400 years after Hudson found New York harbor, Eric Sanderson shares how he made a 3D map of Mannahatta’s fascinating pre-city ecology of hills, rivers, wildlife — accurate down to the block — when Times Square was a wetland and you couldn’t get delivery. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 16:09) Twitter URL: […]
The deadline is tomorrow, Oct. 12, for TED’s first-ever short film contest. Films selected from this contest will be screened at TEDIndia in early November, for a global audience of thinkers and doers, and possibly also shared here on the TED Blog! If you’ve got a cool short film, music video, commercial, PSA or data […]
Author Sam Martin shares photos of a quirky world hobby that’s trending with the XY set: the “manspace.” (They’re custom-built hangouts where a man can claim a bit of his own territory to work, relax, be himself.) Grab a cold one and enjoy. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 4:27) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3o […]
Beau Lotto‘s color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can’t normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what’s really out there. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 16:31) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3m Watch […]
Today is National Poetry Day in the UK, and why not everywhere? We found out about it in the stateless world of Twitter trending topics. If you’re in the mood to celebrate, watch a few of these TEDTalks about, or featuring, poetry: “War child” Emmanuel Jal tells the story of his amazing life in words […]
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 18:49) Twitter […]
We’ve tweaked our “Share” feature to make it even easier to embed a TEDTalk in your WordPress blog. Below the video window, for any talk on the site, click the red “Share” button, and notice the new feature: an embed code just for WordPress: For more details — though not too many more, because it’s […]
TEDxSão Paulo has launched a sleek new website and used the TED Open Translation Project to feature TEDTalks subtitled in Portuguese. It’s a great blend of the contributions of two passionate groups from the TED community. To learn more about TEDx, where x= independently organized events, find events to attend in your region or even […]
At TEDxUSC, David Logan talks about the five kinds of tribes that humans naturally form — in schools, workplaces, even the driver’s license bureau. By understanding our shared tribal tendencies, we can help lead each other to become better individuals. (Recorded at TEDxUSC, May 2009, Los Angeles, California. Duration: 16:40) Watch David Logan’s talk on […]
Every day, in a city the size of London, 30 million meals are served. But where does all the food come from? Architect Carolyn Steel discusses the daily miracle of feeding a city, and shows how ancient food routes shaped the modern world. Understanding the flow of food will help us reconnect with what we […]
Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali.(Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 017:40) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3b Watch Stefan Sagmeister’s […]
Astronomer Garik Israelian spoke at TEDGlobal on Wednesday, July 22, about spectroscopy — the art of examining the spectral signature of a distant object in the universe, and inferring its qualities and behaviors. When I asked him during rehearsal if he could stay for the whole conference, he said he had to leave early — […]
Garik Israelian is a spectroscopist, studying the spectrum emitted by a star to figure out what it’s made of and how it might behave. It’s a rare and accessible look at this discipline, which may help us an Earthlike planet friendly to life. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 15:52) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3Z Watch […]
Weeks from the Charter for Compassion launch, Karen Armstrong looks at religion’s role in the 21st century: Will its dogmas divide us? Or will it unite us for common good? She reviews the catalysts that can drive the world’s faiths to rediscover the Golden Rule. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 09:55) Twitter URL: […]
TED Fellows Darius Weems and Logan Smalley recently appeared on CNN to talk about their inspiring documentary adventure Darius goes West: Embedded video from CNN Video From the TED Fellows Blog: “On Sunday, Darius turned 20 and was able to watch “Darius Goes West” on MTVU and MTV2. In its first ever TV premier, “Darius […]
Tim Brown says the design profession is preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable objects — even as pressing questions like clean water access show it has a bigger role to play. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory “design thinking.” (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 16:50) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3U Watch Tim Brown’s […]