Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and others) [July 23, 2021]

Stephen Wolfram answers general questions from his viewers about science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series, also available on YouTube here: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Questions include: Is programming essential for the next breakthrough in neuroscience, both theoretical and practical? if yes, how, and is Wolfram language enough fulfill that purpose? - Any opinions on 'smart drugs'? - Is the Crick-Mitchison theory of REM sleep essential for understanding how mammalian brains work? - Can you comment on the history of plant breeding and computation? Or agricultural as a technology? It seems that old plant breeders think new molecular breeding techniques are a waste of time & money. 'Modern' breeders are using genomic selection with SNPs and gBLUP models... the history of most of our crops is very complicated usually involving strange hybrids. - Will the future bring surveillance and all-knowing government or deep fakes and other things that could be used to fake identity both physical and digital in order to get rid of government presence?