for medical and pharmaceutical uses, as well as for consumption, in the form of meat and leather.

Via Szabolcs Kósa

Dr. Martin Kohn, Chief Medical Scientist, Care Delivery Systems, IBM Research

Abstract: We have solid ideas about the flawed state of healthcare, the critical need for change and the future we want. Improving health outcomes while controlling costs and personalizing healthcare are among the objectives. It is clear that enabling the transformation of healthcare will require making better decisions. At the same time we are dealing with huge and expanding volumes of data. We will need tools to help us gather and analyze data to bring relevant information to decision makers so that it easier to obtain evidence-supported choices. Unstructured, text-like content is a large fraction of the data we rely on for decisions. Up until recently we have had limited ability to use unstructured material effectively. IBM's Watson, with its ability to understand the nature of a question being addressed and to read and understand huge volumes of literature, makes such material more approachable. However, making medicine more precise mandates the use of other forms of data, and population observational techniques. Predictive analytics, to identify people that need specific attention, and comparative analytics to elicit evidence from populations that can be applied to individuals, are part of the process. IBM has developed robust resources that provide such information.

Speakers Biography: Dr. Kohn is Chief Medical Scientist for Care Delivery Systems in IBM Research. He is a leader in IBM's support for the transformation of healthcare, including development of personalized care, outcomes-based models and payment reform. His research work includes healthcare population analytics and the role of expert systems in the clinical decision process, including the use of the Watson supercomputer in healthcare. He speaks frequently on the issues on healthcare transformation, the role of information technology, the Patient Centered Medical Home and clinical decision support. Dr. Kohn is a co-author of IBM's white paper "Patient-Centered Medical Home -- What, Why and How." He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Kohn was previously in IBM Healthcare Strategy and Change which helped healthcare systems and clinicians optimize process and make best use of health information technology. He has published multiple articles and book chapters on clinical, technical and management subjects. Dr. Kohn is an emergency physician with over 30 years of hospital-based practice and management experience. He is an alumnus of MIT, Harvard Medical School and NYU, and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Physician Executives.

Via Szabolcs Kósa

3D printing will soon allow digital object storage and transportation, as well as personal manufacturing and very high levels of product customization. This video by Christopher Barnatt of ExplainingTheFuture.com illustrates 3D printing today and in the future.

Via Szabolcs Kósa, Dr. Stefan Gruenwald