Today, Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School and the man behind today’s TEDTalk, agreed to answer any question that our TED Facebook fans proposed. Here are his answers, accompanied by a personal note: I thank you all for your excellent and thought-provoking questions. Since Tinkering School is itself being tinkered with, it is always […]
Gever Tulley uses engaging photos and footage to demonstrate the valuable lessons kids learn at his Tinkering School. When given tools, materials and guidance, these young imaginations run wild and creative problem-solving takes over to build unique boats, bridges and even a rollercoaster! (Recorded at TED University 2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: […]
Someone always asks the math teacher, “Am I going to use calculus in real life?” And for most of us, says Arthur Benjamin, the answer is no. He offers a bold proposal on how to make math education relevant in the digital age. (Recorded at TED@PalmSprings 2009, February 2009 in Palm Springs, California. Duration: 2:59) […]
TED2009 speaker Nandan Nilekani has stepped down from the company he co-founded, Infosys, to take a cabinet-level role in the Indian government. It’s a rare step in Indian politics — in fact, the Times of India calls Nilekani’s move “the biggest movement from private sector to government in India in recallable memory.” Nilekani will head […]
Via Discover magazine via Akiyoshi Kitaoka: Incredibly, the blue and the green spirals are the same color. From the article: The orange stripes go through the “green” spiral but not the “blue” one. So without us even knowing it, our brains compare that spiral to the orange stripes, forcing it to think the spiral is […]
In this uplifting talk, Katherine Fulton sketches the new future of philanthropy — one where collaboration and innovation allow regular people to do big things, even when money is scarce. Giving five practical examples of crowd-driven philanthropy, she calls for a new generation of citizen leaders. (Recorded at TED2007, March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: […]
Image source: Laptop.org (OLPC) An article in MIT’s Technology Review reports on a surprising new use for One Laptop Per Child’s user interface, Sugar. From the article: The open-source education software developed for the “$100 laptop” can now be loaded onto a $5 USB stick to run aging PCs and Macs with a new interface […]
Long conflict can wreck a country, leaving behind poverty and chaos. But what’s the right way to help war-torn countries rebuild? At TED@State, Paul Collier explains the problems with current post-conflict aid plans, and suggests 3 ideas for a better approach. (Recorded at TED@State, at the US State Department, June 2009, in Washington, DC. Duration: […]
Update, June 24: After digging further into the issues surrounding this talk, we’ve decided to withdraw it altogether. It wowed, but also misled. Our apologies to those upset by this episode. Our thanks to those who alerted us to the problem. Meanwhile, we’re on the look out for a new, better way to showcase this […]
Today, eminent psychologist and TEDTalks star Philip Zimbardo (see his talks on evil and the paradox of time) agreed to answer TED’s Facebook fans’ questions on Absolutely Anything — and he did! Read on: Does time orientation influence which children become bullies? — Kathy Hermanv Interesting question, but there’s no research on this relationship. Bullies […]
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo says happiness and success are rooted in a trait most of us disregard: the way we orient toward the past, present and future. He suggests we calibrate our outlook on time as a first step to improving our lives. (Recorded at TED University 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 6:34) […]
Organ virtuoso Qi Zhang plays her electric rendering of “Ridiculous Fellows” from Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges” orchestral suite. This exhilarating performance from TEDx USC features the Yamaha Electone Stagea, a rare, imported instrument specially programmed by Qi herself. (Recorded at TEDx USC, February 2009, in Los Angeles, California. Duration: 3:05) The TED Blog […]
Via TEDPrize.org: 2006 TED Prize winner Cameron Sinclair recently wrote to update us on the amazing success of this year’s Open Architecture Challenge. The challenge was for teams of teachers, students, architects and designers to work together to design the classroom of the future for a school of their own choosing. Tens of thousands of […]
Surgeon and inventor Catherine Mohr tours the history of surgery (and its pre-painkiller, pre-antiseptic past), then demos some of the newest tools for surgery through tiny incisions, performed using nimble robot hands. Fascinating — but not for the squeamish. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:55) Watch Catherine Mohr’s talk from […]
Today, we posted Diane Benscoter’s revealing talk on being a Moonie and how cult thought can lead people to do the unthinkable. It’s a topic that’s not often talked about and that fascinates many, so, to bring you more from Diane the TEDBlog caught up with her for an interview. We talked about her time […]
Diane Benscoter talks about how she joined the Moonies — and stayed for five long years. She shares an insider’s perspective on cults and extremist movements, and proposes a new way to think about today’s most troubling conflicts. Watch Diane Benscoter’s talk from TED U 2009 on TED.com where you can download this TEDTalk, rate […]