Photo: Robert Leslie. Courtesy WSF Last night, the TEDBlog attended the World Science Festival‘s second night of proceedings, specifically the session titled “Nothing: The Subtle Science of Emptiness.” The evening began with a warm welcome for the illustrious journalist John Hockenberry, who described himself as our “launch vehicle into an area of sophisticated science.” He […]
The second year of the World Science Festival got off to a spectacular start last night at New York’s Lincoln Center, with a program star-studded from both science and the arts. We loved it here at TED, not just because it featured so many of our TED favorites — physicist Brian Greene (who co-founded the […]
Last week, we posted Jonathan Drori’s fascinating short talk about the Millennium Seed Bank — a massive effort to preserve the world’s threatened plant life within a global network of seed archives. It’s a big topic to cover in 3 minutes, so the TED Blog asked Drori if he had time to answer a few […]
Take 3 minutes to help celebrate World Oceans Day by helping us grant Sylvia Earle’s 2009 TED Prize wish. Our partners at Razorfish have created an ocean survey regarding the threats to marine life today. This survey will offer valuable insights into the public’s knowledge of the dangers facing our oceans. We would love to […]
In this short, optimistic talk from TED2009, Pete Alcorn shares a vision of the world of two centuries from now — when declining populations and growing opportunity prove Malthus was wrong. (Recorded at TED2004, February 2004, in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:24) Watch Pete Alcorn’s talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, […]
We are excited to report that the World Science Festival is returning for its second year next week in New York City. The five-day program of events is jam-packed with amazing sessions that explore intriguing subjects such as nothingness, the science of traffic, perception of the human face, the neural basis for our enjoyment of […]
Today, photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand launched his movie Home, an environmentally conscious tour of our planet through panoramic vistas that focuses on human impact — our mistakes and possibilities for improvement. Yann took some time out of this busy day to answer a few questions for the TEDBlog by email, going beyond his recent TEDTalk to […]
TEDsters in the Washington, DC, area may wish to attend a congressional reception tonight honoring photographer James Nachtwey, on Thursday, June 4, at the US Capitol. James Nachtwey’s TED Prize wish, in 2007, asked the world to help him share images of XDR-TB, a scary and underreported new strain of tuberculosis. The reception tonight is […]
Friends of TED write in to tell us about Kickstarter, a new crowd-enabled funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, bloggers, explorers and more. No investment, no loans, just people supporting projects for all kinds of reasons … artistic, altruistic, commercial, whatever. We’ve had tremendous success so far (only 1 month live), and […]
In 2008, Kaki King charmed and impressed the TED community with her melodic and exuberant style of guitar-playing. Yesterday, TED’s Media Production Specialist Angela Cheng spoke with Kaki over the phone in hopes of learning more about her influences, the ever-changing music writing process, and what she gleaned from TED. How was your day? Good. […]
Whether influenced by Mary Roach and the infamous “pig video” or Yves Behar and Forrest North’s easy banter, there was a definite cheeky lilt to the comments this week. Here’s a quick look at the fun: On Dan Ariely’s talk: Are we in control of our own decisions?: So where’s that slightly uglier version of […]
Yesterday, the TEDBlog caught up with author Mary Roach to discuss her brand new TEDTalk and her latest book, Bonk, that captures the most interesting tidbits on the science of sex throughout history. With amazing ease, Mary frankly addressed lack of orgasms among women, her sex life, and participating in clinical sex research with her […]
Update: On examination, this claim was agreed by many observers to be somewhat overblown. Today, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, a revolutionary discovery — one that will stand as a milestone for paleontologists and evolutionists everywhere — was announced. Scientists based at the University of Oslo have discovered “Ida,” also […]
Dan Ariely’s second TEDTalk premieres today — and so does the second, revised and expanded edition of his book Predictably Irrational. It’s full of new material, incuding Ariely’s thoughts on the irrationality of the economic collapse that happened since the book debuted in February 2008. Below, Ariely muses on the way the world has changed […]
Thomas Dolby — TED’s Musical Director — sends us news that EMI has released a two-disc CD and DVD collection that features all his singles and videos. Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. From his beginnings in the London underground electronica scene, he rose to MTV stardom, then […]
In the second half of the TEDBlog’s interview with global health professor and stats expert Hans Rosling, he gets personal. With his usual wit, Hans tells stories of winning over Fidel Castro, remembers his battle with testicular cancer and explains why we can’t get enough of him. If you need to catch up before diving […]