The Sniffer
by Nora Young and Cathi Bond
Listen to writer/broadcasters Nora Young and Cathi Bond as they freak over the future. They can't believe it. Neither will you.
Episodes
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Update on Where The Sniffer Stands...or Sniffs
Well, it's been...a minute since we posted a new episode. Cathi and Nora talk about the need to take a little hiatus. Cathi also shares some exciting news. She has a new book coming out in April. Check out more here!
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Ye Olde Annual Holiday Special
Happy holidays from Cathi and Nora! Every year on the podcast, we have a holiday special featuring outrageous, kooky gifts we'd love to have in an alternate reality! This time, we set ourselves a different challenge: each of us picked a gift (for ourselves, naturally) that clocks in at under…
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Trends in wind tech and tapping into your creativity
This time, a cool trend in wind turbines. A Norwegian company called World Wide Wind is piloting a wind turbine that sits out in the ocean with its generator at the bottom, in the sea. Check it out over at New Atlas. Then, Nora and Cathi talk about what to do when you feel stuck creatively.…
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Gen Z hates Dating Apps, and Drone Eco-tourism
Hi friends! Cath and Nora here. We've been talking about online dating recently. This WIRED article says Gen Z is over dating apps. Is it now time to go back to --gasp--friend networks? Cathi found a new service that promises to let you do a 30 minute drone tour of amazing sights, with a...
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AI Translation for Podcasts, and Nap like a Giraffe
Hello! This time on the podcast, Nora Young talks about Spotify's project to offer AI-based voice simulation for podcast translation. So, you can listen to your pod-of-choice in a different language, but in a simulated version of the podcaster's own voice. First languages to be available are...
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Biological Computing and the Trouble with Watermarking
Hi folks! Things get a little wild as Cathi Bond looks at Cortical Labs, which is researching how to design computational systems from a mixture of stem cells and a silicon substrate (via New Atlas). We take a speculative look at a potential future of biological computing. Meanwhile, Nora Young...
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Dating App Algorithms and Virtual Life Coaches
Hey there! This time, Cathi Bond talks about this Gizmodo article on the issue of shadow banning on dating apps. Nora Young refers to this Guardian article on a virtual assistant/life coach that Google's DeepMind is working on. She also references this Atlantic article.
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Hot weather gear and automated bartender
Hi folks! Hard to believe it's Labour Day already! Cathi and Nora are back at it for a new season. We met at Cathi's place to talk about our summers and of course, new gadgets. Nora talks about this Wired article on the popularity of 'ice vests': wearable gear to keep outdoor workers cool in the...
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Automation Special: Smart City Bots and Embarrassed Shopping
Hope your summer is going well! This time, Cathi looks at one potential future scenario, described in this Fast Company article, for the use of sidewalk robots in smart cities to deliver goods. Nora refers to this UBC business school study on one reason people prefer automated checkout:...
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Trends: Digital Smells and Fitness Fads
Happy summer! This time, Nora talks about this article in The Economist (registration required) on research into adding smells to VR/Metaverse spaces. Cathi came across this ad for muscle-building that reminded her of the history of fitness gear. Our childhood memories of the fitness tech of our...
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Neuroethics and summer boating tech
This time, Nora Young refers to this article on brain implants and emerging questions for neuroethics, and our increasingly intimate relationship with tech. Cathi Bond has a summertime take on personal watercraft. How about the GoBoat?
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Groundbreaking Emergency Shelter and Somatic Therapy
Welcome back! This time, Cathi Bond talks about the Norman Foster Foundation's participation in the Venice Biennale of architecture. It's a sustainable, durable, and beautiful prototype for emergency shelter in the wake of natural or human-caused disasters. You can see it and read more here. Nora...
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Environmental Answers for Data Centres and Cool Ray-Bans
Hi there! On this episode, Nora rediscovers Modern Farmer, and this article on using the waste heat produced from server farms to provide needed heat for greenhouse farming. Researchers Jannah Frenzel and Sarah-Louise Ruder point out the potential benefits, but also note that this is not a magic...
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Unsocial Media and Room Disinfection
Happy spring, folks! This time, Cathi Bond talks about Beacon, a room disinfectant that uses far-UVC, and comes in a variety of sizes for different spaces (via Fast Company). Nora Young talks about this article by New York Times tech writer, Brian X. Chen. With so much influencer, branded, and...
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Kids and Self-Tracking, and Experiments with Generative AI
Greetings! This time, Nora talks about this MIT Technology Review article on classrooms using mood-tracking software for students in Denmark. Cathi has written a new novel, and she's looking for an agent and a publisher. That means lots of 'paperwork'. She's been experimenting with using text...
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Megaproject Architecture and Biometric Shopping
Thanks for checking out the show! This time, architecture aficionado Cathi talks about Neom, a highly ambitious megaproject in Saudi Arabia, which includes multiple regions, with different purposes. Read more and see images here. Also, check out Cathi's previous discussion of The Line, one part…
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ChatGPT Chat and Hobbit House
Hello and thanks for joining us! This time, we dig into some of the limitations, as well as exciting creative possibilities, of generative AI such as ChatGPT. Along the way, we mention this generative AI explainer from Vox, and Cathi recommends Reedsy for authors. Also, check out the visuals of...
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Evading Facial Recognition and Trying Online Dating
Hi friends, This time, as cameras in public places become all the more pervasive, Cathi Bond looks at a company called Capable. Their Manifesto Collection of clothing is designed to elude iris scans. Dystopian sci fi future discussion ensues! Nora Young talks about this Pew study on the online...
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AI in the metaverse and new assistive tech
Hello! This time, Nora Young talks about this article in Time about the potential use of generative AI such as ChatGPT in design for virtual environments in the metaverse. Cathi Bond discusses this intriguing research into a smart walking stick for blind and visually impaired users. The goal is…
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Cute humanoid home robots and AI and creativity
Hello! Welcome to a new year and a new Sniffer ep! This time, Amazon's Astro home robot was at CES this month, though it's still invitation-only. That got Cathi Bond thinking about both the approachable design, and possible future implications of bots in the home. Watch Amazon's promotional video...
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Annual Holiday Special!
Hello! It's time for that annual Sniffer tradition of surprising and often completely impractical holiday gifts! Nora talks about the resurgence of interest in cassette tapes. Check out this Wired how-to article. You may also be interested in this recent episode of Nora's show, Spark, on the long...
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Spying on Smart Devices and Inside Shein
Hello! Thanks for checking out the episode! This time, Cathi Bond looks at this story out of the University of Waterloo on how simple, inexpensive drones and hardware can remotely pinpoint smart devices. Nora Young talks about this excellent article exploring how e-commerce giant Shein has ridden...
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Talking with the Dead; Future of Tiny Houses?
Thanks for checking out the latest episode! This time, Nora Young talks about a range of technologies (discussed in this excellent article) that aim to create a virtual presence of people after they die, some based on interviews with people while they're still alive, some based on taking their...
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Futuristic Architecture and Next Gen Product Placement
This time around, Cathi Bond talks about this proposal for Downtown Circle: a super ambitious residence/shopping/cultural/public hub high above Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Future of urban life with interior green space, or future of gated communities? Nora Young talks about this great Rob Walker…
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Bridging the Rural Urban Divide; Cool Personal Plane
Hi! Welcome back to a new season of The Sniffer! Thanks for subscribing. This time, Nora talks about this Wired article on 'rurbanization': growing more food in urban spaces. What would it take to make it actually work? Cathi has an idea or two! And, interested in cool-n-costly personal...
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Epic Talks Metaverse and Customized Cosmetics
Hello podcast friends! This is the last Sniffer episode of the season! This time, Cathi Bond found this fascinating interview with Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games (the Fortnite folks). Cathi and Nora speculate about what it would really take to launch a re-imagined version of wild and wooly early...
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Meta gets into retail and homes for disaster relief
Hi again podcast fans! This time, Nora Young looks at this story detailing Meta's experiments with a retail outlet. What's their end game? Cathi Bond looks at Create Structure, a plan for emergency housing in natural disasters that aims to be cheap to make and ship, but more durable than tents.
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Productivity Tips and Cool Flexible Screens
This time, with lots of businesses moving towards workers returning to the workplace at least some of the time, how do we get better at managing our productivity working from home, AND working with colleagues again. Project management tool, Harvest, has some handy tips. If you have productivity...
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Virtual Architecture and IRL Nature
Hiya! This time, Cathi Bond talks about this stunner of a virtual house for all your metaverse needs. Nora Young talks about this thought-provoking article in The Atlantic about our nature deprivation.
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Wordle as Sign of the Times and Bot Drone Harvesters
This time, Nora and Cathi talk about the popularity of Wordle. Nora wonders if it might be a harbinger of future trends online. One thing people seem to really like about it is that it's limited to one short puzzle per day. Could there be an appetite for more limited content in an era of non-stop...
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Facial Recognition and AI Therapists
Happy New Year all! A little before the holidays, Cathi and Nora recorded our first ep for 2022. This time, Cathi talks about the news, initially reported by Politico, that facial recognition company Clearview AI received patent approval for what's being dubbed a 'search engine for faces'. Read...
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Holiday Special: Robots...and Meat!
It's our traditional Christmas wish list ep! Nora would like a home robot. Product Hunt's newsletter recently touted some cool examples of home robots. She wonders whether home robots are ready for prime time. Cathi would like...lab-grown meat for Christmas. Nora doesn't eat meat and Cathi's a...
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Trends: Group Buying and AI Meal Kits
Hello! This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond talks about social commerce, which has taken off in China, and is growing elsewhere in Asia (via Fast Company) Fast Company talks in particular a company called Pinduoduo, which is a sort of group buying platform. Nora talks about Gobble, a meal kit...
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Digital Nomads and Transitional Housing
This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond and Nora Young talk about interesting responses to two pandemic developments. Nora talks about this plan to attract so-called 'digital nomads' to work in small villages in Spain. After a year and half of remote work, will (former) office workers opt to work...
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Futuristic Green Buildings and Virtual Walking
Hi there! On this episode, a couple of thoughts on the importance of access to nature. Cathi Bond talks about "farmscrapers": giant skyscrapers that incorporate organic-looking podlike structures and lots of trees and greenery to help with pollution. Check out the photos here. Nora Young talks...
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Would You Sell Your Likeness and Portable Green Generators
Woo hoo! It's been a looonnnnng time, but we launch a new season of The Sniffer! Thanks for sticking with us. This time, Cathi and Nora talk about the potential commercial future of deepfakes and related technologies. Could we see a future of more manufactured images take jobs formerly done by…
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Trends in Customization and Cool Materials
Happy summer, all! Back in late June, Cathi and Nora connected virtually in the middle of a scorching heatwave to talk sustainable futures in retail and materials. Cathi brings you a plan by Ralph Lauren to let shoppers customize their own clothes, which would then be created on demand. The plan…
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Retro Special: Return of the Catalogue and Vintage Denim
Hey there, Cathi Bond and Nora Young meet again virtually with a look at some intriguing retail trends. Cathi got a Uline catalogue delivered in the mail. It's basically a company that will ship you...shipping materials. It's got her wondering if more regular individuals will be developing their...
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Learning to Chat Again, and Psychedelics for Mental Health
Hello! Hope you are safe and healthy. Cathi Bond and Nora Young connect over video chat for another ep. Nora talks about this great Guardian article by Rhik Samadder on how we've lost the art of small talk in our socially isolated pods, and why the pandemic-imposed isolation has just sped up our...
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How to change your mind, and hydrogen innovation
This time on the podcast, Nora Young talks about Adam Grant's new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You don't Know. Great article and summary here. Cathi Bond looks at a pilot project to use pre-existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen for use in vehicles (via New Atlas).
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Wild Innovations in Retail and the Hidden Cost of Machine Learning
We are back! Cathi Bond and Nora Young got together (virtually!) to talk future of retail and carbon footprint. Cathi talks about Showfields, a digital/physical hybrid store in New York, and their new Magic Wand app (via PSFK). Nora talks about this article from two Université de Montréal...
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Trends in Autonomous Vehicles and Streaming Video
This time, Cathi Bond and Nora Young "get together" virtually from their respective homes for a pandemic-appropriate recording. Nora talks about Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company (check out the details and images at Fast Company). The shuttle design reminded Nora that Toyota is...
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Renewable Shipping and Ebike Crackdown
Before the December deep chill set in Cathi Bond and Nora Young got together in Nora's backyard to talk tech. Cathi Bond talks about Oceanbird, a huge, wind-powered shipping vessel that relies on very innovative technology. It's being designed by Wallenius Marine out of Sweden. Check out the…
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Trends in Robotics: Fire fighting and moving buildings
On this podcast, Nora and Cathi continue from Nora's backyard with a couple of contemporary robotics stories. Nora mentions fire fighting robots rolling out for use in Los Angeles (via Core77). As we've seen during the pandemic, there are plenty of roles for robots to work in dangerous…
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Home Security Drones and Micro Power Generation
Hey there! This time, Nora Young talks about the news that Amazon-owned Ring home security company is releasing the Ring Always Home camera and drone to patrol your house. Cathi Bond talks about the news that they are also planning a car cam which you can engage when you're pulled over by police....
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Trends in Quieter Cities and Pro Sports
Cathi Bond and Nora Young are back in Nora's COVID-compliant backyard with looonnng mic cables! This time, Nora talks about this Scientific American article on research into noise cancelling tech for bigger spaces, so you can open the windows (amen!) in urban environments and still have peace and...
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Summer Travel Special - Pandemic Edition
Cathi and Nora are in Nora's backyard again for a couple of takes on how to enjoy summer vacation when many of our conventional travel plans have been disrupted by the pandemic. Cathi Bond brings you the Luno Air Mattress, an inflatable mattress designed to fit in the back of your vehicle, so you...
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Astounding Skyscrapers and the Real Future of Augmented Reality
Cathi Bond and Nora Young are back for another physically distant podcast in Nora's backyard. This time, Cathi has an update on architect Moshe Safdie's eight skyscraper development in Chongqing, topped by a horizontal skyscraper called The Crystal. Now you can go and tour the development and…
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COVID and Tech Behaviour; Gym Rats are Losing It
This time, Cathi drops by Nora's backyard for a physically distant recording. Nora mentions this survey suggesting, unsurprisingly, how much take up there's been for online shopping during the pandemic. Nora talks about how COVID is changing tech habits, including hers. Cathi argues for the value...
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Robotic Health Care and AI Musicians
This time on our remote podcast, Cathi Bond talks about Boston Dynamics' work to bring robotics into front line health care. Nora Young talks about Jukebox, Open AI's neural net that aims to create pop songs in the style of popular artists. She also mentions Spark's coverage of the impact of...
About this show
Listen to writer/broadcasters Nora Young and Cathi Bond as they freak over the future. They can't believe it. Neither will you.
Hosted by
Nora Young and Cathi Bond
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