Future Tense

The design of your city contributes to how much rain you get. Researchers have found a 'wet island effect' and it's likely to shape the future construction of our cities. Also, better understanding how Artificial Intelligence is used in conflict; and the major Australian study that calls into question the effectiveness of carbon trading.GuestsDr Megan Evans – Senior Lecturer, Public Sector Management, UNSW CanberraProfessor Dev Niyogi – Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at AustinProfessor Toni Erskine – International Politics, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, ANUFurther informationStatement from the Clean Energy Regulator

Military spending around the world has reached a new peak, and it's still going up. All eyes are on Ukraine and the Middle East as new strategies and weapons are being put to the test. But are the traditional international rules of warfare too focussed on old technologies? Can they be adjusted to encompass cyber hacking and the use of online civilian proxies?GuestsProfessor Johanna Weaver – Director of the Tech Policy design Centre, Australian National University, ANUProfessor Alexander Hill – Military Historian, University of CalgaryDr Nan Tian – Senior Researcher and Programme Director, SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, SIPRIDr Jack Watling – Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare, Royal United Services Institute (UK)Further informationGlobal Roaming - THE NEW FRONTLINES 01: Welcome to the future of war

Sometimes, despite the hype, despite extensive funding, and despite clever and ingenious thinking, good ideas fail. Or at least don’t live up to their initial promise. There are lessons to be learnt and interesting anecdotes to be told. In this episode we look at four future-focused projects that have never really taken off: Google Glass, solar roads, space tourism and hyperloop technology. GuestsDr Paul Sutter – Astrophysicist, SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, New York Sarah Marquart – freelance journalist, editor of From Quarks to QuasarsAndrew Hawkins – Transportation editor, The Verge Quinn Myers – Chicago-based journalist and author 'Google Glass'

The UN General Assembly has passed a Declaration on Future Generations. It’s designed to ensure the generations of tomorrow aren’t disadvantaged by the decisions we make today. But is it more than feel good symbolism? Could it one day be as powerful as the Declaration on Human Rights? Also, how a focus on the here and now restricts visionary thinking; and we get the results from the latest 4-day work week trial, this time in Germany.  GuestsProfessor Thomas Hale – Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University  Professor Brett Bowden – Professor of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, School of Humanities & Communication Arts, Western Sydney University Professor Julia Backmann – University of MünsterFurther information University of Münster - Germany’s four-day working week trialBlavatnik School of Government - Implementing a Declaration on Future GenerationsBrett Bowden - Now is Not the Time: Inside our Obsession with the Present