Nuking an asteroid heading to Earth really could protect us
Blowing up an asteroid heading to Earth with a nuclear bomb could save the planet, according to new planetary defense simulations.
Series |
Challengers
This DIY laptop is challenging tech giants like Apple & Microsoft
6:01
Disposable tech is part of big tech’s business model. This engineer is fighting back by creating a DIY laptop anyone can repair on their own.
Latest Videos
How to build an inclusive economy
6:59
Our economy was designed to exclude and exploit people of color. These entrepreneurs are working to level the scales.
Series |
Make It Count
How biomaterials could save the planet
5:21
By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. But biomaterials may be the solution.
Could Gen Z close the racial wealth gap through entrepreneurship?
5:14
This American city was ranked one of the worst for the success of black-owned businesses. Can these young entrepreneurs change that?
Series |
Make It Count
$25 flights and zero emissions: How electric planes could change air travel
6:37
You could be flying electric by 2023.
Series |
Make It Count
The man hacking hot water to save the planet
5:16
The U.S. Energy Department estimates that tankless water heaters can be up to 34% more efficient than conventional storage water heaters – cutting your annual heating costs by 40%.
Series |
Challengers
The plant-based startup taking on food giants
6:22
Kelp is a superfood that’s grown totally sustainable. But will people be willing to replace burgers with seaweed?
Beyond Sunday Service: How one Montgomery church is bringing health equity to their community
4:03
A grassroots approach to vaccine education is happening in the heart of the civil rights movement in Alabama. Does this church hold the key to overcoming medical mistrust?
Series |
Challengers
26-year-old builds $8,000 mind-controlled bionic arms
Watch
Bionic arms used to cost $80,000. Now, a young engineer has lowered the cost by over 90%.
You deserve better news. Welcome to Freethink.
1:37
The world is changing. It’s time the news changed with it.
New to Freethink?
We focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most groundbreaking technology shaping our future.
Latest on COVID-19
Pill to treat COVID-19 cuts risk of hospitalization or death in half
A pill to treat COVID-19 that cut hospitalizations and deaths in half could become the first oral medication against the disease.
Building a Solarpunk Future
These nuclear reactors can recycle radioactive waste
The future of the nuclear industry lies in developing cheaper and more nimble reactors.
Series |
Make It Count
$25 flights and zero emissions: How electric planes could change air travel
6:37
You could be flying electric by 2023.
Coexisting with AI
These holograms are so real you can touch them
Researchers developed hologram technology that uses air jets to create physical sensations, giving users the ability to feel virtual objects.
AI avatars bring deepfakes to the business world
A financial consulting firm has created AI avatars of its staff that can be used to quickly create deepfakes for presentations and more.
DeepMind releases massive protein structure database
DeepMind is releasing a massive database of protein structure predictions that includes all the molecules in the human proteome.
Feature
“Violence interrupters” combat crime from lawn chairs
They sit on dangerous street corners so they can defuse tense situations before they get violent.
“Violence interrupters” combat crime from lawn chairs
Hacking Biology
MIT’s new bionics center may usher in our cyborg future
MIT has established a new bionics research center to help people everywhere overcome the challenges of disabilities.
An at-home test to find your best birth control option
Seattle-based startup adyn is developing an at-home testing kit to help women find their best birth control method.
Original Series
A show about what’s really driving today’s entrepreneurs to shape our future.
Harnessing Psychedelics
Series |
Dope Science
Microdosing psychedelics
5:56
Microdosing is the no-flowers-in-your-hair practice of regularly taking minimal amounts of hallucinogenic substances. Although it’s currently illegal, millions of dollars are being poured into further research.
A small dose of an ibogaine-like drug cures stress in mice
A novel drug designed like ibogaine but without the ibogaine trip or toxicity has corrected the effects of stress in mice.
Ketamine infusion: What it's like and how it works
Ketamine infusion therapy takes the anesthetic from dance floors to depression clinics. But how does the drug work, and what is it like?
MDMA for PTSD just crushed its phase 3 trial
Results from the first phase 3 trial of using MDMA for PTSD along with talk therapy found the drug to be effective.
Long Reads
Stories focused on interesting solutions to big problems.
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You can now live forever. (Your AI-powered twin, that is).
Mind Bank Ai wants to create a “personal digital twin” of you to forever be around. Is AI eternity around the corner?
A major Huntington’s trial has failed. Here’s why there is still hope.
A simple genetic test can determine a person’s fate for one of the worst diseases on the planet. But research offers new hope for Huntington’s disease.
The bold plan to bring back the American chestnut
Researchers plant a small experimental orchard of hundreds of transgenic American chestnut trees near the coast of Maine, to restore the species.
Will power plants move into the cloud?
A Colorado community has become a test subject for a new approach to the power grid, called a “virtual power plant” — 27 networked smart homes, with one key feature: a common brain that, in times of crisis, can autonomously optimize energy across the neighborhood.
Will these lab-made viruses prevent a pandemic?
Previously blacklisted gain-of-function mutation experiments are back, and they’re being used to fight the next major pandemic.
4 people in the world have a mysterious dementia. Could it hold a key to Alzheimer’s?
Alzheimer’s has proved difficult to treat. But solving the mystery of this ultra-rare frontotemporal dementia may unlock new understanding.
These farmers want to salt the earth — and grow crops in it
As salt encroaches on productive agricultural land, a handful of startups are finding ways to make crops grow in seawater with genetic modification and transforming solar saltwork.
The construction robots building space colonies
Sending construction robots into outer space will help pave the way for human exploration, but there are some real challenges that lie ahead.
The next pandemic is out there. Is the private sector ready?
Johns Hopkins’ simulated, international catastrophe is helping business, government, and public health leaders improve global pandemic preparedness.
Should we genetically engineer carbon-hungry trees?
Genetically modified trees that are designed to grow faster and store more carbon could help reverse climate change.
Can seaweed save the planet?
A Maine startup is growing vast quantities of seaweed and then burying them at the bottom of the ocean to sequester carbon for carbon offsets.
