Appearing during the first three hours, 'Historian of the future' Charles Ostman discussed coming technologies and how they affect geopolitics. An important growth area will be zero gravity environments in space, which can be used to manufacture materials such as crystallized proteins, and specific molecular structures, he detailed. Yet, he warned that Russia, China and India have formed an alliance to collaborate on their space programs, which could put America at a disadvantage.

The damaged U.S. economy could be bolstered through the development of green technologies, nanotechnology and synthetic biology, he argued. For example, a process called "bio remediation" uses modified microbes and biological agents to neutralize toxic dump sites-- materials might even be harvested from such sites for a profit, said Ostman.

He also addressed the subject of junk DNA (sequences of the genome which have no known functions). This "junk" could be the footprint of an intelligent species that tinkered with human DNA at some point in the distant past-- and this genetic material might be activated as the human race evolves, he hypothesized. Ostman will be a featured presenter at the ExtraOrdinary Technology Conference in Albuquerque this summer.

The last hour of the show featured Open Lines, with callers making predictions for the 'Year of the Rat.'

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Wednesday February 06, 2008