The TEDxBahrialUKarachi show went on, despite a bombing in the city the day of the event. Why? To give hope. Photo: TEDxBahrialUKarachi

The city of Karachi, Pakistan, was on lockdown after bomb blasts claimed 57 lives in the midst of a tumultuous election. And on the day of TEDxBahriaUKarachi, yet another bomb shocked the area. Still, organizers Furqan Hussein and Sana Nasir boldly tread onward toward putting on a memorable event. “‘Ideas for Survival,’ our theme, sowed the idea of surviving in situations when there’s [little] or no hope,” Nasir tells the TEDx Blog in an interview. “The one thing we wanted our audience to take back [with them] was hope.”

These are the lengths some TEDx organizers go to in order to put on great events — dozens of which are held across the world every week. From these events, the TEDx team chooses four favorite talks each week, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community and its diverse constellation of ideas. Below, listen to this week’s talks – on topics ranging from the data revolution to how we perceive pain.

Democracy’s data revolution: Simon Jackman at TEDxSydney
At TEDxSydney, Stanford researcher Simon Jackman demonstrates some of the ways in which an increased availability of data gives us a more accurate picture of electoral trends, the political zeitgeist, and the serious implications this has on the shape of public conversation. (Filmed at TEDxSydney.)

Pain is all about perception: Silje Endersen Reme at TEDxNHH
Nearly everyone will suffer from some form of back pain during their lifetime, often without a specific cause. At TEDxNHH, Silje Endersen Reme explains how our mental state can affect the way we perceive chronic and acute forms of back pain. (Filmed at TEDxNHH.)

Detecting cancer before it spreads: Raj Krishnan at TEDxSanDiego 2012
Curing cancer isn’t just about better treatment, says Raj Krishnan. If we can improve detection, patients will enjoy much better odds of survival and recovery. Krishnan demonstrates how doctors can use existing technology to scan for DNA markers of cancer cells — even before the patient is showing symptoms. (Filmed at TEDxSanDiego.)

African thumb piano jam: Hiroyuki at TEDxTokyo
At TEDxTokyo, Japanese artist Hiroyuki plays a remarkable musical performance on the kalimba — also known as the thumb piano. A handheld plucking instrument still relatively obscure in Western music, the kalimba is an ancient part of the heritage of several cultures in sub-Saharan Africa. (Filmed at TEDxTokyo.)

And here, some of the week’s highlights from the TEDx blog:

• Portrait of a TEDx’er: Austin Kleon
• Instagrammed: Completing the sentence “Before I die, I want to…” at TEDxRiyadh
• Quoted: Jackson Katz viral TEDx talk, “There are no women’s issues.”

Jullien Gordon, a founding partner of New Higher, says on the TEDxYouth@Midwest stage , “Our generation has two choices, we can hope or we can hustle.”

Earlier this month, 450 Chicago public school sophomores and juniors, plus 120 of their teachers, crowded into the city’s Harris Theater for TEDxYouth@Midwest, an event all about inspiring, motivating and empowering the young people of a city known for youth gun violence, but full of so much more — culture, history, educators and students dedicated to helping their city thrive.

Chicago’s public schools have been a fixture in the news lately. 54 schools in the city are slated to close in 2013, and according to reports in The Chicago Tribune, the 2011-12 school year brought the highest number of public school students affected by gunfire since 2008. Twenty-four students were killed; 319 students shot.

At TEDxYouth@Midwest, organizers strove to turn the focus from problems, and keep it focused on the potential. 17 speakers addressed the audience, including people like guerrilla gardener Ron Finley, who is planting gardens in South Central LA; Dr. Benjamin Harrison, a researcher working on growing replacement tissue for patients who have lost their own; and Chicago native Zoe Damacela, who started her own apparel line as a high school student in the city.

This year, TEDxYouth@Midwest launched their TEDxMidwest Youth Connections Program, a project pairing TEDxYouth@Midwest students with career experiences designed to open the doors to potential careers — from job shadowing to summer internships to discussions with local entrepreneurs. Through the program, 35 TEDxYouth@Midwest student attendees found summer internships and, next year, the team at TEDxYouth@Midwest hopes to raise that number to 100.

“The event was levels better because of the students’ infectious energy, and its potential to really have a life-changing effect on hundreds of kids and teachers,” said Mike Hettwer, who co-organized the event with

Linda Stone.

“The speakers were so motivated to speak there.”

The immediate effects of the event shone in students’ responses to comment cards asking how their thinking changed throughout the event. Some of their responses are truly incredible. A sampling:

I used to think… “That once you made a bad decision, that was it for you. People say you write your life’s story in ink — if you make a mistake there is no way to erase it. You are done!”
Now I think… “That I should no longer aim for perfection, but rather strive for success. Success is not measured by how many times you fall, but actually choosing to get up once more then you fall.” 

I used to think…”That you have to use violence in order to make peace.”
Now I think… “But I realize that I can use peace to make peace.”

I used to think… “That because I am considered a minority, I would not be able to do amazing things I really want to do.”
Now I think… “That I can do anything I set my mind to if I do not let anything hold me back. Only I can prevent myself from achieving my goals and my passion.”

I used to think… “I couldn’t get out of Hell.”
Now I think… “I can with Mellody Hobson’s speech.”

I used to think… “I was one of the few teenagers passionate about science.”
Now I think… “TED is all about diversity of ideas and other people are as passionate about science as I am.”

I used to think… “If you come from a broken home, would live in a broken future.”
Now I think… “You can shape your own future and get away from the brokeness.”

I used to think… “This was going to be a long boring program with weird snacks.”
Now I think… “This experience has been the best experience in my whole entire life.”

The audience at TEDxYouth@Midwest was made up of sophomores and juniors.

Dave Gallo, Director of Special Projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) talks about the deep sea and its deep secrets.

One of the amazing comment carders from TEDxYouth@Midwest.

Read much more about TEDx and its extraordinary constellation of events on the TEDx Blog »

A view of the stage before TEDxDelft. Photo: Roy Borghouts

From dancing math to teaching in languages other than English – this week’s X marks the spot is a selection of TEDx Talks about rethinking education. Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, find this week’s edition on education.

Teaching math through movement: Erik Stern and Karl Schaffer at TEDxManhattanBeach
Erik Stern and Karl Schaffer took their love of dance into the classroom. Now, they promote the teaching of complicated mathematics concepts to kids using the power of movement, as they demonstrate. (Filmed at TEDxManhattanBeach.)

Teach for tomorrow’s world: David Garner at TEDxIndianapolis
With new technology, rapid changes in the global economy, and an evolving workforce, we have an urgent need to improve the way we teach, says David Garner. He explains why we should leave behind outdated models like specialization and standardization and move to a more multidisciplinary approach. (Filmed at TEDxIndianapolis.)

Language and the wealth gap: Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi at TEDxSoweto
In a passionate talk, Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi takes issue with the convention of teaching international students in English, suggesting that this practice often hurts much more than it helps. (Filmed at TEDxSoweto.)

Teach both 007 and MacGyver: Marc Chun at TEDxDenverTeachers
“Why am I learning this?” It’s a question familiar to parents and teachers alike. Marc Chun and other researchers set out to discover how students actually use general knowledge — and he now recommends curriculums that focus on creativity in solving problems. (TEDxDenverTeachers.)

Below, find some highlights from the TEDx blog this week:

• 5 TEDx Talks in honor of teacher appreciation week
• Bosons, bicycles and big data: 7 things we learned from TEDxCERN
• Is it better or worse to drink while exercising? Evidence from Dr. Timothy Noakes at TEDxCapetown
• 5 TEDx Talks on DNA
• The first TEDx playlist featuring TEDx Talks entirely in Spanish

Timothy Bartik: The economic case for preschool“Early childhood education can bring more and better jobs to a state and can thereby promote higher per-capita earnings for the state’s residents,” says Bartik in this talk, given ay TEDxMiamiUniversity in Ohio. “When legislatures and others think about economic development, what they first of all think about are business tax incentives. Early childhood programs can do the exact same thing.”

To hear exactly how it works, listen to this talk. His fresh perspective moves the topic of improving schools away from the altruistic “wouldn’t it be nice if…” level. In fact, it forces us to ask not “How can I get a good education for my kids?” but “How can I get a good education for everyone else’s kids?” It’s a shift in thinking — one that reframes the discussion about education reform.

The TEDx program, with its global reach, is privileged to have a unique perspective on education. Below, watch five TEDx Talks (and one bonus TED Talk) that explore some of the social, economic and political implications of guaranteeing good schools.

The impact desegregation had on schools: Rucker Johnson at TEDxMiamiUniversity
As schools were desegregated in the 1950s and 1960s, opponents feared that embracing students from low-performing, all-black schools would lower standards and unfairly disrupt white students’ performances. It’s been 60 years — were they right? No. As Rucker Johnson shows with his extensive research, desegregation had virtually no effect on white students, but propelled minority students to unprecedented levels of success.

No more easy answers: Adrián Paenza at TEDxJoven@RiodelaPlata
All too often, school lessons set concrete problems with clean answers. Which, suggests Adrián Paenza, can limit students’ creative problem-solving abilities. But perhaps more importantly, it can engender arrogance — setting classist expectations for the answers everyone ought to know. With humor and a few touching stories, he looks at some of the effects that unequal educational opportunities have on society. (In Spanish with English subtitles.)

Don’t mistake a dialect for a disorder: Sade Wilson at TEDxEMU
African American Vernacular English is a common dialect in the US. It’s not bad English, yet kids who grow up speaking it at home are too often misdiagnosed with speech and learning disabilities by teachers who either don’t recognize the dialect or give tests in their own dialect of English. At TEDxEMU, speech pathologist Sade Wilson sheds light on the issue and makes six recommendations to improve how teachers work with students who speak a dialect.

Where’s the R&D for better schools? Jim Shelton at TEDxMidAtlantic
If education is an essential social good, shouldn’t we make a bigger effort to figure out what’s worth investing in and what’s not? Governments invest in education, and governments invest in research, but according to Jim Shelton, many countries don’t invest much in education research. In this talk from TEDxMidAtlantic, he calls for expanding public investment into the research and development of new education practices and platforms.

A girl who demanded school: Kakenya Ntaiya at TEDxMidAtlantic
Kakenya Ntaiya made an unusual deal with her father in order to go to high school – something unheard-of for girls in her Maasai village. After continuing on to college in the US., Ntaiya returned to her village and set up a school for girls. In this talk, she shows how the school is changing the local culture by creating an alternative path for girls uninterested in marriage in their early teens.

Teaching design for change: Emily Pilloton at TEDGlobal 2010
And now for a TED Talk with a similar theme: Bertie County was known for being the poorest region of North Carolina. In this talk, Emily Pilloton suggests that teaching design in school may be key to lifting the entire area. By giving students the tools to dream up and fabricate real projects for the community good, Bertie County got bus shelters and a farmer’s market – while students got paying summer jobs.

Take a bike ride down the 27-kilometer Large Hadron Collider — thanks to a lucky Google Glass winner, whose ride-along video premiered Friday during TEDxCERN.

Andrew Vanden Heuvel always dreamed of being an astronaut; he ended up becoming a pioneering online physics teacher. So when he was selected to be one of the first to try out Google Glass, he knew exactly what he wanted to do: travel to Switzerland, go to CERN (aka the European Laboratory for Particle Physics), check out the Large Hadron Collider and beam the live footage back to a classroom.

More: Sergey Brin talked about the impetus for creating Google Glass, the tech giant’s new augmented-reality headset, at TED2013.

At TED2008, Brian Cox explained what the LHC is looking for: the elusive Higgs boson.

TEDx as seen from space, with help from Google Earth (Image: DigitalGlobe and Google).

It’s TEDx … from space. This unique vantage point of TEDxSanaa’s amazing mountainside signage is brought to you with some help from Google Earth. Take a look for yourself on Google Maps. We take this image as proof that TEDx has become a global enterprise.

This week, from events held across the world, we’ve handpicked four TEDx Talks that encapsulate this diverse venture. Ranging from how racecar driving can save infants’ lives to why video games belong in museums — all of these talks are brought to you by our vast TEDx community. Below, find this week’s talks.

Can music really make you smarter? Jessica Grahn at TEDxWesternU
New parents are awash in products claiming the power to turn their kids into geniuses with just a little bit of Mozart. Could any of these claims be true? At TEDxWesternU, Jessica Grahn examines the effects of music on the human brain, debunks common myths and highlights some of music’s real medical uses. (Filmed at TEDxWesternU.)

Are video games art? Maria Lujan Oulton at TEDxRiodelaPlata
More and more, video games are being accepted and enjoyed as works of art in galleries around the globe. At TEDxRiodelaPlata, Maria Lujan Oulton takes a look at six designers who are using gaming to create powerful forms of interactive art. (Filmed at TEDxRiodelaPlata.)

How F1 racing saves babies: Peter van Manen at TEDxNijmegen 2013
We can use the same technology that evaluates faults in Formula 1 racecars to solve problems off the racetrack, says data analyst Peter van Manen — from detecting warning signs of heart failure in infants to designing ambulances that monitor patients on the way to the hospital. (Filmed at TEDxNijmegen.)

Nanoscale fruit juice and other small things: Stefan Bon at TEDxWarwick
From flame-retardant plastic to healthier chocolate, Stefan Bon shows us the extraordinary promise of the budding field of nanotechnology. (Filmed at TEDxWarwick.)

And, some of this week’s highlights from the TEDx blog:

• 5 big TEDx Talks about little things
• Newest form of public transportation from TEDxAustin: Suspended gondolas
• Quoted: TED Talks embraced as a learning platform in China
• 5 great photos from TEDx Talks across the world
• TEDxSKE presents an animation of what it’s like to attend a TEDxSalon

As part of TEDxCERN, physicists from the famous institution, home of  the Large Hadron Collider (and birthplace of the Word Wide Web), teamed up with animators from TED-Ed to create easy-to-understand animated lessons that explain concepts like dark matter, big data and the Higgs boson in lay terms.

Below, watch all five animations and find out: How did the universe begin? What’s up with antimatter? And why is everyone so excited about the Higgs boson? Enjoyable whether you are new to these terms or have been studying them for years.

The beginning of the universe, for beginners. (Lesson by Tom Whyntie, animation by Hornet Inc.)
How did the universe begin — and how is it expanding? CERN physicist Tom Whyntie shows how cosmologists and particle physicists explore these questions by replicating the heat, energy and activity of the first few seconds of our universe, from right after the Big Bang.

Exploration on the Big Data frontier. (Lesson by Tim Smith, animation by TED-Ed.)
There is a mind-boggling amount of data floating around our society. Physicists at CERN have been pondering how to store and share their data for decades – stimulating globalization of the internet along the way, while “solving” their big data problem. Tim Smith plots CERN’s involvement with big data from 50 years ago to today.

Dark matter: The matter we can’t see. (Lesson by James Gillies, animation by TED-Ed.)
The Greeks had a simple and elegant formula for the universe: earth, fire, wind and water. Turns out there’s more to it than that — a lot more. Visible matter (and that goes beyond the four Greek elements) comprises only 4% of the universe. CERN scientist James Gillies tells us what accounts for the remaining 96% (dark matter and dark energy) and how we might go about detecting it.

What happened to antimatter? (Lesson by Rolf Landua, animation by TED-Ed.)
Particles come in pairs, which is why there should be an equal amount of matter and antimatter in the universe. Yet scientists have not been able to detect antimatter in the visible universe. Where is this missing particle? CERN scientist Rolf Landua returns to the seconds after the Big Bang to explain the disparity that allows humans to exist today.

The basics of boson. (Lesson by Dave Barney and Steven Goldfarb, animation by Jeanette Nørgaard.)
In 2012, scientists at CERN discovered evidence of the Higgs boson. The what? The Higgs boson is one of two types of fundamental particles, and it’s a particular game-changer in the field of particle physics, proving how particles gain mass. Using the Socratic method, CERN scientists Dave Barney and Steve Goldfarb explain the exciting implications of the Higgs boson.

TEDxCERN will not be a closed door event. More than 25 universities, laboratories and organizations around the world will be tuning in. In fact, anyone anywhere in the world with a curiosity about how and why the universe exists is welcome to watch through a free webcast.

The webcast begins at 13:45 (CEST) — that’s 7:45am (EST) to anyone living on the East Coast — and will run until 20:00. Watch here »

Below, some TED Talks to get you hyped for the event:

• Brian Cox: CERN’s supercollider
• Tom Whyntie: The beginning of the universe, for beginners
• Garrett Lisi: An 8-dimensional model of the universe
• Brian Greene: Making sense of string theory
• Brian Cox: Why we need the explorers

Still not sure if you want to watch? Read 6 reasons to tune in »

TEDxCERN will be held inside CERN’s world-famous Globe. Photo: TEDxCERN

You have probably heard of CERN — the European Organization for Nuclear Research and the home of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator that is longer than the island of Manhattan. CERN and LHC are famous for their role in the recent discovery of what very likely is the Higgs boson, a particle crucial to the standard model of physics. But now, CERN will house another exciting first: their first TEDx event.

This Friday, May 3, CERN will bring together thinkers of all kinds to examine our universe and provide insight into why studying it matters. And lucky for you, you don’t have to go to Switzerland to watch in real time. The program will stream live online at the TEDxCERN website from 13:45  to 20:00 (CEST).

So why should you tune in?

1. Because of the incredible speaker lineup. CERN has invited 23 great speakers and performers to the stage. Some highlights of the lineup:

• Philosopher John Searle, the winner of the 2004 National Humanities Award
• Astrophysicist George Smoot, cosmologist and Nobel Prize laureate
• Chris Lintott, the head of Zooniverse at Oxford University and co-presenter of the BBC’s Sky at Night program
• Marc Abrahams, MC of the Ig Nobel Awards and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research
• 18-year-old Britney Wegner, grand prize winner of the 2012 Google Science Fair
• Sergio Bertolucci, director for research and scientific computing at CERN

2. Because the venue will be thrilling. TEDxCERN will take place at the Globe of Science and Innovation on the CERN campus in Geneva. This giant wooden globe — about the size of the Sistine Chapel — was first constructed for the 2000 World Exhibition in Hanover, but now stands as a stirring tribute to the groundbreaking work happening at CERN’s headquarters every day. Says the CERN website, “A landmark by day and by night, the Globe … sends a clear message on science, particle physics, cutting-edge technologies and their applications in everyday life.”

3. Because they make understanding particle physics child’s play. Part of CERN’s mission is making the work done there accessible to those who don’t have a deeply-honed understanding of particle physics. To that end, CERN scientists have teamed up with the animators of TED-Ed to create five easy-to-understand (and fun-to-watch) lessons that explain concepts like the Big Bang, dark matter, big data and Higgs boson. The first of these lessons, “The beginning of the universe, for beginners,” is currently available via TED-Ed. The other four lessons will premiere at TEDxCERN — those watching live will be the first to see ‘em.

4. Because CERN is part of the reason we have the internet. Ever wondered who created that little thing called the World Wide Web? Tim Berners-Lee was a software engineer at CERN in the 1980s, when he proposed the idea to his bosses as a way to “reframe the way we use information.” Twenty years ago this week, CERN offered up the software required to run a web server, a basic browser, and a standard library of code — all royalty free. To celebrate the anniversary, CERN posted the very first public web page ever — dedicated to the “World Wide Web project itself.”

5. Because Higgs boson is poised to change everything. In 2012, the media was abuzz with stories about the “god particle,” aka Higgs boson. This particle was theorized to exist in 1964 by six scientists, including one Peter Higgs. The existence of the particle would confirm the existence of the Higgs field, believed to surround everything, giving mass to elementary particles that, without it, would be massless. The discovery of Higgs boson is the beginning of a whole new field of research and several TEDxCERN talks will touch on where it’s headed. We’re looking forward to the talk, “What the Higgs might mean for the fate of the universe,” from theoretical physicist Gian Giudice.

6. Because you won’t be alone. More than 25 universities, laboratories and organizations will be hosting TEDxCERN livestreaming parties, including TEDxAthens in Greece, the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, Università di Pavia in Italy, Kathmandu University in Nepal, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States, and even TED HQ here in New York! Take stock in knowing you’ll be watching along with some of the world’s leading scientists, researchers, and hard thinkers.

Tune in to the TEDxCERN webcast on Friday, May 3rd. It will be available to the public here »

For more information on TEDxCERN, visit their website, or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

TEDxCERN set-up, in progress. Photo: TEDxCERN

Photo: Kris Krüg

In defense of whistleblowers: Margaret Heffernan at TEDxDanubia 2013
Bad things happen when good people fail to act, says Margaret Heffernan. At TEDxDanubia, she explores the crucial role of whistleblowers, despite the sometimes high cost paid for uncovering the truth. (Filmed at TEDxDanubia.)

A path to smarter sanitation: Mathew Lippincott at TEDxConcordiaUPortland
In an ever-changing world, the basic design of the toilet remains the same. Through a humorous critique of this “antique device,” Mathew Lippincott asks us to think a little harder about how society deals with the problems of sanitation. (Filmed at TEDxConcordiaUPortland.)

Seeing beyond my suffering: Ali Taleb Almarrany at TEDxSanaa 2012
Growing up in Yemen in extreme poverty, Ali Taleb Almarrany lost an eye in a tragic firearm accident. At TEDxSanaa, he tells the story of how this led him to his biggest success: becoming a TV journalist, despite the odds. (Filmed at TEDxSanaa.)

Are flexible electronics in our future?: Stephanie Lacour and Jamie Palk at TEDxHelvetia
At TEDxHelvetia, Stephanie Lacour and Jamie Paik share a novel new “soft” robotic material incorporating flexible electronic circuits. Based on origami, these robotic sheets can fold into almost any shape, and might someday provide stretchable screens for smartphones, or muscle support for patients after facial surgery. (Filmed at TEDxHelvetia.)

And here, some highlights from the TEDx blog this week:

• Why is Super Mario Bros so popular? And what does it have to do with an underground park? Dan Barasch at TEDxEastHampton explores
• 6 talks on the wonder of words
• Watch TEDGlobal live from a print shop established in 1585 in Lithuania at TEDxVilniusLive
• An animated introduction to TED and TEDx in Arabic
• TEDxPlainpalais does the Harlem Shake

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