Why Read: Each year, the SNS team puts together Future in Review, a conference featuring top minds across technology, economics, geopolitics, and science. Focused on current events and predicting what is coming down the pike in the next 3-5 years, FiRe highlights key technologies, as well as critical global issues affecting us now. Read on for a walk through a day in the life at Future in Review.

Keep a little fire burning, however small, however hidden. - Cormac McCarthy

This was the best entrepreneurial event I've ever been to. - John Pope, PhD, President & CEO, Carbon GeoCapture, 2025 FiReStarter

The best technology conference in the world. - The Economist

Future in Review is just around the corner, and the entire SNS/FiRe team has been hard at work this year to once again bring you the best conference in the world. For those who have previously attended (or "participated," as we say), you know already how fascinating, useful, and fun it is. We can't wait to see you again.

For those who haven't - well, definitely give this a read, while there's still time to sign up.

What better way to offer a view of why FiRe 2026 is a must-attend than, appropriately, a taste of predictive science fiction?

Let's take a little trip.

Imagine, if you will, that you've just woken up in La Jolla, California. It is June 1, 2026. As an SNS member, you decided a few weeks ago that this was the year you would finally join us for Future in Review - effectively, the annual summit meeting in which readers of this publication gather to share ideas, assess the near future, create new companies, and invest.

It's partly sunny, of course, because it doesn't rain at this time of year in San Diego. But a marine layer still hangs over the tops of the eucalyptus trees around the hotel as you sip coffee in your room and mentally prep for what will be a whirlwind day. Having decided to start with a stroll around the grounds, you pass Esther Dyson doing the backstroke in the hotel pool - her morning routine. FiRe chair and CEO Mark Anderson is in the lobby, talking animatedly about Einstein's relativity theory with David Brin and a mix of FiRe and Pattern staff.

I am waiting for my coffee at the lobby deli, texting 2 or 3 people about event to-dos for the day. Berit whisks through on her way to the shuttle, looking preoccupied; she's probably just finished rescheduling something that will go on a slide in 20 minutes' time, and she needs to get to the Qualcomm Instituteat UC San Diego to confer with Scott before showtime. Sally is chatting animatedly with Brenda Cooper about Brenda's latest book.

You follow Berit out to the hotel entrance, checking for your conference badge. As you climb into the shuttle, you pass John Mattison in his signature ball cap. He's describing to Drummond Reed a new framework for responsible AI he's working on. You find a seat beside Divya Chander and David Kim, who are in deep conversation about the ways in which new synthetic biology approaches could completely change our world. It makes for one heck of a listen on the short commute.

The morning fog is beginning to burn off as you settle down at a table on the QI patio with an acai cup and a glass of water. Nathan McDonald sits across from you, talking to Neal Bloom and Adam Jacobs about the panel on family office investing they'll be doing on Wednesday. Emma and the FiReFellow interns come through to remind everyone that sessions will be starting soon, and you head into the auditorium at QI's Atkinson Hall.

Morning

The first session is about patterns emerging right now that will affect our future. Right off the bat, Ramesh Rao drops into a conversation that a lab in the building's clean room, just around the corner, is making nano bots at this exact moment. You're wondering whether it would be possible to go see it, when he adds that there are windows in the hall allowing visitors to watch the work.

As the next session starts, the screen behind the stage lights up with one of the most beautiful photos of the galaxy you've ever seen. Mario Juric explains that this is never-before-seen imagery from the new Vera C. Rubin telescope in Chile - deemed the best camera ever built. One after another, you're spellbound by vast images packed with millions of stars; space is not so empty and dark after all. As you discover that this is the first telescope capable of tracking asteroids in real-enough time to detect threats to planet Earth, the session switches again.

Those in the next session seek to explain something you can't quite figure out at first. (This is unusual for you, as you normally think of yourself as pretty intelligent. Heck, you are pretty intelligent. But this is deep stuff.)

This panel is focused around physics, and you aren't a physicist. Did someone just say that over the last year he was able to add to Mark Anderson's Resonance Theory in a way that creates a unified field theory? Isn't that the famous Theory of Everything that Einstein was torturously searching for to reconcile relativity? Wow.

You grab some sparkling water and run into Amory Lovins, founder and chair emeritus of the Rocky Mountain Institute, who is explaining why there's no reason we can't use current existing technology far more efficiently and create a huge amount of abundant energy on the planet. The concept that maybe AI won't lead us into energy bankruptcy is still on your mind as Christopher Bramwell starts describing ways that governments can protect our data sovereignty from agentic tools. Balazs Nemethi is onstage, too, and you recall the podcast he did with Berit on how .agent domains can help us ID and build trust when it comes to all these AI agents we're swimming in. You make a mental note to get Esther's new book when she mentions that it addresses how limited longevity is, in fact, a key part of what makes us human.

Potential problems with AI seem very future-forward as Andrew Wallis OBE dives next into new ways we can track and fight human trafficking in today's world. Finally, as a perfect prelude to lunch (you've already begun planning to top your spring salad with the salmon glazed in orange-infused honey), Amir Zarrinpar talks about how important our gut microbiome is to our health states. Brian Bentow is with him; it turns out that tomorrow night he's doing tastings at the test kitchen of the anti-inflammatory, non-allergenic line of sauces he's developing at GetSaucy. Yum. You head out to grab some food and happen to find a seat at a table where Bill Hilf and Ed Finn are discussing how to build a better world for the next generation and what role ecological conservation will play.

Afternoon

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Patrick Byrne kicks it off in style after lunch. You may be deep in lingering conversation, but Patrick worked on Air Force One, for Pete's sake, and you don't want to miss a minute. He's talking about how to defend critical infrastructure from agentic AI attacks. One thing flows into another on the FiRe stage, so today's penultimate session is lively and security-focused as well. Mark Listes, Daniella Taveau, and Pablo Breuer are here, and they're talking about the ways in which misinformation campaigns are potentially enabled by AI tools and how to work the policy side of that problem.

Then the energy in the room shifts: the FiReStarters session is about to begin. Each of these companies has been selected for impact, its tech suite, and the likeliness that its new technology will improve world conditions. Hand-picked by members of the SNS and FiRe community, they do not disappoint. Pitches are 7 minutes long, pithy, and full of the kind of tech our world desperately needs.

Arnold Leitner's company, Leitnium, is building modular DC home battery solutions with an entirely novel design (that's German engineering for you).Bala Anand Jeldi founded Precision Additives and is 3D-printing magnesium alloys for the aerospace industry. His is the only company that can do this; it's all moat. Alex Howland's Virbela is using virtual campuses to bring great education to the doorstep of anyone in the world. Sonia Trigueros' NIVD is making nanosensors for in vitro diagnostics. Han Cao is microanalyzing the human genome, providing the most accurate picture of our genetic makeup ever seen, at Dimension Genomics. Evan Lee's SevenPointOne used AI to develop a tool that can listen to your voice for 1 minute and tell you if you're showing signs of cognitive decline, at higher rates of specificity and sensitivity than anything on the market now. Kevin Pomplun's LENS uses anonymized traffic-camera footage to notify emergency services of accidents and dangers on our roadways, dramatically increasing response time when people need it most.

Whew. It's time for a snack and hydration before heading off to your choice of end-of-day Breakout sessions.

You grab both in the atrium and go upstairs, passing Qualcomm Institute- hosted teams along the way working on some of the most innovative projects in the world. In the elevator, you meet Caitlin Hardy, a Naval Academy graduate and University of Washington MBA who's hosting a panel on undersea drone technology tomorrow. It sounds like she's in the middle of a conversation with Vanessa Pegueros about whether the Russians can hack the Ukrainian drones currently striking oil ships in the Mediterranean.

The Breakout you're attending? Host David Anderman's (former COO & general counsel at Lucasfilm and general counsel of SpaceX) session about nation-states making sovereign satellite constellations.

After mixing it up on satellites, it's time to do the same with this year's FiReStarter companies. Back on the ground floor, you see a bar setup on the patio. Drinks are flowing, and between charcuterie and salad (and, for the hungrier among us, rigatoni), you peruse the FiReStarter tables and meet the CEOs whose pitches fascinated you this afternoon. For the next two hours, the pace is your own; conversation flits back and forth about incredible tech solutions to some of our toughest problems. You realize that saving lives, fixing climate change, and promoting education make for an excellent reception theme. It's too bad there aren't more social events that mix hard-hitting tech with soft cheeses.

Evening

One must never let the fire go out in one's soul. - Vincent Van Gogh

What a day. Exhausted, exhilarated, and exactly where you want to be, you're ready for a break. Luckily, back in the auditorium it's movie night.  This year, FiReFilms' chosen Featured Film is The Lake. Selected for Sundance, this eye-opening documentary tells the story of the scientists, politicians, and activists working to track toxins in, and raise the dwindling levels of, the Great Salt Lake and ultimately beyond. At the intersection of climate change, conservation, agriculture, and water politics, the film is brilliantly directed by the Peabody- and Emmy-nominated Abby Ellis. Executive produced byAppian Way legends Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, and Phillip Watson, The Lake covers one of the top environmental issues in the nation. Oh, and former FiRe speaker Spencer Cox brought the issue straight to the White House in April.

Climbing aboard the shuttle to the hotel, you enjoy a quiet moment, still pondering the variety of things you've learned today. Back at the Hyatt, you look over and notice Sam Perry, Deji Bryce Olakatun, Richard Marshall, half the FiRe staff, and some others you can't make out in the lamplights sitting on the patio outside the lobby bar. It sounds like they're talking about how to fix the global economy. This is going to be too good to pass up.

After tuning in for a bit, you realize how late it has gotten. It's time for bed, and you don't want to miss Gary Marcus in the morning talking about the limitations of generative AI. You head up to your room for some much-needed shuteye, wondering in the elevator what Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE, former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), will have to say tomorrow about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

As you climb into bed, you remember that tomorrow evening is a sushi dinner (sustainably sourced, of course - we checked) at the Scripps Institution for Oceanography's new Marine Conservation and Technology Facility (MCTF), which looks out at the sunset over the Pacific from a high clifftop. Scripps is doing a show-and-tell, and you want to ask Stu Sandin about the coral reef project he's working on in Belize.

Drifting off, you can't help but smile: to think that 4 weeks ago, you hadn't even bought your ticket. Now, you're already glad you did. And this was only Day One.

This is truly a show you can't miss.

So don't.

Come keep the FiRe burning with us this year, May 31^-June 3.  Pro tip: If you register here before May 15, you'll save $1,000 on your ticket price.

I'll see you there.

Your comments are always welcome.

Sincerely,

Evan Anderson

[email protected]

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 UPCOMING EVENTS

 WHERE'S MARK?

Mark will be speaking at and attending: * The Future in Review (FiRe) conference, May 31-June 3, Qualcomm Institute, UC San Diego