Cross-posted to the TED Prize blog: Last week, an amazing group of religious thinkers and leaders, the Council of Conscience, met outside of Geneva to finalize the Charter for Compassion. Previously called the Council of Sages, the group consists of individuals from the five major religions and almost every continent. The Councilors spent two days […]
Watch Karen Armstrong make her audacious wish during the TED Prize session at TED2008:
Architecture for Humanity wants your ideas and designs for the classrooms of the future. Their 2009 Open Architecture Challenge invites students, teachers and architects to submit their designs for classrooms in the places that need them most. You don’t have to be a licensed architect, just submit the best possible plans and they’ll find you […]
To celebrate March 8, International Women’s Day, we suggest these four TEDTalks gems from some amazing speakers — artists, scientists and economists who think deeply about the role of women. Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, feminism — and the power of passionate thinkers and doers: The former Finance Minister of Nigeria, Ngozi […]
To say that Richard Pyle is a multifaceted personality is an understatement. He is a world-renowned diver, evolutionary biologist, dive technology pioneer, database developer and author. But all his talents have grown to facilitate one love — fish. His 2004 TEDTalk shows how he pushes the boundaries of diving in his endeavor to document new species. In […]
Jose Abreu is well known for his inspiration of disadvantaged Venezuelan youth. His work with El Sistema and the beautiful music that it has produced are an inextricable part of the country and the region’s culture and history. El Sistema has given huge numbers of children direction, purpose and opportunity that they may otherwise never […]
Today’s TEDTalk, from Kary Mullis, touches on a powerful topic — how modern science is funded, and how the availability of money can drive scientific inquiry just as powerfully as curiosity or necessity can. Several other TEDTalks discuss this often-hidden driver of scientific research. Alan Russell offers a searing vision of how current research is […]
Each Friday recently, we’ve been featuring a TEDTalk that was posted early on in the TED.com experiment. Today’s hidden gem is from architect Thom Mayne, who says early on in his TEDTalk: “No matter what I’ve done, what I’ve tried to do, everybody says it can’t be done.” Mayne talks about the job of an […]
By recognizing that the Golden Rule is fundamental to all world religions, the Charter for Compassion can inspire people to think differently about religion. This Charter is being created in a collaborative project by people from all over the world. It will be completed in 2009. You can help write the charter. Or inspire others […]
From Google.org (headed by 2006 TED Prize winner Larry Brilliant) comes this neat data display: Google Flu Trends. The project came about after some Google search engineers wondered if, in communities where more people searched on the term “flu,” there might actually be more flu. After talking with the Predict and Prevent group at Google.org, […]
Whatever else we believe in, most of us believe in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When Karen Armstrong won the TED Prize, she wished for the Charter for Compassion, a document that affirms this core belief. The Charter will prove that most people around the world […]
Via LiveScience, this report: An astounding batch of new deep-sea discoveries, from strange shark behavior to gigantic bacteria, was announced today by an international group of 2,000 scientists from 82 nations. The Census of Marine Life is a 10-year project to determine what’s down there. At their meeting in Spain this week, COML researchers will […]
The great popularizer of hard science, Michael Crichton, died yesterday. In his books, millions of readers were introduced to scientific concepts such as cloning, the spread of new diseases, nanoassembly, deep-sea exploration, quantum computing and the discussion around climate change. From a note to fans on MichaelCrichton.net: Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an […]
Looking for a little inspiration — a shot of energy to get involved in making the world a better place? Check out this 4-minute version of Dave Eggers’ 2008 TEDTalk, where he talks about something meaningful you can do right in your neighborhood: Learn more about Dave’s wish at TEDPrize.org and at Once Upon a […]
From the BPS Research Digest: Researchers Marie Helweg-Larsen and Barbara L. LoMonaco have been studying the moral code of people who line up for tickets to see their favorite band — and they’ve found some surprising news. It turns out it’s just as annoying for a hard-core U2 fan to see someone jump the line […]
Casson at the TED Prize Blog tips us off to two events: XDR-TB Panel in Washington DC tomorrow, Oct. 14: If you live in DC and have an hour at lunch, head over to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) to view James Nachtwey’s slideshow and participate in a conversation on XDR-TB with […]