08 January 2010

An all-star set: Herbie Hancock on TED.com

Legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock delivers a stunning performance alongside two old friends -- past drummer for The Headhunters, Harvey Mason and bassist, Marcus Miller. Listen to the end to hear them sweeten the classic "Watermelon Man." (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, Long Beach, California. Duration: 25:05)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/546Z

Watch Herbie Hancock'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.

02 December 2009

Q&A with Cindy Gallop: Tackling porn, feminism and big dreams

Advertising whiz Cindy Gallop delivered one of the most talked-about talks at TED2009, so before it was posted the TED Blog had to snag her for an interview. Spirited as usual, she did not disappoint. Keep reading for answers on what people thought of MakeLoveNotPorn.com, Gallop’s bold position on feminism, her new project IfWeRanTheWorld and the story of her success.

What sort of feedback have you gotten on MakeLoveNotPorn.com? What do people think of it?

What MakeLoveNotPorn has in common with my other ventures is that when I encounter something that I feel very strongly about, I do something about it. Incidentally, that’s the whole point of my other venture IfWeRanTheWorld. It’s all about turning good intentions into action, being a very action-oriented person myself.

As I make clear in my talk, MakeLoveNotPorn is designed to address an issue that would never have crossed my mind if I had not encountered it within my personal life and specifically, because I date younger men who tend to be in their twenties, who are part of Generation Y. In this context, when I encountered this issue personally, I really felt that I wanted to do something about it. That is why I created MakeLoveNotPorn.com, and then welcomed the opportunity to launch it at TED.

I will say that I was extremely nervous before I gave my TEDTalk, and I was nervous for two reasons. The first is that I had absolutely no idea how MakeLoveNotPorn.com would be received. I talked to a few people about it in the process of conceiving the idea and then executing it, but predominantly friends of mine. It had received a generally very positive response, but I obviously still had no idea how the wider world would view it. The second reason I was nervous was I knew that in order to launch this I was going to have to really launch it, in the sense that I was going to have to be straightforward in order to have people understand why this was so necessary. I made a deliberate decision to be very frank in the language and the terminology that I used. This isn’t an issue that one can fence around if you want there to be complete clarity and understanding of what makelovenotporn.com is designed to address.

I was enormously gratified by the extraordinarily positive response I received at TED. The talk was obviously BoingBoing’ed immediately. Mark, from BoingBoing, told me it was the highlight of his first day at TED. The Twitter stream went mad. Robin Williams came up to me during the coffee break afterwards, told me how wonderful he thought it was and did an entire ten-minute comedy routine around it, which was terrific. But what I was really pleased about was that for the remaining three days of TED, loads of people came up to me and said it was fantastic. And they said it was fantastic in a number of contexts. Parents were particularly struck by it, and a lot of them said to me that they’d forwarded the site to their 16-year-old daughter or 18-year-old son. I think they particularly welcomed the fact that they could forward the link on without needing to have the conversation themselves, which is precisely why I began the site.

A number of people said that while they love the fact that TED covers science, art and technology, touching on the area of human relationships in the way that I did was really welcomed. A number of young people, and lots of the TED Fellows, said to me, “Oh my God! I love it. That is absolutely what I’ve encountered myself.” So, actually, the response at TED itself was absolutely wonderful in terms of having the audience understand and appreciate what this was intended to do.

Also, the site is very nascent at the moment. I put it up with no money. All you can do there is leave comments, send in your own porn world/real world ideas, and you can write to info@makelovenotporn.com. But judging by the comments that started appearing, I can see that MakeLoveNotPorn.com has achieved what I wanted it to, which is that it’s gotten to young people out in the mainstream, beyond the more TED intelligentsia-inclined audience. I’ve had a huge amount of submissions from people sending in their own porn world/real world ideas. These are very interesting to read, because while the vast majority of them are screamingly funny, some of them are also very serious and very heartfelt. One interesting thing, for me, was that I designed MakeLoveNotPorn to be deliberately gender-equal. It’s talking to men and women equally. A lot of men have submitted ideas that are much more about the male experience and the false expectations of men that porn engenders, which made me realize that when I do develop the site further, I will need to encompass the male experience more. I’ve got fantastic input there.

Also, MakeLoveNotPorn is very much a global concept. I work globally as a consultant, and I’ve encountered a great response to this from people in other countries. It’s absolutely reflected in the visitors to the site as well. I’m not actively promoting MakeLoveNotPorn at the moment because I don’t have the resources and I don’t have a lot to send people to yet. Nevertheless, I monitor it on Google and it pops up on French blogs, Chinese blogs, Greek blogs. One of the last emails I received was from a young guy in Morocco who wrote to me -- by the way, when people write to info@makelovenotporn.com, they have no idea who they’re writing to and I identify as myself when I write back. Anyway, this young guy wrote to say, “Thank you so much. Young people in Morocco are like young people in the US, they are heavily influenced by porn. Now at last I can tell my friends how to make love to a girl, thanks to your wonderful website.” And I just love getting emails like that.

So, what’s next?

I have further plans for development and promotion based on finding far-sighted and broad-minded investors. For the time being I’m very pleased with the response that MakeLoveNotPorn has received, both in terms of overall recognition of the issue and in getting to exactly the audience I wanted to get to.

Your talk and this project seem to convey the words and ideas of a very empowered woman. Do you consider yourself to be a feminist?

I consider myself a rampant feminist. I deplore the shying away that can go on, within women, from the term “feminist.” I am, absolutely, all about being a feminist. My personal cause and platform, if you like, is women’s rights and women’s issues. In the context of my other web venture IfWeRanTheWorld (MakeLoveNotPorn is my secondary venture), if I ran the world, I would help the cause of women everywhere. Unfortunately, that embraces a huge spectrum of problems and issues, a very fractional amount of which I donate money to at the moment and which, when IfWeRanTheWorld is up and operational, I absolutely want to address myself.

Also, I like to describe myself as a proudly visible member of the most invisible segments of our society -- older women. I’m 49. I make an active point of telling people how old I am, as often as possible, because I’d like to confound expectations of what an older woman should be, look and act like. I say that because it’s taken me 49 years to feel this good about myself. As women, from the moment we are born, everything around us, from a socio-cultural perspective, conspires to make us feel insecure about absolutely everything to do with ourselves -- our looks, our bodies, whether people like us, whether boys like us. In many ways, an overarching wish of mine is that, if I ran the world I would give every woman the confidence that she deserves, to feel empowered to live her life the way she wants to live it. The fact is that girls are massively constrained in other parts of the world, but are constrained in First World countries as well. That desire infuses an awful lot of what I do.

I absolutely get involved in women-specific areas within my industry. I work with Advertising Women of New York, with Girls in Tech. I provide advice and help on a regular basis to many, many women on their personal lives, career, business ventures, particularly younger women who, very flatteringly, see me as a role model. I do everything I can to help them. That is something that I feel very strongly about. I’m a rampant feminist and proud to call myself a feminist.

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:

13 November 2009

Ueli Gegenschatz has died

After an accident during a BASE jump on Nov. 11, aerialist Ueli Gegenschatz has died in a Swiss hospital.

This spring at TED, Gegenschatz spoke movingly of his desire "to come as close as possible to the human dream of being able to fly." Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

13 October 2009

Robots that "show emotion": David Hanson on TED.com

David Hanson's robot faces look and act like yours: They recognize and respond to emotion, and make expressions of their own. Here, an "emotional" live demo of the Einstein robot offers a peek at a future where robots truly mimic humans. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, Long Beach, California. Duration: 4:58)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3x

01 October 2009

Q&A with short film curator Jonathan Wells

Jonathan Wells of Flux is helping to curate TED's first-ever short film contest, with winners to be shown at TEDIndia in November. He's been involved in choosing shorts for TED's onstage program for a couple of years. We asked him about curating short films -- and how he ended up with this job:

What qualities do you look for in a TED short film?

The best TED film is smart and beautiful and evokes a sense of wonder. We strive to find films that have all three of these qualities. The best films, like the best TEDTalks, are great ideas that are well delivered.

How did you end up being the short film guy for TED?

For 10 years I ran RESFEST, a festival I founded that toured the world. The festival was lauded for showcasing innovative short films and music videos that otherwise may not be seen.

These types of inventive films, regardless of budget or style or genre, were a perfect match for TED's short film programming.

Tell me a little bit about Flux.

Flux is a creative studio and global creative community. As a company, we curate film/art/music/design experiences of all kinds around the world. Through our projects, events and online journal we foster a creative community that encourages collaboration.

Define a TED short film in 6 words.

A small morsel of visual inspiration -- OR -- A little bit of movie magic.

If you've got a short film that we should see, and it's 30 secs to 3 mins long, enter our short film contest. Deadline is Oct. 12, 2009. Find details and the brief entry form >>

Every day this week on the TED Blog, we're featuring a short film that played live at TED. Today's is a PSA called "Amazing Jumbo Elephant Landing," produced by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "Amazing Jumbo Elephant Landing" screened at TED2009 in Long Beach and Palm Springs.

Enter TED's short film contest >>

30 September 2009

Short film contest: Great short commercials welcome

Enter your short film (30 sec to 3 mins) in our first-ever contest -- with winners to be shown at TEDIndia this November, to an audience of interesting people from around the world. We're looking for all kinds of short film: brief narratives, commercials, demos, data visualization, music videos, animations ... Deadline for entry: Oct. 12, 2009.

Get details and the brief entry form >>

Every day this week on the TED Blog, we're featuring a short film that played live at TED; today's is a beautiful commercial for ... something. "Caterpillar" was directed by Filip Engström, with post-production by The Mill. Amazed by the detail? There's a making-of video too. "Caterpillar" screened at TED2009 in Long Beach and Palm Springs.

Enter TED's short-film contest >>

30 July 2009

Art that looks back at you: Golan Levin on TED.com

Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools -- robotics, new software, cognitive research -- to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at the curious viewer. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 15:33)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/24

Watch Golan Levin's talk from TED2009 on TED.com where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 475+ TEDTalks.

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20 July 2009

Q&A with Nina Jablonski: Society and skin

Before her TEDTalk went up on Friday, anthropologist and skin expert Nina Jablonski took some time out of writing her new book to talk to the the TEDBlog. Nina had a lot to say about how our skin affects how we are perceived, sometimes in ways we want it to and sometimes in much more pernicious ways.

Are you excited that your TEDTalk is being posted?

I’m very excited, very happy. I greatly enjoyed being at TED and the atmosphere of the gathering. Also, I think the spread of TEDTalks via the Internet is even more important than being there. It’s all over the world. I know people all over the world who watch TEDTalks. It’s important to get these ideas out to more and more people. One can never predict where one’s idea might go.

So, of all the things you could study, why skin?

It started as an accident more than 15 years ago. I was asked by a colleague to give a lecture in his class, on skin. This lecture was being give to an introductory class of human biology. I read up on the relevant materials, but then realized that I also wanted to tell the students about the evolution of skin. As I started looking for information, I discovered that the research on that topic was scarce. My interest was piqued by this deficiency of information on the evolution of our largest organ.
Then, I went to a seminar where I saw a lecture by a colleague on skin that gave me incredible insight. The insight was sufficiently important that I decided it was time to run with it, despite my lack of experience in this research area. The next step was that I wrote a paper to propose my new hypothesis. That was 17 years ago, in 1992. I just put it out there, and I thought if anything ever arises, at least I’ve written it. In the meantime, I kept my antennae twitching for new research.

Then, in 1995 to ’96, new data on UV radiation at the Earth’s surface was released from NASA. This allowed me to investigate my hypothesis rigorously. With my husband’s help, he’s a geographer and statistician, that’s when the project really started. We began developing data on why UV levels and skin color correlated. Then, in 2003, the University of California press said, “You really should write a book on skin in general.” So, I said, “OK.” One thing led to another. It was the prompting of my editor that got me to think about including the evolution of skin, not just skin and the sun. It’s a very broad topic.

Speaking of which, in your book you talk about skin decoration and how humans are unique in decorating our skin by tattoos, make-up and more. What do you think this means?

We do have an awareness of ourselves that allows us to engage in willful decoration that other animals do not engage in. These dramatically change our appearance and how we are perceived. You can put on a particular set of clothes and make-up or body paint and have a completely different perception.

We can make ourselves appear more sexually appealing to members of a particular group, or more threatening. At football games, people wear all sorts of face paint because they want to look fierce and war-like. These are very specific visual signals that are meant to get particular responses. These things have real evolutionary value. There’s an advantage to being good at putting on make-up and sending the correct signal. You don’t have to look very far. Open up any women’s magazine and you’ll see tips on applying make-up. But all those tips are geared to creating a particular appearance that we know from evolutionary biology makes one appear more sexually attractive.

All the ways of decorating skin make statements that impact how people treat you. Knowing how to decorate can even make one more successful at attracting certain groups of friends.

One of the most obvious factors in our skin’s appearance is its color, and you talk about the origins of color in your talk. But, what about how skin color has historically affected our behavior towards each other?

Skin color is the story of pigment in the skin, having been determined by UV radiation. If your ancestors were closer to the equator, you are dark and if further away, you are lighter. The biology is very straightforward. But, history is much more complicated and hard to comprehend.

People have placed values in skin color based on who interacted with who. The most insidious of these interactions is the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 1500s. A lightly-pigmented people in a position of power and mobility went by ship to a different part of the world where they found a darkly-pigmented people. As we know, they created slaves of these people on the African continent, in the equatorial area. Many of the problems with color we face today came to be because of interactions started by the slave trade.

The easiest way to establish the dominance needed for the system of slavery to function is to establish visual mechanisms, which in this case was the color of these slaves. What you then see is the literary development of black as bad, negative, as mentally and spiritually inefficient. This is the toxin that created created much of the race debate.

People are color-coded in very visible ways. We are very visually-oriented as primates and color makes a big difference to us. We notice subtle differences in color and these can be perceived as social value if given the right narrative. These values exist in India, Japan, China and elsewhere. In most places where you find a gradation of color, you get this phenomenon of colorism. There’s a general prejudice against darkly pigmented skin and a bias toward lightly pigmented skin.

Even within African-American, Caribbean and Latin American communities you can find this prejudice and it’s a derivative of the slave trade. Light brown versus dark brown. And it can be very subtle, this color difference, but it’s just enough for us to distinguish. And this really concerns me, because -- what happens to that dark-colored child? They feel that they have limited prospects or possibilities. This to me is the most poisonous aspect. This is one of the most injurious things we can do to a child. Stopping this is part of my life’s work now. I’ll tell you more about that a little later on.

14 July 2009

Playing with space and light: Olafur Eliasson on TED.com

In the spectacular large-scale projects he's famous for (such as "Waterfalls" in New York harbor), Olafur Eliasson creates art from a palette of space, distance, color and light. This idea-packed talk begins with an experiment in the nature of perception. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 09:37)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/1a

Watch Olafur Eliasson's 2009 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 475+ TEDTalks.

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09 July 2009

Q&A with Sophal Ear: From refugee stories to international policies

In yesterday's TEDTalk, development economist and political scientist Sophal Ear shared the deeply personal story of his family's escape from the Khmer Rouge. In today's interview with the TED Blog, he continues that story and gives us details on his current path in international aid policy.

Your mother cleverly pretended to be Vietnamese to escape the Khmer Rouge, but how did your family continue to survive after reaching Vietnam?

Yes, you see, just getting to Vietnam we weren’t off the hook. The Vietnamese required that people who had returned from Cambodia be picked up by their relatives, or they would be sent to “kinh tế mới” (New Economic Life) -- which was essentially hard-labor, working in agriculture.

My aunt, my mother’s sister, was married to a Vietnamese man and living in Vietnam. Somehow, my mother got to the market and managed to meet a friend who then got word to her sister that we had arrived in Vietnam. It was a completely random occurrence. Her sister’s husband managed -- I think he must have bribed his way through -- to get us in the middle of the night from where we were detained. Then we went to Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, where we spent one and a half years before we got out.

There was no way to get to the US, where my mother had another sister living in California. We redeclared ourselves as Cambodian, and as we were not Vietnamese there was suddenly no problem with letting us leave. They wanted us out! My mother had a nephew in France who was a university student. He was really poor, just a starving student. And, he had to somehow figure out a way to get us all there. My aunt in the US sent him some money. Then, he happened to meet a French gentleman who, for some unknown reason, decided that he wanted to help. This gentleman went to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out what could be done. He then found a lady whose last name was the same as my mother’s, and convinced her to sign paperwork claiming familial ties.

Now, keep in my mind that through all of this my mother has five kids with her, and two of them she hadn’t given birth to. One was my half-sibling and another is an adopted daughter. When this opportunity came about, people offered her money left and right to switch their children with hers. She could have compromised her principles, she needed the money. But, she didn’t.

We all managed to make it to France by ’78. We were only supposed to be staying there temporarily. But, for some reason, my mother just decides that she’s had enough and we’re going to stay put indefinitely. It ended up being seven years before we moved to the US, to California. That’s when I started seventh grade as an American kid.

My mother struggled so much, sacrificed so much, and by doing so she allowed all the kids to pursue their dreams. And our story, it’s about the kindness of strangers, about people taking critical actions at critical points. It’s not Schindler’s List, but just five siblings who were able to succeed despite difficult circumstances.

Can you speak a little more to the value of civil complaints like the one you filed about your father?

I feel that the tribunal as it’s currently set up at least allows for civil complaints, which I think is important, but I’ve been a skeptic. It’s deeply troubled. I’m not trying to be an advocate for the tribunal itself. I don’t want to lend credibility to a process by sanctifying the tribunal in some way. I have to accept that it’s deeply troubled -- with corruption and such. In 2002, I wrote to The New York Times and praised the UN for pulling out of discussions with the authorities, as the UN was clearly being manipulated.

For me, the complaint is really about justice for the past accountability for the future. If you have a situation where nearly two million people die and no-one is held to account, then it can happen again. Impunity is a problem in Cambodia. If you’ve got power and money, then nothing can happen to you. As a victim -- and I hate to call myself that -- but, this could be a step towards holding those who are responsible to account.

Also, although some in the international community consider the state of affairs in Cambodia to be disagreeable, they don’t see what’s happening now as unacceptable because if you’re better than the Khmer Rouge, then you’re OK. Many current political leaders are, let’s face it, former Khmer Rouge lower-ranking cadres. Obviously, there are issues of reconciliation and governance when some of your own people caused this.

But, at least, I can put it on record that my father passed away and that it was as a result of the conditions he was subjected to.

Today you work on post-conflict reconstruction and development. How much of what you do today has been influenced by the events of your childhood and your experiences? Did you always want to do this?

I grew up as a refugee. My experience has been very different from that of people who haven’t. I’ve traveled and lived around the world. It’s shaped my view of my responsibility to others. I feel like I have a responsibility to help other people in conflict situations.

I went back to Cambodia in 1996. I was riding around in a cyclo, which is essentially a rickshaw, and being led by this young boy who was about my age at the time. I couldn’t help thinking, “If I had stayed here, if my family hadn’t been able to escape, I would have been him.” I’ve been very lucky.

And, because I was a refugee in France, I speak fluent French. People think that I’ve had a privileged childhood because of my languages and my traveling. But, no, I haven’t. And as a result of all this, I was able to work for The World Bank as my first job coming out of Princeton. There, because of my French, I ended-up working on Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

You’ve spoken to your family’s achievements, but you’ve achieved quite a lot in your own right. Could you tell us about your personal journey as a young man?

I think I was very lucky. Just as we talked about those refugee stories and how random those things can be, that’s how my life continued. As a kid, I was going to school in the Bay Area and so I knew, of the universities around, I needed to go to Berkeley. Now, when I came to the US, I was placed in seventh grade at 10, so that I was at Berkeley at 16. And the opportunities were all very rich.

I got to Princeton because I saw a flyer on the Berkeley campus for a public policy program at Princeton. I decided to apply because, naively, I wanted to see New York. I had this idea that Princeton was much nearer the city than it is! Anyway, I was accepted and I went.

Then, I ended up at Princeton doing my Masters, and while I was there I remember being asked what I wanted to do. I said that I wanted to be a governor at the World Bank, and I didn’t realize then that I would first have to be the Finance Minister of a country in order to be a governor. And then, my first day out of Princeton, I did a phone interview for a job with the World Bank and I became a consultant for something called social protection -- I didn’t even know what that was at the time. I do now!

On July 1, 1997, I was in DC and started work at the World Bank. Social protection turned out to be, essentially, international welfare policy. I had grown up on welfare, so now to be working on these policies was simply amazing.

But then, what do I do next? I was 25, I had all this experience, but I really looked like I was still a kid. I decided to do a PhD. I ended up working on a dissertation that explored aid dependence and governance. You see, I discovered at the World Bank that things were not working quite the way they were supposed to. It was at the point where religious organizations were promoting debt forgiveness because countries simply could not repay their debts.

I’ve really been lucky. It’s been a series of random occurrences. I could not have imagined all that has happened to me. To work at the World Bank, to get to work on Cambodia, to think that my country of origin could benefit from what I’m doing is amazing. Now, I feel that I’ve had some impact on the issues around Cambodian development. I’m glad that at a critical point I could make a difference.

07 July 2009

3 ways the brain creates meaning: Tom Wujec on TED.com

Information designer Tom Wujec talks through three areas of the brain that help us understand words, images, feelings, connections. In this short talk from TEDU, he asks: How can we best engage our brains to help us better understand big ideas? (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 6:26)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/1P

Watch Tom Wujec's 2009 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 475+ TEDTalks.

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01 July 2009

17 words of architectural inspiration: Daniel Libeskind on TED.com

Daniel Libeskind builds on very big ideas. Here, he shares 17 words that underlie his vision for architecture -- raw, risky, emotional, radical -- and that offer inspiration for any bold creative pursuit. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:37)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/1M

Watch Daniel Libeskind's 2009 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 475+ TEDTalks.

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29 June 2009

Nandan Nilekani joins Indian government

TED2009 speaker Nandan Nilekani has stepped down from the company he co-founded, Infosys, to take a cabinet-level role in the Indian government. It's a rare step in Indian politics -- in fact, the Times of India calls Nilekani's move "the biggest movement from private sector to government in India in recallable memory." Nilekani will head up a three-year program to provide every Indian with a unique identity card. From the Times story:

Nilekani, who will quit his job as co-chairman of the Rs 22,000 crore Infosys to avoid any conflict of interest, has been given the rank and status of cabinet minister, a deadline of three years, a corpus of Rs 100 crore and -- perhaps most importantly -- the flexibility to draw in talent from the private sector to build his core team.

Video: Nilekani talks about his appointment for the Economic Times >>

Nilekani's recent book, Imagining India, takes a visionary look at his country -- its massive economy, and its even more massive potential. Watch his TEDTalk to find out more about his radical re-think of India's economic and social structure.

And find out more about TEDIndia -- taking place this November 1-4, on the Infosys campus near Mysore, India >>

22 June 2009

Facebook asked Philip Zimbardo absolutely anything -- and he answered

Today, eminent psychologist and TEDTalks star Philip Zimbardo (see his talks on evil and the paradox of time) agreed to answer TED's Facebook fans' questions on Absolutely Anything -- and he did! Read on:

Does time orientation influence which children become bullies? -- Kathy Hermanv

Interesting question, but there's no research on this relationship. Bullies are often people who are shy and can't make friends easily, so, as the theme of the movie A Bronx Tale tells us, it is better to be feared if you can't be loved. They substitute dominance for social support, and may have been abused earlier so carry on the use of power in dealing with others. They graduate onto becoming workplace bullies and making many other worker's lives miserable. However, bullies may be the perpetrators of evil but it is the evil of passivity of all those who know what is happening and never intervene that perpetuates such abuse.

[Ed: Check out Dr. Zimbardo's book, The Time Paradox for a detailed look at his new thinking on the hidden psychological power of time.]

What causes feelings of embarrassment in shy people? -- Malin Frankenhaeuser

Lots of stuff: feeling as the object of the other's attention, feeling being evaluated or judged, singled out even for commendation, alone with a member of opposite sex, feeling inadequate around superiors, even imagining future scenarios of social failures. Check out my books: Shyness: What It Is, What to Do About It, and The Shy Child.

How do you keep love alive? -- Chris West

Remembering and enacting the song: "I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow." Say each day, "l love you." Do something that makes the object of love feel special, wanted, and desired. Put Post-its around with hearts and your initials and that of your loved one. If it is romantic love, work at making love as often as possible and with as much sensuous pleasure as possible. Don't have sex when you are tired, overfed or drunk or bored; just go to sleep and do it the next day.

Is suffering a part of what it means to be a hero? -- Pedro Fontes

Not at all. My definition of heroism is "taking action on behalf of others (or a moral cause) in need, with awareness of potential personal cost and no expectation of tangible rewards." Others may be suffering of being unfairly wronged, and the hero recognizes that injustice or pain and acts socio-centrically to prevent or mitigate the wrong or the pain. See my website, TheLuciferEffect.com (celebrating heroism), EverydayHeroism.org.

What is the greatest mistake the field of psychology has made? -- Justin Paine

Focusing for so long on the negatives in human nature, like mental illness, aggression, prejudice and antisocial behavior. Psychologists are optimists who believe that understanding the causal mechanisms in such phenomena they can begin to prevent, modify or change such negative states and behaviors. However, this focus on the Yin prevented most psychologists from recognizing the Yang -- the positives about people and human nature. That focus on the negative is being corrected by the Positive Psychology movement, started by U. Penn. Professor Martin Seligman in 1998. Just this weekend that group held the first annual International Positive Psychology Association World Congress in Philadelphia, attended by more than 1,700 people from more than 30 nations. Their focus is recognizing and building human strengths and virtues, and doing so across the school curriculum, in business and the military and more. It is an exciting new field of scientific research, education and application.

Which political system is the most humane? -- Xenia Benivolski

People want fairness, justice and to have the opportunity to make a difference in the world they inhabit. They want to succeed by merit and effort. In general, participatory democracy can help best to achieve such goals and needs, where it is truly created and maintained by the will of the people and is not merely illusionary democracies, where votes are rigged or fraud and corruption dominates. We are in the midst of a unique world experience in Iran, created by the electronic revolution that is making the entire world instantly aware of that likely fraudulent vote and the need for an honest, supervised re-casting of votes. In the past, the United States government has supported a bunch of pseudo-democracies around the world as long as their leaders were anti-Communism or even fascist juntas.

Is there such a thing as a good cult? -- Christopher Glass

Great question. It is one I used to pose in my Mind Control course at Stanford University, going one step further and inviting students to design such a cult. Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control members' lives. No group with high ideals starts off as a "cult"; they become one when their errant ways are exposed. A good cult delivers on its promises. A good cult nourishes the needs of its members, has transparency and integrity, and creates provisions for challenging its leadership openly. A good cult expands the freedoms and well-being of its members rather than limits them.

18 June 2009

Catherine Mohr: Surgery's past, present and robotic future

Surgeon and inventor Catherine Mohr tours the history of surgery (and its pre-painkiller, pre-antiseptic past), then demos some of the newest tools for surgery through tiny incisions, performed using nimble robot hands. Fascinating -- but not for the squeamish. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:55)

Watch Catherine Mohr's talk from TED2009 on TED.com where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 450+ TEDTalks.

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17 June 2009

Q&A with Diane Benscoter: Joining, leaving and ultimately defeating the cult

Today, we posted Diane Benscoter's revealing talk on being a Moonie and how cult thought can lead people to do the unthinkable. It's a topic that's not often talked about and that fascinates many, so, to bring you more from Diane the TEDBlog caught up with her for an interview. We talked about her time with the Moonies, her efforts as a deprogrammer and her ideas about how we should be fighting cults and extremism around the world.

Could you speak a little more about how you came to join the Moonies?

I had just turned 17. I was very idealistic. The Vietnam War really bothered me. I had a good friend with a brother in Vietnam. I was determined to find a community that would stop the madness. I went off in search of something like that. I went off on this Walk for World Peace. It was a five day walk, and during the entire walk there would be two people walking with me at all times, talking about this new world they were going to build, saying that I was special and chosen by God to be a part of this, otherwise I wouldn’t be there. There were lectures every night. And slowly I came to believe that they were right, and that Sun Myung Moon was the second coming of the Messiah.

What was it like once you were in the group? What was it like to live as a Moonie?

It was constantly reinforced that we had a purpose that was much higher than that of anyone else in the world. It was pretty appealing to be a part of something like that. But, I missed my freedom. There were times when I really missed being like the people I saw on the street every day. But, it was constantly reinforced that I was saving the world, so I trusted my beliefs and gave up my freedom.

I spent most of my days fundraising -- selling candy and flowers. I started in Nebraska and began living in their Nebraska center. I cut my hair off and cut my ties with my family. I was shipped off not long after I joined, for training at a “monastery” in upstate New York. Then I began my mission -- fundraising. We lived in vans and went from place to place selling candy and flowers. We also went back for training over and over, and the trainings were pretty long. One of them was 120 days. They reinforced beliefs and erased any doubts during their training. They kept the circular logic intact.

What was this experience like for your family?

They were desperate. You see, it wasn’t like I came from a family that was dysfunctional or abusive. I came from a normal, loving home. My mother was especially desperate to get me out. And when they did talk to me, all I wanted was to get them to join. I thought Satan was using them, was talking through them. They suffered greatly. Now that I’m a parent, I can’t imagine how hard it was for them.

They did everything they could. My mom really wanted to have me deprogrammed, my dad wasn’t as sure. It’s a drastic measure. And what if it didn’t work? He was afraid that if they tried, and it didn’t work, that they might lose me forever.

Could you speak a little bit about deprogramming? You were deprogrammed and became a deprogrammer, but it’s a rather controversial practice and many think that it brings up ethical issues relating to free will.

Yeah, I have a lot to say on this topic, but I’ll try to give the main points first. One -- involuntary deprogrammings, which I was involved with, aren’t really taking place anymore and definitely not as they were. Looking back on it, I think there are ethical issues there. Still, I totally understand why people did it, why I did it -- desperation, not knowing what to do, love of their child. You’re dealing with a problem that hasn’t been defined psychologically, so you can’t lock people in a mental hospital for it.

Now, I had one foot in and one foot out of the Moonies when I was deprogrammed. My faith was already wavering. Also, I had a loving family. But, to pull a belief system away from someone who doesn’t have the correct support system can be very dangerous. It’s like chemotherapy. Chemotherapy many times cures cancer, but it can also kill people. So, I’m not going to say that deprogramming is the way. And that‘s why I’ve gone in the direction of prevention.

Also, some people came to deprogramming more professionally that others. Some made mistakes and some used really admirable techniques. For the most part, in the ones that I was a part of, we just talked to the person and made sure that they ate and slept well. We were trying to introduce rational thought and a healthy mental state. We presented no new philosophy and no desire for them to take up any of our personal beliefs. We simply tried to explain that much of what they had been told was not true and was possibly brainwashing. We based our techniques on psychological theory, especially the work of Robert Lifton.

10 June 2009

Scenes from the Millennium Seed Bank: Q&A with Jonathan Drori

Last week, we posted Jonathan Drori's fascinating short talk about the Millennium Seed Bank -- a massive effort to preserve the world's threatened plant life within a global network of seed archives. It's a big topic to cover in 3 minutes, so the TED Blog asked Drori if he had time to answer a few more questions -- like, How do seeds die? He happily obliged. (In the photo above, Drori is on a collecting trip looking for rare bamboo.)

Where's the Millennium Seed Bank, and what happens there?

The Millennium Seed Bank is part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, spread across two sites in southeast England. We have a large group of scientists researching botany, plant biodiversity and restoration ecology, as well as operating the enormous and internationally known gardens themselves, which are of course, living scientific collections.

And what do you do there?

My role is as a main-Board Trustee. There are 12 of us, responsible to the nation for ensuring that the strategy and operations of the organization are excellent. My own particular interests are in our use of technology and the web, in public understanding of our scientific work and in education, outreach and marketing. I also spend some time fundraising; though Kew itself is about half-funded by the UK government, the Millennium Seed Bank is financed from other sources, including philanthropic organizations and business sponsors.

You mention in your talk that the seed bank does some high-tech things with the seeds. What are a few examples?

Kew has a project that uses gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the air just above the stored seeds. The aim is to identify and quantify the volatile organic compounds that are released by dry seeds during long-term storage. Seed species that can be stored successfully long-term will be compared with some species that suffer damage during storage ("recalcitrant" seeds) and are less able to germinate as a result. The aim is to see if there are volatile marker compounds that could be used as non-invasive real-time monitors of the long-term viability of seeds in seed banks. The results from the project could additionally have implications for horticulture, in terms of a non-invasive method for rapidly assessing the health of seeds.

Can you talk a little bit about the search for viability markers? What are some of the possible genetic and molecular clues that a seed might be viable?

Ilse Kranner is one of our experts on seed viability. She and her colleagues are looking for chemical or other indicators of cell death. Her detection methods look for these indicators either directly or through the switching on or off of genes. The Holy Grail is to find a universal, non-destructive, rapid technique -- a tall order!

Seeds do give us some molecular clues that allow us to diagnose their viability. We use methods of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) to analyse what goes wrong when a seed dies. An example is Kranner and her colleagues’ work on antioxidants in seeds. Antioxidants mop up "free radicals" (these are the villains that can destroy big molecules such as DNA, RNA, lipids and proteins). Some of these antioxidants used by plants turn out to be important vitamins for humans, e.g. vitamins C and E. The team has found that antioxidants help the seed to survive stress, but when aging conditions (high temperatures at high seed water-content) persist, the antioxidant system eventually breaks down. Calculating how powerful these antioxidants need to be to counteract the seeds’ stress allows us to predict whether or not a seed will die upon water uptake, or if it will germinate and form a new seedling.

There are also indicators of "programmed cell death." This is a program of cellular suicide at the end of which a cell cuts up its own DNA into very small fragments that cannot be re-assembled again. Programmed cell death has evolved because it is better for an organism to destroy a cell that is damaged beyond repair rather than putting energy into sustaining it. Also, cell division must be balanced by such processes, otherwise there would be tumor-like growth. The team has found such DNA fragments in dead seeds, and these fragments tell us that many (or all) cells in a seed have undergone programmed cell death as the seed aged. So these fragments may lead us to a useful indicator of seed viability.

How long do the seeds last?

Seed longevity is extraordinarily variable -- by at least four orders of magnitude. Seeds from plants that grow in cold, wet places tend to have shorter lives -- just a few years in some cases, such as the wood anemone. At the other extreme, plants that have evolved in hot, dry places such as eucalypts and some grains tend to have the greatest longevity –- probably thousands of years.

Can you grow plants from the stored seeds just by warming them up and adding water?

In some cases, yes. Many seeds, though, are very fussy. They need special combinations of temperature, moisture and the right timing to get them to germinate. Sometimes they need a particular cycle of conditions before they’ll sprout. One of the very worrying aspects of climate change is that these precise conditions may not occur, which would mean that whole populations of plants could die out if they cannot adapt quickly enough. Our research gives us germination protocols, sets of rules and methods for storing and germinating every species, and we make these freely available. These germination protocols are already being used by farmers to increase the yields they get on cultivated crops.

In the seed bank's work in the field, how often do the collection teams discover unknown plant species or variants?

In places like Madagascar, fairly frequently -- we probably have 20 or so species thought to be completely new to science, collected over the past five years. Elsewhere, the species may be well known and documented, though not collected or preserved. About 1,000 of our seed collections have not yet been identified -- many of these will be new to science, but we won't know for sure until the relevant experts have a look at them.

08 June 2009

It's World Oceans Day! Take a poll to help Sylvia Earle's wish come true

Take 3 minutes to help celebrate World Oceans Day by helping us grant Sylvia Earle's 2009 TED Prize wish.

Our partners at Razorfish have created an ocean survey regarding the threats to marine life today. This survey will offer valuable insights into the public's knowledge of the dangers facing our oceans. We would love to hear from the TED community -- please tell us, how often do you think about the ocean?

Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey, and help us move one step closer to making Sylvia Earle's wish come true. Keynote Solutions, a test and measurement company, will be organizing the information gathered here, and it will be used to help design an awareness campaign to fulfill this inspiring wish.

Take the poll >>

Share this poll: http://on.ted.com/h

Watch Sylvia Earle as she makes her TED Prize wish:

08 June 2009

Pete Alcorn on the world in 2200

In this short, optimistic talk from TED2009, Pete Alcorn shares a vision of the world of two centuries from now -- when declining populations and growing opportunity prove Malthus was wrong. (Recorded at TED2004, February 2004, in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:24)

Watch Pete Alcorn's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 450+ TEDTalks.

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05 June 2009

Q&A with Yann Arthus-Bertrand: The environmentalist behind the camera

Today, photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand launched his movie Home, an environmentally conscious tour of our planet through panoramic vistas that focuses on human impact -- our mistakes and possibilities for improvement. Yann took some time out of this busy day to answer a few questions for the TEDBlog by email, going beyond his recent TEDTalk to give us insight on his attempts to document and save our home and humanity.

How was your experience at TED? Did you enjoy giving a TEDTalk?

Wonderful experience, especially the audience and the people I met during the sessions. It would be great if we did something similar to TED in France.

As you can see and hear, even with a lot of rehearsals, I’m not a great speaker. I guess that’s why I take pictures and made a movie.

Have you seen your TEDTalk online? What did you think of it?

Not yet. The last few days have been hectic.

Today is Home’s world premiere. It’s happening in more than 100 countries, in 33 languages and on 65 TV channels from Nepal to Burkina Faso, from Russia to Argentina, and of course in the United States.

Is there anything you would have liked to say in your TEDTalk, but didn’t have time to?

Don’t tempt me. I never lose an opportunity to speak about my obsession: humankind and the environment.

Why the aerial photography? How did you come to decide that this was the perspective for you? Not scared of heights, we take it?

I learned to be a hot-air balloon pilot to take tourists over the Masaï Mara Reserve, in order to earn some money and finance the work I was doing with my wife Anne. We were studying the life of a family of lions for more than two years. Taking pictures was a way to capture information we could not put in words.

What are the mechanics behind getting your aerial shots? Your website says that helicopters are best, but what do use when one isn’t available? Do you use harnesses for safety?

I have the impression that I'm photographing life, not landscapes. For me an aerial picture is no different than a close-up portrait. It’s a question of framing and angle. Helicopters are great for that. But I’ve also used planes. Of course, I always have a harness.

Any close calls when leaning out of an aircraft to capture an amazing shot? Would you like to share the story?

After Hurricane Katrina, over New Orleans, my helicopter crashed and the pilot and I were only saved because we fell on the roof of a flooded house that absorbed the shock. When the helicopter was spiraling downward out of control, I didn’t expect to survive at all.

You’re a photographer, but also an environmentalist in many ways. Was there a particular experience or time in your life, maybe in your childhood, that sparked your commitment to building awareness of our environment and your fascination with nature?

My fondness for nature goes back to childhood, but it was as an adult that I became an advocate. Like a lot of people, it was in 1992, during the Earth Summit in Rio, that for the first time I heard expressions like climate change, biodiversity, sustainable development. I felt like an urgency to act -- or to put it in another way, to use my work for this cause.

01 June 2009

A call to reinvent liberal arts education: Liz Coleman on TED.com

Bennington president Liz Coleman delivers a call-to-arms for radical reform in higher education. Bucking the trend to push students toward increasingly narrow areas of study, she proposes a truly cross-disciplinary education -- one that dynamically combines all areas of study to address the great problems of our day. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:38)

Watch Liz Coleman's talk from TED2009 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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25 May 2009

Gorgeous graphic notes from TED2009

YouTube's Margaret Stewart shares her sketchbook notes from the TED2009 sessions -- a lively, personal way to see TED through one creative person's eyes. Click the image above to view the full set of sketchbook pages.

We're always interested in creative ways to take notes on TED and TEDTalks (check out Autodesk's BigViz sketchbook, and everythink's stream-of-consciousness sketches, from TED2008). If you've got some TED notes to share, email contact@ted.com or make a comment below.

21 May 2009

SETI Institute is hiring: Become the project manager for Jill Tarter's TED Prize wish

This spring, astronomer Jill Tarter made a far-reaching TED Prize wish -- to search for signs of intelligent life on other planets.

As part of making this wish come true, the SETI Institute is looking to hire a project manager with the experience, qualifications and energy to run the TED Prize wish project for at least two years. For the full job description and contact info, read on.

This is a unique opportunity to work in both open-source software and social media, on a project whose ramifications are literally beyond global.

Watch Jill Tarter's TED Prize wish to get inspired:

We are seeking someone with deep experience in managing open-source software projects and the communities that power them to drive a bold and agenda-setting initiative. The initiative will involve managing a traditional open-source software project, as well as a complex public-facing system that will enlist the general/nontechnical public’s assistance in conducting our search. To succeed, a candidate above all needs a history of success in managing major open-source projects. While it’s not essential that this person be a coding engineer, it is essential that s/he be comfortable enough with C++ code to have technically meaningful interactions with committers and the broader open-source community. It’s also essential that s/he be a strong evangelist -- able to speak inspiringly in public, and to energize, recruit and maintain engagement with key influencers in the open source coding world.

The other part of the job will be governing a project that will in many ways resemble Galaxy Zoo (an intriguing “citizen scientist” system). This will involve managing a respected Web development company as it creates the site, and thereafter overseeing/”gardening” a large community of nontechnical contributors. We expect this community to be self-policing and self-monitoring, like Wikipedia’s editorial community. But it will need leadership and a baseline architecture, and our hire will be responsible for delivering this.

This is a unique opportunity to work in both open-source software and social media, on a project whose ramifications are literally beyond global.

This will be a full-time role at the SETI Institute for two years, funded by the money TED has allocated toward granting Jill’s wish. However, because this is a TED Prize wish, one in which many people and individuals are giving a lot to make happen, we do hope to find someone who will do this at a reduced rate. We have a large brainstorm taking place on June 1 and would love to have the right person chosen and at the table for that meeting.

Please send a resume and cover letter to tedprize1@ted.com if you are interested in the position.

And please forward this opportunity on to anyone you believe possess the right skills!

21 May 2009

Watch the TED Fellows video -- and apply for a TEDIndia fellowship

The TED Fellows program helps world-changing innovators from around the globe become part of the TED community. This short video conveys the intense, potentially life-changing experience of becoming a TED Fellow, through interviews with some of the TED2009 Long Beach Fellows and with TED's Community Director, Tom Rielly:

Inspired? Apply for a TEDIndia Fellowship! Applications are open until June 15, 2009, at noon EDT. Learn more about the TED Fellows program >>

20 May 2009

Q&A with Mary Roach: Revealing the science of sex

Yesterday, the TEDBlog caught up with author Mary Roach to discuss her brand new TEDTalk and her latest book, Bonk, that captures the most interesting tidbits on the science of sex throughout history. With amazing ease, Mary frankly addressed lack of orgasms among women, her sex life, and participating in clinical sex research with her husband. It's our sexiest Q&A yet.

So, are you excited to see your TEDTalk go up?

I’m delighted! I’m so excited about it. I just hope I don’t create moral outrage and sully the good name of TED with my little talk.

I’m sure you won’t. Jumping off, I’d like to ask at least one serious question -- you had such funny facts about orgasm, but what about the less funny, large proportion of women that have difficulty achieving orgasm? Did you come across research on this?

Well, I didn’t really go into the therapy aspect of sexual dysfunction. Mainly, I was looking at lab-tested physiological research. But, there’s a chapter in Bonk about the distance between the clitoris and the vagina and if a physical difference there could play a role in orgasm. You know, asking: Is there a single physical factor? I loved that research.

Actually, the guy doing this research was re-running numbers originally gathered by Marie Bonaparte, who is Napoleon’s niece, and had great personal difficulty achieving orgasm. She even had her clitoris surgically moved closer to her vagina. Unfortunately, she later became a Freudian theorist, and of course Freud said that the clitoris was for little girls and that all pleasure really came from the vagina. That couldn’t have helped her in her quest.

But, even if that physical difference is a factor, it’s not very large. You can change positions. I think it’s much more about how comfortable you are. They say that women’s sexual peaks are in their 30s or 40s, and I think that it happens because they’re more comfortable. It’s not some hormonal change that happens at that age. Of course, it would be nice to have more physiological insight on that.

By the way, Marie Bonparte’s husband turned out to be gay. But we know that’s not why she didn’t have orgasms as she had an affair with the Prime Minister of France, who was not gay, and couldn’t climax with him either.

You’re full of fun facts! Another semi-serious question -- the pig stimulation looks like a lot of work. Is a six percent increase in probability of fertilization really worth all that?

Well, I don’t have the numbers, but I’m guessing that it’s not as popular with smaller pig farmers. I can’t imagine them doing this for 12 piglets or so more a year. But, at larger farms with a big bottom line, it’s probably well worth it. Yeah, any mom and pop pig farmers would say, “Are you out of your mind?”

Now that we’re on the topic of animal orgasms, just wondering, have you come across any research of which species have orgasms? Do cockroaches have orgasms?

When researchers have bothered to look into it with different species, they’ve always found that they do have orgasms. But it’s not common that they do unless they’re trying to produce more pigs. I think it’s a big unknown.

And how do you prove it? How many iterations do you need -- you know, how many cockroaches do you need to examine before you can prove the negative? And how do you know what an orgasm looks like in all these different species? The pig in the video doesn’t look to us like she’s having an orgasm. Anne Marie Hedeboe, the representative from the Danish National Committee actually said, "Speaking for myself, I hope she does. But we're really just hoping to produce more pigs."

So, after two years of researching and writing a book about sex, is your sex life better?

Yeah, in very subtle ways. The book’s not a how-to but you do learn lot about how bodies work.

Also, there was a period of time when I was reading Human Sexual Response by Masters and Johnson, which is very detailed -- and that was hard because knowing this stuff turns you into a spectator in your own bedroom. You find yourself going,“Oh, are you having post-ejaculatory sensitivity today, honey?” So that was disturbing, particularly for my husband.

What about how other people see you? Now that you’ve written a book about sex, do people find you sexier?

You know, I was looking forward to that but it hasn’t happened. When I wrote Stiff, people thought I was this really twisted, weird person. Now, I thought they would think, “Mary’s really into sex. She’s really hot.” But, I haven’t gotten it. I’ve gotten three emails from men saying here’s my address if you want to try some new things. But that was it. Literally, three emails.

Well, there’s still time. And your TEDTalk is going up tomorrow.

That’s true. We’ll see!

18 May 2009

The business logic of sustainability: Ray Anderson on TED.com

At his carpet company, Interface, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional "take / make / waste" industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares his powerful vision for sustainable commerce. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 15:55.)

Watch Ray Anderson's talk from TED2009 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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15 May 2009

Q&A with Hans Rosling (Part 2): How to change Fidel Castro's mind ... and everybody else's

In the second half of the TEDBlog's interview with global health professor and stats expert Hans Rosling, he gets personal. With his usual wit, Hans tells stories of winning over Fidel Castro, remembers his battle with testicular cancer and explains why we can't get enough of him. If you need to catch up before diving into Part 2, read Part 1 of the interview or watch his newest TEDTalk, posted on Wednesday.

While we’re discussing world leaders -- rumor has it that you have out-talked Fidel Castro. Would you like to tell that story?

Oh, that’s a very good story. It was 1993 in Cuba, and there was a huge outbreak of neuropathy which is basically damage to the nerves. It causes great damage to the legs and the eyes. There were 40,000 cases across the island. In May of ’93, I was approached by the Cuban Embassy in Sweden and invited to join a team of scientists going to Cuba. I agreed.

We were very well received in Cuba. I discovered that the Cuban government and professionals are great to make deals with. They keep to their word. If they don’t want something, they don’t want it, but if they say yes ...

Fidel Castro actually came to me on the first day and chatted with me. It was a chat to go through my CV and check if it was true. Because of my work and time living in Africa, I have a Fidel-loving CV and he wanted to be sure all of this was true. He asked a lot of trick questions, but I passed the test.

I liked that he had stopped smoking, as leader of a country famous for their cigars. But, I also decided not to fall into calling him a great leader and all these things. I did not want to either promote or criticize the Cuban government, but to do what I was invited to do.

I told Castro that I would like to use qualitative research methods, incorporate some anthropology. But this was 1993, and it was very early to be using these methods in public health research. Now it’s totally accepted, but then it was a very new idea. And it was important to use in this case as I had noticed that the tobacco-growing provinces had much higher frequency of the condition. Also, the food distribution was equal in Cuba but the disease distribution was unequal, so that link was gone. So I said, “Let’s not just do a questionnaire here.” Quantitative people don’t like you to say that. So there was some argument, and that was the moment when Castro came in.

We sat for three or four hours and we got into a discussion over the details, the very smallest details. At one point I said, “We need to do good research.” He misunderstood me and thought that I meant that the research of his scientists was low quality. So he also had to give me a long lecture about how good the Cubans were at epidemiology. And it’s difficult to stop Castro when he begins talking -- almost as difficult as it is to stop me. But then I said, “Can I tell you a story?” And as a Cuban, he immediately said, “Yes.”

So, I told him that I had watched a documentary on him, and he asked me more questions to verify that I remembered it all correctly and it was all true -- and I passed. And then I said, “I liked especially when you lived in the Sierra Maestra. You worked along with the people, you ate with them, you played with their children. You must have learnt so much about them.” And he said, “Yes. Yes, we did.” And I replied, “But you didn’t have any questionnaires!” He laughed at that. So, I told him, “You see, today the methods of Sierra Maestra have become science.” He sort of liked that.

The next day the Minister of Health and the head of the Armed Forces and such all sat down with me for a meeting and said, “We would like you to stay in Cuba for the next six months. Tell us who you would like to work with.” So I stayed, and we did exactly the studies I had proposed.

I stayed for only three months, but I learned a lot about Cuba. And I will say this: What you think is good in Cuba is much better than you think. And what you think is bad in Cuba is much worse than you think.

13 May 2009

New facts on HIV and stunning data visuals: Hans Rosling on TED.com

Hans Rosling unveils new data visuals that untangle the complex risk factors of one of the world's deadliest (and most misunderstood) diseases: HIV. He argues that preventing transmissions -- not drug treatments -- is the key to ending the epidemic. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 9:56.)

Watch Hans Rosling'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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13 May 2009

TED's Open Translation Project brings subtitles in 40+ languages to TED.com

We here at TED are thrilled to announce this news!

NEW YORK, May 13, 2009 — The acclaimed 18-minute talks available free on the TED website will now be accessible beyond the English-speaking world, through the TED Open Translation Project (www.ted.com/translation), which launches today, generously sponsored by Nokia.

A year in the making, the project offers video subtitles, time-coded transcripts and the ability for volunteers worldwide to translate any talk into any language. The project launches with 300 translations in 40 languages; more than 200 volunteer translators have already contributed.

Download the Open Translation Project press release as a PDF >>

"TED’s mission is to spread good thinking globally, and so it’s high time we began reaching out to the 4.5 billion people on the planet who don't speak English," says TED Curator Chris Anderson. “We’re excited to be using a bottom-up, open-source approach that will in time allow all our talks to be translated into all the world’s languages. A web-empowered revolution in global education is under way. We’re not far from the day when anyone on Earth can directly access the world’s great teachers speaking to them in their own language. How cool is that?"

Each of the 400+ talks on TED.com will now offer:

+ Subtitles, in English and many additional languages (several videos carry up to 25 languages at launch)
+ A time-coded, interactive transcript, in multiple languages, which lets you click on any phrase and jump straight to that point in the video. This makes the entire content of the video indexable on search engines
+ Translated headlines and video descriptions, which appear when a new language is selected
+ Language-specific URLs which play the chosen subtitles by default

The TED Open Translation Project is one of the most comprehensive attempts by a major media platform to subtitle and index online video content. It’s also a groundbreaking effort in the public, professional use of volunteer translation.

“Volunteer translation will be increasingly important for anyone trying to reach a global audience,” says June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media. “It’s the only feasible way to reach all the world’s languages. Crowd-sourced translation creates communities of volunteers who are passionate about producing great work, accountable for the accuracy of their translations, and invested in evolving the system itself. It turns users into true participants, helping to spread ideas.”

Crowd-sourced translations in all the world's languages

To launch the Open Translation Project, a handful of talks were professionally translated into 20 languages. But all translations going forward will be provided by volunteers. In fact, volunteer translators have already contributed more than 200 published translations to the project (with 450 more in development). These volunteers range from well-organized groups working together in their own language, to lone translators working individually and matched by TED with others.

To support this program, TED and technology partner dotSUB have developed a set of tools that allow participants around the world to translate their favorite talks into their own language. This approach is scalable, and -- importantly -- allows speakers of less-dominant languages an equal opportunity to spread ideas within their communities.

This open-source approach mimics the successful strategies of products like Wikipedia, Linux and Mozilla, which have proven the power -– and ultimate reliability –- of open solutions. Crowd-sourced translation has already been proven effective on a handful of sites worldwide, including Wikipedia and the Global Voices blog at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

To ensure quality translations, TED established a set of guidelines and systems to help translators deliver the best work possible. To begin with, a professionally generated (and speaker-approved) English transcript is provided for each talk, so that all translations are based on the same source document. TED then requires every translation to be reviewed by a second fluent speaker before it's published; both translator and reviewer are credited by name on the site. TED controls the final "publish" button (nothing is "automatically" published), and there are feedback mechanisms for ongoing community input and improvement after publication.

At launch, TED’s Open Translation Project will include more than 300 translations, in more than 40 languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kirghiz, Korean, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Our translators hail from cities from Beijing to Buenos Aires; Tehran to Tel Aviv; Espoo, Finland, to Barranquilla, Colombia.

Accurate, searchable, interactive transcripts for every TEDTalk

Each of the 400+ TED talks now has a time-coded, interactive transcript, in English and all available languages. Using this interactive transcript, a user can select any phrase and have the video play from the point where that phrase is spoken. The transcripts will be fully indexable by search engines -- in all languages -- exposing previously inaccessible content within the talks themselves. For example, someone searching on Google for “green roof” will ultimately find the moment in architect William McDonough's talk when he discusses Ford's River Rouge plant, and also the moment in Majora Carter's talk when she speaks of her green roof project in the South Bronx.

Questions about the project? Write to subtitles@ted.com or read the FAQ.

12 May 2009

You asked Seth Godin absolutely anything -- and he answered

If you were a James Bond villain, how would you take over the world? -- Andrew Noseworthy

I'd release a pheremone that increases the fear that people have about doing great things. It would only increase it by 3%, but that would be enough to wipe out most competition. I'm convinced someone is already doing this, by the way.

In the age of tribes, will the benefits outweigh the problems? Specifically, if society fractions into increasingly small groups, won't we wind up with more rules, more conflict, and more difficulty in communicating, as each develops its own norms and goals? Does this internet-enabled tribal age have implications for how we are going to coexist in society as the "other" becomes an increasingly large part of the population? -- David Stewart

I think the idea of negative tribal behavior is older than the Cro Magnon man. Tribes online, in work and in communities aren't going to make us more violent. We don't run the risk of more us/them conflicts. I think, instead, we're going to see more movements that benefit all of us. When enough people care about autism or diabetes or global warming, it helps everyone, even if only a tiny fraction actively participate. Remember, it's the doing, more than what gets done, that defines tribe.

How do you make "limited edition" physical products feel limited? Especially when they're limited because you don't have the capability to produce too many -- like hand-made clothes. Should you even try? -- John-Phillip Johansson

Of course. There's a real need for scarcity. The question is how you demonstrate it. Berkin bags? Signed prints? TED invites? By exposing the insiders, you create demand among the outsiders.

What have you learned today? -- Antonio Ortiz

I learned that a long walk and calm conversation are an incredible combination if you want to build a bridge.

While getting people to support causes (sign petitions, join a group, etc.) on social networking sites like Facebook has been done very successfully, getting them to donate time and money to the same causes has not. Why do you think this is so? -- Pavithra Sankaran

I'm not sure that signing petitions does a thing. I think that easy in/easy out is an axiom, and if you want to make change you need to ask people to do more than just nod at you.

How can small business coffee shops survive a Starbucks next door? -- Pascal Lacroix

By being not only different, but better in ways Starbucks cannot. You can't win by imitating them. Consider having a membership fee, or a different social group. Serve a different item, in a different way, at a different price. Emphasize the 'Cheers' friendly element over the 'get in and get out' mindset. Exclude certain people or practices. Offer clothes or community performances ... stuff they can't do!

Can you offer any dating pointers? -- Mark Smith

I've tried the Gregorian, but I find the Julian calendar is a lot more useful.

Among my blogging peers in the marketing/PR/social media niche, I often hear people toss around comments like "he's the next Seth Godin," or, "My goal is to be the next Seth Godin." I'm curious what your advice would be to the next generation of emerging thought leaders -- especially the ones eyeing your particular seat. -- Tiffany Monhollon

I'm still trying to be pretty good at being 'this' Seth Godin, so I wish people who want to be the next one a lot of luck. There's never been a next Elvis Costello or a next Jill Sobule. There wasn't even a next Chuck Berry or a next Charlie Chaplin ... I think the most productive thing to do during times of change is to be your best self, not the best version of someone else.

12 May 2009

A piano performance that balances chaos and harmony: Eric Lewis on TED.com

Eric Lewis (who plays the White House tonight!) explores the piano's expressive power as he pounds and caresses the keys (and the strings) in a performance during the 2009 TED Prize session. He plays an original song, a tribute to ocean and sky and the vision of the TED Prize winners. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 4:54.)

Watch Eric Lewis' performance 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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11 May 2009

Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world: Seth Godin on TED.com

Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 17:23.)

Watch Seth Godin'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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07 May 2009

Alarming new slides depict a worsening climate crisis: Al Gore on TED.com

At TED2009, Al Gore presents updated slides from around the globe to make the case that worrying climate trends are even worse than scientists predicted, and to make clear his stance on "clean coal". (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 7:44.)

Watch Al Gore'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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05 May 2009

The incredible El Sistema music program is coming to the US

Three months ago, the visionary Venezuelan musician Dr. José Antonio Abreu made his TED Prize wish -- to create and document a special training program for at least 50 gifted young musicians, passionate for their art and for social justice, and dedicated to developing El Sistema in the US and in other countries.

Today we are proud to introduce the Abreu Fellows Program at New England Conservatory of Music. It is a one-year postgraduate certificate program for accomplished young musicians who desire to become ambassadors of El Sistema and who are committed to developing it outside of Venezuela. Abreu Fellows will spend a year studying between Boston and Caracas, and leave with the tools to return to their communities to teach the El Sistema model.

Subject to funds raised, the program is ready to open this fall with spots for the first 18 fellows.

More detailed information on the program, the fellows and funding scholarships is online at a beautiful new website, elSistemaUSA.org.

el Sistema USA is a support and advocacy network for people and organizations inspired by Venezula’s monumental music education program. It will grow to provide comprehensive information on the El Sistema philosophy and methodology, and host a variety of resources that will aid those building, expanding and supporting El Sistema programs in the US and beyond.

Check out the site and be inspired. Help build the program by identifying or supporting a fellow. And if you haven’t already, watch the unforgettable youth orchestra performance from TED.

A huge thanks to Albertson Design, who did an amazing job branding the fellows program and designing and building the website.

And thanks to The Rackspace Cloud for hosting the site.

01 May 2009

What went wrong (and what's next) at the Large Hadron Collider: Brian Cox's update on TED.com

Yesterday, CERN announced that the Large Hadron Collider (which spectacularly failed last September) could be turned on again as soon as this August. In this short talk from TED U 2009, physicist Brian Cox shares what's new with CERN's supercollider. He covers the repairs now underway and what the future holds for the largest science experiment ever attempted. (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 3:30.)

Watch Brian Cox's 2008 TEDTalk, "An inside tour of the world's biggest supercollider" >>

Watch Brian Cox's talk from TED U 2009 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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29 April 2009

Race and the city: An exclusive interview with Nate Silver

In his TEDTalk, blogger and statistics whiz Nate Silver explained how race may have affected the 2008 election. In this interview with the TEDBlog he further explores the relationships between urban spaces, race and President Obama.

Here's an excerpt:

I see Obama as being our first urban president in a long time. His racial heritage is mixed, he was raised by a single mother, he’s lived in several places, from Indonesia to Hawaii to the Midwest. For many people living in our cities, especially in their 20s and 30s, this is normal. I think urban-ness is the real factor.

Read the full interview, after the jump >>

29 April 2009

One woman, eight hilarious characters: Sarah Jones on TED.com

In this hilariously lively performance, actress Sarah Jones channels an opinionated elderly Jewish woman, a fast-talking Dominican college student and more, giving TED2009 just a sample of her spectacular character range. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 21:00.)

Watch Sarah Jones' 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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28 April 2009

Q&A on swine flu with virus hunter Nathan Wolfe: "We've created a perfect storm for viruses"

Swine flu has made this a busy week for virus hunter Nathan Wolfe, who spoke at TED2009 about preventing the next pandemic. His groundbreaking Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (supported by grants from Google.org, the Skoll Foundation and others) monitors people in close contact with animals (such as subsistence hunters in central Africa) to catch new diseases before they spread. We caught up with Wolfe yesterday by phone, before his appearance on CNN with Anderson Cooper (who plays a cameo role in Wolfe's TEDTalk), and asked him about this latest outbreak.

SARS, avian flu, swine flu ... what's going on here? Why are we suddenly seeing so many more outbreaks of viruses from animals?

Viruses have always passed from humans to animals. In fact, the vast majority of human diseases have animal origins. But the human population is different from what it once was. For most of our history, we lived in geographically disparate populations. So viruses could enter from animals into humans, spread locally and go extinct. But the human population has gone through a connectivity explosion. All humans on the planet are now connected to each other spatially and temporally in a way that's unprecedented in the history of vertebrate biology. Humans -- as well as our domestic animals and wild animals we trade -- move around the planet at biological warp speed. This provides new opportunities for viruses that would have gone extinct locally to have the population density fuel they need to establish themselves and spread globally.

We've created a "perfect storm" for viruses. And we'll continue to see -- as we have in the past few years -- a whole range of new animal diseases as outbreaks in human populations. But we have to stop being surprised by them. Right now, global public health is like cardiology in the '50s -- just waiting for the heart attack, without understanding why they occur or the many ways to monitor for them, detect them early and ultimately prevent them. Swine flu is not an anomaly. We know that swine flu -- like the vast majority of new outbreaks -- comes from animals. We should be monitoring those animals and the humans that come into contact with them, so we can catch these viruses early, before they infect major cities and spread throughout the world.

Can we stop swine flu? Or is it too late?
If you catch one of these outbreaks early on, there may be the potential to do what we call containment, where you limit the outbreak to a particular site. But the reality is: By the time swine flu got on the radar screen of global public health, it had already spread. It was already in the States, it was in Mexico, it was in New Zealand. By the time it reaches that point, you've lost the ability to contain it. There are ways to decrease the spread of the pandemic, but by that point, it can't be contained. (Editor's note: See Larry Brilliant's 2006 TEDTalk for more on the importance of early containment.)

The more fundamental question is: How do we prevent these pandemics from occurring? There are commonalities among all the pandemics that occur, and we can learn from them. One commonality is that they all come from animals. And the other commonality is that we wait too long.

At the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, our approach is to take it a step back. If we can contain and monitor animal viruses at an earlier stage -- when they're first entering human populations, preferably before they've had a chance to become human-adapted, certainly before they've had a chance to spread -- we can head off pandemics altogether.

Swine flu may or may not end up being an important human pandemic. But it's a perfect illustration of the need for a paradigm shift in the way we approach global disease control.

In your TEDTalk, you lay out plans for monitoring humans who have close contact with animals in African jungles and Asian "wet markets." Should you be monitoring pig farms as well?

Absolutely. What we do is all of the above. We monitor people with contact with wild animals as well as domestic animals. Chickens, ducks, pigs, monkeys ... wherever people have contact with animals, that's where we want to be, so we can catch potential pandemics at the moment that they're born.

The good news is: For a variety of reasons, the percentage of the human population that's in direct contact with animals is decreasing. So that gives us the potential to put a substantive percentage of that population into regular monitoring. Maybe we won't catch everything, but we can create a much more substantive safety net for capturing these things before they go international or global.

27 April 2009

The future of cooperation -- and economic growth: Exclusive interview with Alex Tabarrok

Alex Tabarrok is co-author of hit economics blog Marginal Revolution. At TED2009, he talked about how a lesson from 1929 teaches us that ideas trump economic crises. The TED Blog interviewed Tabarrok over the phone to find out what else makes him optimistic about the future of economic development:

What do you say to the argument that the Third World will not develop because we don't have the natural resources to sustain the development?

I utterly reject the view that the Third World is doomed to poverty and starvation. Not only is this wrong, I think this attitude verges on the immoral, like thinking that slavery is an unalterable facet of the human condition so why bother doing anything about it? Moreover, thinking of this kind -- I call it the Lebensraum point of view -- leads to war and destruction. The Lebensraum point of view, however, is rejected by evidence from the second half of the twentieth century. Peace and free trade are the routes to wealth -- not a grab for "limited" resources.

The term natural resources confuses people. "Natural resources" are not like a finite number of gifts under the Christmas tree. Nature is given but resources are created. Oil was around for millions of years before people realized it could power civilization. Who would have thought that an utterly common element like silicon would drive 21st century growth? Or that atoms could light homes? At any point in time, resources are limited but what counts as a resource changes over time. Perhaps in the future people will worry that we are running out of asteroids to mine! Of course, the ultimate "natural resource" is the power of the human mind, and more minds are going to come online in the 21st century than ever before.

None of this is to say that the environment and global climate change are not a huge concern. We need to adapt, use more sustainable sources of energy, and think for the long term to a greater extent than our species has done in the past. I worry that we will not do these things. But if we do accept and meet these challenges I have little doubt that world as a whole will be a better and a richer place.

In your talk, you called China "the world's greatest anti-poverty program of the last few decades." Could you elaborate on that?

With the death of Mao and the rise of Deng Xiao Ping, China began to grow at tremendous rates -- 10 percent per year. Without any foreign aid to speak of, this "program" raised hundreds of millions of people out of the very worst kind of poverty. China in 1979 had among the highest poverty rates in the world. Its economic growth has brought several hundred million people from making less than a dollar a day out of that starvation-level poverty. Remember that, during the Great Leap Forward 30 to 40 million people starved in China.

TED is going to host a conference in India in November, so, in the same vein, could you talk about where India might be going?

India is a bit behind China, but in the 1990s they also freed up their economy, and they have unleashed an incredible amount of entrepreneurialism involving world trade. The India-China story is exciting, because India has a lot of advantages going for it -- English speaking being one. China's trying to catch up on that score. Whether India can overcome some of its bureaucracy will be interesting to see. Also, the role of democracy is fascinating.

A lot of people say that India has been held back by its democracy. But let’s remember that despite being a poor country India’s democracy meant that its government never let millions of people starve. No politician wants to starve potential voters. In the long run, I think India is going to benefit from its democracy and not be harmed by it. Democracy is, in a sense, like markets. It provides information and feedback, it leads to a more open system and it constrains government from the worst kinds of abuses. I think that the more China proceeds along the wealth path, the more difficult they will find it not to have a democracy.

Why is there so much fear about the rise of nations like China?

Under Communism, China and the Soviet Union -- with their nuclear weapons and their anti-trade, anti-Western ideology -- certainly were threats. But with their integration into the world economy as trade has increased, that threat has declined.

Cordell Hull, U.S. Secretary of State under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is said to have remarked, "When goods don't cross borders, armies will." Free trade unites the world and reduces the threats from other nations. It doesn't eliminate it, but we have much less to fear from a rich, prosperous China than we do from a poor, starving China.

Clay Shirky talks about a thing that he calls a "cognitive surplus" -- the idea that as we work less, we can spend our mental energy on other things. And in the past 50 years, we've spent lots of that surplus watching TV. What do you think about that?

Julian Simon said that our ultimate resource is the power of the human mind. And I think that's true. As fewer people work as coal miners or farmers, more time is freed for thinking. In Africa, China and India today, I guarantee there are millions of people working on the farms who could be scientists and engineers -- if the world were richer.

As we get richer, we do spend more time in leisure. But I think television's pretty good. (Laughs) I like television; I like The Sopranos, I like The Wire, I loved the first season of Veronica Mars. Television is much more complex, brain-challenging and involved than it used to be. It's almost impossible to watch a television show from 15 years ago; it's just too boring. I think modern television shows, with their intricate plots, are stimulating our minds. This is one reason IQs have been going up.

27 April 2009

How ideas trump economic crises -- a surprising lesson from 1929: Alex Tabarrok on TED.com

The "dismal science" truly shines in this optimistic talk, as economist Alex Tabarrok argues free trade and globalization are shaping our once-divided world into a community of idea-sharing more healthy, happy and prosperous than anyone's predictions. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 14:33.)

Watch Alex Tabarrok'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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24 April 2009

Picking apart the puzzle of racism in elections: Nate Silver on TED.com

Stats whiz Nate Silver suggests answers to controversial questions about race in politics, such as: Did Obama's race hurt his votes in some places? Stats and myths collide in this fascinating talk that ends with a remarkable insight on how town planning can promote tolerance. (Recorded at TED@PalmSprings 2009, February 2009, in Palm Springs, California. Duration: 09:17.)

Watch Nate Silver'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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22 April 2009

How texting and GoogleMaps helped Kenyans survive crisis: Erik Hersman on TED.com

At TEDU 2009, Erik Hersman presents the remarkable story of Ushahidi, a GoogleMap mashup that allowed Kenyans to report and track violence via cell phone texts following the 2008 elections, and has evolved to continue saving lives in other countries during the crucial first three hours of any crisis. (Recorded at TEDU 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 3:57.)

Find out more about Ushahidi.com >>

Find out more about the TED Fellows program >>

Watch Erik Hersman'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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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 >>

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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17 April 2009

Hang in there! 9 life lessons from rock climbing: Matthew Childs on TED.com

In this talk from TED University 2009, veteran rock climber Matthew Childs shares nine pointers for rock climbing. These handy tips bear on an effective life at sea level, too. (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 4:48.)

Watch Matthew Childs' 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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15 April 2009

Mapping terrain in space and time: Exclusive interview with JoAnn Kuchera-Morin of the AlloSphere

Dr. JoAnn Kuchera-Morin works on the AlloSphere, one of the largest scientific and artistic instruments in the world. Based at UC Santa Barbara, the AlloSphere maps complex data in time and space. Dr. Kuchera-Morin, a composer, demoed the AlloSphere at TED2009 in February, showing five films of scientific data mapped visually and sonically into compelling art. Last week I talked with Dr. Kuchera-Morin about the AlloSphere -- what it does, how it works, who uses it, and how you turn raw data into sound. From the interview:

Some of my mathematician colleagues are working with 6-dimensional figures. What happens when your math starts to get so complex that you can't draw it by hand anymore? Scientists have such tremendously rich math data that the instruments they use now can't actually see it. You get measurements from it, but can you take those math coordinates that describe it and map it visually and sonically?

There are scientists who have lost the ability to perceive their data. Now they might have the ability to perceive this data again through portals that let them see and hear their data, not just see a string of numbers.

Read the full interview >>

More: If you're around Santa Barbara next week, hear JoAnn Kuchera-Morin's work at the Primavera Festival

More: For a celebration of boundary-breaking science research, read "In search of the black swans," Physicsworld April 2009

15 April 2009

Tour the AlloSphere, a stunning new way to see scientific data: JoAnn Kuchera-Morin on TED.com

JoAnn Kuchera-Morin demos the AlloSphere, an entirely new way to see and interpret scientific data, in full color and surround sound inside a massive metal sphere. Dive into the brain, feel electron spin, hear the music of the elements ... (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 06:28.)

Watch JoAnn Kuchera-Morin demo the Allosphere 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 -- including more visualizations.

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13 April 2009

From software exec to electric car revolutionary: Exclusive interview with Shai Agassi

Shai Agassi has a record of accomplishing huge tasks in record time -- from completing his college degree by 18 to founding several successful software companies before 30. In recent years, he has shifted his intense focus to the global problem of climate change.

He discusses his blow-by-blow plan to propagate the electric car in today's TEDTalk. It's a remarkable move for a highly successful young businessman, and in this interview with the TEDBlog he explains how his country and his children, with a little help from TED, pushed him to try to change the world.

Here's an excerpt:

"The first week my wife and I went to Costa Rica, and the second week to my first TED. I was awed and inspired by what I saw on stage. I sat back and watched 50-odd people, and 1,000 others in the crowd, applying themselves to serve humanity. When I came out of that TED, I knew for sure what I had to do. I wanted to be one of those people."

Read the full interview, after the jump >>

13 April 2009

A bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars: Shai Agassi on TED.com

Forget about the hybrid auto -- Shai Agassi says it's electric cars or bust if we want to impact emissions. His company, Better Place, has a radical plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:06.)

Watch Shai Agassi's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks about cars.

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08 April 2009

The secret, social lives of bacteria: Exclusive interview with Bonnie Bassler

Bonnie Bassler: We came from bacteria. Who do you think thought up the rules?

In 2002, bearing her microscope on a microbe that lives in the gut of fish, Bonnie Bassler isolated an elusive molecule called AI-2, which showed not only that almost all bacteria can communicate -- but that they do so all the time. (Watch her 2009 TEDTalk!)

The TED Blog interviewed Bassler over the phone to talk about this secret, social life of bacteria. She told us why the chemical language evolved the way it did, what the applications of her research outside of medicine might be, and what the daily life of a scientist is like. Here's a snippet:

The fantasy is, since an anti-quorum sensing drug won't kill bacteria, it won't select as readily for resistance. Even if some bacterium is fortuitously resistant, it won't get the growth advantage that comes when its siblings die as happens with resistance to a traditional antibiotic. The hope is that an anti-quorum sensing therapeutic will have a long shelf-life, that is, it will take bacteria a long while to evolve ways around the anti-quorum sensing therapy. That, in turn, gives scientists time to develop more new ways to combat harmful bacteria or to enhance good bacteria.

Read the full interview, after the jump >>

07 April 2009

3 predictions on the future of Iran, and the math to back it up: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on TED.com

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita uses mathematical analysis to predict (very often correctly) such messy human events as war, political power shifts, Intifada ... After a crisp explanation of how he does it, he offers three predictions on the future of Iran. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 19:05.)

Watch Bruce Bueno de Mesquita's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks on global issues.

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03 April 2009

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Battlestar Galactica: An exclusive interview with P.W. Singer on the future of war

On Friday, March 27, just as a surge of new deployments was being announced for Afghanistan, the TED Blog talked with military analyst P.W. Singer. Posted today, his TEDTalk discusses the use of robots in modern combat zones.

In this interview, he applies his intensive knowledge of robotics and war to the situations the U.S. military faces in months ahead. Singer clarifies the questions we should all be asking, as these weapons of the future find their place in our conflicts at present. Interestingly, many are questions that science fiction has been addressing for some time.

Here's an excerpt:

"When new technologies are developed, we can’t know the broader ripple effect that they will have. When the Internet first appeared, we couldn’t know that this thing was going to cause mothers in Pennsylvania to worry about predators in Seattle that might prey on their children. Now we know that the Internet can allow an extremist Mullah in Pakistan to inspire a young man in Birmingham, England, to blow himself up."

For the full interview, read after the jump >>

03 April 2009

Accessible design in prosthetics

In her inspiring 2009 TEDTalk, Aimee Mullins redefines what the body can be. Her prosthetic legs are a combination of form, function and aesthetic. She encourages designers to change the idea of "disability" and the definition of beauty by bringing their talents to both the science and the art of designing prosthetics.

In the comments on this TEDTalk, several TED.com members asked for more information about accessible prosthetics -- new designs that will make artificial limbs available to everyone who needs them.

Since Mullins’ talk, we’ve kept our eyes peeled for innovative designs in prosthetics. We found an inspiring example from industrial designer Tillmann Beuscher. He built a temporary artificial leg made of cheap materials to “support world-wide victims of land mines and explosive remainings of war”. His design was a winner of the 2009 iF concept award. Check out pictures of the design and the limb at work here. -- Bonnie Burke

03 April 2009

Military robots and the terrifying future of war: P.W. Singer on TED.com

In this powerful talk, P.W. Singer shows how the widespread use of robots in war is changing the realities of human combat. He shows us scenarios straight out of science fiction -- that now may not be so fictitious. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 16:06.)

Watch P.W. Singer's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks about war.

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03 April 2009

Around the World in 80 Telescopes

TED Prize winner Jill Tarter tips us to this event going on right now: Around the World in 80 Telescopes, a live 24-hour telescopecast from astronomical observatories around the world. It's part of the "100 Hours of Astronomy" celebration happening April 2-5. From the site:

"Around the World in 80 Telescopes" is a unique live 24-hour webcast, following night and day around the globe to some of the most advanced observatories both on and off the planet. You can watch it right here on the 100HA website, and on the 100HA channel on Ustream.tv.

The 24-hour webcast ends 4 April 2009, 09:00 UT (Universal Time/GMT). Both viewing channels are being hit heavily, so be patient, but the images are worth it. On right now: The Millimeter Array at NAOJ Nobeyama in Japan.

The Allen Telescope Array -- an effort of the SETI Institute (along with the Radio Astronomy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley) -- has its 20 minutes of fame tomorrow at 4:40 pm EDT (23:40 UTC). Jill Tarter says: "If you think big telescopes are cool, you can take a look now, or tune in live to see us observing with the ATA."

Download a short video clip that introduces the ATA >>
Follow 100 Hours of Astronomy on Twitter >>

And watch Jill Tarter make her TED Prize wish to expand the ATA to search for alien intelligence:

02 April 2009

The fate of the newspaper: Exclusive interview with Jacek Utko

Newspaper designer Jacek Utko suggests that it's time for a fresh, top-to-bottom rethink of the newspaper. (At this point, why not try it?) In his work, he's proved that good design can help readers reconnect with newspapers. A former architect, Utko took on the job of redesigning several newspapers in former Soviet Bloc nations, starting from basic principles.

The TED Blog interviewed Jacek Utko over the phone yesterday to get a deeper look into his approach to newspaper design and his thoughts on the future of news media. Here's a snippet:

Many people think that newspapers have to survive because they have a mission for society, for democracy. Most of them say that newspapers should stay because, if newspapers die, nothing will replace them. But that's not actually true. It's already slowly being replaced by the Internet. Blogs, for example, are an opinion-making medium. They'll probably become more powerful than the newspapers were.

Read the full interview with Jacek Utko, after the jump >>

01 April 2009

LA Times: Linda Ronstadt hails El Sistema in front of House subcommitee

From the LA Times' "Culture Monster" blog, this item by Mark Swed: "Linda Ronstadt hails Gustavo Dudamel in testimony on Capitol Hill":

In a remarkable testimony by Linda Ronstadt to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies Tuesday, the pop singer made an impassioned plea for government support of the arts. And Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's soon-to-be music director, was her poster boy.

We quote from her written testimony here:

In the United States we spend millions of dollars on sports because it promotes teamwork, discipline, and the experience of learning to make great progress in small increments. Learning to play music together does all this and more.

José Abreu, the founder of El Sistema, the children’s music curriculum currently considered to be the best in the world, says this: “An orchestra is a community that comes together with the fundamental objective of agreeing with itself. Therefore, the person who plays in an orchestra begins to live the experience of agreement. And what does the agreement of experience mean? Team practice, the practice of a group that recognizes itself as interdependent where one is responsible for others and the others are responsible for oneself. Agree on what? To create beauty.”

... As you may know, there is a conductor of staggering talent who has been hailed as the next Leonard Bernstein. His name is Gustavo Dudamel and he has toured the United States and Europe with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra to ecstatic reviews. He joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic as their Music Director in the fall. Here’s what matters to us today: this young conductor has a passion for music education because he knows its true power to alter the course of young lives. He was brought up in Venezuela in the extraordinary music education system that I mentioned earlier called El Sistema.

Imagine what can be accomplished if we support the arts, engage ‘at risk’ youth and help them succeed in school and in their lives. For ‘underserved’ families, indeed for all families, participation in music and the arts can help people reclaim and achieve the American Dream.

Read Linda Ronstadt's full testimony here >>
Learn more about El Sistema >>
Learn how YOU can help spread El Sistema >>

And watch Gustavo Dudamel as he conducts the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in a spine-tingling performance:

Hat tip: Phantom Galleries LA
Photo: TED/Asa Mathat

01 April 2009

Fulfilling the dream of flight in a high-tech wingsuit: Ueli Gegenschatz on TED.com

Wingsuit jumping is the leading edge of extreme sports -- an exhilarating feat of almost unbelievable daring, where skydivers soar through canyons at over 100MPH. Ueli Gegenschatz talks about how (and why) he does it, and shows jawdropping film. Afterward: Q&A with TED's June Cohen. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 12:14.)

Watch Ueli Gegenschatz' talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks about flight.

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31 March 2009

Can design save the newspaper? Jacek Utko on TED.com

Jacek Utko is an extraordinary Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for papers in Eastern Europe not only win awards, but increase circulation by up to 100%. He asks, Can good design save the newspaper? It just might. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 06:05.)

Watch Jacek Utko's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks about media.

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27 March 2009

An immune system for the planet: Exclusive interview with Nathan Wolfe

Using genetic sequencing, needle-in-a-haystack research, and dogged persistence (crucial to getting spoilage-susceptible samples through the jungle and to the lab), Nathan Wolfe has proven what was science-fiction conjecture only a few decades ago -- not only do viruses jump from animals to humans, but they do so all the time. Along the way Wolfe has discovered several new viruses, and is poised to discover many more.

The TED Blog interviewed Wolfe over the phone shortly before his appearance at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. He discusses the fact that vaccines often act as a crutch after the failure of preventative measures against disease, the need for a "global immune system" implemented through communication technologies such as SMS, and occasions when it's professionally acceptable -- and socially crucial -- to eat rodents. Here's a snippet:

I think about the secondary effects of diseases like AIDS that cause a population's immune system to be suppressed, as a whole. I think of this as a tear in the planet's meta-immune system. This tear increases the possibility that a new virus will enter. With immunosuppressed hunters, a virus that normally couldn't survive or adapt to human populations might get a few extra generations and be permitted to adapt to these individuals and humanity.

Read the full interview, after the jump >>

26 March 2009

Hunting for the next AIDS: Nathan Wolfe on TED.com

Virus hunter Nathan Wolfe is outwitting the next pandemic by staying two steps ahead: discovering new, deadly viruses where they first emerge -- passing from animals to humans among poor subsistence hunters in Africa -- before they claim millions of lives. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 12:20.)

Watch Nathan Wolfe's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks about medicine without borders.

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25 March 2009

Jacqueline Novogratz on Charlie Rose [update, now with video]

Watch Charlie Rose talk with Jacqueline Novogratz on his PBS show -- discussing Novogratz' new book, The Blue Sweater, and fresh approaches to tackling the problem of poverty and bridging the gap between rich and poor.

24 March 2009

From a Nairobi slum, a tale of hope: Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com

Jacqueline Novogratz tells a moving story of an encounter in a Nairobi slum with Jane, a former prostitute, whose dreams of escaping poverty, of becoming a doctor and of getting married were fulfilled in an unexpected way. (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 07:30.)

Watch Jacqueline Novogratz's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks that explore issues around poverty.

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23 March 2009

Inventing a super-kite to tap the energy of high-altitude wind: Saul Griffith on TED.com

Unveiled at TED2009: In this brief talk, Saul Griffith debuts the invention his new company Makani Power has been working on: giant kite turbines that create surprising amounts of clean, renewable energy. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 05:25.)

Watch Saul Griffith's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more tales of invention.

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20 March 2009

How to grow your own fresh air: Kamal Meattle on TED.com

Researcher and activist Kamal Meattle shows how an arrangement of three common houseplants, used in specific spots in a home or office building, can result in measurably cleaner indoor air. (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 04:04.)

Get the slide deck from this talk >>

Watch Kamal Meattle's talk from TED U 2009 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 -- including more tales of invention.

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17 March 2009

Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal (sometimes): Dan Ariely on TED.com

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studies the bugs in our moral code: the hidden reasons we think it's OK to cheat or steal (sometimes). Clever studies help make his point that we're predictably irrational -- and can be influenced in ways we can't grasp. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 16:23.)

Watch Dan Ariely's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more unconventional explanations.

On the TED Blog: Read Dan Ariely's take on the Bernie Madoff scandal >>

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16 March 2009

Cute, sexy, sweet and funny: an evolutionary riddle. Dan Dennett on TED.com

Why are babies cute? Why is cake sweet? Philosopher Dan Dennett has answers you wouldn't expect, as he shares evolution's counterintuitive reasoning on cute, sweet and sexy things (plus a new theory from Matthew Hurley on why jokes are funny). (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 07:45.)

Watch Dan Dennett's talk from TED U 2009 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 -- including more talks about evolution's genius.

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13 March 2009

Dan Ariely offers 3 irrational lessons from the Bernie Madoff scandal

Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, presented a jaw-dropping talk on cheating and dishonesty at TED2009. We're posting Ariely's TEDTalk next Tuesday, and we asked him for his thoughts on the Bernie Madoff scandal unfolding now in New York:

The first chapter of the Bernie Madoff fiasco has come to a close, with Madoff pleading guilty to 11 charges of fraud yesterday.

Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme was horrific on many levels. But while we watch the next phase of the scandal, it's important to ask: What lessons are we going to learn from this? I can see three lessons that relate to my work studying human irrationality -- and in particular, some non-useful lessons we might learn.

One lesson that individuals and foundations are likely to take from the Madoff scandal is that in addition to diversifying their portfolio across several investments (stock, bonds, equity, cash), they also need to diversify their investments among several advisors. While the idea of diversifying among advisors has some merit -- and it could reduce the exposure risk of another Madoff scandal -- it will also make the task of managing portfolios much more difficult and much less efficient. Imagine that you have $1,000,000, split among four advisors. You will need a whole new level of coordination among them so they can have the right amount of cash, bonds, stocks etc., across all of your assets.

And I think that people will begin to over-diversify across investors. Why? Because when we have one large and salient instance in our minds, it can be so powerful that we overemphasize it. This same effect is very apparent in what we call "the identifiable victim effect," and it is the reason that we overemphasize the risks of a shark attack, and underestimate the risks of riding a bike without a helmet. In general, what we find when there's one single vivid event is that people overweight it -- we focus on it too much. So that's the first lesson: We're going to learn from the Madoff scandal, but we are going to overdo it.

Read the full essay from Dan Ariely -- including two more non-useful lessons -- after the jump >>

And watch for Dan Ariely's TEDTalk next Tuesday, March 17.

Dan Ariely will be speaking in New York City on Monday, March 16, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Details here >>

Photo: TED / Asa Mathat

13 March 2009

Another bonus of inventing the World Wide Web ...

Today, CERN's been throwing a party to celebrate the 20th birthday of the web -- which they date to the now-famous memo that Tim Berners-Lee wrote to his boss, sketching out a framework for a document-sharing system. As they tell it:

Twenty years ago this month, something happened at CERN that would change the world forever: Tim Berners-Lee handed a document to his supervisor Mike Sendall entitled "Information Management : a Proposal". "Vague, but exciting" is how Mike described it, and he gave Tim the nod to take his proposal forward. The following year, the World Wide Web was born.

A panel of speakers and dignitaries marked the event with a short symposium, after which Sir Tim and a few others took a private tour of the ATLAS cavern, part of the Large Hadron Collider. Sir Tim is at left, dwarfed by the massive project. (Learn more about what happens at ATLAS by watching Brian Cox's TEDTalk.)

CERN has built out a helpful website celebrating the web's birthday -- including a look at the very first web site and web server, at info.cern.ch. The site now contains a pocket history of the web, including a photo of the very first web surfer, Robert Cailliau.

Berners-Lee spoke at the celebration today, sharing his vision for the next rev of the Web -- one in which data is as open and exchangeable as words and images are on the current Web. Watch his TEDTalk to get the inspiring details >>

Photo: CERN

13 March 2009

The next Web of open, linked data: Tim Berners-Lee on TED.com

20 years ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. For his next project, he's building a web for open, linked data that could do for numbers what the Web did for words, pictures, video: Unlock our data and reframe the way we use it together. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 16:23.)

Watch Tim Berners-Lee's talk from TED2009 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 -- including more talks about what's next in tech.

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13 March 2009

Scientific American on the day the Web was born

For some more background on why today's TEDTalk is especially appropriate today, read Scientific American's thorough and fascinating look at the birth of the web.

11 March 2009

An interview with Pranav Mistry, the genius behind Sixth Sense

Pranav Mistry is the MIT grad student behind Sixth Sense, a tool that connects the physical world with the world of data. He and his advisor at the MIT Media Lab, Pattie Maes, unveiled Sixth Sense at TED2009, and the Sixth Sense demo premiered yesterday on TED.com -- and in both places, it has fired people's imaginations. The TED Blog spoke with Pranav this morning, to ask him some questions that have arisen on TED.com and at the TED office. From the interview:

Why choose a projector versus goggles?
We actually thought a lot about this. At MIT, lots of research has been done with glasses -- there's even research going on to put information in your contact lenses. But this particular project has an important aspect: We want this thing to merge with the physical world in a real physical sense. You are touching that object and projecting info onto that object. The information will look like it is part of the object.

Read the full interview with Pranav Mistry, after the jump >>

Watch the Sixth Sense demo on TED.com >>

11 March 2009

How my legs give me super-powers: Aimee Mullins on TED.com

Athlete, actor and activist Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs -- she's got a dozen amazing pairs -- and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height ... Disabled? No, the opposite. She redefines what the human body will become. (Recorded at TED U, February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 09:59.)

Watch Aimee Mullins' talk from TED U 2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 390+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about the future.

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10 March 2009

Pattie Maes demos the Sixth Sense on TED.com

This demo, from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT (and spearheaded by her student Pranav Mistry), was the buzz of TED2009. Sixth Sense is a wearable device with a projection screen that paves the way for profound, data-rich interaction with our environment. Imagine Minority Report and then some. (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 08:42.)

Watch the Sixth Sense demo from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 390+ TEDTalks -- including more demos.

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08 March 2009

8 tips for speakers from a TED photographer

Via boingboing: James Duncan Davidson was one of our shooters at TED2009 (along with Asa Mathat -- an amazing team). As a photographer and conferencegoer, Duncan has watched a lifetime's worth of speakers, the good and the bad, the pro and the amateur, the calm and the completely freaked out. His takeaway: "There are things that speakers do that feel good to them, but which are not actually great for the audience." He offers 8 pieces of presentation advice -- meaning presentation of yourself, not of your PowerPoint slides -- in this roundup: Dear Speakers. From the essay:

Please deliver your speech to the crowd, not the screen. Your slides aren’t the recipient of your presentation. Your audience is. Face them. Address them.

Please take off your name tag. This is self-explanatory enough.

Read all 8 tips >>

See more of Duncan and Asa's work in the TED2009 photo galleries >>

06 March 2009

A striking evolution in jazz: Exclusive interview with Eric Lewis

Not without a struggle (and a measure of healthy angst), acclaimed pianist Eric Lewis is driving the next evolution of jazz -- forging new musical alloys of classic blue note scuttles, delicate improvisations and heady alt rock hooks. Now, with a roster of sold-out shows and a growing list of celebrity supporters, his iconoclastic arrangements are fast catching insular music communities' attention. His possessed, finger-bloodying performances have erased a few old taboos, too: Miles Davis and Linkin Park suddenly seem less dissimilar.

The TED Blog interviewed Eric Lewis by phone on Wednesday to find out what brought him from a strictly jazz repertoire into the intense explorations of rock music that brought the TED2009 crowd to its feet. Here's a snippet:

The irony of it all, at the end of all this, is I ended up doing what jazz musicians have always done: taking pop culture tunes and playing their own variations upon them. It's all so funny, because now the jazz community is starting to embrace me, slowly but surely. It's a weird, circuitous, cyclical, ironic, paradoxical story.

Read the full interview with Eric Lewis, after the jump >>

06 March 2009

Striking chords to rock the jazz world: Eric Lewis on TED.com

Eric Lewis, an astonishingly talented crossover jazz pianist -- seen by many for the first time at TED2009 -- sets fire to the keys with his shattering rendition of Evanescence's chart-topper "Going Under." (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 10:36.)

Watch Eric Lewis' performance from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 390+ TEDTalks -- including lots more live music.

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05 March 2009

Orangutans and palm oil: What's the connection?

In Willie Smits' powerful TEDTalk, he describes his work to re-grow the rainforest in Indonesia -- a triple-bottom-line effort that can benefit the local economy, the local orangutans and the green heart of the forest. The TED Blog asked Smits' associate Richard Zimmerman, the director of Orangutan Outreach, to expand on the orangutan story:

In his TEDTalk, Willie briefly discussed the crisis facing orangutans in the wild as the Indonesian rainforest is cut down and converted into palm oil plantations. I would like to further elaborate on this, so that people might get a better grasp of what we're dealing with in our quest to save the orangutans.

Orangutans are sentient beings who share approximately 97.8% of our DNA and express a range of emotions that is just as wide as our own. The forests of Borneo and Sumatra are the only two places on Earth where these gentle, intelligent creatures live. The cultivation of palm oil over the last decade has directly led to the slaughter of thousands of individuals as the industry has expanded into previously undisturbed areas of old-growth rainforest. The UNEP estimates that an area of Indonesian rainforest the size of six football fields is cut down every minute of every day. Read that sentence again.

The palm oil and timber industries are guilty of truly horrific ecological atrocities, one of which is the systematic genocide of orangutans. When the forest is cleared, adult orangutans are generally shot on sight. In the absence of bullets they are beaten, burned, tortured, mutilated and often eaten as bushmeat. Babies are literally torn off their dying mothers so that they can be sold on the black market as illegal pets to wealthy families, who see them as status symbols of their own power and prestige. This is not hyperbole, mind you. It has been documented time and time again.

Some of the luckier baby orangutans are confiscated and brought to sanctuaries such as Samboja Lestari, as Willie mentioned, or the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue Center, which is now home to nearly 700 orphaned and displaced orangutans in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). Many of these orangutans are only weeks old when they arrive, and all of them are psychologically traumatized and desperate for their mothers -- who are no longer alive. And remember, these are the fortunate ones. For every one we rescue, at least six others are estimated to have been killed, along with their mothers.

Set up under Willie's auspices in 1999, Nyaru Menteng is managed by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and run by a remarkable woman named Lone Droscher Nielsen. It is featured on Animal Planet's award-winning series Orangutan Island as well as on the BBC's Orangutan Diary. Willie and Lone are true champions in the struggle to save orangutans from a senseless and shamefully premature extinction in the wild.

Find ways to get involved (yes, you can adopt an orangutan) >>

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04 March 2009

Nalini Nadkarni: 8 ways to bring the treetops to the world below

As many forms as outreach can take, it seems that today's new TEDTalk luminary, Nalini Nadkarni, has done them all and then invented several of her own. This tireless champion of the canopy has embarked on projects involving poets, dancers, rappers, prison inmates and even Barbie dolls to bring attention to the plight of our forests.

Giving a sense of the breadth of Nalini's work, here's a roundup of some of her most creative enterprises:

ICAN
Nalini is president of the International Canopy Network, a non-profit built in 1994 to support interaction between all people with a vested interest in the state of the canopy. Clearly, scientists aren't alone in the desire to preserve our environment and this project connects them with educators, activists and more.

Biome
After spending time exploring the treetops at Nalini's invitation in Costa Rica, choreographers for the innovative modern dance group Capacitor created a live show and video performance about their experience. Nalini was credited as Scientific Advisor.

Treetop Barbie
Showing little girls that they can be scientists and canopy researchers too, Nalini and her graduate students collect secondhand Barbie dolls and outfit them for a day in the field before distributing them to eager young minds.

The Moss Project
At the Cedar Creek Corrections Facility in Little Rock, Washington, Nalini has employed a team of prisoners turned botanists to grow mosses that would otherwise be harvested from the wild for the horticultural trade. The project has also been great for the inmates, teaching them skills that can earn money after their release.

Canopy Walkway
At the Evergreen State College, Nalini has been exploring the possibility of building a system of canopy-level forest walkways, giving students and the public the opportunity to see the ecosystem at work. There's also hope that it will initiate and inspire fresh ideas about conservation.

Trees and Spirituality
Nalini sees the spiritual value of trees as well as their practical value, and in this program she visits local churches and synagogues to speak about the relationship between trees and faith.

Canopy Rap
Critics have been calling for hip-hop with a positive message for some time, and now courtesy of Nalini and rapper Duke Brady, we can all enjoy the freestyle rap "Kindle your own fire." Click to listen.

Canopy Camoflauge
This project aims to produce clothes that remind us of the beauty of the natural world, and Nalini worked with designers to produce prototypes that depict mosses and trees. They hope to market the concept to outdoor-oriented retailers, exposing us all to images that remind us of the fragile ecosystems we stand to lose.

Nalini's efforts to bring the canopy to us all are an inspiration, and proof of how much one small voice can accomplish when it decides to shout its message from the treetops.

04 March 2009

Unveiling the beautiful, fragile world of rainforest treetop ecosystems: Nalini Nadkarni on TED.com

A unique ecosystem of plants, birds and monkeys thrives in the treetops of the rainforest. Nalini Nadkarni explores these canopy worlds -- and shares her findings with the world below, through dance, art and bold partnerships. (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 16:30.)

Watch Nalini Nadkarni's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 390+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about the biosphere.

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03 March 2009

Read all about Willie Smits' 20-year tale of hope

Willie Smits works at the complicated intersection of humankind, the animal world and our green planet. In his early work as a forester in Indonesia, he came to a deep understanding of that triple relationship, as he watched the growing population of Sulawesi move into (or burn for fuel) forests that are home to the orangutan. These intelligent animals were being killed for food, traded as pets or simply failing to thrive as their forest home degraded.

Smits believes that to rebuild orangutan populations, we must first rebuild their forest habitat -- which means helping local people find options other than the short-term fix of harvesting forests to survive.

After you watch Willie Smits' talk, visit the sites below and explore coverage of his 20-year tale of hope.

Scientific American: Regrowing Borneo's Rainforest -- Tree by Tree
It is a gutsy experiment that has drawn criticism from both scientists and conservationists. For Smits, a veteran of political controversy who has often been at odds with other orangutan rescue projects, the controversy is familiar. He ignores it.

National Geographic: Orangutans Edging Closer to Brink of Extinction
Then when the fires came, they had no water, no food left; it was completely dark for months in a row. The orangutans came out of the forests toward the rivers and became victims of the people there who didn’t like to see their very few last crops being raided by those wild animals.

Ode Magazine: Willie Smits: Hanging around with orangutan
He lost his heart to the orangutans after finding one in a garbage dump. He took care of the primate and later rescued others from bars, nightclubs and tourist attractions, where they were used for entertainment. When Smits felt they were ready to return to their natural habitat, he ran into another problem: There wasn’t enough forest for the apes ...

TIME for Kids: The Orangutan Man of Indonesia
"We have taken over the role of the mother orangutan, who usually teaches the baby what it can eat."

Orangutan.net: Rainforest Seeds Revive Lost Paradise
From this ruined landscape a fresh forest has been grown, teeming with insects, birds and animals, and cooled by the return of moist clouds and rain. It is a feat that has been hailed by scientists and offers hope for disappearing and ruined rainforests around the world.

Ethan Zuckerman's TED2009 liveblogging: Willie Smits is saving Borneo, one orangutan at a time
When Smits tells us that his project protects a thousand orangutans, the audience erupts into applause ... which makes him extremely angry. "No, no! Don’t you understand? I care for more orangutans than all the zoos in the world because we’re so bad at protecting them in the wild."

And learn more about how you can get involved through these websites:

Masarang Foundation -- Willie Smits' Indonesian-based foundation

Orangutan Outreach -- US-based orangutan conservation organization. Through this site, you can support Willie's work to save the forest, and even adopt an orangutan.

03 March 2009

A 20-year tale of hope: How we re-grew a rainforest: Willie Smits on TED.com

By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans -- and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems. This bold plan drew a standing ovation at TED2009. (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 20:42.)

Get involved with Willie Smits' Masarang Foundation >>

Watch Willie Smits' talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 390+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about the biosphere.

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27 February 2009

Twitter Snapshot: RT @Twitter "tweeting the Twitter"

Today, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams' talk from TED2009 was posted and we all began to tweet, creating a labyrinth of self-reference. Here are a few choice selections from the day's activity:

Twitter State of the Union, courtesy of TED.com. Definitely an idea worth spreading. -- tapdraw

Watching @ev present at TED on video about Twitter and tweeting it. That is just inneresting. -- kwells2416

just saw a nice little TED talk on Twitter... made me excited for our times :) -- rcajias

TED talk on Twitter - quite interesting, lots I didn't know about it's development -- icepoet

twitter on TED been waiting for this one -- biyingw

Can't ... resist ... tweeting the twitter TED talk -- eulenherr

eating a turkey sandwich and watching a talk about twitter on Ted.com -- michaelbyers

Another little slice of life, via Twitter.

27 February 2009

In New York this weekend? Love Eric Lewis?

TED2009 favorite Eric Lewis is playing this Sunday at Joe's Pub. This amazing improvisatory pianist (whom many people saw for the first time at TED) wowed the audience in two onstage sets and some legendary late-night gigs in Long Beach. Come see what the fuss was about, in New York this Sunday night. Tickets are $20, and are available online.

Sunday, March 1, 7:30
Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette Street, near Astor Place, New York
212-967-7555

And watch for Eric Lewis' TEDTalk, set to be posted next week on TED.com ...

Eric Lewis at TED2009, Session 9: Grow, Feb. 6, 2009, Long Beach, CA. Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson

27 February 2009

How to talk while people are Twittering

Three weeks ago, while Evan Williams was onstage at TED2009 talking about Twitter, his audience became an army of #TED tweeters, hunched over their mobile devices, simultaneously listening and creating a written narrative of @Ev's 8 minutes onstage. Chris Anderson and Evan talked about this in their Q&A: the idea that while a speaker is onstage, there's a constant backchannel of reaction and communication that the speaker can access ("if you're brave enough," said Chris).

Evan made a joke about pulling his phone out during his TEDTalk to check his tweets -- but a provocative essay making the rounds this week suggests that presenters actually should. It's a well-thought-out piece on how to talk while people are Twittering -- and makes the case that, far from being terrifying, the Twitter backchannel is a good thing for 12 reasons. Here's one:

As a presenter, the idea of presenting while people are talking about you is disconcerting. But to balance that, there are huge benefits to the individual members of the audience and to the overall output of a conference or meeting.

1. It helps audience members focus

As a presenter, you might be worried that the backchannel will be distracting. The opposite seems to be true. Dean Shareski says:

The more I’m allowed to interact and play with the content the more engaged and ultimately the more learning happens. The more the presentation relies on the back channel, the more I focus. Knowing that my comments are going to be seen by the presenter or live participants, seems to make me pay more attention.

Rachel Happe adds:

Twitter allows me to add my perspective to what is being presented and that keeps me more engaged than just sitting and listening - even if no one reads it.

The full essay appears on Pistachio Consulting's blog, and comes from New Zealand-based speaker coach Olivia Mitchell.

What do you think, though? One much-loved aspect of TED and TEDTalks is the luxury of contemplation -- the idea of devoting your attention to one thing for 18 minutes and seeing what other thoughts and connections are stirred up. Does the Twitter backchannel enhance or destroy this? As Twitter and chat redefine the experience of watching and giving a TEDTalk, will we in the audience start to miss the experience of being physically present and absorbed in what's happening in front of our eyes?

27 February 2009

Listening to Twitter: Evan Williams on TED.com

Twitter has won a small army of lifecasting converts, with its bite-sized notes and instant-gratification communication. Co-founder Evan Williams reveals some startling things he's learned from Twitter users, and the way they've driven his business forward. (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 08:00.)

Watch Evan Williams's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 390+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about business.

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27 February 2009

Uncovering the footprints of early walking humans

As published today in the journal Science, a dig near Ileret, Kenya, has uncovered early human footprints in a streambed -- quite possibly, evidence of the first hominids who walked on two legs as a matter of course. In the Philadelphia Inquirer's well-reported story, "Footprints offer clue on path to modern man," TED2009 speaker Nina Jablonski offers her opinion on the fossil impressions:

... There is no doubt that the new prints are a rare find, and that the creatures who made them were spending not most, but all of their time on two feet, said Nina Jablonski, head of the anthropology department at Pennsylvania State University.

Their long, efficient strides would have allowed them to stray from the wood's edge, crossing open spaces to find other sources of food and possibly do some hunting, said Jablonski, who was not involved with the research.

This would in turn allow for the continued development of a larger brain -- a process that already was under way as early humans spent less time in trees, freeing up their hands to accomplish more complex tasks.

NPR's story has more reactions from scientists, and more photos, including the image illustrating this post.

Learn more about the hunt for early humans in Africa via this TEDTalk from Louise Leakey >>

Photo: This fossil footprint found near Ileret, Kenya, is 1.5 million years old. These footprints are the oldest ever found of the human genus. Image: Matthew Bennett/Bournemouth University, via NPR.org

24 February 2009

Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Capt. Charles Moore on TED.com

Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas. (Recorded at TED University during TED2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 07:20.)

Watch Capt. Charles Moore's talk from TED University 2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 385+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about our oceans.

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23 February 2009

On building blocks: exclusive interview with David Merrill on Siftables

David Merrill is a grad student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab. He and his fellow students in this group work on new technologies that give us more and better abilities to do things we want to do. At TED2009 he gave a demo of his main project, Siftables.

Today the TED Blog interviewed Merrill to get some details about the Siftables project -- and answers to some questions that many have asked since his demo. Here's a snippet:

I have heard so many people say: "My kids will love these. When can I get some?" The realization has been hitting us over the past few months that the potential for kid-oriented interactions is huge and meaningful.

Find the full interview with David Merrill below the fold >>

23 February 2009

How Benjamin Button got his face: Ed Ulbrich on TED.com

In the latest release from TED2009, Ed Ulbrich, the digital-effects guru from Digital Domain, explains the Oscar-winning technology that allowed his team to digitally create older versions of Brad Pitt's face for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:08.)

Watch Ed Ulbrich's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 385+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about storytelling.

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20 February 2009

Exclusive interview with TED Prize-winner Jill Tarter of SETI

Astronomer Jill Tarter is director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute. She was awarded the TED Prize in 2009, and at the TED Conference she wished that the TED community would "empower Earthlings everywhere to become active participants in the ultimate search for cosmic company." (Her talk on why the search for alien intelligence matters is now online.)

Yesterday the TED Blog interviewed Tarter over the phone about her TED Prize wish. She talked about some of the challenges and practicalities of SETI research, her new plans to help bring the world into the search for cosmic company, and a few new ideas about extraterrestrial intelligence that intrigue her. It's a fascinating look at the pragmatic thinking that goes into this "stellar" project. Here's a snippet:

If we could start out by recording data and having people develop algorithms for this class of signals in higher dimensions for us, then we could take the best algorithms and see if we can get them made efficient enough to run real time and put those on the telescope as well. And now you open up a whole universe of looking for something completely different -- something we weren't sensitive to before.

But what about the folks that don't have that technological know-how? Can we get them involved too, if they're passionate and eager to participate? Well, the eye is just a fabulous pattern-detection machine. It took a lot of years of evolution to make that work well. And so perhaps what we could do is involve people in using their eyeballs to find these complex signals.

Read the complete interview, below the fold >>

20 February 2009

Why the search for alien intelligence matters (TED Prize winner): Jill Tarter on TED.com

From TED2009! The SETI Institute's Jill Tarter makes her TED Prize wish: to keep looking for cosmic company. Using a growing array of radio telescopes, she (and all of us) can listen for patterns that may be a sign of intelligence elsewhere in the universe. (Recorded February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 21:23.)

Watch Jill Tarter's TED Prize wish from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 385+ TEDTalks -- including many more TED Prize wishes.

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19 February 2009

Get to know Tinkering School through a webcomic

Two years ago, software engineer and tinkerer Gever Tulley told us five dangerous things you should let your kids do. He returned in 2009 to give us an update about Tinkering School, his part-lab-part-summer-camp where kids use power tools to create amazing things ... like roller coasters!

We'll be posting Gever's new talk soon -- but he'd like you to go ahead and check out this webcomic version of his 2009 talk. Click the image below to open it in a new window, and use the buttons at the bottom to leaf through:

Or, download the Tinkering School comic [PDF] >>

19 February 2009

Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish: Here's how to protect the blue heart of the planet

From TED2009! Legendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet. (Recorded February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:16.)

Watch Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 375+ TEDTalks -- including many more TED Prize wishes.

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18 February 2009

How a transformative musical experience came to TED

In a basement studio in Caracas, Venezuela, three weeks ago, I had the most powerful musical experience of my life. TED Prize Director Amy Novogratz and I were standing five feet away from the conductor's stand in front of 200 Venezuelan virtuoso musicians -- their average age 16. Many of these kids had been born in the slums of Caracas or the poverty-stricken villages outside. They were part of the astonishing El Sistema program that had provided them instruments from an early age and countless hours of individual rehearsal and orchestral practice: a discipline that -- as some of them told us -- was transformative for them personally and even for their families.

They were known as the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra, the pride of Venezuela, and we were hoping that they might be able to do an unannounced live-by-satellite performance for TED2009, which was just 10 days away. We were curious as to what kind of impact they might have. The conductor raised his baton. The first three notes had us leaping out of our skins, overwhelmed by a wall of sound. I had heard Shostakovitch before, but never like this. Passion, brilliance, precision and total commitment shone from every face. They didn't just play the music, they entered it, bodies swaying and occasionally darting to the rhythm. For 15 minutes, though it could have been a second or a lifetime, we were lost.

At the end of the performance, we got to tell them that they were soon to perform to a global audience connected by satellite -- and that their conductor that night would be the international phenomenon Gustavo Dudamel, El Sistema's most famous graduate. The performance was to celebrate the TED Prize being granted to the revered founder of El Sistema, Jose Antonio Abreu. The air crackled with excitement. We got to film some of the kids playing individually and sharing some of their stories and views (and you can see some of them in Maestro Abreu's TED Prize acceptance speech).

10 days later, standing on the TED stage after Abreu's inspirational talk, shaking with anxiety about whether the technology would work, and whether the experience could possibly be shared this way, I announced the surprise performance. Unbelievably, it happened again. Electricity down the spine like never before. The a/v team in Caracas live-edited the talk to a quality level that boggled the mind. Dudamel entrancing, magnetic, the children sharing their souls through music in a way that few of us had experienced. And at the end, the longest standing ovation in TED's history.

And now here it is on TED.com. The same piece, exactly as we saw it ... no new editing. If you care about music, I urge you ... no I beg you ... set aside 20 minutes, connect to your computer the best speakers you own, gather your family or friends or colleagues around, turn up the volume, and accept this astonishing gift from a bunch of kids in another country who might have lived lives of futility ... but instead discovered the transformative power of music.

18 February 2009

Bonus TEDtalk tonight! Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra

A bonus TED Prize talk from TED2009: The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela's life-changing music program, El Sistema, founded by 2009 TED Prize winner Jose Antonio Abreu (watch him make his TED Prize wish to spread this musical education plan around the world). Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, the orchestra plays Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez' Danzón No. 2. (Recorded February 2009 in Caracas, Venezuela, and Long Beach, California. Duration: 17:06.)

Watch Gustavo Dudamel and the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra -- and then watch Jose Antonio Abreu's TED Prize wish to bring this musical program to the world. On TED.com, you can download these TEDTalks, rate them, comment on them and find other talks and performances from our archive of 375+ TEDTalks -- including many more TED Prize wishes.

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18 February 2009

Jose Antonio Abreu: Help me bring music to kids worldwide (TED Prize winner!)

The opening talk from TED2009: Jose Antonio Abreu is the charismatic founder of a youth orchestra system that has transformed thousands of kids' lives in Venezuela. Here he shares his amazing story and unveils a TED Prize wish that could have a big impact in the US and beyond. (Recorded February 2009 in Caracas, Venezuela, and Long Beach, California. Duration: 16:56.)

Watch Jose Antonio Abreu's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 375+ TEDTalks -- including many more TED Prize wishes.

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18 February 2009

From the TED Fellows Blog: Why we are TEDizens

The TED Fellows Blog is a treasure -- the unexpurgated thoughts of the 40 people chosen as this year's TED Fellows, who attended the Long Beach conference, networked with one another and other TEDsters, and gave a presentation about the work that brought them here. On their shared blog, they talk about their work and their lives, their experiences in Long Beach, and now their reactions upon heading home and back to work. What's next for this extraordinary class? Look here to find out.

TED Fellow Bright Simons tipped me to this post, a great introduction to the vibe of the site and the TED Fellows: TEDiscovery: Why We Are TEDizens. From the post:

... we knew before we got there -- before we got to Long Beach -- that TED represents an assault on all Dogma. It is a place where no prejudice, no convention, no reverent concept can be spared the creative destruction of open-minded interrogation. Still we queried: what then?

Could we have known that not only being but more so becoming is the preoccupation of TEDizens? Even if we had heard the fabulous story of ShopAfrica53.com, launched by Herman Chinery-Hesse on the very neon-lit pedestal of TEDGlobal 2007 to the hails of TEDizens, and with their concrete support, or been told of the redemptive tale of William Kamkwamba and his blessed windmill of Kasangu, could we have engaged from afar?

We had to go to Long Beach. We had to swim the watersheds of awareness; cheer to the miraculous swings of Zander's fingers; consume the Poms of Google's largesse (and may Lynn Resnick be ever blest); submit our cynicism to the electrifying epiphanies of the Siftable chorus; and relapse, O Clansfolk, relapse like the intellectually lobotomised before their saving dose of electrotherapy. Then ponder the last of the Oliver Sacks visions. But wherefore?

Now that we have believed, whither the action that issues forth from contemplation?

Read the whole post to find out one answer >>

Photo credit: Joshua Wanyama

17 February 2009

ABC News on the next species of human: "Homo Evolutis"

Writing on Darwin's 200th birthday last week, Lise Buyer offered this commentary about today's TEDTalk, Juan Enriquez' "How Mind-Boggling Science Will Outlast the Crisis." From the story:

... In his talk at TED, Enriquez said the fact that we are the only living species of humans is an anomaly -- or at least out of synch with history. Millions of years ago, there were as many as five different species of humans co-existing on the planet.

Well, hooray! Perhaps modern humans are the end result of all evolution. Perhaps we have reached the very pinnacle of natural selection and genetic drift. On the other hand, Enriquez suggested, perhaps those are slightly arrogant conclusions.

Read the ABC News commentary >>
Watch Juan Enriquez' latest TEDTalk >>
Find more jaw-dropping big ideas from Juan Enriquez on TED.com >>

Photo: TED / Asa Mathat

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