MIT reports today on the work of professors Yet-Ming Chiang, Angela Belcher and Paula Hammond, who’ve developed a way to build tiny batteries about half the size of a human cell to power tomorrow’s equally tiny devices. The electrolyte of the battery is made of polymers stamped onto a rubbery film. On top of this, […]
We’re fans of the Miro player at TED — in fact, you can download our customized TED Miro player right here, with seven channels of TEDTalks built in, as well as access to thousands more channels of web video and audio. Why use Miro? Aside from the touchy-feely goodness of using a free, open-source player […]
For the next two weeks, we’re presenting some of our favorite TEDTalks from among the 270+ talks and performances we’ve posted since June 2006. Look for brand-new TEDTalks starting August 18. Until then, enjoy these gems — and suggest your own by writing to contact@ted.com or joining the conversation on TED.com. Bill Stone, a maverick […]
Anne Perkins of the Guardian UK offers a fascinating profile of controversial journalist and activist Andrew Mwenda, who in 2007 told his TEDGlobal audience that aid is poisoning African governments. Mwenda’s incendiary writings, which fearlessly confront corruption, have earned him 17 arrests and status as a symbol of free speech and transparency. Not to mention […]
For the next two weeks, we’re presenting some of our favorite TEDTalks from among the 270+ talks and performances we’ve posted since June 2006. Look for brand-new TEDTalks starting August 18. Until then, enjoy these gems — and suggest your own by writing to contact@ted.com or joining the conversation on TED.com. In the TED tradition […]
Lonesome George, the giant Galapagos tortoise that the Guinness Book of World Records called the “rarest living creature,” can now add a notch to the scalesia tree. The tortoise, thought to be the sole surviving member of its species, Geochelone nigra abingdoni, has been famous for obstinately ignoring conservationists’ attempts to mate him with similar […]
For the next two weeks, we’re presenting some of our favorite TEDTalks from among the 270+ talks and performances we’ve posted since June 2006. Look for brand-new TEDTalks starting August 18. Until then, enjoy these gems — and suggest your own by writing to contact@ted.com or joining the conversation on TED.com. Ghanaian economist George Ayittey […]
For the next two weeks, we’re presenting some of our favorite TEDTalks from among the 270+ talks and performances we’ve posted since June 2006. Look for brand-new TEDTalks starting August 18. Until then, enjoy these gems — and suggest your own by writing to contact@ted.com or joining the conversation on TED.com. Given $50 billion to […]
Bored with Earthly beach destinations this summer? Does the word “Carribbean” not ring exactly, well, “exotic” these days? With this week’s news that (highly acidic) water has been tasted on Mars and an ethane lake has been discovered on Saturn’s moon Titan, perhaps it’s time to investigate otherworldly destinations for fun in the surf. Grab […]
Brian Cox is not the only rock star at CERN: CERN Rap from Will Barras on Vimeo. Read more about it here >> PLUS: The LHC just keeps on inspiring art. Check out this new collection of astonishing photos of the LHC >>
TED.com commenter David Smith points us to this new interview with Ashraf Ghani, available as a podcast from the BBC World Service. Ghani (watch his TEDTalk) is the co-author of the new book Fixing Failed States — a subject he learned firsthand as a reformer in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Interviewer Peter Day of the program Global […]
Via the TED Prize blog, over on TEDPrize.org: If you’d like to lead an incredible drive to build math and science academies all over Africa — and help find the next Einstein — take a look at this want ad: The Next Einstein Initiative (NEI) is building a network of postgraduate centres of excellence for […]
Each year I donate a percentage of my income to Lightsaber Research and I encourage all my peers to do the same. A similarly futuristic technology, albeit one of marginally lesser interest to anyone with anger management issues, is the Jetpack. Today, a couple stories surfaced in the blogs and the papers about the unveiling […]
Via Gizmodo: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a preview of Microsoft’s prototype spherical multi-touch screen, Surface Sphere. It’s an exploration of ideas (not a real product) (yet), but it’s sure fun to watch:
The New York Times has a thoughtful piece today on Model T hacking — which kicked off the modern sport of customizing, bending, modding and otherwise repurposing a commercial item for unintended-by-the-manufacturer uses. As Steve Lohr writes: The early Model T hackers were really pioneers in a realm of creative activity that academics call “user […]
Via LiveScience.com: Researchers at MIT have found valuable insight into body armor by studying the African fish Polypterus senegalus. A living fossil, the fish is largely unchanged since the Cretaceous period — when its ancestors faced an ocean full of large, toothy predators. In its defense, it developed a bite-resistant “armored” skin, whose scales are […]