All over the world, land is turning into desert at an alarming rate. Biologist Allan Savory has dedicated a lifetime to figuring out what’s causing this “desertification.” Finally, after decades of work in the field, Savory discovered a radical solution—one that went against everything scientists had always thought. He used huge herds of livestock, managed […]
Join EyeWire, a game to map the brain, from Sebastian Seung’s lab at MIT (watch his TED Talk). The game’s one-year anniversary is today, Dec. 10, and they’d love to hit their goal of 100,000 players. Jump in. The new book, Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture from Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez […]
TEDWomen 2013 brought so many moments of delight. In session 1, Jessica Matthews showed us how a jumprope could generate electricity. In session 2, Rupal Patel revealed an incredible system to give an authentic voice to those who are unable to speak. And in session 3, Esta Soler explained how the Polaroid camera was an […]
“I don’t think protected bicycle ways are a cute architectural feature. They are a right, just as sidewalks are,” says Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogota, Colombia, in today’s talk. “Protected bikeways also are a powerful symbol of democracy, because they show that a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally important to one […]
By Kate Torgovnick, Helen Walters and Emily McManus Session 3 of TEDWomen begins with an empty stage. And then: the noise of drumming breaks through the quiet as four women, draped in shiny blue cloth with gold bands around their foreheads, march onstage carrying with them large, wooden drums. They place them on the red […]
“It’s nice to look out and see so many women. That’s not my norm,” Sheryl Sandberg comments drily as she takes her place onstage at TEDWomen 2013 at the SFJazz Center. She’s here to talk with co-host Pat Mitchell, in a Q&A follow-up to her incendiary 2010 TED Talk, given at a TEDWomen three years […]
By Helen Walters and Kate Torgovnick TED Fellow Meklit Hadero kicks off the second session of TEDWomen 2013. Her sultry singing, backed by a trumpet, bass and drums, is just the right way to get the room back, focused and in gear for a packed session. It’s (sadly, still) rare enough to find a female CEO. […]
By Becky Chung and Emily McManus The SF Jazz theater fills with the beeping and plinking sounds of a cellphone. Bora Yoon, a TED Fellow and experimental musician who weaves found sounds from old and new technologies, is on stage surrounded by her instruments: a golden flowered gramophone horn, a mixer, a computer and her […]
A dream analysis app creator. A fearless swimmer. The CEO of Campbell’s Soup. A spacesuit designer. These are the kinds of speakers who will take the stage when TEDWomen 2013 kicks off at San Francisco’s SFJAZZ Center tomorrow. With three sessions centered around the theme “Invented Here,” the event will be a global look at […]
Here, your weekly recap of TED-related news: You see their work every time you start a TED Talk: the video firm Psyop created our water-drop titles (among lots of other work you’ll recognize). Now they’ve released their very first iOS and Android game — a game for social good called “Nightmare: Malaria.” It comes from […]
Alicia Eggert makes kinetic sculptures that investigate the nature of language and time. Meanwhile, Ryan Holladay is a musical artist who creates sound-specific installations and GPS compositions as part of the duo BLUEBRAIN. Just a week before TED2013, Eggert and Holladay made contact for the very first time. See, Holloday is a curator of new media at Artisphere. And he was […]
Here, your weekly recap of TED-related news: Science writer John Bohannon (watch his TED talk) runs the annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest. This year’s winners must be seen to be believed. In the video above: a dance that explains sperm cell competition in chickens. Bloomberg BusinessWeek has a brilliant, troubling cover story on the drowning […]
The few days before a holiday are brutal. It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of work on your plate or have midterms to study for — your mind just wants to be distracted from it all. And so, we bring you the best TED Talks for procrastinating, so you don’t have to feel […]
Invented here. There. And, well, everywhere. This year’s TEDWomen is dedicated to out-of-the-box thinking from women around the globe. TEDWomen 2013 will take place on December 4th through 6th in San Francisco — but the whole world will be watching. There are 220 TEDxWomen events being held in 58 countries, each tuning into the webcast of the […]
Béatrice Coron doesn’t so much tell stories, as cut them. At TED2011, the French-born artist shared how she creates intricate, fantastical worlds by slashing paper into beautiful silhouettes. During a party at TED, held in the rotunda of Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific, Coron ran into James Stewart, the Canadian film director who pioneered digital […]
Experiences we have all had: walking into a room with a tremendous sense of purpose, only to realize that you have completely forgotten what the purpose was. Talking to someone in a restaurant and losing the thread of your conversation because you’re distracted by the juicier one at the table next door. Slowing down as […]