TEDBlog July, 2009 Archive
23 July 2009
TED's volunteer translators weigh in on Session 9 and 10: Now in Greek!
Here are unedited running notes for Sessions 9 and 10 from our crack team of Open Translation Project translators, taken as they watch the live webcast of TEDGlobal 2009!
Click through to view the running notes for Session 9 and 10 in …
23 July 2009
Eric Giler at TEDGlobal 2009: Running notes on Session 9
Running notes from TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9.
Eric Giler is working on bringing wireless transmission of electric power to a commercial scale.
Early visions of wireless power were first conceived by Nikola Tesla about 100 years ago. He, in fact, didn’t know why anyone would want to transfer power using wires. But we love electricity so much that we’ve dragged hundreds of millions of miles of copper wiring all over the earth. It’s a huge drain on resources to create the infrastructure. In fact, in contemporary parlance, Eric Giler says “wires suck.” (So do batteries, he says.)
Enter wireless electricity: MIT physicists recently invented technology that can light a 60-watt light bulb at several meters. The concept of “resonant energy transfer” — where the same principles used in electrical transformers are used to send electricity over a long distance — was created when a professor was awoken three nights in the row by a cell phone whose battery was dying. He wondered “Why can’t all this electricity in the walls just come out and power my phone?”
“WiTricity” works using the principle of inductance, where an electric charge is stored in the form of a magnetic field in a coil of a conductor. Two such coils, resonating at the same frequency, can exchange charge across space. This is not radiative power transfer — since it uses only magnetic fields. The technology also limits power transfer to other objects. It’s completely safe and, Giler assures us, won’t to the sort of thing we heard about Rebecca Saxe’s talk (where a magnetic burst interferes with the brain’s processing).
Giler sees unlimited applications for WiTricity – powering electric cars (who, he asks, really wants to have to plug in a car?), appliances of all sorts, industrial manufacturing equipment … even an electrically heated dog bowl. (A business person recently approached Giler to ask him if wireless electricity could do such a thing.)
Giler then does a live, on-stage demo of his system. With a a rectangular conducting frame less than a meter wide mounted on a person-sized stand, and a base transmission unit plugged into a normal power strip, he powers on a regular, commercially available TV screen.
People often ask Giler, “But how small can you make this system?” Taking the example of a cell phone battery running out of charge, he takes a G1 phone and holds it near the transmitting coil — and the phone turns on automatically. He then does the same with an iPhone — and, sure enough, the green “battery charging” symbol appears on the screen.
Photo: Eric Giler at TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9: “Revealing energy,” July 23, 2009, in Oxford, UK. Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson
23 July 2009
Twitter Snapshot: Eric Giler shows off wireless energy
“Wires suck” was how electrician and innovator Eric Giler validated the motivation behind his startup WiTricity, which he demonstrated today in his talk at TEDGlobal 2009. Naturally, the main response was from people very eager to give it a try:
Eric Giler on the fantastic prospect of wirelessly charging our devices! (Would come in handy in simulcast lounge where outlets =gold) — ruthannharnisch
Eric Giler’s “Wireless Electricity” gives me hope for a greener future. Can’t wait for him to demonstrate the technology. — techramblers
I am indeed. In heaven. And Eric Giler is full of win. — kn0thing
Eric Giler: live demo of tv powered completely wirelessy. Also electric cars won’t need to be plugged in. Witricity – fantastic — brenthoberman
Wireless connectivity to charge your electronics! Awesome! … — sangco
23 July 2009
Steve Cowley at TEDGlobal 2009: Running notes on Session 9
Running notes from Session 9 at TEDGlobal 2009
When will we get fusion energy? We’ve known about fusion for a long time, but harnessing it as an energy source has been elusive. Steve Cowley is concerned about the rate at which we’re using up resources on Earth. And the realm of energy today is dominated by finite resources. “I’m the only one who enjoys it when Mr. Putin turns off the gas, because my budget goes up.”
But in the future, we won’t make energy from resources. We’ll make it from knowledge. In the future, the base load energy drivers will be fission, solar energy … and fusion. Solar is difficult, but being worked on. Many new nuclear reactors are being built right now in the UK and in China.
But fusion is clean, safe … and virtually inexhaustable. But there’s a catch: It’s extremely hard to do. We’ve been trying to do it for 50 years. (Note: Cowley researches “hot” fusion, not its discredited room-temperature counterpart.)
How nuclear energy works: Small elements want to join together to make bigger elements. In stars, for example, hydrogen joins to create helium, and then helium atoms fuse, and so on. But it has to happen under high heat and pressure. We are looking for an easier way to create fusion energy by colliding lithium and tritium in the right configuration. Lithium, which is in sea water, would last for 30 million years as fusion fuel — unlike the other energy sources which may run out shortly. The price of fusion would be the same price as current energy creation sources.
To create fusion energy, you must hold gas at 150 million degrees. People say “fusion is always 30 years away.” But it’s already been done. The JET fusion experiment got 16 megawatts of power in 1997, and the same device will break records when it’s fired up in the next years. But that’s not in the form of usable electricity yet. His estimate says that we’ll have real electric power from fusion in 2030.
His final statement: We need to push that date forward as quickly as possible.
Photo: Steve Cowley at TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9: “Revealing energy,” July 23, 2009, in Oxford, UK. Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson
23 July 2009
Twitter Snapshot: Steve Cowley says we'll have fusion soon
Theoretical physicist Steve Cowley acknowledged today that while fusion is really hard to do it’s also the planet’s best shot of having a clean and safe renewable energy source. Twitter seemed to be shaken by this desirable concept:
Okay that woke me up (Steve Cowley) — RichMulholland
Steve Cowley’s fusion talk is making me as excited about fusion as when I first unlocked it in SimCity — kn0thing
Fusion. Want it now. 150 million degrees makes it happen. So what’s preventing it? Not ” cold fusion” nonsense. EU Power awaits in 2030 — joeltalks
the best form of energy isn’t the SUN, it is the one that you save… — leeander
Can’t tweet the nuclear physics talk from Steve Cowley. Requires my full attention. — ruthannharnisch
Remember that those of you watching the live feed can share your reactions directly to @TEDGlobal.
23 July 2009
Nick Veasey at TEDGlobal 2009: Running notes from Session 9
Running notes from TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9.
Nick Veasey uses X-rays to create photographs that reveal the inner workings and structure of objects such as shoes, a city bus, a tractor, a bat … and men’s briefs. (He calls the men’s briefs “exquisite.”) Instead of focusing on solely biological entities, he also looks into (looks through) technology. But nature is Veasey’s greatest inspiration. Design and architecture, he notes, are both related deeply to nature.
He takes his X-ray photographs in a shed with a door of lead and steel and thick concrete walls. He uses a high-powered X-ray machine. But instead of looking for disease, he looks for beauty. Since he wants to display his pictures in large format, and since today’s typical X-ray technology only takes lower-resolution photographs, he uses a drum X-ray from the 1980s, often photographing one component at a time in order to execute his larger photographs.
He spent three months X-raying an entire 747 in an aircraft hangar.
He also adds coloring to his X-ray photographs now. The coloring is not accurate to the actual information gotten from the original X-ray image, but it adds a beautiful quality to the photographs. (Coloring also helps his 2D images look 3D.) He then shows a short video of him at work in his lab, as he X-rays objects such as toy dolls, boots, and a multi-story home complete with inhabitants.
As radiation is highly dangerous, Veasey X-rays cadavers to produce the human elements of his photographs. Veasey himself has already been exposed to a dangerous amount of radiation. He wears a device that measures the amount of radiation he’s been exposed to.
It’s work that encourages us to consider the unseen inner workings of our world.
Nick Veasey at TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9: “Revealing energy,” July 23, 2009, in Oxford, UK. Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson
23 July 2009
Twitter Snapshot: Nick Veasey reveals what's on the inside
Nick Veasey creates art with x-rays to expose the hidden interiors of everyday objects, including clothing, dolls, computers, leaves, and even… cadavers! Veasey reveals the surprising beauty and intricate structure of the mundane. His newest project: sawing a MINI Cooper in half and pasting inside a compilation of x-ray images of all of the parts! Twitterers were wowed, to say the least:
Nick Veasey: takes x-rays of ordinary objects — his shoes, a bus! (using a cargo scanning x-ray), a bulldozer! – kokoe2
X-ray fashion from Nick Veasey – “it doesn’t matter if it’s me or Kate Moss wearing it – it’ll look the same.” – WiredUK
Wooow, x-rays of nature for architecture — vangeest
Nick Veasey’s X-ray photography is phenomenal: http://www.nickveasey.com — brainpicker
Nick Veasey waits in the queue for dead bodies to use in his X-ray art. There’s a queue? Who knew? — digitalronin
Veasey points out child’s doll xrayed looks like robot, humanistic but also spookily futuristic with pins holding limbs to torso — Thandelike
What do you think? Share with us on Twitter: @TEDGlobal.
23 July 2009
Ross Lovegrove at TEDGlobal 2009: Running notes from Session 9: Revealing Energy
Running notes from TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9.
As a young boy, Lovegrove says, he lived near a cliff shore, where the outgoing tide would reveal fossils that had washed against it. Since that age, he was driven by speculation, by thinking, and the deep inspiration of the forms of nature. Although we call him an industrial designer, his current job, he says, isn’t making things, but “walking, thinking, dreaming.”
Lovegrove unveils his new project, Lovegrove Genesis, which imagines combining ancient biological designs with the modern production of objects. He imagines a spherical “membrane” out of which might be born any form we want to create.
He presents a slide filled with images of ancient biological forms such as diatoms, intermixed with contemporary designs such as a briefcase or a table. By conceptually combining different forms along this grid using what he calls “neural paths,” he finds new types of products that he might be able to generate. For example, a designed object might, over its lifetime (or span of ownership) change its own properties the way a living creature would.
Lovegrove seeks to create a “textural beauty” to his objects, the same kind of beauty natural objects have. There is no “unused side” to any of his designs — you can’t look at the bottom of one of his tables, for example, and find it unvarnished. He shows a video of “single-surface deformation,” which shows how a simple, flat form can evolve to fold and contort into three dimensions to suit a particular need — such as a table. Lovegrove uses computer models to test various designs.
Lovegrove shows the world’s lightest suitcase. Last year, 3.2 billion seats were sold on aircraft, and so lightness of luggage is a very important factor. The suitcase has no lining, but was created as a single mold by a large Japanese company that, he found later, took interest in his project because they were interested in learning new molding techniques.
A humorous moment: “If you keep a straight face, you can get exactly what you want in Japan.” When he designed JAL, he proposed putting a bonsai tree on every seat. Instead of saying no, the firms there did two months of serious research and concluded that they “could not keep bonsai trees alive in a cabin environment.”
Lovegrove points out: “Our ancestors made everything.” They had to make tools and objects that were light enough that they could carry them around everywhere with them. “Lightness is a human objective.”
50% of Lovegrove’s studio’s time is spent on pure research on projects that attempt to achieve these human objectives.
Photo: Ross Lovegrove at TEDGlobal 2009, Session 9: “Revealing energy,” July 23, 2009, in Oxford, UK. Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson
23 July 2009
Twitter Snapshot: Ross Lovegrove's organic, elegant designs
Industrial designer Ross Lovegrove delved into his design philosophy of organic essentialism. Lovegrove strips down his designs to their essence to create, he jokes, “good, sensible Welsh stuff”, alluding to his Welsh upbringing that emphasized economy and efficiency. Lovegrove extricates himself from the fear of failure and seeks out the impossible in his designs. The Twitter audience appreciates the simple beauty of Lovegrove’s philosophy and designs:
Ross Lovegrove is speaking freshly about his approach to organic design, at #TED Global. More captivating than other times I have seen him. — markwhiting
“I don’t know why people paint things” Ross Lovegrove at #TED – an approach I quite like. The elegance of what is there. :-) — markwhiting
Ross Lovegrove: a bicycle called SKIN viewed from above looks like a strange insect. The bike has a cover over the open spaces! — kokoe2
“If you keep a straight face long enough in Japan, you get whatever you want.” Sounds *awesome*. — nothingelseis
Lightweight bags that look like they have been formed by having air blown into them. Who would have thought luggage could be so cool — WiredUK
Check out Ross Lovegrove’s previous talk on organic design on ted.com. Also, let us know how your thoughts compare on Twitter: @TEDGlobal.
23 July 2009
Twitter Snapshot: The Radio Science Orchestra with Lydia Kavina
The Radio Science Orchestra united with Lydia Kavina, great-niece of Leon Theremin who invented the eponymous electronic instrument in 1920, to deliver a stellar performance at the start of Session 9: Revealing Energy. Kavina and the RSO played several futuristic selections, albeit without actually touching a physical instrument, but rather by interacting with the theremin’s electromagnetic field! Kavina and the RSO certainly captured the wonder of the audience on Twitter:
Incredible. Lydia Kavina acts as if she is plucking the air & using her fingers as bowstrings. Amazing spectacle as well as aural treat — jobsworth
Radio Science Orchestra. Makes me feel like a naive child – how do they make music from air? — FrankiesFancies
Radio Science Orchestra rocking the Doctor Who theme but are the TEDsters up in the aisle dancing again? — WiredUK
Niece of the creator of the Theremin playing Dr. Who themesong at #TED. Serious geekfest moment. http://yfrog.com/7hmkzsj — davetroy
Dr Who on the Theramin. Madder than a box of frogs but perfect for 1st session after lunch. http://twitpic.com/bbmx7 — MarkLittlewood
How did your impression of Lydia Kavina and the Radio Science Orchestra measure up with the above viewers? Share with us on Twitter (@TEDGlobal)!
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