05 June 2009

The World Science Festival is next week in New York City

We are excited to report that the World Science Festival is returning for its second year next week in New York City. The five-day program of events is jam-packed with amazing sessions that explore intriguing subjects such as nothingness, the science of traffic, perception of the human face, the neural basis for our enjoyment of music and the nature of time.

The TED Blog covered the World Science Festival in 2008, and this year we'll be dispatching more of our staffers to the sure-to-be fascinating events. Many TEDsters will be participating in the programming: Hod Lipson, Emily Levine, Sylvia Earle and others. TEDster Brian Greene was a co-founder of the festival.

The events run from Wednesday, June 10th to Sunday, June 14th.

Posted by Matthew Trost | Permalink

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26 October 2008

Johnny Lee on the power of video demos

In today's New York Times, Johnny Lee talks about his clever Wii hacks -- and how he shared them with the world via viral video. Johnny Lee's TEDTalk, in which he shows how to make an interactive whiteboard from a $40 game controller, is a perpetual Top 10 talk on TED.com. Lee's amazing YouTube videos and his TEDTalk have helped to spread this cheap-but-effective educational tool around the world. From the story:

Some 700,000 people, many of them teachers, have downloaded the software, Mr. Lee says. Much more expensive whiteboards may offer more features and better image resolution, but Mr. Lee’s version is adequate for most classroom applications.

For more video demos from TED, check out:

Hod Lipson's "self-aware" robots >>
Dean Kamen's moving demo of a robotic arm >>
Blaise Aguera y Arcas' demo of Seadragon and Photosynth >>

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17 October 2007

PopMech's 2007 Breakthrough Awards

Some familiar TED faces and themes turn up in Popular Mechanics' 2007 Breakthrough Awards, published in the magazine's November issue. Jeff Han's multitouch wall (watch his 2006 TEDTalk) and Hod Lipson's print-anything printer (related to his work on robots) are named as two of the awards' "8 Bold Ideas" for 2007.

If you were moved and inspired by Amy Smith's TEDTalk on her developing-world technologies, check out PopMech's profile of the like-minded Ashok Gadgil and Christina Galitsky and the cookstove they developed for use in Darfur, or 2006 winner Jock Brandis and his portable peanut sheller. If Dean Kamen's robotic prosthetic arm TEDTalk interested you, dive into the video report on Johns Hopkins' project. It's a fascinating, well-reported awards package.

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

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11 October 2007

Robots that are "self-aware": Hod Lipson on TED.com

Engineer Hod Lipson demonstrates and talks about a few of his cool little robots, which have the ability to learn, understand themselves and even self-replicate. At the root of this uncanny demo is a deep inquiry into the nature of how living beings learn and evolve, and how we might harness these processes to make things that learn and evolve. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 06:29.)

Watch Hod Lipson's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Read more about Hod Lipson on TED.com.

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