News

In short: A powerful spoken word reflection on bullying, the history of Bill Cosby’s sweaters

Posted by:

Here, some staff picks of smart, funny, bizarre and cool stuff on the interwebs this week:

In case you haven’t seen it yet, To This Day is a beautiful collaborative project that combines spoken word poetry and a flurry of eclectic animations to raise awareness about bullying.

Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing Soon you, too, will turn out to be a replica of yourself made from a 3D printer. For now, a two-million-year-old whale fossil will suffice. [CENtral Science] Watch seven TED Talks on the wonder of 3D printing.

The famous Bill Cosby sweater has a surprisingly interesting history. [Smithsonian.com]

In the 1950s, nuclear bombs increased the amount of Carbon-14 in the air, allowing scientists today to carbon date human tissue. [Smithsonian.com]

Jessica Green: Are we filtering the wrong microbes? Jessica Green: Are we filtering the wrong microbes? A new paper by TED Fellow Jessica Green on better ways to estimate diversity in the body. [Phys.org]

Did you know: You only need 39 digits of pi to be able to measure the circumference of the observable universe? Now you do. [YouTube] Watch 9-year-old Chirag Singh confess his irrational love for Pi at TEDxYouth@BommerCanyon.

The true story of a false story that just wouldn’t die. [Ars technica] Check out our playlist, Media with Meaning, for many talks on the future of journalism.

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius Are all writers miserable? Philip Roth says yes; Elizabeth Gilbert says no; writer Avi Steinberg weighs in. [The New Yorker Page-turner blog] Watch Gilbert’s classic TED Talk, “Your elusive creative genius.”

A thoroughly fascinating look at the “extraordinary science of addictive junk food.” [NY Times] Reminds us of Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish.