[ted id=1585 width=560 height=315] In the late 1800s, Cuban physician Carlos Finlay had a theory that yellow fever was spread by mosquitos — rather than by dirty clothing, as was the belief of the day. To test his theory, he asked living, breathing human beings to be voluntarily infected with the disease. It was devastating, […]
. Navigating around big cities is rarely easy. Subway systems are generally crowded and unreliable, taxis are often expensive and prone to gridlock and bike lanes remain underdeveloped in too many urban areas. But Sara Cantor and George Aye, the founders of Chicago’s Greater Good Studio, have an idea to make getting around their city […]
Good design isn’t just about making a great-looking colander. Good design can actually improve our lives, both individually and collectively. In the new Autodesk Gallery exhibit “Public Interest Design: Products, Places & Processes,” curators Courtney E. Martin and John Cary showcase 12 projects that were designed with the common good in mind. Of the four […]
At TEDGlobal, educator Eddie Obeng highlighted a disconcerting thought — that the answers we learned in school aren’t necessarily true anymore. “This is what happened to us in the 21st century — someone changed the rules about how our world works,” says Obeng in this energetic talk. “The way to successfully run a business, an […]
With her outrageously pink and glittery mixed-media installation pieces and paintings, artist, writer and activist Zena el Khalil takes aim at violence, injustice, and gender and religious stereotypes. Her weapons of choice: pop culture, humor and love. You express yourself through nearly every artistic medium – painting, performance, writing, film. What drives you to make […]
[ted id=1588 width=560 height=315] How, exactly, does a Leonardo da Vinci mural believed to be three times the width of The Last Supper get lost? This is a mystery that Maurizio Seracini has been trying to solve since 1975. After graduating with a degree in engineering from the University of California San Diego, Seracini was […]
[ted id=1592 width=560 height=315] Melissa Marshall has a message for scientists and engineers: Contrary to popular belief, the general public is interested in your work and does want to hear the details of your research. The trick is that you must communicate your ideas clearly, because they will start snoring in their seats if you […]
[cnnvideo url=’http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/10/09/nr.power.pose.cnn’ inline=’true’] In the TEDTalk “Your body language shapes who you are,” Amy Cuddy shared that posing for two minutes in a powerful position — with the body expansive and the limbs stretched out — can have a profound effect on how a person feels. Yesterday, Cuddy and her co-researcher Dana Carney sat down […]
One in four people have some form of mental illness, and Ruby Wax wants to talk about it. Watch her TEDTalk, posted today and inspired by her show Losing It, to start the conversation. One project she didn’t get to mention onstage at TEDGlobal: This winter, Wax started up the Black Dog Tribe, an online […]
Every week at TED’s New York office, one media team staffer shares a handful of things on the web that intrigued, shocked or amused them. We call it: Previously on the Internet. Here are this week’s finds, from Lisa Bu, TED’s Content Distribution Manager. Fact-check politicians Lisa, who was born in China and has spent the past […]
What will schools look like in 25 years? Educator and parent Will Richardson sees profound changes beginning to bubble up in classrooms around the world. In the past, knowledge was bounded — both in books and in classrooms. But today, the internet provides nearly endless learning opportunities for anyone who is interested. Which means that […]
With just over a month to go before the 2012 presidential election in the US, eyes around the world are on the contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The election may well come down to a few key issues. So what matters most to Americans? The TED Blog read this Gallup poll from late July on […]
[ted id=1571 width=560 height=315] John Maeda still remembers a parent-teacher conference from when he was a child. Maeda beamed with pride as his teacher told his father, “John is good at math and art.” However, the next day, when Maeda’s father recounted the conference to a customer at his store, all he remembered was, “John […]
[ted id=1583 width=560 height=315] On Friday, Oct. 5, the TED Conversations community hosted Vicki Arroyo for a one-hour live chat to talk about adapting to climate change — and to share more data behind the story. Read the whole chat — and see some highlights below: Feyisayo Anjorin asked: Recently Nigeria’s coastal states has been […]
In the information age we have access to more data and knowledge than at any previous point in human history. But more accessible data doesn’t necessarily mean more processable data — tax returns, court cases and newspaper archives may be available to the public, but they are often hard to interpret and understand. Data artists […]
Astrophysicist, educator, and humanitarian Hakeem Oluseyi trounced race and class to become an important contributor to computer technology and space research. Back on Earth, he’s doing all he can to give young and underfunded scientists a chance to reach for the stars. Yours is an extraordinary story. You grew up impoverished — moving frequently from […]