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Stories for "Murray Gell-Mann"

Browse an archive of science advice to Congress

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Nonpartisan science advice in the US Congress? A newly opened online archive shows that it was possible — and stimulates a call to re-open the Office of Technology Assessment as an advisor to Congress. The OTA’s archive of 700+ scientific reports on topics ranging from addiction to terrorism to “personal rapid transit” spans the lifetime []

Wordle, an addictive new web toy

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Jonathan Feinberg, a sometime collaborator of artist Golan Levin (watch Levin’s TEDTalk), has given the world an addictive new web toy. Wordle turns any block of text into a word cloud — like a tag cloud but prettier. It’s hard to stop using it once you start. TEDTalks transcripts produce these handsome results: ABOVE: Erin []

Do all languages have a common ancestor? Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com

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After speaking at TED2007 on elegance in physics, the amazing Murray Gell-Mann gives a quick overview of another passionate interest of his: finding the common ancestry of our modern languages. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 2:15.)   Watch Murray Gell-Mann’s short talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on []

A non-trivial holiday

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The TED office is running in circles trying to get the word out about Pi Day, that special day for number nerds that only comes around once a year. We’d love to hear what TED fans are doing to celebrate — whether watching Pi, baking a pie or taking an irrational out to dinner. If []

Beauty and truth in physics: Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com

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Wielding laypeople’s terms and a sense of humor, Nobel Prize winner Murray Gell-Mann drops some knowledge about particle physics, asking questions like, Are elegant equations more likely to be right than inelegant ones? Can the fundamental law, the so-called “theory of everything,” really explain everything? His answers will surprise you. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, []

TED2007 Day One: things that knocked my hat in the creek

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I had my mind blown in a thousand different directions by TED2007 today.  My big impression was having felt the future, in myriad ways.  From hallway conversations to the content of speaker presentations to the feeling of just being a part of it all, it was a fabulous first day.  My assignment, as handed down []

TED2007: Day one wrap-up

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Quotes of the day: Cassini imaging team head Carolyn Porco: "So there are possibly liquid water, organic materials and excessive heat on Saturn and its moons. Which means that Saturn could be a place were life is possible. If we can demonstrate that Genesis has happened not once (Earth) but twice (Saturn)  then we can []