Top Tech Voices Podcast S2 E2: Sustainable Tech & Innovations for a Greener Planet

gordonmx said:

As an example, what do we do with all the micro-plastic after we have filtered and collected it?  Do we burn it (i.e. the current method of deposing of unwanted waste) and releasing the byproducts into the air.

Sadly this is what has been happening for decades. You pay someone to collect it and then pay someone who either burns it or dumps it into the oceans. You then have to pay someone to clean up the oceans where it becomes infinitely harder and more expensive than if you had just kept hold of it in the first place.

My 2 first thoughts while listening to this episode:
1) The best solution about probably any problem is to attack it at the source and not just try to cure the symptoms. In the case of microplastics in the water, that means filtering them out gives everybody a longer and healthier lease of life. But the microplastics will never go away. We would need to find a solution to stop them entering the water in the first place.
Another example to the topic is https://theoceancleanup.com/. They are doing awesome work to remove garbage and plastic before it breaks down into microplastics, their biggest haul was 55 Tons out of the projected 100,000 Tons of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
2) An invention alone will never be the cure to any problem in the world when there is no economic benefit for the big corporations to implement it. There needs to be legislation to force it down the companies throats and the companies still will try very hard to find ways around it. And the majority of people will have to pay for it and still not get full benefit if the companies find their ways.

And Fionn Ferreira made it very clear that he is aware of those facts.

I also liked his take on AI, to use it for the tasks that it is really good at. Let it find the patterns in the data, because in the end AI is not intelligent yet, but just an advanced pattern matching automata. It is not capable of inventing new stuff based on existing information. At least for now.

I agree that its needs acknowledged that a solution is needed with collected micro-plastic recycle, but it shouldn't be a road block. 

I know engineers in the recycle business that started out without a total solution implemented - because funds from collecting the recycled components was used to finish the process concurrently. 

I disagree that we need a total solution before we start addressing the problem.

"A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step." - Laozi     I like the laser focus recommendation.  Too many initiatives fails to even start because of "scope creep".  Energy is squandered on details so far down the line that - once again - nothing gets done.  I think one of Fionn's points is to advance the issue how you can and let the next person - the person who has a passion for that phase of the issue - pick it up from there.  I hear him say "I don't have to fix everything, but I have to fix what I can."

I also kind of chuckle at the guy that says to focus on a niche is involved in so many things.  I think he's a "solution evangelist".  He's trying to energize people to do something with their lives.  As for the guy in college... Gates, Jobs, Dell, Branson... passion can create more success than education.  I think Fionn knows this.

oooo - Meccano meets Lego ... all you need is a couple of adapter pieces....

To be honest, although I though this episode was interesting, I enjoyed the first episode between Dr Jack Lewis and Georgia Anderson, AI consultant, more enlightening.  Fionn Ferreira came across as very smart, creative and concerned, but limited by his group of influencers.  He very much wants to make a difference, and he is, but limits his scope to only a small part of the problem.  As an example, what do we do with all the micro-plastic after we have filtered and collected it?  Do we burn it (i.e. the current method of deposing of unwanted waste) and releasing the byproducts into the air.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t clean up the mess we have created, but we need a total solution. 

I knew a guy in college, like Fionn, who as his goal would design and build very complex project every month.  In most cases, he could explain how they work better than our instructors, but he never graduated.  He was too busy in his own world.  I wish Fionn and his team success in their goals but wonder what they could do if they expanded their vision.

'if you want to build a community, write a newsletter, it is much more valuable than any social media' (13:30)

An intriguing statement coming from someone who is 25 years old (Generation Z). Most of us here are considerably older, and I’m curious to hear your perspective.

Not only is Fionn Ferreira a bright & determined inventor, but he is an eloquent communicator. I'm so impressed with his modest insightful positivity to develop effective solutions, which is so much more persuasive than the attention seeking environmental activist agitators. 

dougw said:

When will the homebrew kits be available

Sounds like another backburner project to add to the growing list

I wonder how much crossover there is with constructor sets like LEGO into the real world sciences and if that is something that perhaps needs changing in the modern world of child development.

I recall always being frustrated as a child that there was no easy way to attach non-LEGO parts to the LEGO bricks in order to interact more with the physical world which I was growing up in. It wouldn't take much to have a few bricks with threaded brass inserts inserted into the studs which could be used to securely attach clips and clamps (or nowadays 3D printed parts) to.