Insect-like drones that tend crops, perform aircraft inspections and find gas leaks are here, and they’re only the beginning!

Today I’m diving into the future of bio-inspired drones with the one and only Professor Guido de Croon, head of the Micro-Air Vehicle Lab at Delft Technical University in The Netherlands.

Guido shares the latest insect-inspired research developments in vision-systems, energy-efficient intelligence, height-sensing, autonomous navigation, swarming, energy-harvesting and speedy decision-making. We discuss early commercial applications and spinout companies, and how the MAVLab team is building on it’s victory in the 2025 autonomous drone racing championship in Abu Dhabi to take agility to a whole new level.

It’s the stuff of sci-fi, except … it isn’t. MAVLab creations now flap their wings like birds and dragonflies, carry sensors that process information and facilitate ‘event-based’ decisions much like eyes, ears and brains do in the natural world. They emulate the navigation ‘alogithms’ of bees and ants. They swarm to accomplish collective goals based on how insects do it. Will robot insects one day harvest energy from their environment, thereby extending their missions indefinitely? You’ll have to listen to find out!

As you’ll hear, I’m thrilled to be catching-up with Guido. He’s one of my favorite scientists. He’s happy, positive, and bursting with ideas to help industry. Ever since we first connected in 2021 I’ve enjoyed featuring MAVLab creations in my presentations. Why? Because these tiny drones ‘push the limits’ of what’s possible by drawing inspiration from nature, an approach that will continue to unlock new opportunities for decades, and because (despite being tiny) they inspire audiences think BIGGER about the future!

Thank you Guido, for your passionate, joy-filled insights on the future of tiny drones.

Vancouver, Dublin, Los Angeles, Sydney – in so many cities I visit, skyrocketing rents and prices are making housing a struggle for ordinary people. For younger people especially, it is a generational challenge that limits their future prosperity.

But all over Europe communities are using collaborative housing to pool capital and enjoy a host of shared financial and social benefits in return. Is this a better way?

In this episode, I'm in The Netherlands exploring collaborative housing with Darinka Czischke, Professor of Housing and Social Sustainability at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).

Darinka debunks a few myths associated with the oft-repeated phrase ‘housing crisis’ before diving into the motivations behind these communities and the shared benefits that transcend affordability. She details where and why collaborative housing projects thrive, the importance of scale, how scale has already been achieved in places like Zurich, and the national and cultural factors that support collaborative housing. We discuss multi-generational approaches, and how community-based options unlock more benefits than “aging-in-place” strategies. City governments are identified as key enablers, and Darinka shares what policymakers can do to help.

My favorite part? Darinka’s first-hand observations from collaborative housing projects she has stayed in.

There’s something for everyone in this conversation. Darinka is a passionate advocate for a better future; her insights are practical, universal, and VERY topical.

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com

If you enjoyed this episode, why not share it with friends and colleagues? Getting more people aware of real projects for equitable and socially sustainable housing has to be one way to contribute to a better future!

Microscale robots will be conducting medical procedures inside our bodies sooner than you think. That’s the big takeaway from this fascinating conversation with Prof. Bradley Nelson, head of the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab at ETH Zürich, and for those of us who grew up watching Fantastic Voyage, that's a stunning statement!

Brad walks us through the lab’s tiny bio-inspired prototypes and associated innovations in propulsion, power-delivery, external control and biocompatibility. He discusses the special challenges of fabricating and operating robots at micro- and nano-scales, and how all these developments are now converging into tiny robots capable of performing real-world procedures such as thrombectomies and precision drug deliveries to tumors inside the brain.

He also explores targets for first procedures, future aspirations, the regulatory approvals journey and the ‘democratization of surgery’ benefits that will be unlocked by adding telesurgery and more autonomy.

Prof. Brad Nelson has spent more than 40 years researching and building robots and has won numerous awards in robotics, nanotechnology, and biomedicine. He was named to the "Scientific American 50" list for outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology. His lab is undefeated international champion in Robocup's Nanogram Soccer League and he is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the "Most Advanced Mini Robot for Medical Use!

My special thanks to him for hosting me and sharing his insights, and also to Oliver Brinkman, who took time away from his blood vessel navigation experiments(!) to show me around the lab.

It’s an inspiring journey into the near future of medicine. Enjoy!

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com

If you enjoyed these insights, why not subscribe so you don’t miss out on what’s next, and help us spread the word by sharing this episode with colleagues!

Will A.I. use up all the worlds electricity? Or will A.I. contribute more by helping us solve the world’s sustainability problems?

In an era of ‘exponential AI,’ the answers have huge implications for our future, but they are far from clear, because ICTs contribute in so many ways to energy savings as well as use.

I meet with IT & sustainability guru Dr Vlad Coroama for an in-depth look at both sides of the ledger.

After exploring direct contributions and costs, Vlad takes the discussion up a level by exploring secondary effects (positive and negative) to get me thinking MUCH bigger about the dynamics shaping our future. We have a lot of coffee-fuelled fun going back and forth over his ideas! And of course Vlad draws on his research to offer some overall assessments of where we are headed with AI, data centers and energy.

Vlad Coroama heads the Roegen Centre for Sustainability (RC4S) where he assists governments in using digital technologies to save energy and emissions, and in reducing the direct footprint of digitalisation. Much of his work focuses on the rapidly increasing energy/carbon footprint of AI and data centers. He has researched the complex relationships between computing and sustainability for 20 years in Switzerland (ETH Zurich, Empa), Brazil (University of São Paulo), Portugal (Instituto Superior Técnico, Coimbra University), Sweden (KTH Stockholm), and Germany (TU Berlin).

You will enjoy Vlad's company. He is a BIG thinker, he builds his arguments thoughtfully, based on data, and he has a way of cutting through complexity using simple, powerful examples. The world needs 10,000 more like him!

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be up on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com

Enjoy the insights? Follow, share, and leave a review to help more curious listeners find the show :-)

First generation surgical robots, such as the Da Vinci set new benchmarks for precision and accuracy. With A.I. and robotics developments racing ahead at breakneck speed, what new capabilities are in the pipeline? How might next-generation surgical robots impact the future of healthcare?

I visit Prof. Philipp Fürnstahl, a global leader in this field, to unpack how his robots are going beyond vision to listen and feel and apply other senses as they operate. He compares orthopaedic and soft-tissue systems, explains why preop plans must be supplemented by real-time context, dives into spinal surgery as an early use-case for his next-gen robots, and explains the systems challenges of integrating the new innovations with teams, operating room workflows, telemedicine and training.

And as you will hear, Philipp gets me thinking much bigger about which patients will benefit and why. With procedure demand rising and surgeons in short supply, the opportunity is more than safer and more precise surgery, it's scaleable surgery.

Prof. Fürnstahl has authored more than 150 publications in computer-assisted surgery. As well as heading the lab at Balgrist, he is Professor for Research in Orthopedic Computer Science (ROCS) at the University of Zürich. He invited me to visit him at the Computer-Aided Surgery Lab at Balgrist University Hospital where we toured the full-scale surgical theatre used to test the robots.

My thanks to Philipp and his colleagues for so generously sharing their insights and answering all my questions.

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review to help more listeners find FutureBites.

Will we worship A.I.? How are religions already rejecting, adopting or adapting to A.I.? How could A.I. re-shape the future of organised religion?

Could the questions get any bigger?

My conversation today is with THE global expert on the AI and religion, Prof Beth Singler. Beth explores adoption, rejection, and adaptation responses from organized religion, gives vivid examples of chatbot “priests” and theomorphic robots already being used in religious rituals, and helps me think much more expansively about the future implications and dangers.

We also discuss the secular world and how utopian dreams and quasi-religious metaphors fuel the pressure to “accelerate” A.I. without bounds.

Beth discusses harmful outcomes she is seeing, and the boundaries and safety considerations we should all keep in mind. We also look at how A.I. can help prick the bubble of human exceptionalism and teach us some much-deeded humility. As you will hear, once you start exploring A.I. and religion, you cannot help but reflect more deeply on how A.I. will impact all aspects of our lives, spiritual and otherwise.

It's a fun conversation (Beth is truly brilliant!) and at the same time deals with serious, high-stakes issues that we all need to be discussing about our (near) future.

Prof Beth Singler has written multiple books and produced a series of documentaries in her long and distinguished career researching AI and religion. She is Assistant Professor in Digital Religion(s) and Co-Director, University Research Priority Programme in Digital Religion(s) at the University of Zurich (UZH). What a joy and privilege it was to learn from her!

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com

How do we model the climate? How to make predictions at a local level? What role does AI play? What do our models predict about the future of extreme weather events?

We sit down with world-leading atmospheric scientist Prof. Andreas Prein to pull back the curtain on how weather and climate models really work. Andreas describes the evolution of weather and climate modelling, the mechanics of prediction, where AI shines and struggles, the complex interconnections with other earth systems, and the important considerations when undertaking 'climate change attribution' for extreme weather events.

Inspired by first-hand experiences of extreme weather in his youth, Andreas dedicated his career to improving the understanding atmospheric systems. Nowadays he leads the High-Resolution Weather and Climate Modeling group at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science (IAC), part of the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).

It’s a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation. We've all wondered what’s behind the predictions about the biggest force of change shaping our future, and this episode has the answers!

Enjoy the podcast!

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com

Digital disinformation and the declining quality of newsmedia is one of the most important challenges of our time. Everyone is aware of it, and its easy to get overwhelmed and conclude it’s can’t be solved.

But there ARE pathways forward, and sometimes it takes a fresh evidence-driven perspective to illuminate them.

Enter Mark Eisenegger, Professor of Public Sphere and Society, Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich, who leads a research program which has now accumulated 15 years of solid data on media quality and consumption trends in Switzerland. What can the Swiss context teach us? A lot, actually!

Join us as Mark dissects the trends, discusses differences between countries and – most importantly – explores what actions we can take to preserve a healthier “news future.”

It’s a wonderful conversation backed by evidence, and with more than a few surprises to share!

Enjoy the podcast!

======

As always, additional commentary and takeaways and the full transcript will be on the Future Bites page soon. More on my work as a Futurist Speaker, and why I do what I do, at www.brucemccabe.com