TEDBlog February, 2010 Archive
27 February 2010
New Best of the Web talks: Bobby McFerrin, Sean Carroll
Sean Carroll on the arrow of time At the University of Sydney, cosmologist Sean Carroll gives an entertaining and thought-provoking talk about the nature of time, the origin of entropy, and how what happened before the Big Bang might be responsible for the arrow of time we observe today. Watch Part 1 of Sean Carroll’s talk >> |
Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with music In this fun, 3-min performance from the World Science Festival, musician Bobby McFerrin uses the pentatonic scale to reveal one surprising result of the way our brains are wired. |
26 February 2010
Meet MaYoMo, TED volunteer translation group
Tell us about yourselves.
We are the MaYoMo team — a group of individuals with different backgrounds in various spheres. Among us we have a journalist, linguists, developers, a designer, a historian, a musician, artists and an entrepreneur. Our total weight is 626 kg, which makes us heavy enough to be the biggest translator at TED. :)
Currently we are translating into Bulgarian, Russian, Japanese, German and Indonesian languages. What brings us together is MaYoMo.com — а free social news network that empowers people to explore, ask questions and create news.
What drew you to TED?
None of us really remembers when we first got to know about TED. In the past few years we have accepted TED as a source of innovative and creative ideas that improve the world we live in. The various themes of the talks have been tickling our passion for a deeper understanding of the world, which has very much in common with the MaYoMo mission — to show different viewpoints on both local and global issues and to provoke a debate where the truth will eventually pop up.
Similarly to TED, MaYoMo is independent from governments, political organizations, mainstream media or corporations.
The possibility to meet and collaborate with the amazing TED community while sharing knowledge and ideas is what brought us here.
Why do you translate?
Our team volunteered to translate TEDTalks because we wanted to make it possible for more people to reach valuable information, skills, experience and inspiration that TED shares.
We are very happy of the chance that TED Open Translation project gave us to contribute to the changing world together with TED’s community. Being part of the project makes us proud, while translating the talks is an exciting experience that brings us further inspiration.
What are your favorite talks?
As a team of few, there are many talks that we consider favorite. However, the talk “Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen” is among the top five TEDTalks for each one of us.
26 February 2010
Five lives of an artist: Raghava KK on TED.com
With endearing honesty and vulnerability, Raghava KK tells the colorful tale of how art has taken his life to new places, and how life experiences in turn have driven his multiple reincarnations as an artist — from cartoonist to painter, media darling to social outcast, and son to father. (Recorded at TED2010, February 2010, in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 17:56)
Watch Raghava KK’s talk from TED2010 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 600+ TEDTalks.
25 February 2010
What the world needs now: The TEDActive music video
When the John Lennon bus drove up to TEDActive, attendees got the chance to collaborate on a music video to share their ideas for what the world needs now.
Jill Sobule, John Doe, Sara Watkins, Stuart Johnson, Don Was, Dave Way, Krish Sharma and the amazing team on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus came together to write, perform and produce an original song, on-site during the conference. Aaron Koblin directed the video, and the TEDActive community turned their ideas into illustrations, with a little help from artist Jansen Yee.
25 February 2010
How brains learn to see: Pawan Sinha on TED.com
Pawan Sinha details his groundbreaking research into how the brain’s visual system develops. Sinha and his team provide free vision-restoring treatment to children born blind, and then study how their brains learn to interpret visual data. The work offers insights into neuroscience, engineering and even autism. (Recorded at TEDIndia, November 2009, in Mysore, India. Duration: 18:23)
Watch Pawan Sinha’s talk from TEDIndia on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 600+ TEDTalks.
24 February 2010
Sergey Brin on Google's China decision
TED BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Onstage at TED2010, TED curator Chris Anderson interviews Google’s Sergey Brin about the company’s recent statement on China. (Recorded at TED2010, in Long Beach, California, February 2010. Duration: 8:24.)
Read the full transcript after the jump >> (more…)
24 February 2010
Evan Grant in the Bing Innovation Lounge at TEDActive
One of the social spaces featured at TEDActive (the intimate TED simulcast held in Palm Springs) was a lounge packed with interactive, technology-driven artwork and sponsored by Bing. We’ll be posting a series of awesome shorts by an attendee who captured some of the pieces and spoke to the artists who made them.
Via the TEDActive blog:
TEDActive attendee, producer and media advocate Saskia Wilson-Brown created several short documentary videos on the artists featured in the Bing Innovation Lounge at the conference. Here’s her fabulous little piece on Evan Grant, creator of the glowing multi-touch sphere that lived just at the entrance to the lounge.
For more on Evan Grant and blurring the line between science and art, watch his talk on cymatics on TED.com here >>
24 February 2010
The world needs all kinds of minds: Temple Grandin on TED.com
Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids. (Recorded at TED2010, February 2010, in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 19:44)
Watch Temple Grandin’s talk from TED2010 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 600+ TEDTalks.
23 February 2010
The wireless future of medicine: Eric Topol on TED.com
Eric Topol says we’ll soon use our smartphones to monitor our vital signs and chronic conditions. At TEDMED, he highlights several of the most important wireless devices in medicine’s future — all helping to keep more of us out of hospital beds. (Recorded at TEDMED, October 2009, in San Diego, CA. Duration: 16:59)
Watch Eric Topol’s talk from TEDMED on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 600+ TEDTalks.
22 February 2010
Four ways to fix a broken legal system: Philip K. Howard on TED.com
The land of the free has become a legal minefield, says Philip K. Howard — especially for teachers and doctors, whose work has been paralyzed by fear of suits. What’s the answer? A lawyer himself, Howard has four propositions for simplifying US law. (Recorded at TED2010, February 2010, in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 18:22)
Watch Philip K. Howard’s talk from TED2010 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 600+ TEDTalks.
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