Innovation Hub

Cybersecurity: Defending our Next Battlefield

By Kara Miller   |   Saturday, June 2, 2012
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Cyber security analysts work in the "watch and warning center" at the government’s secretive cyber defense lab in Idaho, which is intended to protect the nation's power grid, water and communications systems. (AP)

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We lift the veil on cybercrime, which can lead to stolen identities, stolen company secrets — even stolen military secrets.

In an age in which information has become everything — and vast computer networks contain our deepest secrets — we have become trapped by the very machines that we rely on.

So how do you fight back against cybercrime? Can you build walls high enough? What does the battlefield look right now? We ask experts who are in the trenches.

Guests:

Biotechnology: A Revolution for Medicine?

By Kara Miller   |   Saturday, May 26, 2012
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Biogen Idec Inc. principle scientist Darren Baker, right, and scientist John Eldridge work on protein purification at a laboratory at the company's Cambridge, Mass. headquarters. (AP)


This week, we look at medical treatments and devices that may change how diseases are diagnosed and treated.

Graphical representation of part of the idealized human karyotype, showing the organization of the genome into chromosomes. (via Wikimedia Commons)

Just about a decade ago, when the human genome was sequenced, many scientists believed that a new world of biologically-based medicines were on their way.

But today we face two huge problems. Big diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer's, feel intractable. And health care costs continue to skyrocket.

We’ll look at biotechnology and whether it has the potential to revolutionize medicine’s cost and effectiveness.

Guests:

What's Next for Biotech

A biotechnology venture capitalist — and one of the first investors in Genzyme — joins us to talk about the most exciting therapies in the pipeline and what he’s investing in now.

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Exporting Boston's Plastics

By Cristina Quinn & WGBH News   |   Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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May 25, 2012


BOSTON — As WGBH News reported on May 21, the Casella Waste Materials Recovery Facility in Charlestown takes in 100 tons of plastic a day. Much of that material is separated out by the type of plastic and then recycled in facilities in the U.S. However, some does get sent abroad — mostly mixed batches of plastic that aren't cost-effective to separate for recycling here. Those bales of plastic get packed into shipping containers and loaded at the Port of Boston on to the proverbial "slow boat in China."

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Powering Innovation With Education

By Kara Miller   |   Saturday, May 19, 2012
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microscope

A student uses a microscope during a science class at the University of Illinois (jeremy.wilburn via Flickr)

Several months ago, when this show had only just begun, we did a segment on the next big thing. The next iPad , the next Facebook, the next Twitter.

But we got a big surprise.

America, our guests said, may not be up to the challenge. It may not be producing the young minds needed to create and staff the companies that will change our world.

Here’s what Joe Kessler, who is president of The Intelligence Group in Los Angeles, said when I asked him how we were doing producing workers for high-tech companies:

Since then, I’ve asked almost everyone who’s walked into this studio whether they’re hiring new employees and what they think of the talent pool.

Almost to a person, they shake their heads. We need more technical people, they say. We have to turn to workers from overseas, but it can be hard to get them visas.

So, today we ask what’s going on. Is our education system failing to train young Americans for the future — a reality that will impact all of us — whether we majored in computer science or English literature? 

The Talent Pool: What's the problem?

First, we hear from employers. Are they having trouble filling jobs? And why isn’t this issue a greater part of our national discussion?

Guests:

Toward a Solution

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We're joined by a panel of educators hoping to empower the next generation of mathmeticians and scientists.

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Innovation Spotlight: Recycling Plastics

By Cristina Quinn   |   Friday, May 18, 2012
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May 21, 2012


BOSTON — The plastic water bottle has become a symbol of waste. In April, Concord, Mass., banned the sale of single-serving bottles altogether. But the recycling industry can't get enough of those bottles — and all the other plastic detritus of modern life — to turn into new products. WGBH News examined recent developments in recycling and learned that the conventional wisdom about water bottles might be wrong.

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Get Inside the T — Virtually

By Danielle Dreilinger   |   Tuesday, May 15, 2012
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android google map harvard station
Inside Harvard Station in Google Maps.

May 15, 2012
 
BOSTON — Those used to tracking the bus or train on their smartphones now have a new tool to help with the T. Last week, the MBTA announced that Google Maps now offers interior views of 24 stations on Android phones.
 
"One of our best partners has been Google and obviously they have incredible reach," said Josh Robin, director of innovation at the MBTA. "They approached us about being their first transportation partner" for station maps in the U.S.
 
Indoor maps were already available for a number of U.S. and Japanese airports and shopping centers. See [potentially not entirely up-to-date] list.
 
All the MBTA had to do was hand existing CAD drawings over to Google. "They do the cool part," Robin said. Cost to the MBTA: $0.
 


Don't have an Android phone? This is how the maps work.

So they're cool. But are they useful?

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About Innovation Hub

Each week, Kara Miller talks to Boston's most innovative thinkers, examining new ideas and potential solutions to today’s many challenges. Topics range from education to health care to green energy. Join us on Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 10 p.m.

About the Hosts
Kara Miller Kara Miller
As a radio host, Kara Miller has interviewed thinkers from E.J. Dionne to Howard Gardner, Deepak Chopra to Lani Guinier. She is a panelist on WGBH-TV's "Beat the Press," as well as an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The National Journal, The Boston Herald, Boston Magazine, and The International Herald Tribune.

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Danielle Dreilinger Danielle Dreilinger
Danielle Dreilinger is an author and news producer for WGBH.org.



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