FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe

Why does the most cited fisheries scientist in the world call modern fisheries a global Ponzi scheme? Welcome to part two of our dive into the future of oceans, where my focus is still on the pathways we can take to preserve ocean ecosystems and fisheries for the future, but this time I’m putting my questions to Daniel Pauly [https://oceans.ubc.ca/2023/05/19/daniel-pauly/]. Daniel is Professor of the Institute of Oceans and Fisheries [https://oceans.ubc.ca/]  at the University of British Columbia, and Principal Investigator of the Sea Around Us Project [https://www.seaaroundus.org/], winner of the 2023 Tyler Prize [https://www.tylerprize.org/] (the "Nobel prize for environmental achievement") and author or co-author, over his distinguished career, of more than 1,000 science papers, articles, books and book chapters.  And he does NOT pull punches. In this brutally honest conversation about the state of our oceans and the impact of modern fishing practices, Daniel speaks plainly about: * The beginnings of the technologically-enabled “War on Fish” in 1880 * Current global trajectory for overfishing * The absurdity of having one-third of commercial fishing value subsidized, allowing unprofitable operations to continue despite dwindling stocks * How ending subsidies would be a giant step towards a fix * Marine sanctuaries: government promises versus enforcement inaction * How modern technology could easily be used to enforce regulations * Distinctions between sustainable and highly destructive forms of aquaculture * The devastating ecological consequences of changing ocean currents  * Why deep-sea mining must be stopped Take a moment to meditate on Daniel’s insights, then share them. Our oceans are so vastly important to our future, and yet most people spend NO time thinking about them. All the technology to preserve our oceans exists. The solutions are clear. The only missing piece is the will to implement them. ====== As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page [https://www.brucemccabe.com/futurebites] soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com [https://www.brucemccabe.com/]

How do we feed another 2 billion AND preserve the future of ocean ecosystems? In 2025, over three billion people rely on seafood as a significant source of protein. Over 80% of the world's biodiversity comes from oceans. A multitude of ocean ecosystems are in crisis mode [https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000390054.locale=en].  By 2086, the global population is projected to increase by another 2.2 billion (from 8.1 today to 10.4 at peak). How can we feed them and make future fisheries sustainable? This is a topic of VAST importance in determining our future, and yet most of us know almost nothing about it! Join me in Vancouver, Canada, for an insightful and wide-ranging discussion with William Cheung [https://oceans.ubc.ca/2023/05/19/william-cheung/], Director and Professor of the Institute of Oceans and Fisheries [https://oceans.ubc.ca/] and Principal Investigator for the Changing Ocean Research Unit [https://coru.oceans.ubc.ca/] at the University of British Columbia and one of the world's foremost experts on this subject. Professor Cheung explores the current state of the oceans, threats to ocean ecosystems, the key trade-offs in managing and conserving marine resources, the impacts and advantages of different types of aquaculture, and of course the positive pathways we can take to shape a better, more sustainable future. Professor Cheung considers it fundamental to strengthen public connectedness to ocean ecosystems, which is what this episode is all about! Enjoy the podcast! ====== As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page [https://www.brucemccabe.com/futurebites] soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com [https://www.brucemccabe.com/]

How do we create a happier future? What are the factors that influence happiness? What can we do as managers and leaders to enhance happiness, and why is this fundamental to achieving ALL our goals?  Join me for a deeply insightful discussion with John Helliwell [https://economics.ubc.ca/profile/john-helliwell/], Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of British Columbia, and editor of the World Happiness Report 2025 [https://worldhappiness.report/]. They can be no more universal theme than this. Happier organizations are more productive. They are more innovative. They are more resilient. Happier societies are safer and healthier and more giving. A deeper understanding of the factors helps us make more effective personal and professional decisions. Happiness benefits EVERYONE. With laughter and good humour and vast knowledge of his subject, John shares a ton of actionable advice for leaders.  If you only listen to one FutureBites episode, make it this one.  And when you're finished, I urge you to download and read the report [https://worldhappiness.report/].  Because we CAN influence happiness, and because moving happiness back to centre-stage in our measures of progress is one of the surest pathways we can take to a better future. Enjoy the podcast! ====== As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page [https://www.brucemccabe.com/futurebites] soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com [https://www.brucemccabe.com/]

Forget cars, what does the transition to electric FREIGHT look like? How capable are HEAVY vehicles? What’s the future of charging infrastructure? What changes for shippers and logistics companies? How should they think and plan? On this episode of FutureBites, I travel to Cambridge University to ask Professor David Cebon [https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/dc29], a visionary in the electrification of heavy vehicles. David is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge University. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Director of the Cambridge Vehicle Dynamics Consortium, and -- his principal focus for the past 15 years -- Director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight [https://www.csrf.ac.uk/].  In short, he is THE global guru on the electrification of freight.  We discuss: * Intelligent charging in cities, and why top-up charging in urban freight is a BIG win. * How electric trucks are already good enough for 80% of journeys and getting better fast * The compromises necessary for weight-limited Loads, and how electric vehicles are close to a drop-in replacement for diesel for volume limited loads. * Why charging at truck stops is NOT the future * The triple-win of static charging at warehouses and factories * The biggest bottleneck in static charging: cabling up all the connections * Why hot-swapping batteries is a plausible, but less likely part of the future * Why dynamic charging (charging on the move) is a huge win and a BIG part of our future * The pros and cons of competing approaches to dynamic charging The opportunities are HUGE. Listen to hear David’s exceptional insights not only on the future of electric freight, but on the calculations and compromises every organisation needs to make to get there. And once you see the future of electric garbage trucks, buses, and long-haul big rigs, you can’t help but think more deeply about the electrification opportunity in ALL contexts. Enjoy the podcast! ====== As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page [https://www.brucemccabe.com/futurebites] soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com [https://www.brucemccabe.com/]

What is driving the NEXT generation of autonomous vehicles? How are scientists upping the innovation rate? Why are AVs utterly inevitable, everywhere? How will they transform industries, cities and even economies?  To get a deep sense of where we are headed, I checked in with Paul Newman [https://eng.ox.ac.uk/people/paul-newman/], a trailblazer in robotics and autonomous systems. Paul is BP Professor of Information Engineering at Oxford University, Founder of the Oxford Robotics Institute [https://ori.ox.ac.uk/], Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the IEEE in honor of his outstanding contributions to robot navigation, and Founder of Oxa [https://oxa.tech/](formerly Oxbotica) a mobile autonomy company involved in commercial deployments around the world.  Paul is a BIG thinker about the future of AVs! We discuss: * How “driving many somewhere’s” leads to a future of “driving autonomously everywhere,” and how this builds assurances that AVs are robust and safe in each and every context. * Paul’s ‘universal autonomy’ approach, building an AV ‘operating system’ spanning many platforms, and partnering with industrial users and original vehicle manufacturers in joint ventures with shared IP – greatly accelerating the innovation process. * Oxa’s varied deployments across shuttle-buses, airports, mines, buses, delivery vans and more. * AI supervising AI, and how a multi-level approach with a ‘higher order’ layer making over-riding decisions when a decision is not safe enough, not only massively improves safety, but also makes it possible to innovate faster. * The big gains being made in AI teaching, and how ‘adversarial learning’ is accelerating and scaling teaching by generating tens of thousands of scenarios to train and test other AIs. * The future of vehicle-to-vehicle data sharing, the obligation to share data, and the big questions to be tackled on how much to share. * How AVs will re-shape industrial ecosystems, and transport networks, and cities, in all kinds of big ways (just wait until you hear his comparison with reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone!)  Mostly, we talk about OPPORTUNITY.  What I love best about Paul is he is profoundly optimistic about the potential for AVs to drive huge positive change.  We are only at the beginning of the AV revolution. Do you consider widescale AV deployments inevitable? I do. Listen to Paul and understand why. Enjoy! ====== As always, additional commentary and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page [https://www.brucemccabe.com/futurebites] soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com [https://www.brucemccabe.com/]