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PODCAST

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World

MaRS Discovery District

Solve for X uncovers what’s next. Join journalist Manjula Selvarajah as she dives into the latest tech innovations shaping our world. How are satellites revolutionizing the fight against climate change? Could music be the medicine we need? What will it take for Canada to lead the global tech scene and achieve a zero-emission future? Discover the answers to these questions and more in the next season of Solve for X.

technology earth sciences

All Episodes

00:43:23

Infinity quest: Is the hubris of tech billionaires...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2026/01/29

There’s no denying that technology plays — and will continue to play — a critical role in addressing the climate crisis. But could super-intelligent AI actually solve the problem for us, as several tech billionaires claim? Or is this over-reliance on speculative technology simply a way to distract us from tackling big, real-world problems. Manjula Selvarajah sits down with astrophysicist and author Adam Becker to separate the hype from reality. Featured in this episode: Adam Becker is an

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00:28:19

The grid: Is it time to rethink our power systems?...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/12/18

Our energy grid is something most of us only think about when it isn’t working. But growing demand for electricity is placing an even greater strain on a system that’s already facing increased pressure from extreme weather events. Can we build a more sustainable and dependable grid? In this episode, which originally aired September 2022, we explore how when it comes to climate change the challenge of greening the grid is as much an issue of complex engineering as it is about policy and

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00:48:10

Power to the people: How solar energy — cheap,...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/11/27

As you may have heard, solar energy is having a moment. Thanks to several technological breakthroughs, it’s now the cheapest form of energy generation in most places on Earth. This past summer, for the first time ever, it became the EU’s main source of electricity, and many other parts of the world — Pakistan, Nigeria and most famously, China — are likewise in the midst of a solar boom of astonishing speed and scale. In this episode, experts weigh in on the social, political and economic

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00:01:54

Solve for X S4 Trailer

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/11/20

Get ready for Solve for X season four! Join journalist Manjula Selvarajah as she goes behind the hype and headlines to make sense of how new technologies are reshaping our world. This season we learn about the solar revolution, robot dexterity, a device that zaps forever chemicals and more. Subscribe and listen beginning November 27. Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urbaninnovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of

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00:20:02

It’s different all over: Embracing the complexity of...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/09/18

By uncovering critical sex-based differences related to brain and metabolic health, researchers Gillian Einstein and Minna Woo are making the case that tailored interventions are key to improving health outcomes for women — and everyone else. Through their work exploring how conditions from Alzheimer’s to kidney disease can have varied effects depending on a patient’s sex, they underscore what the medical community as a whole can learn from experts in women’s health: Things aren’t as simple as we

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00:27:13

Cold comfort: How to keep cool without destroying the...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/07/17

David MacMillan is a manager in the City of Toronto’s Environment, Climate and Forestry division. He and his team are focused on planning for low-carbon development and energy systems, which includes implementing the Toronto Green Standard, which aims for net-zero new buildings by 2028, and renewable energy programs such as SolarTO and Wastewater Energy. Cameron Leitch is the director of solutions and innovations at Enwave Energy Corporation, which oversees the largest deep lake water cooling

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00:34:23

Heat warning: Are we ready for a hotter climate?

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/06/24

Eleni Myrivili is the United Nation’s first-ever global chief heat officer. An anthropologist by training, Myrivili understands how heat waves discriminate against older, less-wealthy and under-served demographics. Before being named to her UN post in 2022, Myrivili was Athens’ heat officer, where she coordinated the capital’s response to heat waves and helped renovate an ancient Roman aqueduct to bring water into the city.Further reading: What will it take to save our cities from a scorching

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00:34:00

Regrowth strategy: To adapt to a changing climate,...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/05/29

Featured in this episode: Martina Albert is a technician with the National Tree Seed Centre, based in Fredericton, N. B. The NTSC’s library holds more than 13,000 seed collections, with the purpose of protecting them from invasive pests, disease and climate change. Albert works on the Centre’s Indigenous Seed Collection Program, working with First Nations communities to collect and preserve tree seeds for generations to come. Blaine Peason is the CEO of Seedark, a climate tech venture that is

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00:23:36

Compounding the cure: How our overzealous efforts to...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/04/24

Featured in this episode: Dr. Scott Weese is a veterinary internal medicine specialist, chief of infection control and director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College. Weese is a member of the Global Leaders Group on antimicrobial resistance and has helped craft antimicrobial use guidelines for veterinarians in Canada. Further reading: The global threat of antibiotic resistanceAt the UN, world leaders are negotiating the biggest health

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00:29:39

Waste opportunity: Can we design plastic out of...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/03/20

Featured in this episode: Journalist Susan Freinkel is the author of Plastics: Toxic A Love Story, a book that traces the history of plastics through eight different objects, from the Frisbee to the IV bag, and examines how plastic negatively affects our lives. Dr. Ted Schettler is a physician and expert on the health risks of plastics and phthalates. He’s the scientific advisor at Health Care Without Harm, an organization that has dedicated more than 30 years to reducing healthcare’s environmental

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00:25:03

Fire alarm: Rethinking innovation in an increasingly...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/02/13

The wildfire that devastated Fort McMurray in 2016 burned more than 579,000 hectares of land, drove 88,000 people from their homes and caused nearly $10 billion in damages. It’s often seen as an outlier, a freak natural disaster. But extreme wildfires, like those that tore through Los Angeles earlier this year, are becoming more intense and harder to control. “We all saw the smoke, and too many of us have seen the fire,” says John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. “Weather is

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00:25:23

Cracking the code: How generative biology could...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2025/01/23

Can AI unravel the mysteries of human biology? Could it help design specialty treatments and cures for disease? Geoffrey von Maltzahn and his team at Generate:Biomedicines are bullish on both counts. AI has greatly accelerated progress in genome engineering, bioengineering and nanotechnology and they are getting closer to developing tailored therapeutics. “Six years ago, this was a crazy idea,” he says. “We’re now convinced that 100 percent of protein therapeutics are going to get created this way.”

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00:39:42

Innovation hotline: Answering the tech sector’s...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2024/12/19

Featured in this episode: Alison Nankivell has spent more than 25 years moving Canada’s economic needle forward. Before being named CEO of MaRS in early 2024, Alison held pivotal roles at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Export Development Canada (EDC). At MaRS, she brings an experienced playbook to support startups working in climate, health and emerging technology. Kris Bennatti is the CEO and co-founder of Hudson Labs, a Toronto-based startup

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00:33:46

Soak it up: Can sponge cities save us from flooding?

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2024/11/21

Featured in this episode: Kongjian Yu is a Beijing-based landscape architect and founder of Peking University’s College of Architecture and Landscape. His concept of sponge cities — designing cities to absorb water — is being applied in urban areas across the globe. Further reading:Landscape architect Kongjian Yu, pioneer of the “sponge city" concept, wins the 2023 Oberlander PrizeHow letting water be water can lead to better climate resilienceKongjian Yu has a plan for urban flooding: “Sponge

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00:33:48

Striking a chord: Why neuroscientists believe music...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2024/10/24

Music makes us feel better — for most of us, this is an intuitive truth. But scientists are only now beginning to understand the remarkable ways that music affects our brains. With the help of innovation, researchers are working to assess and codify the whats, whys and hows that could help us harness this power as a therapeutic tool to treat people grappling with everything from mood disorders to Parkinson’s disease. Their data is helping prove that music could be one of our most vital, valuable and

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00:00:51

Solve for X S3 Trailer

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2024/09/27

In season 3 of Solve for X, we meet the innovators and entrepreneurs solving for climate change, economic disparity, diseases and more. Subscribe and listen beginning September 26.Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urbaninnovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

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00:25:08

The methane hunter: Meet the man who is tracking down...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2024/09/26

With more than 80 times the short-term warming power of carbon dioxide, methane is a significant climate threat. But finding and fixing methane leaks is no small feat and ground-based detection methods struggle to pinpoint this colourless, odourless gas. In this episode of Solve for X, host Manjula Selvarajah sits down with Stéphane Germain to discuss how his company’s fleet of microsatellites is transforming methane detection. By capturing data from orbit, this satellite technology offers new

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00:25:16

Beast mode: Can technology help protect some of the...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2024/01/04

We’re facing a global ecosystem crisis. Within the last 50 years alone, wildlife populations across the world have declined by a shocking 69 percent. But technology, with help from citizen science, is emerging as one of wildlife’s greatest allies. In this episode of Solve for X, we explore how remote sensing, robot boats and DNA analysis could revolutionize wildlife preservation, offering hope for everything from insects to whales.Featured in this episode: James Snider is the vice president of

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00:22:12

Changing tastes: Can technology sustainably feed the...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2023/12/14

Climate change is putting many of the foods we love at risk. Add in rapid population growth — the planet will be home to 9.7 billion people by 2050 — and it’s clear we need to reimagine how we feed ourselves. As food security expert Leonore Newman says, “we are running short on planet.” But is society ready for replacement proteins and lab-grown meats? Whether it’s cell-grown salmon or chili lime crickets, the plate of the future is going to look a little bit different. In this episode of Solve for

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00:22:54

Decade of decisions: How better infrastructure can...

Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World ·

2023/11/30

From Wi-Fi to power stations, roads to pipelines, our infrastructure is stressed. Built for a climate that no longer exists, our systems are failing at an increasing pace. But to fix what’s broken goes beyond structural repair — we also need to address the inequities baked into our infrastructural systems and injustices from past developments. Amid these challenges, we have the chance to reimagine the future of infrastructure for a better world. On this episode of Solve for X, we sit down with Deb

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37 results

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