TEDBlog January, 2011 Archive
11 January 2011
We are all cyborgs now: Amber Case on TED.com
Technology is evolving us, says Amber Case, as we become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of homo sapiens. We now rely on “external brains” (cell phones and computers) to communicate, remember, even live out secondary lives. But will these machines ultimately connect or conquer us? Case offers surprising insight into our cyborg selves. (Recorded at TEDWomen, December 2010 in Washington, DC. Duration: 7:53)
Watch Amber Case’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 800+ TEDTalks.
10 January 2011
New Tomorrows: Report from TED@MotorCity
On Sunday night, January 9, in Detroit, TED presented TED@MotorCity, an evening salon supported by Lincoln under the theme “New Tomorrows.” Above, host Gary Bolles, right, interviews Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.org — which is now, he said, the seventh most visited site on the web with 60 million unique visitors a month. He thinks deeply about what large numbers of people can do in networks — vet charities, reward good journalism, create change. As he said, “You get people from the bottom up to work together, and that creates one big surprise for the people in power.”
Thomas Goetz of Wired talked about the network of data about our own bodies, the medical data we often don’t have access to or don’t understand — and how we can tap this data to make ourselves much healthier. He showed us Wired‘s clever redesign of a lab report on a simple blood test, in which the lab’s mysterious abbreviations become information you can use to make smarter choices. (For a similar project, watch Alan Siegel’s TEDTalk on simplifying legal forms.) The idea is to use information to create feedback loops that reward good decisions (like showing the real value of choosing an apple versus a doughnut). Because, as he put it, “Better health is not a science problem, it’s an information problem.”
Dale Dougherty, founder of MAKE Magazine and the impresario behind the Maker Faire movement, gave an exuberant overview of the state of modern making — the drive to craft, create, build, take apart and rebuild that’s happening in garages and lofts all over the world. And Detroit, Dougherty pointed out, was formed by makers. Now, local makers and hackers are using buildings left behind by big industry to start their own energetic enterprises. From the audience, @tunie tweeted: “You can tell he’s a Maker because he is grinning ear to ear while he speaks!”
John Gallagher is the architecture critic for the Detroit Free Press and the author of Rethinking Detroit. And he addresses the question that the national news has been batting around: “What are we going to do about Detroit?” As the auto industry shrinks, the city has excess capacity, to be sure: massive empty buildings, abandoned homes, underused roads. We can see this as a catastrophe, he says — or as a canvas for bold new ideas about city living. He tours us through Detroit’s thriving urban farms, and shows creative urban projects happening now in Detroit and inspirations elsewhere.
A gorgeous poem from Jessica Care Moore is accompanied on cello by Cecelia Sharpe. She ended with this line: “I see ideas everywhere. Do you?”
Closing the program, Lisa Gansky gave a bracing overview of “the mesh” — new businesses and models that allow us to share goods and services in innovative ways. Because, as she says, in some situations, having access to a particular thing is better than actually owning it. You’ve heard of Zipcar; she talks about Whipcar, a peer-to-peer car-sharing service. Meshed business is about taking advantage of our connectivity, our unparalleled ability to share. And she sees a special role for cities; as she says, “Cities are platforms for sharing.”
And with that, we went to the reception. Here, Dale Dougherty talks with Lish Dorset, Maker Faire Detroit liasion and writer for Craft.
Read more coverage of TED@MotorCity from the NYTimes … Detroit Moxie … Slayter Creative … the Tunieblog … and Christopher Johnson. If you blogged the event and don’t see yourself here, drop me a note in comments below!
All photos by Santa Fabio. See more (they’re gorgeous) in the TED@MotorCity Flickr set >>
10 January 2011
A realistic vision for world peace: Jody Williams on TED.com
Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams brings tough love to the dream of world peace, with her razor-sharp take on what “peace” really means, and a set of profound stories that zero in on the creative struggle — and sacrifice — of those who work for it. (Recorded at TEDWomen, December 2010 in Washington, DC. Duration: 10:52)
Watch Jody William’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 800+ TEDTalks.
07 January 2011
The 3 A’s of awesome: Neil Pasricha on TED.com
Neil Pasricha’s blog 1000 Awesome Things savors life’s simple pleasures, from free refills to clean sheets. In this heartfelt talk from TEDxToronto, he reveals the 3 secrets (all starting with A) to leading a life that’s truly awesome. (Recorded at TEDxToronto, September 2010 in Toronto, Canada. Duration: 17:33)
Watch Neil Pasricha’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 800+ TEDTalks.
07 January 2011
Fellows Friday with Michele Koppes
Glaciologist Michele Koppes travels to some of the coldest, iciest places on Earth for work. Her one-of-a-kind research in the Himalayas fills in gaps of unrecorded glacial change, and may help vulnerable populations adapt to shifting weather patterns. Despite the severe consequences of climate change, Michele finds hope in the optimism of the younger generation, and the growing role women have in tackling this (and other) global issues.
Interactive Fellows Friday Feature!
Join the conversation by answering Fellows’ weekly questions via Facebook. This week, Michele asks:
Is there a unique role that women can play in fighting climate change?
Click here to respond!
For you, both research and communication are important for addressing climate change. How do you use your expertise for these two goals?
I’m a university professor, so I spend about half my year teaching courses about physical geography, field techniques, snow and ice processes, and climate change to undergraduates. The other half is spent planning, fundraising and coordinating field research campaigns to far-flung, remote regions, such as the Northwest Himalayas, Greenland, southern Patagonia and Antarctica. In between, (often on flights between these crazy places), I try to write up all our research findings for publication!
I’ve founded several novel experiential education courses for underrepresented groups that combine earth science and outdoor leadership skills. One was a glaciology course targeting young women, and another was environmental awareness and conservation courses for inner city youth. Although I’ve passed the torch on those particular projects, I believe strongly in experiential education, and incorporate hands-on learning in my courses.
I was also privileged to be a science policy fellow in the US Congress. I work to bridge the gap between the scientific research community, policymakers and the media.
Tell us about your glacial research project in the Himalayas.
All of these major rivers in the region — the Indus, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra — are fed by glaciers, in their upper watersheds. But there have been very few studies on changes in water resources in the upper parts of the Himalayas. One group, however, has monitored a glacier on the monsoon side of the Himalayas for the past two decades.
So in 2009, we went out and found a similar type of glacier on the back side of the Himalayas, which is not affected by the monsoon. We set up the instrumentation and did the preliminary base study. We began to measure the relationship between temperature, air, solar radiation, and melting of the ice.
We’re trying to see how much change we’ve already encountered in terms of these glaciers. We can do this by using the sediment record, or the geomorphology, around the glaciers. We can see where the glacier was recently, how much it has pulled back, and how much it has thinned. We also have satellite imagery that goes back to 1979, and we can estimate the change with that. We’re trying to model what’s happening to these glaciers in terms of the climate.
06 January 2011
Judy Bonds: Majora Carter remembers
This week, Judy Bonds — whose work and life Majora Carter describes movingly in her latest TEDTalk — died after a battle with cancer. Bonds founded Coal River Mountain Watch, which fought coal companies that were strip-mining her home county, and proposed a thrilling alternative: wind power. She won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003 for her passionate work. Majora writes to the TED Blog:
Judy Bonds was as devoted to faith and nonviolence as she was to practical solutions to some of our biggest problems. Those characteristics were all the more admirable when one considers the deeply emotional toll she endured as her ancestral homeland was destroyed before her eyes in the last decades of her life. She succumbed to lung cancer, which many people in Mountain Top Removal (MTR) mining regions claim is caused by the noxious particulate matter in the air as a direct result of this grievous mining practice. I am honored to have known Judy Bonds, and I count her among my most treasured role models.
Read more about Judy Bonds in the Washington Post and LA Times >>
06 January 2011
A powerful tool for detecting breast tumors (and why we’re not using it yet): Deborah Rhodes on TED.com
Working with a team of physicists, Dr. Deborah Rhodes developed a new tool for tumor detection that’s 3 times as effective as traditional mammograms for women with dense breast tissue. The life-saving implications are stunning. So why haven’t we heard of it? Rhodes shares the story behind the tool’s creation, and the web of politics and economics that keep it from mainstream use. (Recorded at TEDWomen, December 2010 in Washington, DC. Duration: 21:08)
Watch Deborah Rhodes’ talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 800+ TEDTalks.
05 January 2011
Meet TED2011′s guest curators: Juan Enriquez and Bill Gates
This year at TED2011, we issued an unprecedented invitation to two global thinkers: Curate a session of TED. Juan Enriquez (watch his TEDTalks) brings his astonishingly broad perspective on global issues — from the macro to the micro — to Session 9 of this year’s conference. His research and writing makes an excellent case that new bioscience, our new knowledge of our DNA, is going to change our world. And his TED session will carry through that theme in several ways. As he told the TED Blog: “The idea is to combine great science, music, humor, art. It’s an incredible opportunity to showcase some of the world’s great brains and talent.” As he put together the list of speakers for his session, he says, “I was looking for quirky characters, with extraordinary visions, who can make people feel that what they do should make you smile and think.”
TED invited Bill Gates (watch his TEDTalks) to curate a session about his world-changing fascinations. As he told the TED Blog: “One of the fantastic things about my present work is how it puts me in contact with people doing interesting and important work in the areas of global health, technology, education and development. In pulling together the speaker lineup for my session, I’ve invited some remarkable people who have expanded my own thinking on those topics and who are making a real difference in the world. I hope the TED community will enjoy hearing from them as much as I have enjoyed getting to know them.”
The full TED2011 speaker lineup will be announced on Monday, January 10. Watch the TED Blog for news.
05 January 2011
Your brain on improv: Charles Limb on TED.com
Musician and researcher Charles Limb wondered how the brain works during musical improvisation — so he put jazz musicians and rappers in an fMRI to find out. What he and his team found has deep implications for our understanding of creativity of all kinds. (Recorded at TEDxMidAtlantic, November 2010 in Baltimore, MD. Duration: 16:31)
Watch Charles Limb’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 800+ TEDTalks.
And read our Q&A with Dr. Charles Limb on the TED Blog >>
04 January 2011
Read a sample chapter of “Practical Wisdom”
Today, Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe’s book Practical Wisdom hits bookstores and ereaders. In an intimate talk at TED’s office this winter, Schwartz shares a few big questions from this book (video is embedded above) — and you can download this sample chapter to learn more.
Find stories on the TED Blog about:
Become a Fan of TED
on Facebook
Follow TED on Twitter:
@TEDNews | @TEDTalks
Subscribe to TED RSS feeds:
TED Blog | More RSS Options
