TED - The Greatest Platform Worth Sharing

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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No one can deny that TED.com is one of the most successful and iconic idea-sharing platforms online. Since 2006, TED Talk videos have racked up over 800 million views. And it’s no surprise these videos went viral; with names like Steve Jobs, Jane Goodall, Sergey Brin and Bill Clinton, the roster of TED speakers reads like a best-in-class review of today’s living scientists, educators and humanitarians.

And now, six years after uploading its first video, TED.com is innovating online education again. A new site, https://ED.TED.com now provides a platform for teachers and students to share video lessons. Teachers can modify, or “flip”, the videos to make them more relevant to their own lessons and use the site’s test and project writing tools to measure comprehension.

The site continues to build its video lesson library by bringing user-nominated educators and animators together to create multimedia videos on everything from the mathematical genius of Archimedes to the significance of the Higgs-Boson particle discovery.

Check out the infographic below to understand how we all became TED heads and why TED.com is still one of the greatest places to learn online.

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RECOMMENDED TED TALK: Privacy Issues - Your Phone Company is Watching
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*by andreascy*

A TED View of the Future: Hypersonic Gliders and Flying Robots

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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Recently the TED conference brought researchers out of the lab to show off their latest gadgets - if you can use the word “gadget” to describe a hypersonic Mach 20 glider and autonomous and collaborative flying robots.

It was a good lineup; the TED audience barely had time to put its socks back on before they were knocked off yet again. Better yet, probably to the delight of the investors in the audience, many of the projects are in the process of being commercialized. 

Here’s a glimpse what the future may hold. 

Flying Robots 

Vijay Kumar and other researchers at the University of Pennsylvania build robots - called “Quadrotors” - that can fly incredibly quickly and intelligently. 

While sensing their surroundings and movement, the robots can avoid obstacles, right themselves and carry and deposit things. Kumar showed a robot jumping through a flying hoop and drawing a 3-D map by navigating a physical space. 

Even better, the robots can work together with decentralized control. They can take actions based on local information while being agnostic to who their neighbors are. Kumar said potential applications for the robots include first response work and construction. 

Check out the video below, made for TED of the Quadrotors playing music.

Mach 20 Flight 

DARPA has conducted two tests of hypersonic vehicles, the fastest maneuvering aircraft ever built. 

Towed into space by rockets, both gliders crashed in the Pacific Ocean, but along the way they generated a great deal of data and more information than ever before about how to fly so fast, said DARPA Director Regina Dugan. 

Mach 20 speed would mean traveling from New York to Long Beach, Calif. (where TED is held), in 11 minutes and 20 seconds, Dugan said. The flight would be quick, but it would also be incredibly hot.

Dugan urged the TED audience to “be nice to nerds” (probably not that tall an order, given this constituency) and told them to ask themselves, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” (She sounded a lot like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who has made “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” a sort of mantra.)

In addition to Mach 20 flight videos, Dugan demonstrated a remote-controlled mechanical flying hummingbird, and showed pictures and videos of a nano-adhesive modeled on geckos, metals that are lighter than Styrofoam and a prosthetic hand controlled by a human mind. She might have the best bag of tricks in the business. 

Enjoy the video!

CHECK ALSO:

- Scientists turn Quadcopters into Flying Power Stations

- Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Quadricopter. Now available for Pre-Order

Any thoughts? 😊

*by andreascy*

TED - Leah Buechley: How to "Sketch" With Electronics

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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Designing electronics is generally cumbersome and expensive -- or was, until Leah Buechley and her team at MIT developed tools to treat electronics just like paper and pen. Leah Buechley is an MIT electronics designer who mixes high and low tech to create smart and playful results. Electronics aren't just for experts and engineers. 

Kids and amateurs should be able to play, too, which is why Leah Buechley designs little paper-based electronics for "sketching" and interactive electronic fashion for tinkering. Buechley designs and creates electronic textiles, or e-textiles, like this jacket that can signal which way you're turning on your bike. 

In this talk from TEDYouth 2011, Buechley shows some of her charming designs, like a paper piano you can sketch and then play. The method has to do with being able to draw circuits by hand, on demand, and being able to customize and re-think circuits without having to start a whole new chip and waste material. 

Great talk and cool concept! I love when technology, electronics and art collide, really got my imagination going. Discover even more from TED.

*by andreascy*

TED : A novel idea for cleaning up oil spills by Cesar Harada

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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When TED Senior Fellow Cesar Harada heard about the devastating effects of the BP Oil spill (also known as The Deepwater Horizon Oil spill) in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, he quit his dream job and moved to New Orleans to develop a more efficient way to soak up the oil. 

He designed a highly maneuverable, flexible boat capable of cleaning large tracts quickly. But rather than turn a profit, he has opted to open-source the design.

Check also some other interesting TED performances.

*by andreascy*

TED : Usman Riaz and Preston Reed - A young guitarist meets his hero

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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Usman Riaz is a 21-year-old whiz at the percussive guitar, a style he learned to play by watching his heroes on YouTube.

The TED Fellow plays onstage at TEDGlobal 2012 - followed by a jawdropping solo from the master of percussive guitar, Preston Reed. 

Watch these two guitarists take on a very spur-of-the-moment improv. Enjoy the video!

16 minutes, of sheer pleasure, and awe, with an awesome blend of guitar string and percussion. They sure know how to play! Looking forward for an album having them both! :)

Check also other interesting TED Performances. 

*by andreascy*

TED : Robert Legato - The Art of Creating Awe

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Did we really see what we thought we saw? Robert Legato creates visual illusions (effects) for movies so good they (sometimes) trump the real thing - thinking deeply both about vfx's expanding tech power and the truly new creative processes that can result. 

Legato won his first Oscar in 1998 for his work on James Cameron's Titanic, after several years in television supervising effects on two Star Trek series. 

His 2012 Oscar win for Hugo, the 3D film about an orphan boy who lives alone in a Paris train station, underscores his fascinating partnership with Martin Scorsese - doing digital effects on documentaries and new classics like The Departed.

He's worked with the big effects houses like Sony Imageworks and Digital Domain, but is now fascinated with the nimble new workflows made possible with digital tools. He designed the "virtual cinematography pipeline" that let James Cameron shoot Avatar like a feature film, not a software project. We know that fx can create new worlds - but how can these tools unlock new creativity? 

In this warm and funny talk at TED, Rob shares his vision for enhancing reality on-screen in movies like Apollo 13, Titanic and Hugo. Enjoy the video!

Discover other interesting TED Performances.

*by andreascy*

TED : Susan Solomon talks about The Promise of Research with Adult Stem Cells

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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Calling them "our bodies' own repair kits," Susan Solomon advocates research using adult stem cells. We can use them to model and study disease, but she hopes for much more. 

Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Also known as somatic stem cells, they can be found in juvenile as well as adult animals and human bodies. They are pluripotent because they can morph in to any cells in our bodies.

By growing adult stem cells lines in a lab, Susan's team creates testbeds that could accelerate research into curing disease - and perhaps lead to individualized treatment, targeted not just to a particular disease but a particular person.

The above video was recorded at TEDGlobal 2012. Learn more about this topic on TED's Blog.
Feel free to discover also other interesting TED Performances and comment below what you think about our article.

*by andreascy*

TED : Boaz Almog "levitates" a Superconductor

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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How can a super-thin, three-inch disk levitate something 70,000 times its own weight? 

In a riveting, futuristic demonstration, Boaz Almog shows how a phenomenon known as Quantum Locking allows a Superconductor disk to float over a magnetic rail - completely frictionlessly and with zero energy loss.

More TED performances on :
http://officialandreascy.blogspot.com/search?q=ted

*by andreascy*

TED : Baba Shiv - Sometimes it's good to give up the driver's seat

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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Over the years, research has shown a counterintuitive fact about human nature : That sometimes, having too much choice makes us less happy. 

This may even be true when it comes to medical treatment. 

Baba Shiv's research expertise is in the area of neuroeconomics, with specific emphasis on the role of neural structures related to emotion and motivation in shaping decisions and experiences. His recent work examines the interplay of the brain’s "liking" and "wanting" systems and its implications for marketing, innovation, leadership and decision making. 

He shares a fascinating study that measures why choice opens the door to doubt, and suggests that ceding control - especially on life-or-death decisions - may be the best thing for us.

Check also other interesting TED Performances.

*by andreascy*

Sarah Parcak : Archeology from space

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

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In this short talk, TED Fellow Sarah Parcak introduces the field of "space archeology" - using satellite images to search for clues to the lost sites of past civilizations.

For more talks visit :
http://www.ted.com

*by andreascy*

TED: Matt Mills and Tamara Roukaert - Augmented Reality using Auras and Image Recognition

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

In a presentation at TEDGlobal 2012, Matt Mills and Tamara Roukaerts show off HP Reveal (formerly Aurasma), a brand new Augmented Reality tool that can fluidly animate the world as seen through a smartphone. 

Their "auras," which go beyond prior augmented reality, are capable of doing everything from making a painting talk to overlaying live news onto a printed newspaper.

Learn more here.
Check also other interesting TED Performances. Huge respect for what these people are achieving! 👏

*by andreascy*

TED : Liquid Battery - The Battery of the Future

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

A liquid battery that runs on dirt could be the answer to sustainable energy. Dr. Donald Sadoway of MIT has developed an innovative new battery technology, which could change the future of renewable energy. 

Professor Donald Sadoway is building liquid metal batteries to try to separate power supply from power demand. The goal is to help the electrical power grid do a better job of storing energy, including renewable energy. 

Sadoway dreamed up the idea of combining magnesium and antimony, a process he diagrammed at TED with chalk on a blackboard. Among other benefits, like cheap materials and long lifespans, liquid metal batteries are built to run hot, so they can handle temperature increases.

Sadoway’s research team - which is now also a company funded by Bill Gates - has created a pizza-shaped 16-inch cell battery with a capacity of 1 kilowatt hour, and it expects to manufacture a version four times as big in two years, Sadoway said.

*by andreascy*

TED : Mina Bissell - Experiments that point to a new understanding of cancer

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

For decades, researcher Mina Bissell pursued a revolutionary idea - that a cancer cell doesn't automatically become a tumor, but rather, depends on surrounding cells (its microenvironment) for cues on how to develop. 

She shares the two key experiments that proved the prevailing wisdom about cancer growth was wrong.

Check more interesting TED Performances.

*by andreascy*

TED : Michael Hansmeyer - Building Unimaginable Shapes

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

Classical architecture is defined by "orders" - ways to connect a column to a building, to articulate the joining of materials and structural forces. Colloquially, these orders are based on elemental forms : the tree trunk, the plank, the scroll, the leaf. 

Michael Hansmeyer is adding a new elemental form : the subdivision algorithm. He turns his math and programming skills to making ornate, organic, hyperdetailed columns generated from lines of code and then comped up in cross-sections of cardboard, almost as if they're being 3D printed.

His latest work with cupolas and domes is even more mesmerizing, like looking deep inside an organic form of near-unbearable complexity.

Inspired by cell division, Michael writes algorithms that design outrageously fascinating shapes and forms with millions of facets. No person could draft them by hand, but they're buildable - and they could revolutionize the way we think of architectural form. This presentation was recorded at TEDGlobal 2012.

If you liked our article feel free to comment below and discover even more TED Performances.

*by andreascy*

TED Video : The Secret Life of Plankton

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

New videography techniques have opened up the oceans' microscopic ecosystem, revealing it to be both mesmerizingly beautiful and astoundingly complex. 

Marine biologist Tierney Thys has used footage from a pioneering project to create a film designed to ignite wonder and curiosity about this hidden world that underpins our own food chain. 

If you liked this topic feel free to discover even more from TED. Please comment below and share this article with your friends. Follow us also on Facebook and Twitter and stay updated with the latest Big Stories and other Trending Tech News. Connect also with us on Linkedin.

*by andreascy*

Drew Curtis on TED Talks: How I Beat a Patent Troll

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Drew Curtis, the Founder of https://www.fark.com, tells the story of how he fought a lawsuit from a company that had a patent, for the creation and distribution of news releases via email." 

He shares some insane statistics about the growing legal problem of pointless patents, along the way.

I’d love to hear what you’d add to this. :)

*by andreascy*

TED : Chris Gerdes talks about "The future race car" - 150mph and with no driver

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Autonomous cars are coming - and they're going to drive better than you. 

Chris Gerdes reveals how he and his team are developing robotic race cars that can drive at 150 mph while avoiding every possible accident. 

And yet, in studying the brainwaves of professional racing drivers, Gerdes says he has gained a new appreciation for the instincts of professional drivers. Enjoy the video!

Check also other interesting TED performances.

*by andreascy*