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TED2009 minutes from Erik Hersman: Invent highlights

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Erik Hersman is still going strong, through the longest day of TED2009 liveblogging the details, so that Ethan Zuckerman can accept an award in Denver and we still don’t miss a moment. Most recently, he’s been documenting two of the most momentous talks from the last session, Invent. Here’s a bit of his take on Robert Full’s talk on gecko-inspired design:

“For TED, they have created a special gecko robot with a tail that does automatic air-righting if it falls when hanging upside down. He’s showing some amazing video of this robot, but even more inpressive video of the real geckos being blown around wind tunnels and on glass surfaces for how htey learned this. There’s even a video of a gecko flying through the air, gliding. Using it’s tail to guide its path through the air.”

Erik has also posted a clear breakdown of Shai Agassi’s vision of a future with all electric cars. Progress depends on visionary inventors like these.