What’s light as plastic, strong as steel and less expensive per pound than the chassis of an Italian sportscar? Carbon fiber reinforced polymers, duh! Join the Overground as they extend their tour of the mind-bending world of materials science to the juncture of additive manufacturing, uncompromising structural rigidity and sustainable sourcing. It…

Join us as we explore further innovation involving sheets of carbon – rolled up into a delicious churro of nearly infinite reinforcing strength: carbon nanotubes. It’s awesome rebar, it’s the business end of a molecular analyzer, its formed from advanced chemical deposition, and scientists are cranking it out – by the centimeter. Featured Technolog…

We begin season three(!) as materials science makes astonishing leaps forward. Join the Overground as we shelter in place with a limited series on materials science innovation. First stop, friend of the show, Graphene! The crew discusses how graphene will be the optical interstate onramp to the rail network of our information science infrastructure…

What if the lasting legacy of COVID-19 is...not all bad? Leavening the horror of pandemic disease is the shockingly fast development of a vaccine. Right now, two COVID-19 vaccine candidates are roaring into full-on human testing, and may be ready to inoculate the world by 2021. Featured Technologies: https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/commen…

This week the OG crew discusses all that is unknown about COVID-19, and what that means. Still up the in air: basically all the complex biology, infectious rate, latency, immunity, co-morbidity and potential vaccine efficacy. But take heart, listeners because there are a few things science is confident about. Featured Technologies: https://www.scie…

This week the Overground looks at solar power and rotating multi-chamber rockets. Join the crew as they contemplate how solar power is like a well-diversified retirement account, how to pronounce Elon Musk’s youngest child’s name and why is Joe so gosh darn insincere. Featured Technologies: https://www.sciencealert.com/solar-cell-technology-has-top…

The Overground takes another week off from monitoring viral pandemics to get more personal – the mysteries of the human brain Join the crew as we luxuriate in the infinite mystery of the human mind: brain implants that cure blindness, the electromagnetic basis of the ego and the scientific feasibility of telepathy. Overground platinum members get d…

Join the Overground as we kick back and let the COIVD-19 Pandemic do its own thing a few weeks. That’s right, the crew is taking a Zoom to the poolside with a relaxing, frosty glass of...quantum physics. C’mon and join us—its Schroedinger’s cat somewhere! Possibly Australia and Austria -- at the same time! Featured Technologies: Nuclear Resonance: …

Listen in as the gang channels the four Shrinking Walls OF THE PRISON THAT IS A MAN’s MIND into a calm rational discussion of just how dang hard it is to make vaccines. Tyler lightens the mood with a glimpse into the near future, where autonomous networks of CRISPR armed robots read the next emerging pandemic viruses inside our cells and synthesize…

Summary: Join the Overground as they continue to explore university innovations for COVID 19. Fresh from the AUTM marketplace, the crew discusses next-generation artificial intelligence applications to design new drugs; new approaches to diagnosing viral diseases; and a few of the implications of the first post-CRISPR pandemic. Also, how hard is it…

Social distancing will not disrupt innovation! Join the Overground from home as they do their part to catalog how university innovation is addressing this historic pandemic. The crew discusses the multifaceted innovative response to COVID-19 coming from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, including a new approach to sterilize equipment using…

The only podcast brave enough to say with a straight face, “the gag of the electronic sphincter,” looks at how our government is using our veterans to make human-machine hybrids to help address the infirmities of the human condition. The Overground looks VA’ approaches that address urinary incomitance, neurodegenertive swallowing disorders and anyo…

It’s back: arbitrary rules, unfair standards, solemn honor, a giant fake sack of money – it's another pitch off! Join the Overground as they present two easy-button startups made from VA innovation... to our special guest judge, Emily Chen Newton of KIOS's Made in the Middle. Featured Technologies: https://techlinkcenter.org/technologies/portable-p…

Join the Overground as theyexplore the amazing work of the VA in functional MRI and CT segmentation. Featured Technologies: https://techlinkcenter.org/technologies/advanced-segmentation-techniques-and-computed-tomography-to-assess-and-address-brain-atrophy/; https://techlinkcenter.org/technologies/functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging-software/ Hos…

The parade of VA innovation continues as the Overground tours innovations related to skincare. Learn how new technology from the VA addresses the horrific (and shockingly widespread) incidence of pressure ulcers. And another innovation find an interesting way to look at those hard-to-see places. Featured Technologies: https://techlinkcenter.org/tec…

The next installment of the Overground’s tour of VA innovation visits new innovations in vision, beginning with diabetic retinopathy. The crew also looks at a new way to decrease the effects of eye surgery scarring. Featured Technologies: https://techlinkcenter.org/technologies/goggles-for-diagnosing-retinal-disease/; https://techlinkcenter.org/tec…

The Department of Veteran Affairs, in addition to taking excellent care of the nation’s veterans, is on the forefront of healthcare innovation. Join the Overground as they ponder new drug targets to treat obesity, new mechanisms to regulate diabetes and the inner four-yea-old living inside every scientist. Featured Technologies: https://techlinkcen…

The Overground wraps its series on shortages with dive into water. Only about 1 percent of the planet’s water is actually drinkable, and the number of thirsty people is only getting......bigger. University innovation to the rescue! With minimal heat new technology makes desalination possible using an elegant filter design. Come for th…

The Overground interrupts its regularly scheduled program to take a closer look at academic innovations that could provide support and solutions to the novel coronavirus sweeping the planet. Useful links: https://nebraskamed.com/covid; https://www.biospace.com/article/moderna-s-coronavirus-vaccine-ready-for-clinical-trials/ Hosts: Charlie Litton (@…

The Overground gets kind of...gross. It's not every day that we learn the secret of turning lead to gold is...wait for it...urine. Also, phosphorus. We’re running out of phosphorus! University to the rescue! Wait. Did that say "urine?" *Note: The featured technology does not nano-bind Phosphorus, but instead holds the water to prevent phosphorus le…

Even as we drown in more and more information we grow more and more uncertain about what’s true. The Overground takes a turn for the morally ambiguous as they discuss how human technology has made it harder to know what to believe. University innovation to the rescue? University innovation is, um, reading the text messages, ahem, between patients a…

Rare earth elements are supposed to be rare, but this is getting ridiculous. Rare earth elements make highly efficient catalysts and magnets, and they’re critical resources for the electric-driven green economy. Demand is outstripping supply, and the elements are not evenly distributed across the nations of the earth. University innovation to the r…

There is an impending sand shortage...no, really! The special sand (no, really!) that is suitable for making concrete is getting harder to find (seriously!). No matter the cause—rising sea levels, greater use, inadequate old-timey chain gangs breaking rocks–university innovation to the rescue! The gang discusses ways to replace sand in concrete and…

Imagine a world where things like routine surgery, minor injuries and routine dentistry could kill you. That dreary past may be our collective future...University innovation to the rescue! New economic models to develop new antibiotics; new computer models to accelerate antibiotic discovery and how the solution to the antibiotic pipeline is...Henry…

Did you know that Helium production is associated with natural gas extraction, that it liquifies at wicked cold temperatures, easily evaporates into a gas and is nearly impossible to efficiently store – AND WE’RE RUNNING OUT!? University innovation to the rescue! Join the Overground as they discuss new ways to more efficiently extract precious, pre…

The Overground gets foreshadow-y and you’re invited to share the vibe. The path of season two leads to discussion of shortages: critical materials, solutions for deadly disease and the human brain’s capacity to see the world as it really is – we're running out of all of them! Innovation is the one resource you can always rely on and, in the coming …

Summary: Join the Overground crew as they delve into the mysterious and astonishing power of your immune system. University innovation is set to produce flu vaccine on demand as the devious virus mutates. Others are using vaccines to turn the human immune system into a 21st century biochemical cruise missile to make cancer deaths a thing of the pas…

It’s a new year, so let's find a new planet! Start 2020 with space elevators and self-constructing 3D printed rockets. The Overground crew is here to give you options! Featured Technologies: Space Elevator https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2170193/china-has-strongest-fibre-can-haul-160-elephants-and-space; https://phys.org/news/2018-0…

The New Year is around the corner, and you know what that means. Yup, college football bowl season! This week the crew look for a competitive advantage in their second-ever pitch competition, which pits next-generation augmented reality against dissolving pep strips. Featured Technologies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma2RTs7GQqM ; Haptic device…

The crew brings Christmas future to Christmas present. Technology is arming Santa with an armada of drones, a fleet of self-driving cars, and end-of-year technology good cheer! Merry second Christmas listeners! Featured Technologies: improved computer vision for driving https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180150704A1/en?oq=15%2f824%2c435; Digital…

Discount neighborhood ophthalmology got you down? Losing faith in off-label, anti-fungal medication to degenerative vision disorders? Midwestern eye innovation to the rescue! Join the Overground as they discuss next generation cell-based therapies, different flavors of stem cells and retinal sod. Also: cybernetic eyes. Featured Technologies: https:…

How is lifesaving surgery like a trip to Lowes? The Overground looks to new innovations in orthopedic surgery and discusses how bioabsorbable bone fixation will change lives; how in the future implants will be made from medicine and the innovation best described as: “rammer jammer yellow hammer.” Featured Technologies: https://www.cartilagen.com/ B…

The Overground crew turns it over to Tyler...and things get nerdy! Learn the four layers of structural organization of the Sid Vicious of biomolecules, the Mick Jagger of cell biology, the Bono of structure-function biology: Proteins! Featured Technologies: Peptide-based methods to treat neurological injury https://content.cu.edu/amctech/show_tech.…

The gang discusses new appraoches to potentially lethal allergic reactions and overactive immune systems. Featured Technologies: Cutting and pasting is hard. Please send detailed how-to instructions and step-by-step video tutorials to Joe and Tyler at hrrunge@unmc.edu and tyler.scherr@unmc.edu. Hosts: Charlie Litton (@charlielitton); Tyler Scherr (…

The Overground is back! The gang returns from a two-week break to discuss the scientific chops—and the ultimate medical value—of ancient herbal remedies as key components in new, modern medicines. Featured Technologies: https://ctc.ku.edu/available-technology/359; https://www.famu.edu/DOR_division_of_research/Soliman%20and%20Mazzio%20-%207357950%20…

Happy Halloween! Join the crew on a haunted tour of our favorite scary technologies and non-polyploidy foodie apples of the moment. You’ll wish you had the longevity of a gourde so you could listen again and again. Featured Technologies: https://inventions.prf.org/innovation/6902; Hosts: Charlie Litton (@charlielitton); Tyler Scherr (@dare2scherr);…

On this episode the crew tackles the age-old question of nature vs nurture. Charlie’s parenting skills are tried in the dual crucible of DNA testing and psychological profiling! Featured Technologies: https://orig3n.com/; Hosts: Charlie Litton (@charlielitton); Tyler Scherr (@dare2scherr); Joe Runge (@EntreprenurialW) Sponsor: UNeMed (https://www.u…

Join the crew during UNeMed’s Innovation Week as they reminisce on some of their favorite University of Nebraska technologies from this past year! Featured Technologies: https://www.unemed.com/product/pde4b-selective-inhibitors; Hosts: Charlie Litton (@charlielitton); Tyler Scherr (@dare2scherr); Joe Runge (@EntreprenurialW) Sponsor: UNeMed (https:…

On this episode, the crew discusses agricultural applications of CRISPR gene-editing technology. Come for the cool new CRISPR tech, stay for the flappy corn! Featured Technologies: https://techtransfer.universityofcalifornia.edu/NCD/28790.html; Hosts: Charlie Litton (@charlielitton); Tyler Scherr (@dare2scherr); Joe Runge (@EntreprenurialW) Sponsor…

Join the crew on the first-ever Startup Pitch Contest, where Joe and Tyler pitch hypothetical startups based on real university technologies. Charlie has nosey neighbors, Joe outlines the problem, Tyler faceplants on the pivot, and like another famous extemporaneous show, the points don’t matter! Featured Technologies: http://innovation.columbia.ed…

Join the crew on a fever dream into a brave new future where your smartphones assiduously order meals for you. Oh, and that food is full of special goodies for your gut critters. Featured Technologies: https://brandeis.flintbox.com/#technologies/e3d8a7e3-17ab-4a30-8d30-37ef837214cf; https://inventions.prf.org/innovation/3170 Hosts: Charlie Litton (…

On this episode the crew discusses the rapid advancement in blood testing capabilities—from assessing your biological age and predicting your lifespan and “healthspan” to diagnosing depressive behavior like MDD and PTSD. This episode is equal parts geeky and bloody! Featured Technology: https://techtransfer.universityofcalifornia.edu/NCD/30521.html…

On this episode the crew discusses the potential for link the human brain with computers, the internet and Elon Musk's PDA. Featured Technologies: https://www.neuralink.com/; https://www.flintbox.com/public/project/16674/ Hosts: Charlie Litton (@charlielitton); Tyler Scherr (@dare2scherr); Joe Runge (@EntreprenurialW) Sponsor: UNeMed (https://www.u…

Innovative new technologies are putting humanity on the verge of transcending the bounds of human mortality all because the Overground wants to live forever. Featured Technology: https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-ray-kurzweil-up-to-at-google-writing-your-emails/; https://www.sens.org/; https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/senescent-cell-…

Scientists are hacking multi-cellularity. Translation: Cells from your cheek could be turned into stem cells, and then re-grown them into some other body part, like a lung or tonsil. They can also change them into parts that are nearly you. Join the Overground as they are curiously repulsed by organoids: The synthetic step between cells, organs and…

The future is now, and it’s lab grown meat: eagle steaks, extruded meat, slaughterhouse daycare, cellular agriculture. Nothing seems impossible as startup companies spring up with industrial-scale cell cultures, and make kinder, better burgers...named Floyd? Featured Technology: https://www.robertyaman.com/; https://www.memphismeats.com/; http://ww…

Every idea is built on assumptions. Multi-billion-dollar drug development projects are based on less-than-perfect understandings of underlying disease. That understanding could be wrong...at a cost of more than $1,000,000,000. Join the Overground as they pop the balloon of scientific orthodoxy with recent discoveries that challenge what we thought …

The Overground turns its terrible attention to drones. To usher in age of drone management the crew composes drone limericks, drone haiku and odes to improved efficiency in traffic management, crop husbandry and the infrastructure of 21st century renewable energy. Featured Technology: https://www.flintbox.com/public/project/29935/; http://innovatio…

At this very moment Norwegian Bond villains are Photoshopping your pictures to swing local school board elections. University innovation to the rescue! Join the Overground to learn how public-private partnerships are leveraging university innovation and corporate efficiency to secure our elections. Featured Technology: https://www.popsci.com/adobe-…

Smaller than a single cell, and using bleeding edge technology, next-generation robots will remake biological systems with the precision of human engineering and the innovation of the internet... sometime in the distant future. Joe went searching for next generation nanotechnology and came back with tubes, nanotubes that is. Listen as the Overgroun…