It’s Halloween, and the Zombies are out in search of brains! ??

Welcome to the 13th and very spooky edition of BrainFood.

We’ve had quite the feast these past few shows...and now in over 30+ countries!

From exploring the nexus of politics, tech, and community in 'Meet the Mayors', to #aitools at the LG NOVA Innovation Festival, it's been a wild ride - and the Silicon Zombies Podcast team is grateful for our global brain-loving community.

Ok, enough celebrating ?? on with the show.

Building Bridges, Simplifying Politics, & Unleashing Tech for a Better Tomorrow

What an adventure into the world of civics and tech with 3 brilliant community leaders on Meet the Mayors . We had Mayor Jen Wolosin , Mayor Melissa Blaustein , and Mayoral candidate Ahsha Safaí cover challenges large to small; and how to do so equitably / efficiently. In some cases, we can use very tech thats pioneered here in the Valley.

"It's not necessarily exciting to talk about (potholes on roads), but what is exciting to envision is how to solve these issues using technologies (like AI prediction) we have right here in the Bay Area" - Melissa Blaustein

A Tale of 2 Cities ?? ???

Ahsha Safaí accurately stated "SF has always been a tale of 2 cities; some of the wealthiest residents in the world, and some of the most economically challenged individuals; and the school system reflects that." Intelligence may be evenly distributed, but opportunity is not - which means room for improvement. He goes further to say:

"For a well flourishing city, we need to harness ingenuity and creativity, while also providing a space for working families to thrive." - Ahsha Safai         

Passion Into Action

How did Jen Wolosin get here? She took a bike ?? Diving a bit deeper, Jen shared how she learned to turn passion into action, going from frustrated mom (who wanted safe streets for her kids) to leading the Menlo Park community as Mayor - with a particular focus on climate impact and housing for all. Talk about making an actionable difference in your community!

If you're interested in public service, or simply want to hear from three remarkable people, then this is the show interview for you. How did they get here? By doing the homework and getting engaged. You just gotta take the first step ??

Full episode here .

Driving Access & MedTech Innovation

In an era defined by rapidly evolving technologies, our dialog at the intersection of medicine and innovation has never been more pertinent. And what a turnout! Another packed house at the Park James Hotel - hat tip to Lyle Tanaka and team for hosting ?? What a delight to have feasted on the brains of our esteemed panel, and shout out to Steven Luis Howell for keeping us hydrated with the eco-friendly Whatrr ??

"The Human body is the only machine for which there are no spare parts" -Herman Biggs

Herman might have been right around the turn of the century (he lived from 1859-1923), but try telling that to Cardiothoracic surgeon Marcin Maruszewski , who performed the first successful covid-lung transplant ??. His 25 years of surgical procedures (heart, lungs, esophagus) plus a passion for driving access through technology made him an excellent guide. Consider his unique perspective on the ear ?? - Did you know it's a biological transducer ? ?? Signals can be transmitted both ways. It's not just a microphone of the outside world for the brain, but we can also understand whats going on inside. In fact, that's how noise reduction is done: by changing frequencies. Now that's music to our ears!

TeleMedicine, Unleashed ??

As Dominique Kim, MPH eloquently put it, "We live in a country that has many more stakeholders which makes it more complicated (than Europe)...the payers are only one party. Manufacturers, suppliers, pharmacy operators, and startups to name a few." Without protocols, it can seem like the wild west; controlling the uncontrollable. Yet this ecosystem is incentivized to support remote functionality.

But we're not there yet, HOOMAN KHALILI shared. He claimed there are a lot of flaws in telemedicine - and indeed much to be fixed. According to Raphael Michel (serial entrepreneur and founder of Eargo ), these flaws in TeleMedicine = Opportunity.

The pandemic has thrown us into the deep end of remote technology, changing the way we live, work, and receive healthcare. Technology will play a major role in making it more accessible, affordable, and efficient. To learn more, watch the full episode here .

LG NOVA Innofest: AI Startup Tools

Many startups are finding an edge, and the impact of AI tools is only growing. But what tools are best and for what? Fortunately for us, we had 3 experts in the house: Nolie MacDonald (CEO Clean AI Technologies) Jim Hornthal (Executive Chairman GLIDR by LaunchPad Central ), and Valerie Trask (Professor at University of Washington).

Emerging Tech Tools, Distilled

Students starting real companies that become profitable in a short period of time? The non-theoretical class that Valerie Trask provides pivotal entrepreneurial awareness and understanding, much like entrepreneur-educator Jim Hornthal who started teaching the Lean LaunchPad class at 美国斯坦福大学 with Steve Blank well over a decade ago. The focus of efficiency and finding product/market fit was also adopted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in their I-Corps program. Fun fact: In 1994, the NSF awarded a Stanford grad student by the name of Larry Page a grant for ranking website pages ??.

"ChatGPT today is like search when it first came out; useful but not an end result. It's a tool and how you integrate these resources to build success for yourself is a challenge we face everyday" -Jim Hornthal

Nolie MacDonald looks for usability, adoptability, and cost effectiveness. Best practices? Be hyper specific in your prompting. Some of her favorite AI tools are: Looka (logo/branding), MidJourney (AI Art), and Fliki.ai (video editing). Valerie Trask likewise has a strong intuition on whats coming next, helping entrepreneurs refine a concept, understand the customer, analyze the market, and create a well-informed strategy.

Looking to get an edge? Full episode here .

Upcoming Events ??

In the year 1900, the average American lived to be 30 years old. Fast forward to modern day, and we're almost to 80. The prospect of living to 100 is now a realistic notion - if we understand (and apply) the science of longevity. Join us November 16 as we trek through how to live a longer, happier, healthier life in SZ: You Only Live Twice. Register here , space is limited.

Interesting AF

Tiny Tech, Huge Compute

Nvidia plans to adopt TSMC's 3nm-class process technology in 2024 for its GB100 compute graphics processor, expected to be its next-generation AI and HPC GPU. This move aligns with Nvidia's typical two-year cycle for new GPU architectures. It's unclear which specific 3nm node Nvidia will choose from TSMC, considering their history of customizing fabrication technologies for previous GPU generations. 苹果 likewise just introduced the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. These chips (also at 3nm) have 2 million transistors on the cross section of a human hair.

That's all from us, catch ya next month. Until then, be good to yourselves, and be good to each other ??

Big thanks to our sponsors:

Necodex - your remote team in Mexico for digital products + augmented staffing

Primero Negocios - The best marketing team to you get local customers

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