07 February 2009

TED 2009 minutes from Ethan Zuckerman: Crazy, sexy TED?

Ethan Zuckerman is blogging TED2009, as the conference unfolds. He chose to highlight a few of the boldest participants in yesterday’s last session “Dare.” Here’s a look at what he had to say about aerialist Ueli Gegenschatz:

Ueli Gegenscatz at TED2009 Photo: TED/Asa Mathat

“They’re followed on stage by Ueli Gegenschatz, who is crazy, as far as I’m concerned. He tells us he’s “addicted to air”. What he means is that he’s addicted to jumping off things. He began with paragliding, then moved to skydiving, and eventually to skysurfing – diving with a stiff board allowing him to fall more slowly, and with twists and tricks. He’s best known for his wingsuit flying, jumping from high objects wearing a suit that allows him to control his rate of secent and fly laterally as well as down. Recent B.A.S.E. jumps have included a jump from the Matterhorn and from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.”

Ueli was followed by author Mary Roach, whose new book “Bonk” explains the science of sex. She presented 10 things you might not know about orgasms, and Ethan’s got the full list. To spice things up further, dance troupe Capacitor gave a technically brilliant and positively sensual performance.

It really was some crazy, sexy TED.

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