Athletic Performance Limits, Distracted Driving, Gift of Gab

We Are Nowhere Close to the Limits of Athletic Performance (16:46) Dr. Stephen Hsu is the vice president for research and a professor of theoretical physics at Michigan State University. His interest range from theoretical physics and cosmology to computer science and biology. He has written about the future of human intelligence and the advance of artificial intelligence.  During the Rio Summer 2016 Olympics, athletes such as Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Simone Biles, and Katey Laedecky pushed the limits of athleticism in an amazing display strength, power, and grace.  As race times get faster and faster, and routines get more complicated and stunning, we need to ask the question: Are we near the limits of athletic performance? Dr. Stephen Shoe share his thoughts. The Distracted Driving Epidemic (1:06:11) Vijay Dixit is a management and business process design consultant who has worked in the IT, health insurance, and energy industries. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, he moved to the U.S. in 1974 to do graduate work in clean technologies and business management. After losing their daughter Shreya to a distracted driver in 2007, Vijay and his wife established the Shreya R. Dixit Memorial Foundation to conduct awareness and education campaigns in the states of Minnesota and Connecticut. Mr. Dixit also wrote a book One Split Second: The Distracted Driving Epidemic - How It Kills and How We Can Fix It. In addition to his advocacy work with the foundation, Vijay drew on his engineering background to pioneer the development of the world’s first Adaptive Massive Open Online Course (aMOOC) for combating distracted driving. Vijay Dixit on how we can fight distracted driving. Liana Tan - Goal Meeting (1:35:24) Student Producer Liana Tan has meet her goal of creating 50 "Tangents". She set a goal when she began this project and after long hours and trial and error she finally met her goal. Liana shares some tips on how to set and meet goals. The Gift of Gab (1:33:03) Dr. David Crystal is a writer, editor, lecturer, broadcaster, and world-renowned expert on the history and usage of the English language. He is also the author of many books on language including his most recent, “The Gift of Gab: How Eloquence Works.”  Have you ever had to give a wedding speech or a business presentation, or even just had to retell a story in front of your group of friends and found yourself sweating bullets and fumbling for words? You might wonder how politicians, celebrities, and businessmen do it. How do they speak so smoothly and convey their message effectively? David Crystal teaches us what eloquence is and how we can be better at it.