Innovation Hub

We’re always so concerned about how to do something, but we don't always consider when we should do it. When should we start a new project? When should we take a nap? We talk to author Daniel Pink about why timing is everything. Even though beards are currently in style, there was a time when being clean shaven was the way to go. We take a look at the man who revolutionized the shaving industry. Plus, if it seems like food allergies are on the rise, they are. One in every 13 children in America has some sort of food allergy, which marks a huge spike over the last few decades. We look at what could be causing the allergy increase and what’s being done to combat it. Finally, killing rats may seem like the best way to deal with them. But, in fact, it's probably not be our best option when it comes to pest control. We find out what is.

Rats: The bane of any city-dweller’s existence. We spend millions of dollars each year trying to kill these pests, putting out poison and traps. But new research poses the question: Should we be killing rats at all? Innovation Hub producer Marc Filippino reports on what could be a surprising new solution to rat control.

Did you ever trade lunches at school when you were a kid? Maybe you gave away your peanut butter sandwich in exchange for some chocolate pudding. With rampant food allergies, a trade like that probably wouldn't happen today. And while schools and other organizations are very aware of the increased number of people who have allergies, we know little about what causes them.   Innovation Hub spoke with Dr. Wayne Shreffler, the director of the Food Allergy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Katie Allen, the Group Leader of Gastro and Food Allergy at Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, about the rise of food allergies, how to prevent them, and treatments that are in the pipeline.

If you're the type of person who shaves, you've probably used a disposable razor at least once. But where did this seemingly ubiquitous part of American life come from? It all goes back to the late 19th century, and a man with the absolutely incredible name of King Camp Gillette.

Does it matter when you go in for an operation? When a jury hears your case? What year you're born in? The answer in all three of these cases: yes. Dan Pink took a deep dive into the science behind how timing affects our lives. He's author of the new book, "When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing."

First up, we examine a question that most kids ask at some point: “Where do babies come from?” Science writer Edward Dolnick walks us through how humanity discovered the answer to that question. And the story involves Leonardo Da Vinci, sea urchins, and staring at sperm under a primitive microscope. After that: What can scientists learn from the natural world? We visit the lab of Jeff Karp, a biomedical engineer who seeks inspiration from porcupines and geckos. Take a listen to find out how investigating sea slug slime led to the development of a glue that can adhere to almost any tissue in the human body. (The glue actually just received market approval in Europe.) Finally, humans are living longer and longer. What does that mean for our society? Andrew Scott, co-author of The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, believes that we’re going to have to create entirely new stages* *of life.

For most of human history, we didn’t know where babies come from. Sure, we knew it involved sex, but beyond that, things got a little fuzzy. The story of how we got clarity on the birds and the bees is as circuitous as it is strange. Its cast of characters includes kings, philosophers, sea urchins, and the father of microbiology. Science writer Edward Dolnick, author of the new book “The Seeds of Life,” tells the tale.

Who would’ve thought that geckos could revolutionize medical technology? Jeff Karp, an associate professor at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was inspired research in nature, most specifically by the gecko’s incredible ability to stick to vertical walls. And he realized that that ability - sticking and unsticking easily, without leaving a residue behind, like a band-aid does - could be useful in the hospital. And this nature-inspired realization was just the beginning. We visit Karp’s lab to learn about his inventions, his reverence for evolution, and his biomimetic vision.

Hopefully, you’re going to die a very long time from now, surrounded by friends and family, having lived a meaningful life. But exactly how far away is death going to be? When you look at the broad sweep of human history, life expectancy has pushed upwards (albeit not always in a straight line), almost doubling over the last century. And, it may well keep rising. Andrew Scott, co-author of The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, believes that longer lifespans are about to alter society in some fundamental ways.

First, The lives – and regrets – behind the scientists who created our weapons of war. Then, Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov tells us what he learned from losing to a very smart computer. And finally, writer and blogger Cory Doctorow explains how science-fiction can help us imagine the future, and prepare for it.

Growing up, Thanksgivings in Jennet Conant’s house were contentious. The Vietnam War was raging, and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, student protests were ubiquitous. But Conant’s family was especially combative. Her grandfather, James B. Conant, a former president of Harvard University, had both supervised the production of poison gas during World War I, and oversaw the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. Conant’s father argued her grandfather wasn’t a scientist who had served his country, but a mass murderer. Jennet Conant is the author of a new biography of her grandfather, “Man of the House: James B. Conant, Warrior Scientist,” as well other books about war, science, and the intersection of the two. She explains what happens when people use science to create weapons - and the fallout for the scientists themselves.

For more than a 30-year span, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was nearly unbeatable. But, in 1997, he faced an unlikely competitor: the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. Kasparov lost the final match, which ended up being a turning point both for him and for our understanding of artificial intelligence. We talk with Kasparov about his new book, “Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins.”

Science-fiction is a genre that imagines the future. It doesn’t necessarily predict the future (after all, where are flying cars?), but it grapples with the technological and societal changes happening today to better understand our world and where it’s heading. So, what does it mean when so much of our most popular science-fiction - The Handmaid’s Tale, The Walking Dead, and The Hunger Games - present bleak, depressing futures? Cory Doctorow might just have an answer. He’s a blogger, writer, activist, and author of the new book “Walkaway,” an optimistic disaster novel.

It’s the holidays, which means you might head back to your hometown, grab a drink at the local bar, and compare yourself with the kids you knew in high school. Luckily, we’re serving up the perfect show for the status-obsessed. We have stories that look at what makes people popular in school, how your crammed calendar can actually make you more sought after, and why achieving online popularity is trickier than you think.

Do you ever wonder why some people are more popular than others? The foundation for climbing up the social ladder starts early, and it turns out that parents actually have an enormous influence on how well-liked their kids are. Psychology professor Mitch Prinstein explains how popularity develops and why it matters.

At the height of their career, YouTube stars can make millions of dollars. But it’s a rough road to the top for social media stars, if they can get there at all. We talk with author Brooke Erin Duffy and YouTuber Gaby Dunn about the aspirational economy, and how success can take a toll on our personal life.

Don’t feel bad the next time you have to blow off your friends. Being busy is considered a status symbol here in America. Georgetown University assistant professor Neeru Paharia explains why we’re impressed with people who have too much on their plates... though that may a relatively recent phenomenon.

Listen to this one while you heat up your TV dinner. The story behind the microwave.

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.” This week on Innovation Hub, we prove Faulkner right. We’ve got stories about how history still affects all our daily lives, in a myriad of different ways. We start by taking a look at the origin of the debates over human rights. The Declaration of Independence’s second paragraph begins with the immortal phrase: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But when did those rights become self-evident? According to historian Lynn Hunt, the very concept of human rights weren’t really talked about until the 18th century. She explains how the concept began, and why we’re constantly changing our definition of equality. Then, how our own histories of trauma can affect our present health. Vincent Felitti is a doctor whose research has shown that patients who experienced childhood trauma were more likely

We all know Thomas Jefferson’s famous words immortalized in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” But when did the world start thinking about equality? Lynn Hunt, a distinguished research professor at UCLA, and author of the book “Inventing Human Rights,” says we haven’t always recognized basic human rights, and the very concept wasn’t spoken much about until the end of the 1700s.