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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:21:38 — 112.6MB) | Embed

segment 1, Top of Mind — Challenging Your Brain’s Political Believes (0:00): A study shows MRI images of people who’s deepest political beliefs are challenged, and it matches primitive reactions to life-threatening situations.
segment 2, Future File — Human-Computer Hybrids (12:37): The Singularity is looming. We discuss what the future of humanity will look like, and whether humans will merge with computers to form what amounts to a new species.
segment 3, Juris Prudent — Search Warrants for Amazon Echo Data (35:48): A murder case has caused law enforcement to seek recordings from a personal assistant device. Do people have a right to privacy when it comes to always-listening technology?
segment 4, Let’s Dig Some More (47:20): Your environmental update, then a look at the latest happenings in self-driving vehicles. How will fewer car crashes impact organ donation?
segment 5, What’s Your Take — Warehouses in the Sky (1:09:46): Amazon filed for a patent to place blimps into high-altitude flight over cities, so that drones can deliver your products faster.

Tweet us @efader or @digitalderon or give us a call and leave a voice message at 323.686.8255.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:54 — 86.8MB) | Embed

segment 1, Top of Mind–Carbon Tipping Point (0:00): Earth’s atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentration is now above 400ppm. Is there any way we’ll ever get back below that number? Scientists are pretty sure that for the immediate future, the answer is no.
segment 2, Future File–Log In with Your Brain Waves (15:06): In the future, you might be able to authenticate into your computer by having your brain scanned. But will scanning your brain introduce even more of a privacy concern? One thing is sure, the way we do it now is wrong, all wrong.
segment 3, Let’s Hash It Out–Google’s Hardware Launch Event (28:37): Google previewed it’s Pixel phones, a new Chromecast update, In particular, Google Home is here, and it’s ready to listen to your every word. They say they’re building a personalized Google for each individual. We say they’re making a big grab into privacy. What do you think?
segment 4, What’s Your Take?–Digital Afterlife (45:10): When her friend Roman died in a tragic car accident, San Francisco entrepreneur Eugenia Kudya decided to task her AI start-up with creating a chatbot based on his personality. She saw it as a digital monument to him, and a way to deal with her loss. Some of her friends find it a “disturbing” and “half-baked,” but others found it therapeutic. Would you want such a monument left behind after your death? Can computers come anywhere close to capturing a human personality? What’s your take?

Tweet us! We are @efader and @DigitalDeron. Or give us a call and leave a voice message for us to include in the show.

Diginauts 0012 — Amazon’s Many Plans To Replace Humans, Politics & Your Brain, Are We Evolving into a New Species?