This week’s TED Radio Hour examines the hacker, a term often associated with computer crime. But, as host Guy Raz tells us, “All of our TED speakers today are hacking for good — hacking into our brains, into the environment, even into the DNA of extinct animals — hackers trying to save the world.” First […]
The star attraction on the TEDx Blog this week: penguins. The site featured a post containing two moving TEDx Talks on the ooooh and ahhhh-worthy animals — one on an epic mass rescue (above) and a second (below) on a brief but inspiring encounter. In these two talks you can see the informative and inspiring […]
Around the world, cities are growing at an exceptionally fast clip. As the oft-quoted statistic goes, by 2030, 6 out of every 10 people on the planet will live in a city. So how do we make sure our urban areas are filled with beauty, complexity and possibility rather than simply with overcrowding? TED is […]
During her freshman year of college, Eleanor Longden began hearing voices: a narrator describing her actions as she went about her day. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Longden began what she describes as a “psychic civil war,” fighting to stop the voices as they became antagonistic. What helped her was something unexpected: making peace with them. By […]
By Logan Smalley In a job market where many top jobs didn’t even exist a decade ago, how can teachers help prepare students for careers that haven’t been invented yet? While preparing students for careers is not the sole purpose of education, it’s clear that teachers and guidance counselors are working hard to help students […]
Over the past week, we’ve noticed a lot of fascinating TED-related news items. Here, some highlights. Jeff Bezos, the co-founder of Amazon (watch his TED Talk), made waves on Monday when it was announced that he will buy The Washington Post for $250 million. “The paper’s duty will remain to its readers and not to […]
Inspired by the theme of TEDWomen 2013, “Invented Here,” we’ve created a killer playlist with songs about women who’ve innovated, made a difference, taken a stand and changed history in the process. Our mixtape of tunes include: a Swedish dance-pop tribute to Marie Curie’s research on radioactivity, Jane Birkin’s ode to the work and ideals […]
The old saying goes: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Folded into this truism is a nugget of wisdom: that women so often are the ones driving innovation, the creative powerhouses surfacing new concepts, and the active force crystalizing change in communities near and far. This is the spirit that TEDWomen 2013 will celebrate with […]
Yesterday, the first lab-grown hamburger was cooked. And eaten! And according to The Week, it didn’t taste too bad. This lab-grown patty took two years and $325,000 to produce. And as sources revealed, the money came from Google co-founder and TED speaker Sergey Brin. (Watch his talk on Google Glass, or his talk with Larry Page on the genesis of Google.) […]
TED Talks are available in 102 languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese, thanks to the tireless work of our volunteer translators. So far, more than 10,000 volunteers have created upwards of 44,000 talk translations — and today, the TED Blog brings you a Q&A with one of them. Here, meet German translator Katja Tongucer. 1. Where […]
This week, during a computer security conference in Las Vegas, researchers Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller demonstrated how easily they could hack into the systems of moving cars using just a laptop computer. Illustrating that modern devices are worryingly vulnerable to hacking, Valasek and Miller showed their ability to jerk seatbelts, turn wheels and influence […]
What is possible with the human voice? Beardyman asks in today’s talk. He demonstrates with at least fifty manipulations of his voice – from a dog barking to the two-tone singing of a monk. “I was always trying to extend my repertoire of noises to be the very maximum it can be,” he says. On his quest to […]
Designer Max Schmidt’s Breathing Clock is a fascinating object. It doesn’t have hands — rather it inflates and deflates to show the progression of time. Schmidt tells PSFK that it’s an homage to the idea that time is relative. This invention reminds us of Scott Thrift, who spoke at last year’s TED@NYC about his seasonal […]
[ted id=1119] In his TED Talk, Dave Meslin wondered: What would happen if Nike advertised sneakers in the same way local governments announced important information — with long, bland, black-and-white newspaper ads filled with jargon? “Apathy as we think we know it doesn’t actually exist,” said Meslin, a local organizer in Toronto. “People do care, […]
Chrystia Freeland, TEDGlobal 2013 speaker and the author of the book Plutocrats (read more about her talk), has announced her plan to run for political office in Toronto. She tells the Globe and Mail, “In my writing, my reporting and my thinking, I have come to feel that there is a really great challenge that […]
It is the dawn of the era of 3D printing. From artificial prosthetics to very real human kidneys to filigree skull sculptures — the number and variety of applications for this technology are growing, layer by printed layer. Combine this with the decreasing cost of owning a printer, as well as the cheaper cost of manufacturing […]