TED Blog

TED2011 Report – Session 9: Threads of Discovery

Janet Echelman reshapes urban airspace with monumental, fluidly moving sculpture that responds to environmental forces.

Daniel Tammet is a high-functioning autistic savant, has synesthesia, and has an astonishing brain. “Personal perceptions are at the heart of how we acquire knowledge.”

Fiorenzo Omenetto has found game-changing uses for silk: “The answer to whatever you want to do may be in a thread of silk.”

Ed Boyden describes the process of creating light-activated cells by installing molecules in neurons.

Christina Lampe-Onnerud: Wouldn’t it be lovely if we were able to create a building block of energy?

Steve Gullans: In the future, the leading cause of death will be accidents.

Anthony Atala shows a kidney that was printed earlier in the day.

The LA Samba School closes out Session 9.

Photos: TED / James Duncan Davidson