Space oddity, indeed: 18 talks from astronauts, including Chris HadfieldChris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who’s become a YouTube sensation aboard the International Space Station, has showed us why tears won’t fall in space and the dangers of clipping one’s fingernails in zero gravity. But he has truly outdone himself with his latest video. Scheduled to leave the space station tonight at 7pm – and […]
Planck satellite data: What it can tell us about the universeToday—March 21, 2013—the much-anticipated cosmological results from the Planck satellite have been released. In a recent blog post on her own website, TED Fellow and cosmologist Renée Hlozek describes why this is a big day for astrophysics and cosmology. We asked her to explain what the excitement is all about. “Planck is the ‘next generation’ satellite that measures the tiny fluctuations in […]
Rhythms of starlight, melodies of astrophysics: Fellows Friday with Lucianne WalkowiczEver wondered what the music of the cosmos sounds like? You’re about to find out. Astrophysicist and TED Senior Fellow Lucianne Walkowicz works on the Kepler mission, looking at a patch of our galaxy to learn about stars and their planets. During an interview at TED2013, she mentioned that she is also an artist and […]
“Peering into Space”: TED Radio Hour takes you beyond the voidHuddle around the radio, all. TED Radio Hour’s second season is under way and episode two, “Peering into Space” premieres today. Host Guy Raz says that this episode may even be his favorite created so far. In an interview with the TED Blog, he said, “It totally changed my world … I think people who […]
New playlists: “Ancient clues,” “Planes, trains and automobiles” and “Are we alone in the universe?”TED playlists are collections of talks around a topic, built for you in a thoughtful sequence to illuminate ideas in context. This weekend, three new playlists are available: “Ancient clues,” “Planes, trains and automobiles” and “Are we alone in the universe?” Ancient clues Five fascinating talks by archaeologists and evolutionary biologists about humanity’s beginnings and […]
Can we deflect meteors and asteroids? A TEDx talk that describes howIt’s a humbling day to be an Earthling. Just sixteen hours before the highly-anticipated flyby of the asteroid 2012 DA14, the skies above the Chelyabinsk region of Russia were shattered by the explosion of an incoming meteor. Although fortunately nobody appears to have been killed by the blast, more than 1,000 people reported injuries, mostly from flying glass and […]
In TIME’s end-of-the-year “New Space Discoveries” special, the magazine picked “The 25 Most Influential People in Space” — from telescope innovators to planet hunters. Of those included in the list, we couldn’t help but notice that five had given TED Talks. Below, check out what each had to say on the TED stage. 1. Andrea […]
Life on Mars: A Q&A with aerospace engineer (and meme-magnet) Bobak FerdowsiTeen reporters Sadie Cruz and Nia Ashley conducted lots of interviews with speakers at the TEDYouth conference on November 17. Their Q&As will run on the TED Blog over the next few weeks. Below, an interview conducted by Nia. The Flight Director of the Mars Curiosity Mission, Bobak Ferdowsi, is best known for landing a […]
What does one wear for a stratosphere jump? A talk from the man who designed Felix Baumgartner’s safety suitLast Sunday, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a helium balloon from over 24 miles in the sky, and shattered world records by freefalling from an altitude of 128,100 feet to Earth. With the jump, Baumgartner became the first human to break the sound barrier, reaching an astonishing peak speed of 833 mph and […]
8 fascinating talks about Mars, including a new one from Bill Nye the Science GuyIn today’s thrilling TED-Ed lesson, Bill Nye the Science Guy admits that he has S.O.D., otherwise known as Sundial Obsessive Disorder. But there is a good reason for it — a sundial helped Nye’s father escape from a prison camp in China during World War II, launching a lifelong obsession that Nye eventually picked up […]
A new way to fund space exploration, from 2009 TED Prize winner Jill TarterAstronomer Jill Tarter wants us all to ask the question, “Are we alone?” As director of the SETI Institute (it stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), Tarter is dedicated to seeking the answer, as well as to imparting upon one and all the importance of the search. In 2009, Tarter was awarded the prestigious […]
Visualizing the possibility of intelligent life in the Milky WayHow many detectable alien civilizations are out there in our galaxy? In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake developed an equation to estimate the number. Now data journalist David McCandless, who gave the talk “The beauty of data visualization” at TEDGlobal 2010, has created an information graphic for the BBC calculating the Drake Equation — with a […]
The scene in New York as the Curiosity rover landedNew York’s Times Square regularly fills up for great public events, the crowd chanting and cheering. Rarely, however, do they chant, “Science! Science! Science!” as they did last night. An extraordinary number of people came out at 1:31am to watch the landing of Curiosity, NASA’s new Mars rover. The TED Blog decided it would be […]
Countdown to the Mars landing tonight!Tonight at 10:31:30 pm PDT, the rover Curiosity will land on Mars. And if you haven’t yet watched the astonishing way it’ll get down to the surface, just watch this: Why go to Mars? In 2008, Charles Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, asked that question at the Serious Play conference — and answered […]
For the last 12 years, Carter Emmart has been coordinating the efforts of scientists, artists and programmers to build a complete 3D visualization of our known universe. He demos this stunning tour and explains how it’s being shared with facilities around the world. (Recorded at TED2010, February 2010 in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 6:57) Watch […]
