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Report from TEDGlobal Session 6: Different by Design

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Miwa Matreyek travels from waterscape to starscape to cityscape and back again, magically interacting with visually striking animations.

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Neil Gershenfeld is trying to re-implement biology with semiconductors, conductors, insulators — to literally grow technology. He says “If a program is a structure, it can become a thing.”

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Tan Le shows a next-gen gaming interface: the Emotiv headset, which reads your brainwaves. The headset also has real-world applications like opening and closing blinds, turning on lights — and steering a wheelchair.

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Eben Bayer wants to use mushrooms that act a lot like plastics as materials for products. Advantage: they’re made from crop waste, and totally disposable.

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Voting system designer David Bismark: Our democracies rely on elections. Unfortunately people will do bad things for power. Voters should be able to check that their vote is counted, without breaking secrecy.

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Emily Pilloton shares the story of Bertie County, North Carolina — prime example of the demise of rural America.

Photos: TED / James Duncan Davidson