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Voice assistants have already made significant strides in areas such as smart home integration, educational settings and business applications. However, their current capabilities are limited by a lack of robust reasoning and planning abilities.

In fact, just 7.8% of consumers believe voice technology is as smart and reliable as a real person today, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “ How Consumers Want to Live in the Voice Economy.”

While during Apollo 13 the phrase “Failure is Not an Option” was coined, in life and especially for students, failure must be an option for growth. In this talk, Michelle Lucas encourages failing forward. Michelle Lucas was raised in the Chicagoland area and found a passion for space very early in her life. She studied Aerospace Engineering, Communications & Space Studies at Purdue University and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. During this time she conducted microgravity fluids research on NASA’s KC-135 aircraft and also worked as a counselor at Space Camp in Florida. After graduation from college, Michelle spent 11 years working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. She began on the Safety Reliability & Quality Assurance Contract as part of the Payload Safety Review Panel for experiments flying to the International Space Station. After this she worked as a Flight Controller in Mission Control for the International Space Station for the Ops Plan Group and as a Astronaut Technical Instructor in the Daily Operations Group. Additionally she worked with each of the International Partners (European Space Agency – ESA, Japanese Space Agency – JAXA and the Russian Space Agency) in the field of Daily Operations, Flight Controller and Instructor Training. Michelle was responsible for the basic instructional training of all technical instructors for in the US as well as for the ISS International Partners. Michelle was part of the Core NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) team for 9 missions where astronauts would carry out analog space missions underwater in the Aquarius habitat. Along the way, Michelle found she has a passion for exciting the next generation and founded the non-profit Higher Orbits to use space to excite and inspire students about STEM, STEAM, Leadership, Teambuilding and Communication. Higher Orbits flagship program is called Go For Launch! This program allows students work with an astronaut and other accomplished individuals in the fields of Space, STEM and STEAM. Additionally, Michelle and a business partner run uniphi space agency – a talent management company for retired astronauts. Michelle is proud to be a Space Camp Alumni and member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame and believes that collaboration in space and STEM is the key to the stars! Space Inspires! This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

A recent study reveals how hydrogen gas, often touted as the energy source of tomorrow, provided energy in the past, at the origin of life 4 billion years ago. Hydrogen gas is clean fuel. It burns with oxygen in the air to provide energy with no CO2.

Hydrogen is a key to sustainable energy for the future. Though humans are just now coming to realize the benefits of hydrogen gas (H2 in chemical shorthand), microbes have known that H2 is a good fuel for as long as there has been life on Earth. Hydrogen is ancient energy.

The very first cells on Earth lived from H2 produced in hydrothermal vents, using the reaction of H2 with CO2 to make the molecules of life. Microbes that thrive from the reaction of H2 and CO2 can live in total darkness, inhabiting spooky, primordial habitats like deep-sea hydrothermal vents or hot rock formations deep within the Earth’s crust, environments where many scientists think that life itself arose.

UK-based construction technology firm Automated Architecture (AUAR) has bagged $3.2 million in funding to advance its mission to automate the construction process to solve housing-related issues.

AUAR is creating a network of dispersed micro-factories for environmentally friendly timber homes. AUAR claims that it presents an alternative vision for the built environment, in which local ecosystems comprising developers, contractors, architects, and communities are empowered to construct better homes instead of centralized automation in massive factories.