25 April 2009

The week in comments

If we had to choose a theme for this week's comments, it would be Interaction Now. Usually, the highlights are reserved for your one-off quips, but from the themes of the talks, to speakers commenting on their own TEDTalks, to lightning-fast replies on threads, it was all about talking it out.

On Margaret Wertheim's TEDTalk: The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry:
Dear All -- thanks for kind comments below. It's been rewarding/humbling to watch the roll-out of my TED talk. It's a uniquely terrifying experience to stand on the TED stage - ohmygod (one thinks) can I live up to all this? These are the Really smart people: What if I FLOP? So thanks for the lovely feedback ... -- Margaret Wertheim

On Niels Diffrient's TEDTalk: Rethinking the way we sit down:
$1400 for a chair? It looks worth it, but whew.... -- Allan, via facebook

don't worry, in a year or two someone will rip off the design and it'll be available for under $100... capitalism -- Alison via facebook

And it will be made in China. -- Shantanu via facebook

On Erik Hersman's TEDTalk: How texting and GoogleMaps helped Kenyans survive crisis
TED is porn - mind porn! -- Mads via facebook

I heard TED can be as addictive as porn to some. -- Elizabeth via facebook

Hey, I met my girlfriend on TED.com, don't knock it! -- Michah via facebook

anyone at all interested in the fact that these guys just revolutionized citizen reporting and information in crisis situations? anyone? -- Tim via facebook

On Nate Silver's TEDTalk: Picking apart the puzzle of racism in elections:
Interaction with people who don't look like you matters. Great TED talk by Nate Silver, even with proposed changes -- djmarquardt, via Twitter

Thanks for talking to us, and each other.

Posted by Shanna Carpenter | Permalink

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20 April 2009

Crocheting in hyperbolic space: Exclusive interview with Margaret Wertheim on TED.com

Masterminding a project to model a coral reef in crochet, Margaret Wertheim hopes to share some of the most complicated mathematical models embodied in our universe with the minds (and hands) of the masses. TED's film + video editor Kari Mulholland talked with Margaret Wertheim last week about the Crochet Coral Reef -- as well as her theories of kindergarten, the beauty of pi, and the next homes for the Reef. For the full interview, hit the jump. A sample:

There is no such thing as a perfect hyperbolic surface in nature. After crocheting mathematically curved surfaces for about two years, Chrissy came in one day and said, you know what? I'm really sick of crocheting perfectly, I'm sick of all the geometry. I want to try something irregular. So what would happen, for instance, if I crocheted at variable rates? What would happen if I increase a bit faster on this side of the model and a bit slower on that side?

As soon as we started to mix these variations, the whole thing immediately looked more natural. And we realized this is what nature's doing. Nature doesn't feel compelled to stick to a mathematically precise algorithm; in fact, nature probably can't stick to an algorithm. Conditions in the water, amount of sunlight, availability of nutrients would all cause an organism to grow a bit faster in one direction then in the other. That's what we realized we were doing with these varying rates of increase; we were simulating various conditions that might happen in nature.

Read the full interview >>

Watch Margaret Wertheim's TEDTalk >>

Posted by Kari Mulholland | Permalink

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20 April 2009

The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry: Margaret Wertheim on TED.com

Margaret Wertheim leads a project to re-create the creatures of the coral reefs using a crochet technique invented by a mathematician -- celebrating the amazements of the reef, and deep-diving into the hyperbolic geometry underlying coral creation. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 15:34.)

Watch Margaret Wertheim'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 400+ TEDTalks.

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