TEDBlog November, 2009 Archive
25 November 2009
Turning dunes into architecture: Magnus Larsson on TED.com
Architecture student Magnus Larsson details his bold plan to transform the harsh Sahara desert using bacteria and a surprising construction material: the sand itself.(Recorded at TEDGlobal 2009, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 11:44)
Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/126Y
Watch Magnus Larsson’s talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 500+ TEDTalks.
24 November 2009
The best of times, the worst of times
Historically, American happiness nose-dives in tandem with economic downturns. But despite the recession, current indicators paradoxically show that Americans are, right now, quite happy indeed. Although happiness spiked downward with last fall’s market drop, by this summer, it was at an all-time high. Americans are more optimistic about their health, well-being, and finances than a year ago, and plan to have a merrier Christmas this year, though they will spend less money. Why?
According to this Time.com essay, as the American Dream became more and more exaggerated — big cars, huge homes, gigantic TVs and ever-evolving tech — “Expectation Inflation” set in. But our ballooning concept of the middle-class lifestyle has become unsustainable, to the relief of many Americans, who are learning the highest return on happiness comes from the causes they believe in and making others happy. To explore happiness further, check out Barry Schwartz’s talk on the paradox of choice, Dan Gilbert’s talks on our mistaken expectations and why we are happy, and Benjamin Wallace’s talk on the price of happiness.
24 November 2009
Transition to a world without oil: Rob Hopkins on TED.com
Rob Hopkins reminds us that the oil our world depends on is steadily running out. He proposes a unique solution to this problem — the Transition response, where we prepare ourselves for life without oil and sacrifice our luxuries to build systems and communities that are completely independent of fossil fuels. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2009, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 16:40)
Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/110U
Watch Rob Hopkins’ talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 500+ TEDTalks.
20 November 2009
LHC back in action
Tonight scientists at CERN are rebooting the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in an attempt to recreate conditions fractions of a second after the Big Bang by crashing opposing proton beams, traveling at nearly the speed of light, into one another. Shortly after the LHC’s debut last September, a manufacturing glitch in wiring led to a liquid helium explosion that left the surrounding equipment damaged and ice-coated. The LHC faced another (albeit more humorous) setback earlier this month when a bird dropped a piece of baguette into the machine, causing a short circuit.
Now that repairs are completed, scientists hope the LHC will offer insight into several puzzling theories such as dark matter and the Higgs boson, a particle which gives other particles mass. For the latest updates, follow @CERN on Twitter. To learn more about the LHC, check out Brian Cox’s talks on CERN’s supercollider and what went wrong at the LHC.
20 November 2009
Meet Anwar Dafa-Alla, TED volunteer translator
In the next weeks, the TED Blog will shine the spotlight on the fantastic TED volunteer translators — offering a glimpse of the people whose efforts continue to enrich the Open Translation Project. Today, we’d like you to meet Anwar Dafa-Alla.
Tell us about yourself.
My full name is Anwar Fatihelrahman Ahmed Dafa-Alla. I was born in Port Sudan, Sudan on January 23, 1978, and got my early education there. Graduated from the AASTMT as a Computer Engineer in 2003.
I’m married and have a small Sudanese family, my beloved wife Salma and my lovely daughter Egabl, the most valuable people in my life.
I’m the oldest brother of nine, four boys and four girls.
I worked as web designer/developer during my university days, and then as a part-time lecturer in my home town after graduation, for two colleges, and I established my own small company in the capital city of Khartoum in 2003, just before I came to South Korea and joined the Master course in Chungbuk National University, CheongJu, Chungbuk, Korea.
I finished my Master course in 2006, established my own company here also, till I suspended it and switched again to full-time Ph.D student at the same lab, hopefully to graduate next year, 2010. My research areas include, but are not limited to, databases, data mining, security, social networks, Internet applications and some mathematics.
What drew you to TED?
Some Sudanese friends and I are sharing video lectures, papers and whatever comes to our hands. My lab mate sent me a link to a very inspiring talk. Later I watched the “African Einstein” talk by Neil Turok. The first thing came to my mind is how to spread this talk to many people in my country and our continent.
We love to follow the new ideas and discoveries from all disciplines. And I’m always optimistic that the best that humanity can offer has yet to come.
Participating in establishing several NGO and groups in Sudan, such as Sudan Developers Association, I believe in the ability of open source and collaboration work in changing our world to a better place.
And that’s exactly what I found in TED. I believe that every idea worth spreading, no matter what’s my humble opinion about it, reveals some “hidden possibility” in human-human interaction or even human-machine interaction. I’m a big fan of Hans Rosling, and I always whisper to myself: let my dataset change your mindset. :-)
Why do you translate?
I’m a kind of restless guy, so I would do more than one task in parallel (multitask). Education is a life mission for me, through which my country Sudan, my continent, Africa, and the whole world can flourish.
I translate for the millions of Arabic language speakers (spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language). I translate because it’s a way to promote mutual respect between different cultures, people, religions, etc. Translation is a way to exchange ideas among us as humans.
I also translate for my friends; I think it’s a good gift that could change something in their lives. I translate for my daughter, your daughter and every kid and for the coming generations. I hope they’ll one day benefit a little from my translations.
Participating in the translation project is good method to show how compassionate we are toward each other, given that Arabic speakers are from different religious and cultural backgrounds.
Being from a country like Sudan, 7,000 years old, and the first civilization that built pyramids, I translate to promote peace and prosperity in my country also, complementing the efforts of my friend Emmanuel Jal who has done good steps that will change people’s perception about our Sudan — even among Sudanese themselves. The message of peace and love, that we’re one people, one nation, unlike what politics suggest. So, through translation I can change a little bit as well.
Currently my country has some conflicts; a lot of people have a single story about Sudan; even in our neighbor countries, we are stereotyped in a bad way. And that must be changed by us, solving our problems and participating actively in the global society. I met with a lot of talented people in Sudan; they couldn’t get the chance to show their creativity. For example, I met with Mamoun, 12 years old boy who does mathemagic. Unfortunately, he’s suffering from a disease.
I translate also because it tends to create new tribes and I meet a lot of great people. One of my favorite hobbies is to know people and cooperate with them for good causes. I would like to thank everyone who contributes something through TED, the compassionate place, where the are great Ideas Worth Spreading.
NEW! Read this Q&A in Chinese >>
19 November 2009
TEDxNASA and TEDxAmsterdam stream live tomorrow!
Tomorrow, Friday November 20th, two of our most exciting TEDx events so far will be streamed live. TEDxNASA was organized by NASA’s Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA). It’s a full day of talks on science, technology, entertainment and the arts. Speakers include author Mitch Albom, experimental artist Chakaia Booker innovation coach Gregg Fraley, robotics inventor Dr. Dennis Hong and Oprah & Friends radio host John St. Augustine.
TEDxAmsterdam is another day-long experience, with a string of fascinating speakers. The program will be opened by the Mayor of Amsterdam and includes the Netherlands’ Minister for Foreign Affairs, TEDsters Kevin Kelly and Bjarke Ingels as well as our own TEDGlobal Director Bruno Giussani and many other notable academics, artists, entrepreneurs and techies.
TEDxNASA runs from 10 am to 7 pm EST. To watch the stream, click here >>
To see the TEDxNASA speakers, click here >>
TEDxAmsterdam begins at 9:15 am CET. To watch the stream, go to the TEDxAmsterdam homepage here >>
To see the full TEDxAmsterdam program, click here >>
If you’re in the Netherlands, you can watch TEDxAmsterdam with a group of other involved and interested viewers. To find a free simulcast location across the Netherlands, click here >>
19 November 2009
East vs. West — the myths that mystify: Devdutt Pattanaik on TED.com
At TEDIndia, Devdutt Pattanaik takes an eye-opening look at the myths of India and of the West, and shows how these two fundamentally different sets of beliefs about gods, death and heaven help us consistently misunderstand one another. His goal is to help us all understand these founding beliefs — and use them to understand one another better. (Recorded at TEDIndia, November 2009, Mysore, India. Duration: 18:26)
Watch Devdutt Pattanaik’s talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 550+ TEDTalks.
18 November 2009
Jim Fallon on CBS' Criminal Minds tonight!
Via the TEDActive Blog:
At last year’s Palm Springs experience, neuroscientist Jim Fallon gave a chilling talk on the biology of psychopathic killers. Tonight he will appear in an episode of the popular CBS series Criminal Minds, playing himself and addressing the potential for genetic tragedy in chronically war-torn areas of the world. The episode, “Outfoxed,” airs at 9 pm EST.
If you haven’t yet seen his talk, it’s definitely worth a look:
http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
18 November 2009
Learning from leadership's "missing manual": Fields Wicker-Miurin on TED.com
Leadership doesn’t have a user’s manual, but Fields Wicker-Miurin says stories of remarkable, local leaders are the next best thing. At a TED salon in London, she shares three. (Recorded at TEDSalon London 2009, September 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 16:36)
Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/18T
Watch Fields Wicker-Miurin’s talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 500+ TEDTalks.
18 November 2009
TEDTalks: New ways to share!
Today, we’ve added some great new ways to share TEDTalks you love. Above is our new share bar, to be found just below the player window on every Talk page. It puts all the ways to share TEDTalks in one spot — social media buttons (via AddThis), download options, embed code and an improved way to email links to your friends. Maybe our favorite feature is “Tweet this talk!” which creates a handsome short URL for you (thanks to Awe.sm). Go forth and share.
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