Today at TEDGlobal 2009, macroeconomist Loretta Napoleoni explained her fascination with the underworld of crime and terrorism in a large, global context. On Twitter, people had a lot to say (and ask) about this dark subject. … Heavy… ‘The international budget of terror is 1.5 trillion dollars’ #TED – Bloody ‘eck! Is it money well […]
Journalist Misha Glenny expounded upon the ideas presented in his book McMafia, on how organized crime has run rampant in Western society. TEDsters reporting via Twitter were abuzz with this talk, especially Glenny’s stat that states organized crime accounts for “15% of the world’s GDP.” Apparently it is the western world that fuels global organised […]
Photographer Taryn Simon goes to places few people ever get to see. She’s photographed everything from a white tiger breeding facility to abortion clinics. Her shocking talk astounded the crowd on Twitter: Taryn Simon’s talk is dense with details on the background of her photos. The context is the story. Eclectic. — bwdumars Incestuous white […]
William Kamkwamba spoke at TEDGlobal 2007, as a shy young man who’d built his family a windmill from scrap. His story captured the world’s attention. Today he walked onstage with confidence to tell his story from that point to this. @herbkim Google ‘William Kamkwamba’ – sat next to him at dinner last night having no […]
A thread runs through this session, captured best here: @Thandelike When inventors “get mad” about the world’s disasters they get to work. Love that. Economist Paul Romer unveils a plan for Charter Cities — brand-new places where the economic rules are reset. It could create opportunity for people now trapped in badly managed regimes (the […]
Octogenarian scientist Elaine Morgan became the oldest speaker in TED’s history (at the sprightly age of 90) at TEDGlobal 2009 when she presented her addition to evolutionary science: the theory of aquatic apes. Here’s how the excited crowd on Twitter responded to her vibrant talk: Elaine Morgan talking pure sense at #TED about paradigm shift […]
Marcus du Sautoy used his math and science skills to open Session 6 with a thorough talk about symmetry. Reactions to this talk on Twitter seemed to range from amusing to challenging, but to be fair, Marcus du Sautoy did challenge the audience first. You know you’re at #TED when mathematicians get cheers on stage. […]
Quantum physicist David Deutsch is at TEDGlobal talking about how the stars shine, reality as conjecture and parallel universes. It’s fascinating, but some of us are a little mentally intimidated and Twitter reflected that. Day 2 @ TED. Settling in for a talk by quantum theorist David Deutsch. Is my mind ready fir this one? […]
Aphorist James Geary took the stage at TEDGlobal 2009 this morning. Recognize a pattern? It was his second appearance on the TED stage for the conference and he took the opportunity to discuss metaphors and pattern. Twitter lit up, creating yet another pattern. Watching James Geary talking about metaphors. My favorite way of explaining things. […]
Interaction designer Manuel Lima was a last-minute addition to the TEDGlobal 2009 program, but he made an impact by showcasing his new method for displaying data and networks. The Twitterverse was enthralled: listening to manuel lima and hearing about data vis that is actually useful and not just something marketing people like — @clemo People are […]
Henry Markram is a cortex visionary. This means he is trying to build the equivalent of a human brain through software as the director of Blue Brain. While this occupied a significant portion of his talk, he also literally delved into the center of a brain (in an astonishing 3D model). The folks on Twitter […]
In her talk at TEDGlobal, cognitive neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe presented her breakthrough discovery of a particular section of the brain that becomes active when we contemplate the workings of other minds. Here’s what people had to say about this remarkable and “brainy” talk: Crap. Another #TED talk by someone who is half my age and […]
Session 5 started in a very pronounced way with neuroscientist and artist Beau Lotto‘s colorful talk which featured interactive optical illusions and software that can turn drawings into music. Here’s what people on Twitter took away from his talk: There is no inherent meaning in information, it’s what we do w/ info that matters (Beau […]
Here’s Session 3’s batch so far of unedited running notes from our crack team of Open Translation Project translators, taken as they watch the live webcast of TEDGlobal 2009! Click through to view the running notes for Session 3 in … Türkçe – Hungarian
Lewis Pugh, long-distance and cold-water swimmer, recounted his extraordinary feat of swimming across the North Pole in an effort to raise awareness for climate change. Melted ice in the Arctic afforded him the opportunity to swim 1 mile in the -1.7C water. TED Tweeters were awestruck by Pugh’s conviction and the footage of his swim […]
Designer Mathieu Lehanneur presented several of his imaginative creations, inspired by the interplay of nature and technology. Among his designs: a petaliferous antibiotic, an interactive lung for asthmatic children, a sound-neutralizing fiber-optic ball, and Andrea- an air filtration unit that harnesses the natural processes of living plant systems (to name a few). The audience was […]