17 September 2009
2,000 translations for TEDTalks
Late last night, TED volunteer translators Danye West and Tony Yet completed their work on Chris Abani's 2008 TEDTalk in Simplified Chinese -- and in the process, notched the 2,000th translation of a TEDTalk. Since we started TED's Open Translation Project four months ago, we've been thrilled and humbled to see it grow. TEDTalks are now available subtitled in 55 languages, with even more in progress. If you'd like to help translate TEDTalks, learn more here. To watch a TEDTalk that's been translated, look for the button in the player window that reads "Subtitles" -- or, on any Talk page, look for the small red link in the right-hand bar that reads "Open interactive transcript."
Watch Chris Abani's musings on humanity, with subtitles in Simplified Chinese, Russian, Spanish, English, and Portuguese (Brazilian):
18 February 2009
Jose Antonio Abreu's TED Prize Wish -- transcribed
We've transcribed Jose Antonio Abreu's TED Prize wish to use music to transform kids' lives and posted the full text below the fold. Here's a snippet:
The idea is that the families join with pride and joy in the activities of the orchestras and the choirs their children belong to. The huge spiritual world that music produces in itself, which also lies within itself, ends up overcoming material poverty. From the minute a child is taught how to play an instrument, he's no longer poor. He becomes a child in progress heading for a professional level, who'll later become a full citizen.
+ Watch Jose Antonio Abreu's talk on TED.com
+ Read Jose Antonio Abreu's bio on TED.com
11 February 2009
Bill Gates' talk on mosquitoes, malaria and education -- transcribed
We've transcribed Bill Gates' talk on mosquitoes, malaria and education and posted the full text below the fold. Here's a snippet:
But we have to be careful because malaria -- the parasite evolves and the mosquito evolves. So every tool that we've ever had in the past has eventually become ineffective. And so you end up with two choices. If you go into a country with the right tools and the right way, you do it vigorously, you can actually get a local eradication. And that's where we saw the malaria map shrinking. Or, if you go in kind of half-heartedly, for a period of time you'll reduce the disease burden, but eventually those tools will become ineffective, and the death rate will soar back up again. And the world has gone through this where it paid attention and then didn't pay attention.
Read the full transcript of Bill Gates' 2009 TEDTalk on mosquitoes, malaria and education >>
+ Watch Bill Gates' talk on TED.com
+ Read Bill Gates' bio on TED.com
14 May 2008
The bad news about the news: Alisa Miller on TED.com
Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, talks about why -- though we want to know more about the world than ever -- the US news media is actually showing less. Eye-opening stats and graphs. (Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 4:29.)
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06 May 2008
6 ways mushrooms can save the world: Paul Stamets on TED.com
Mycologist Paul Stamets studies mycelium and lists 6 ways that this astonishing fungus can help save the world. Cleaning polluted soil, creating new insecticides, treating smallpox and maybe even the flu ... in 18 minutes, he doesn't get all the way through his list, but he has plenty of time to blow your mind. An audience favorite at TED2008. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:44.)
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29 April 2008
What really goes on at the Large Hadron Collider: Brian Cox on TED.com
"Rock star physicist" Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive complex -- and describes the vital role it's going to play in understanding our universe. (Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 14:59.)
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22 April 2008
Where does creativity hide? Amy Tan on TED.com
Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, journeying through her childhood and family history and into the worlds of physics and chance, looking for hints of where her own creativity comes from. It's a wild ride with a surprise ending. (Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 22:52.)
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16 April 2008
Open-source economics: Yochai Benkler on TED.com
Law professor Yochai Benkler explains how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization. By disrupting traditional economic production, copyright law and established competition, they're paving the way for a new set of economic laws, where empowered individuals are put on a level playing field with industry giants. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 17:52.)
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15 April 2008
Playing the music in your head: Tod Machover & Dan Ellsey on TED.com
Tod Machover of MIT's Media Lab invented the musical technology behind Guitar Hero, and here he talks about what's coming next. Listen for some brand-new ways to interface with music -- to play it, compose it, enjoy it. Machover then introduces Dan Ellsey, a composer with cerebral palsy who uses some new tools to write and perform his own music. Onstage, Ellsey conducts his "My Eagle Song," in a soaring performance that underscores music's power to move you and give you chills. (Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 20:35.)
Watch Tod Machover and Dan Ellsey's talk and performance on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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27 March 2008
18 minutes with an agile mind: Clifford Stoll on TED.com
Clifford Stoll could talk about the atmosphere of Jupiter. Or hunting KGB hackers. Or Klein bottles, computers in classrooms, the future. But he's not going to. Which is fine, because it would be criminal to confine a man with interests as multifarious as Stoll's to give a talk on any one topic. Instead, he simply captivates his audience with a wildly energetic sprinkling of anecdotes, observations, asides -- and even a science experiment. After all, by his own definition, he's a scientist: "Once I do something, I want to do something else." (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:50.)
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25 March 2008
See inside your brain in real time: Christopher deCharms on TED.com
From last month's TED conference: Neuroscientist Christopher deCharms demos an amazing new way to use fMRIs to watch the brain in action. Using this technology, if you move your arm, get angry, feel pain, you can see what it looks like in your brain as it happens -- and then you can learn to control it. The applications for real-time fMRI start with pain management and run on into the realm of science fiction, but this technology is very real. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 3:56.)
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20 March 2008
Finding the next Einstein in Africa: Neil Turok's TED Prize wish on TED.com
Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, physicist Neil Turok speaks out for talented young Africans starved of opportunity: by unlocking and nurturing the continent's creative potential, we can create a change in Africa's future. Turok asks the TED community to help him expand the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences by opening 15 new centers across Africa in five years. By adding resources for entrepreneurship to this proven model, he says, we can create a network for progress across the continent -- and perhaps discover an African Einstein. To brainstorm on this wish and get involved, visit TEDPrize.org >> (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 24:44.)
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19 March 2008
Help bring compassion back to religion: Karen Armstrong's TED Prize wish on TED.com
As she accepts her 2008 TED Prize, author and scholar Karen Armstrong talks about how the Abrahamic religions -- Islam, Judaism, Christianity -- have been diverted from the moral purpose they share: to foster compassion. But Armstrong has seen a yearning to change this fact. People want to be religious, she says; we should act to help make religion a force for harmony. She asks the TED community to help her build a Charter for Compassion -- to help restore the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") as the central global religious doctrine. To brainstorm on this wish and get involved, visit TEDPrize.org >> (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 21:27.)
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18 March 2008
Once Upon a School: Dave Eggers' TED Prize wish on TED.com
Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to engage with their local school. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open their own volunteer-driven, wildly creative writing labs. But you don't need to go that far, he reminds us -- it's as simple as asking a teacher "How can I help?" Share your own volunteering stories at his new website, Once Upon a School. To brainstorm on this wish and get involved, visit TEDPrize.org >> (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 24:29.)
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12 March 2008
Stroke of insight: Jill Bolte Taylor on TED.com
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:44.)
Watch Jill Bolte Taylor's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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TRANSLATIONS:
Read the talk in German here (in the "Hintergrund") >>
Read the talk in Portuguese here >>
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14 February 2008
Rocket to Saturn: George Dyson on TED.com
George Dyson tells the amazing story of Project Orion, a 4,000-ton, nuclear-bomb-propelled spacecraft that could have taken us to Saturn in five years. With a priceless insider's perspective and a cache of documents, photos and film, Dyson brings this dusty Atomic Age dream to vivid life. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, California. Duration: 08:31.)
Watch George Dyson's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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11 February 2008
Way-new collaboration: Howard Rheingold on TED.com
Howard Rheingold talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action -- and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group. As he points out, humans have been banding together to work collectively since our days of hunting mastodons. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, California. Duration: 19:30.)
Watch Howard Rheingold's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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07 February 2008
The omnivore's next dilemma: Michael Pollan on TED.com
What if human consciousness isn't the end-all and be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn's clever strategy game, the ultimate prize of which is world domination? Michael Pollan asks us to see things from a plant's-eye view -- to consider the possibility that nature isn't opposed to culture, that biochemistry rivals intellect as a survival tool. By merely shifting our perspective, he argues, we can heal the Earth. Who's the more sophisticated species now? (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:31.)
Watch Michael Pollan's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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06 February 2008
Rome antics: David Macaulay on TED.com
His love and fascination for Rome dates to his days as an architecture student, but David Macaulay found the path to his book Rome Antics took some unusual (and frustrating) turns. Through failed pop-up designs, scribbled-out title possibilities, surreal sketchbook pages (think "Piranesi meets Escher"), and rambling storylines, Macaulay details each step of his winding journey toward completion of his illustrated homage to the city. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, California. Duration: 21:34.)
Watch David Macaulay's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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04 February 2008
Sing a song of cities: Jaime Lerner on TED.com
With maverick flair and a strategist's disdain for accepted wisdom, Jaime Lerner re-invented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. He talks about how to revolutionize bus transit, awaken green consciousness in a populace accustomed to litter and blight, and change the way city planners and bureaucrats worldwide conceive what's possible within the tangled structure of the metropolitan landscape. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 15:42.)
Watch Jaime Lerner's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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31 January 2008
Zipcar and beyond: Robin Chase on TED.com
Robin Chase rose to fame by founding Zipcar, the world's biggest car-sharing business, but that was one of her smaller ideas. In this presentation she travels much farther, contemplating road-pricing schemes that will shake up our driving habits and a no-fee mesh network as sprawling as the United States Interstate highway system. But how could you build a free wireless system that vast and pervasive? Chase finds the answer in a few short lines from The Graduate. And it has nothing to do with plastic. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 13:39.)
Watch Robin Chase's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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30 January 2008
A vision for TED: Chris Anderson on TED.com
At the time of this talk, TED's future was in the balance. Its founder, Richard Saul Wurman, had just sold the conference to Chris Anderson's foundation, and had announced that this 2002 conference was the last TED he would run. Many in the audience had concluded that the conference would not survive the transition to a new owner, and few had signed up for the following year's event. This was Anderson's attempt to persuade TEDsters that the conference had a future, and that the transition from a for-profit event, to one owned by a nonprofit, could work. The talk took place five months after September 11, and at the very bottom of the dot-com stock market bust, when many in the room had lost 90% or more of their net worth. Here, Anderson shares his own story -- and his vision for what TED can become. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, California. Duration: 12:47.)
Watch Chris Anderson's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Chris Anderson on TED.com.
28 January 2008
Looking at celebrity: Alison Jackson on TED.com
Why can't you make it through the checkout line without flipping through page after page of pregnant celebs in Us magazine? Alison Jackson knows why. In her work, she photographs the people you think you recognize doing what you really want to see. And in the process, she's questioning our shared desire to get personal with celebrity culture. Funny and sometimes shocking, Jackson's work contains some graphic images. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 17:36.)
Watch Alison Jackson's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Alison Jackson on TED.com.
17 January 2008
"Nice building. Then what?" Frank Gehry on TED.com
Frank Gehry wanted to be a scientist when he grew up. But after blowing up a part of his house, at age 14, he decided against it. He's gone on to create some mindblowing buildings, including the Guggenheim at Bilbao and LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall. This wildly entertaining conversation with Richard Saul Wurman (then host of TED) touches on many topics, including the power of failure, the importance of collaboration, and the need for architects to bring personal expression to the table. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, California. Duration: 22:00.)
Watch Frank Gehry's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Frank Gehry on TED.com.
11 January 2008
Underwater astonishments: David Gallo on TED.com
David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a shape-shifting cuttlefish, a pair of fighting squid, and a mesmerizing gallery of bioluminescent fish that light up the blackest depths of the ocean. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 5:21.)
Watch David Gallo's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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Download this talk in 480p high definition >>
10 January 2008
The mystery box: J.J. Abrams on TED.com
Filmmaker J.J. Abrams traces his love of the unseen mystery -- the heart of Alias, Lost and the upcoming Cloverfield -- back to its own magical beginnings, which may or may not include an early obsession with magic, the love of a supportive grandfather, or his own unopened Mystery Box. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:02.)
Watch J.J. Abrams's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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Download this talk in 480p high definition >>
08 January 2008
How do ants know what to do? Deborah Gordon on TED.com
Armed with a few students, a backhoe and a handful of markers, Deborah Gordon digs up ant colonies in the Arizona desert. She asks: How do these chitinous creatures get down to business -- and even multitask when they need to -- with no language, memory or visible leadership? Her answers could lead to a better understanding of all complex systems, from the brain to the Web. Thanks, ants. (Recorded February 2003 in Monterey, California. Duration: 20:25.)
Watch Deborah Gordon's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Deborah Gordon on TED.com.
06 December 2007
Beauty and truth in physics: Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com
Wielding laypeople's terms and a sense of humor, Nobel Prize winner Murray Gell-Mann drops some knowledge about particle physics, asking questions like, Are elegant equations more likely to be right than inelegant ones? Can the fundamental law, the so-called "theory of everything," really explain everything? His answers will surprise you. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:07.)
Watch Murray Gell-Mann's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com.
04 December 2007
Why design? Philippe Starck on TED.com
Legendary designer Philippe Starck -- with no pretty slides behind him -- spends 17 minutes reaching for the very roots of the question "Why design?" Along the way he drops brilliant insights into the human condition; listen carefully for one perfectly crystallized motto for all of us, genius or not. Yet all this deep thought, he cheerfully admits, is to aid in the design of a better toothbrush. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:07.)
Watch Philippe Starck's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Philippe Starck on TED.com.
29 November 2007
African fractals: Ron Eglash on TED.com
"I am a mathematician, and I would like to stand on your roof." This is how Ron Eglash greeted many African families while researching the intriguing fractal patterns he noticed in villages across the continent. He talks about his work exploring the rigorous fractal math underpinning African architecture, art and even hair braiding -- and his cool math tools for students. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 16:51.)
Watch Ron Eglash's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Ron Eglash on TED.com.
27 November 2007
Secrets of movement, from geckos and roaches: Robert Full on TED.com
Biologist Robert Full shares his fascination with spiny cockroach legs that allow them to scuttle at full speed across loose mesh and gecko feet that have billions of nano-bristles to run straight up walls. His talk, complete with wonderful slow-mo video of cockroach, crab and gecko gaits, explains his goal of creating the perfect robotic "distributed foot." (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, California. Duration: 19:24.)
Watch Robert Full's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Robert Full on TED.com.
15 November 2007
Why can't we grow new energy? Juan Enriquez on TED.com
Biologist and futurist Juan Enriquez talks about the potential of bioenergy. Our current energy sources -- coal, oil, gas -- are ultimately derived from ancient plants -- they're "concentrated sunlight." He asks, Can we learn from that process and accelerate it? Can we get to the point where we grow our own energy as efficiently as we grow wheat? (Less than a month after this talk, his company announced a process to do just that.) (Recorded September 2007 in New York City. Duration: 18:16.)
Watch Juan Enriquez's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Juan Enriquez on TED.com.
13 November 2007
Geo-engineering to slow global warming: David Keith on TED.com
Environmental scientist David Keith talks about a cheap, effective, shocking solution to climate change: What if we injected a huge cloud of particles into the atmosphere, to deflect sunlight and heat? As an emergency measure to slow a melting ice cap, it could work. Keith discusses why geo-engineering like this is a good idea, why it's a terrible one -- and who, despite the cost, might be tempted to use it. (Recorded September 2007 in New York City. Duration: 16:04.)
Watch David Keith's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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30 October 2007
A history of electroshock therapy: Sherwin Nuland on TED.com
Sherwin Nuland, the surgeon and author, talks about the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression. Midway through, his story turns personal. It's a moving and deeply felt talk about relief, redemption, second chances. (Recorded February 2001 in Monterey, California. Duration: 22:30.)
Watch Sherwin Nuland's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Sherwin Nuland on TED.com.
25 September 2007
10 ways the world could end: Stephen Petranek on TED.com
Stephen Petranek reveals the question that occupies scientists at the end of the day (and the beginning of happy hour): How might the world end? He lays out the challenges that face us in the drive to preserve the human race. Will we be wiped out by an asteroid? Eco-collapse? How about a particle accelerator gone wild? (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, California. Duration: 29:10.)
Watch Stephen Petranek's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Stephen Petranek on TED.com.
13 September 2007
Scenes from "The War Tapes": Deborah Scranton on TED.com
The director of the award-winning documentary The War Tapes, Deborah Scranton makes films that help people tell their own stories. She talks about making The War Tapes, her 2006 doc that put videocameras in the hands of Charlie Company, a unit of the National Guard stationed in Iraq, for one year. Their raw footage and diaries tell a powerful, unsettling story. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:49.)
Watch Deborah Scranton's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Deborah Scranton on TED.com.
11 September 2007
The stuff of thought, the myth of violence: Steven Pinker on TED.com
This week, Steven Pinker releases his latest book, The Stuff of Thought, about language as a window onto human nature. We present two TEDTalks from Steve Pinker: his 2005 talk at Oxford, in which he offers the TEDGlobal audience an exclusive preview of the book, and his most recent talk, at TED2007, where he previews his next topic: violence.
From TEDGlobal 2005: The stuff of thought. In an exclusive preview of his latest book, Steven Pinker looks at language as a window onto human nature. In both what we say and how we say it, we're communicating much more than we realize. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, England. Duration: 17:41.)
From TED2007: A brief history of violence. In a preview of his next book, Steven Pinker takes on violence and the ways we perceive it. We live in violent times, an era of heightened warfare, genocide and senseless crime. Or so we've come to believe. Pinker charts a history of violence from Biblical times through the present, and says modern society has a little less to feel guilty about. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 19:27.)
Watch Steven Pinker's talks on TED.com, where you can download them, rate them, comment and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Steven Pinker on TED.com.
30 August 2007
Redefining the dictionary: Erin McKean on TED.com
Is the beloved paper dictionary doomed to extinction? When does a made-up word become real? And could you use "synecdochical" in a sentence, please? In this infectiously exuberant talk, leading lexicographer Erin McKean looks at the many ways in which today's print dictionary is poised for transformation in this internet era. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 15:41.)
Watch Erin McKean's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
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28 August 2007
Dean Kamen previews an extraordinary new prosthetic arm, on TED.com
Inventor Dean Kamen gives a 5-minute talk about the extraordinary prosthetic arm he’s developing at the request of the US Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 "kids" who've come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who’ve lost both arms). Kamen's commitment to using technology to solve problems, and his respect for the human spirit, have never been more clear than in this deeply moving clip. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 05:41.)
Watch Dean Kamen's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances, including Kamen's 2002 talk on inventing and giving.
Read more about Dean Kamen on TED.com.
16 August 2007
"Thula Mama": Vusi Mahlasela on TED.com
South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela was a crucial artistic voice during the fight against apartheid, and now in the new modern-day nation. Here he dedicates the beautiful song "Thula Mama" to all women -- with a special mention for his grandmother, who showed spine-tingling bravery in the face of apartheid-era police oppression. His story, voice and music will leave you speechless. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 10:18.)
Watch Vusi Mahlasela's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Vusi Mahlasela on TED.com.
NEW: Read the transcript of Vusi's introduction to this song >>
01 August 2007
Premiere: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on reconciling aid and trade
After four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade at TEDGlobal 2007, it was up to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Finance Minister of Nigeria, to sum it up. She asks for the discussion to continue, and to grow more sophisticated, more nuanced. And she brilliantly refocuses the concept of foreign aid: As she points out, most Western countries could not have been built without "aid" from Africa; their rapid development relied on Africa's natural and human resources. So when the US or the UK gives aid, she says, what they are really doing is giving back. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 22:22.)
Watch Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances, including her talk from this spring's TED2007 in Monterey, CA.
Read more about Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on TED.com.
New: Download this talk in high resolution >>
01 August 2007
Premiere: William Kamkwamba on building a windmill
When he was just 14 years old, Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba built his family an electricity-generating windmill from spare parts, working from rough plans he found in a library book. In conversation with TED Curator Chris Anderson, Kamkwamba, now 19, tells a moving story of ingenuity and adaptation, and shares his dreams: To build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village, and to find the funds to go back to school. This talk inspired outpourings of support from the TED community and in the blogosphere. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 04:23.)
Watch William Kamkwamba's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about William Kamkwamba on TED.com.
New: Download this talk in high resolution >>
01 August 2007
Premiere: George Ayittey on Cheetahs vs. Hippos
This grab-you-by-the-throat talk by Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes an almost breathtaking torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders -- the "Hippos" (lazy, slow, ornery, greedy) who have ruined postcolonial Africa, he says. Why, then, does he remain optimistic? Because of the young, agile "Cheetah Generation," a "new breed of Africans" taking their futures into their own hands. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 18:00.)
Watch George Ayittey's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about George Ayittey on TED.com.
New: Download this talk in high resolution >>
26 July 2007
How I got my new hip: Allison Hunt on TED.com
TEDster Allison Hunt's five-minute talk finds humor and marketing strategy in the most unlikely of places -- her own hip-replacement surgery. As the world scrutinizes broken health-care systems, this particularly timely clip shows how getting to the front of a two-year waiting list can have an altruistic effect. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 5:00.)
Watch Allison Hunt's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Allison Hunt on TED.com.
03 July 2007
Dan Dennett on dangerous memes, on TED.com
Here's one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Starting with the deceptively simple story of an ant, Dan Dennett unleashes a dazzling sequence of ideas, making a powerful case for the existence of "memes" -- a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and capable of spreading from brain to brain.
On the way, look out for:
• a powerful one-sentence secret of happiness
• a compelling insight into terrorists' motivation
• a chilling view of Islam
And just when you think you know where the talk's heading, it dramatically shifts direction and questions some of western culture's fundamental assumptions.
This. Is. Unmissable. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 15:39) Read more about Dan Dennett on TED.com.
Watch this talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
07 June 2007
Bob Thurman on happiness and becoming Buddha -- on TED.com
Amid TEDGlobal's talk of our global connection and interconnection, it's a fine time to present Bob Thurman, Buddhist monk and scholar, on the Buddhist view of the universe. In our hyperlinked world, we can know anything, anytime. And this mass enlightenment, says Thurman, is our first step toward becoming Buddha. When we can know everything, we can see how everything is interconnected -- and we can begin to feel compassion for every living being. (Recorded December 2006 in New York City. Duration: 12:17)
Watch this talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read Bob Thurman's profile on TED.com >>
Click here for a transcript >>
05 June 2007
BumpTop demo from TED2007, now on TED.com
Anand Agarawala presents BumpTop, a fresh user interface that takes the usual desktop metaphor to a glorious, 3D extreme. In this physics-driven universe, important files finally get the weight they deserve via an oddly satisfying resizing feature, and the drudgery of file organization becomes a freewheeling playground full of crumpled documents and clipping-covered "walls." Worried your laptop's desktop will descend into the same disorder as its coffee-mug-strewn real-life equivalent? Fear not: BumpTop has a snappy solution for that messy problem, too.(Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 4:51) Read Anand Agarawala's profile on TED.com
Watch this talk on TED.com where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
30 May 2007
Three powerful talks from TED2007
This week we're posting three of the most-talked-about talks from TED2007 -- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, John Doerr and Blaise Aguera y Arcas' remarkable demo of Seadragon/Microsoft Photosynth.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Finance Minister for Nigeria (and the first woman to hold that job), argues for investment -- rather than aid -- as the means to help Africa. Okonjo-Iweala will also speak at next week's TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania. John Doerr, legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist, has turned his investment focus from high tech to greentech -- because his daughter asked him to. Blaise Aguera y Arcas, software architect for Microsoft and architect of Seadragon, put Microsoft's jaw-dropping Photosynth software through its paces in a demo that had TED2007 abuzz. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA.)
21 April 2007
Dr. Dean Ornish on TED.com
Stop wringing your hands over AIDS, cancer and the avian flu. Cardiovascular disease kills more people than everything else combined -- and it’s mostly preventable. Dr. Dean Ornish explains how changing our eating habits will save lives.
20 April 2007
James Howard Kunstler on TED.com
In James Howard Kunstler's view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.
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