Please enjoy your weekly roundup of TED-related news: Good luck and farewell to the Cassini spacecraft. Launched 20 years ago, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will begin its final mission on April 26. The spacecraft will embark on a series of 22 dives through the space between Saturn and its rings, transmitting data that may help us […]
Shai Reshef’s nonprofit University of the People — which offers nearly tuition-free, accredited degrees online — today launches its first graduate degree, an MBA program in 12 courses. Although there are no tuition or textbook fees, there is a $200 testing fee per course, which means students can expect to pay $2,400 for their MBA (compare this to the average cost […]
Why did Albert Einstein have such a unique scientific mind? Because he came from a disadvantaged background, says TED Prize winner Neil Turok. “When new cultures enter science, especially disadvantaged cultures, transformation can happen,” he said today in his opening remarks at the Next Einstein Forum Global Gathering 2016. “I believe that the entrance of […]
By Liz Jacobs and Thu-Huong Ha Our brains work in mysterious ways. They make us laugh, they make us cry, and sometimes, they make us 19-year old geniuses. The 11 speakers in this All-Stars session specialize in areas of the brain as diverse as personality, trauma and gender, but they all agree: Our minds […]
A round-up of funny, interesting and strange stories on the Internet this week: Hyperbole and a Half’s Allie Brosh is back after a two-year hiatus, with part 2 of an illustrated account of overcoming depression. Dark and delightful. [Hyperbole and a Half] Even world-famous scientists have tiffs. Obviously this bet between Stephen Hawking and Neil […]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC0OpWZMqfU%5D Congratulations to the first class of admitted students at AIMS Senegal, the newest AIMS center and the latest achievement from cosmologist and TED Prize winner Neil Turok and his NextEinstein Initiative. In 2008 Turok wished for the TED community to help “unlock and nurture scientific talent across Africa, so that within our lifetimes […]
Today in Ontario, Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, announced $20 million CDN in federal funding to expand the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) into five new locations across Africa by 2015, including Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal. AIMS was founded by TED Prize winner Neil Turok, the director of the Perimeter Institute in […]
Each year, untold numbers of bright young Africans — doctors and nurses, scientists and programmers — leave their home countries to live and work abroad. This continental “brain drain” has the predictable effect: Many experts believe the flight of health workers, scientists, and teachers hinder the continent’s development. “It will be impossible to achieve an […]
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 […]
From the TED Prize blog: More AIMS Student Talks: Be inspired by the stories of current and former AIMS students — young Africans whose lives have been changed through access to a top-notch scientific education at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Every two weeks, the TED Prize team uploads three talks from the May […]
There’s a great blog over on our sister site, TEDPrize.org, with news of all the 2008 TED Prize winners and interesting updates. This year’s wishes are interactive and amazing, with lots of great things happening right now. Keep up via the feed. From the TEDPrize.org blog: + Karen Armstrong at The Chautauqua Institution — last […]
Physicist Brian Greene will talk today with Leonard Lopate on WNYC about how the US can regain its leadership in science and technology. It’s an interesting time to be having this conversation — funding of basic physics research is much in the news lately. Yesterday, an anonymous donor gave $5 million to Fermilab, outside Chicago, […]
Since it began in 2005, the TED Prize has been making wishes that call on the power of the global TED community. Here’s a roundup of current TED Prize wishes that you can get involved in — in large or small ways, with money, ideas, time or skills: + In 2007, biologist E.O. Wilson wished […]
Above: Professor Stephen Hawking met South Africa’s former president, Nelson Mandela, in Houghton, Johannesburg, today. From left to right are Stephen Hawking, Neil Turok, Nelson Mandela, Pik Botha and David Block. Photograph by Dr Robert Groess. Professor Stephen Hawking today met with South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela to discuss the NextEinstein initiative — part […]
Amy Novogratz reports from the AIMS celebrating weekend in Muizeberg, Cape Town: During a luncheon to celebrate the opening of the new Research Center at AIMS — the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences — Barclays announces their support by starting with 20 AIMS scholarships a year, renewable. Stephen Hawking (right) is in South Africa for […]
2008 TED Prize winner Neil Turok sends these great photos from the new AIMS Research Centre, which is set to open May 12 in Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa. AIMS — the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences — promotes math and sciences education throughout Africa. Its goal is, quite simply, to find the next Einstein […]