TEDx

Give a kid Vegemite and this is what happens: 7 kids taste...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:27:59 -0400

Give a kid Vegemite and this is what happens: 7 kids taste anchovies, Vegemite, olives, yogurt, lemon, orange, pickled onion, and gherkin, and the results are quite … fascinating.

To see what we mean, watch this beautifully-shot video, “First Taste,” which premiered at TEDxSydney this May and shows some very expressive kids tasting foods for the first time — in slow-motion. Mediabistro says it stole the show.

A game to map the brain: Amy Robinson at TEDxNijmegen

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:56:23 -0400

The next great leap in neuroscience may require a full, detailed map of the human brain. But it can take a researcher up to 50 hours to map just one neuron — and there are around 80 billion neurons in every brain. The solution? The crowd. In this exciting talk, Amy Robinson demos EyeWire, a game that gives ordinary people the chance to participate in this new kind of cartography. (Filmed at TEDxNijmegen)

Each week, we choose four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Browse all TEDxTalks here »

kqedscience: Teen Develops Computer Algorithm to Diagnose...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:34:50 -0400

kqedscience:

Teen Develops Computer Algorithm to Diagnose Leukemia

“Brittany Wenger isn’t your average high-school senior: She taught the computer how to diagnose leukemia.

The 18-year-old student from Sarasota, Fla. built a custom, cloud-based “artificial neural network” to find patterns in genetic expression profiles to diagnose patients with an aggressive form of cancer called mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL). Simply put, this means Wenger taught the computer how to diagnose leukemia by creating a diagnostic tool for doctors to use.”

Brittany is also a TEDx speaker! She spoke at TEDxCERN this May, and TEDxWomen in 2012.

See our coverage of TEDxCERN here, and — below — watch Brittany’s TEDxWomen talk about Cloud4Cancer, a computer program she designed to diagnose breast cancer more accurately and less invasively.

What are wild animals up to?: Nick Whitney

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:53:51 -0400

If you want to study true animal behavior, you ultimately have to watch them where they live, which can difficult underwater. By strapping accelerometers to wild sharks, sturgeon, snakes — and even his own children — Zoologist Nick Whitney found a clever and inexpensive way to monitor the activities of these animals in the wild. At TEDxSarasota, he shows how we can discover amazing things about the animal kingdom using ubiquitous technologies. (Filmed at TEDxSarasota)

A TEDx at 21,000 feet: For the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:20:18 -0400

A TEDx at 21,000 feet: For the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first ascent of the tallest mountain peak, TEDx’ers Nate Mook and Eiso Vaandrager brought TEDx to Mt. Everest — TEDxEverest — bringing talks to an audience of international climbers, local sherpas, and good friends at Everest’s Advanced Basecamp.

Above, Nate and Eiso hold flags for the TEDx communities represented at TEDxEverest.

Benvenuti nella prima playlist di TEDx in italiano: 5 talks in Italian

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:57:00 -0400

With over 6,000 events (in over 100 countries and over 1,000 cities) having taken place since the TEDx program’s start in 2009, the TEDx community is truly global. And with a community like this, we at the TEDx blog have decided to try something new — language playlists!

Do you speak Italian? Want to speak Italian? Curious about the language? Then you might enjoy this — our very first playlist of TEDx Talks in Italian.

Siete stanchi di guardare Talks in inglese? Buone Notizie - ora potete guardare Talks in italiano! Con TEDx, la vita è bella.

Our first playlist comes from TEDxBologna organizer Andrea Pauri, who picked 5 of his favorite talks from TEDx events in Italy.

TEACHERS: Did you know it’s possible to create a virtual lesson from a TEDx Talk? At TED-Ed you can quickly flip any of these talks. Check out these questions we whipped up for Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini’s talk and find out more about how to make your own TED-Ed lessons.

L’ottimismo come forma di lotta: Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini at TEDxFirenze
Well-known musician Lorenzo Jovanotti has been using TED talks to practice his English for years. However, in his own talk at TEDxFirenze, he steps away from the language learning to explore how different forms of optimism, like the mysterious “Bruce Lee effect” can motivate people to reach their goals.

Il noto musicista Lorenzo Jovanotti ha utilizzato per anni i TEDTalks per esercitare il suo inglese. Tuttavia, nel suo discorso a TEDxFirenze, passa dallo studio dell’apprendimento delle lingue allo studio delle diverse forme di ottimismo, come il misterioso “effetto Bruce Lee” che può motivare le persone a raggiungere i loro obiettivi.

Matematica: che forza, che bellezza!: Piergiorgio Odifreddi at TEDxPordenone
How beautiful can math be? According to Galileo, nature is a great book written in mathematical language. With this in mind, scholar and journalist Piergiorgio Odifreddi tells us three stories about how mathematics explains reality at TEDxPordenone.

Quanto può essere bella la matematica? Secondo Galileo, la natura è un grande libro scritto in linguaggio matematico. Con questo approccio, il giornalista Piergiorgio Odifreddi, racconta tre storie su come la matematica spiega la realtà in TEDxPordenone.

Una moneta a misura d’uomo: Lisa Bortolotti at TEDxBologna
At TEDxBologna, Lisa Bortolotti argues that the best way to improve Italy’s economy is to start rebuilding communities. (Filmed in Italian with subtitles in Italian, English and Dutch.)

A TEDxBologna, Lisa Bortolotti sostiene che il modo migliore per migliorare l’economia in Italia è quello di iniziare a ricostruire le comunità. (Video in italiano con sottotitoli in italiano, inglese e olandese.)

Tutto quel che sapete sul cibo è falso: Sara Farnetti at TEDxReggioEmilia
In this provocative talk at TEDxReggioEmilia, nutritionist Sara Farnetti dispels some deeply-rooted misconceptions about food.

In questo discorso provocatorio, la nutrizionista Sara Farnetti sfata alcuni malintesi profondamente radicati sul cibo.

E-cat e la fusione nucleare fredda con il Nichel e l’Idrogeno: Sergio Focardi at TEDxBologna
At TEDxBologna, Sergio Focardi, professor emeritus in physics at the University of Bologna, takes us on a journey towards the creation of the E-Cat, the first machine that produces electricity using cold fusion. (Filmed in Italian with subtitles in English, Italian and Mandarin Chinese.)

A TEDxBologna, Sergio Focardi, professore emerito di fisica presso l’Università di Bologna, ci accompagna in un viaggio verso la creazione della E-Cat, la prima macchina che produce energia elettrica utilizzando la fusione fredda. (Video in italiano con sottotitoli in inglese, italiano e cinese mandarino.)

Despite tragedy, TEDx event in Karachi, Pakistan goes on About...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:02:32 -0400

Despite tragedy, TEDx event in Karachi, Pakistan goes on

About a month ago, on an April morning just a day before their event, organizers of TEDxBahriaUKarachi in Karachi, Pakistan hurried to finish preparations for their big day. The only problem? The city was shut down.

Weeks earlier, a blast in the Abbas Town neighborhood of the city killed 45 people, while another in the Landhi neighborhood killed three. Pakistan’s parliamentary election, set to enact the country’s first transition from one civilian government to another in 66 years, was soon approaching, and the country was in crisis.

Just three days earlier, a bomb attack on the office of a Pakistani political party killed three people and injured 30. The city shut down in mourning. Co-organizers Furqan Hussain and Sana Nasir struggled to plan an event in a city shuttered.

Co-organizers Furqan Hussain and Sana Nasir

Undeterred, Furqan searched for a shop that was open to buy supplies to create a sign for the event, while Sana worked to print event materials. “Furqan had to paint and prepare the TEDx stencil on his own along with extensive travelling across the city just to find any shop that was open and was doing business,” said Sana. “We had to deliver as much as we had promised. Karachi has been under crisis for long and us being Karachiites have learnt to survive through such days.”

The TEDxBahriaUKarachi team

The most difficult part, said Sana, was creating an event that would live up to the talks from TED she had seen, and the TEDx events she’d read about. “Under the TEDx banner we had to glue everything together and create an entire TED environment, the one that enlightens the mind and lets everyone take home at least one idea that can change their lives after that,” she said. “Our theme ‘Ideas for Survival’ coincidentally proved to be right on.”

But as signs were painted and programs printed, tragedy struck and another blast occurred. Shops and homes were wrecked. 10 people were killed. 25 were injured. Sana and Furqan were inundated with text messages and phone calls from people asking if the event was still on.

“We were confused and really heartbroken because it felt that all our hard work was about to go down the drain,” Sana said. “However, we as a team didn’t lose hope; we managed to inform everyone that the event was still on.”

And on the event went. Five speakers gave talks to an audience gathered together to share ideas — even amidst tragedy. Speakers included Maria Memon, a journalist from Lahore, Pakistan who was named a CNN Journalism Fellow in 2011; young Karachian inventor and teacher Syed Adnan Sabzwari; and Dr. Sabir Michael, a professor of sociology at Bahria University’s Karachi campus, who was born blind, but refused to let it prevent him from obtaining higher education.

Audience members watch the event

“The one thing we wanted our audience to take back [with them] was hope,” Sana said. “‘Ideas for Survival,’ the theme, sowed the idea of surviving in situations when there’s less or no hope. Our event, in fact, survived through such a harsh situation when we lost hope ourselves, but the idea to bring a unique platform like TEDx was strong enough to help us through our hard times. That was what we wanted, that same string of hope for our audience to hold on to and our speakers to deliver.

“No one forgets when people come up to them and thank them for doing something good for them,” she continued. “We cannot forget the time when our attendees came up to us and thanked us for short-listing them for the event. They now believed in the power of the ideas, in the power of X. Those were the best and the most unforgettable memories for the curators and the team. It felt as if all the running around and late hour work actually paid off.”

“TEDxBahriaUKarachi brought confidence to the people of Bahria and Karachi in general,” Sana said. “They now believe in themselves that we as a community are capable of bringing change, capable of understanding things, to organize an event with an international reach. The confidence that the voices in their community will be heard by not only them but by the people who belong to different races, cultures, religions and even ethnicities. They got to know what strong ideas are and how those ideas are given the right direction.”

(Photos by Safa Imtiaz Ali and Syed Wajahat Ali)

African thumb piano jam: Hiroyuki

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:25:00 -0400

At TEDxTokyo, Japanese artist Hiroyuki plays a remarkable musical performance on the kalimba — also known as the thumb piano. A handheld plucking instrument still relatively obscure in Western music, the kalimba is an ancient part of the heritage of several cultures in sub-Saharan Africa. (Filmed at TEDxTokyo)

I used to think I couldn’t get out of hell: Chicago public...

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:06:00 -0400

I used to think I couldn’t get out of hell: Chicago public school students react to TEDxYouth@Midwest

Earlier this month, 450 Chicago public school sophomores and juniors, plus 120 of their teachers, crowded into the city’s Harris Theater for TEDxYouth@Midwest, an event all about inspiring, motivating and empowering the young people of a city known for youth gun violence, but full of so much more — culture, history, educators and students dedicated to helping their city thrive.

Chicago’s public schools have been a fixture in the news lately. 54 schools in the city are slated to close in 2013, and according to reports in The Chicago Tribune, the 2011-12 school year brought the highest number of public school students affected by gunfire since 2008. Twenty-four students were killed; 319 students shot.

At TEDxYouth@Midwest, organizers strove to turn the focus from problems, and keep it focused on the potential. 17 speakers addressed the audience, including people like guerrilla gardener Ron Finley, who is planting gardens in South Central LA; Dr. Benjamin Harrison, a researcher working on growing replacement tissue for patients who have lost their own; and Chicago native Zoe Damacela, who started her own apparel line as a high school student in the city.

This year, TEDxYouth@Midwest launched their TEDxMidwest Youth Connections Program, a project pairing TEDxYouth@Midwest students with career experiences designed to open the doors to potential careers — from job shadowing to summer internships to discussions with local entrepreneurs. Through the program, 35 TEDxYouth@Midwest student attendees found summer internships and, next year, the team at TEDxYouth@Midwest hopes to raise that number to 100.

“The event was levels better because of the students’ infectious energy, and its potential to really have a life-changing effect on hundreds of kids and teachers,” said organizer Mike Hettwer. “The speakers were so motivated to speak there.”

The immediate effects of the event shone in students’ responses to comment cards asking how their thinking changed throughout the event. Some of their responses are truly incredible. A sampling:

I used to think… “That once you made a bad decision, that was it for you. People say you write your life’s story in ink — if you make a mistake there is no way to erase it. You are done!”
Now I think… “That I should no longer aim for perfection, but rather strive for success. Success is not measured by how many times you fall, but actually choosing to get up once more then you fall.”

I used to think…”That you have to use violence in order to make peace.”
Now I think… “But I realize that I can use peace to make peace.”

I used to think… “That because I am considered a minority, I would not be able to do amazing things I really want to do.”
Now I think… “That I can do anything I set my mind to if I do not let anything hold me back. Only I can prevent myself from achieving my goals and my passion.”

I used to think… “I couldn’t get out of Hell.”
Now I think… “I can with Mellody Hobson’s speech.”

I used to think… “I was one of the few teenagers passionate about science.”
Now I think… “TED is all about diversity of ideas and other people are as passionate about science as I am.”

I used to think… “If you come from a broken home, would live in a broken future.”
Now I think… “You can shape your own future and get away from the brokeness.”

I used to think… “This was going to be a long boring program with weird snacks.”
Now I think… “This experience has been the best experience in my whole entire life.”

Detecting cancer before it spreads: Raj Krishnan

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:23:15 -0400

Curing cancer isn’t just about better treatment, says Raj Krishnan. If we can improve detection, patients will enjoy much better odds of survival and recovery. Krishnan demonstrates how doctors can use existing technology to scan for DNA markers of cancer cells — even before the patient is showing symptoms. (Filmed at TEDxSanDiego 2012)

Potrait of a TEDx'er: Austin Kleon

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:23:27 -0400

Austin Kleon . Artist; writer; TEDx’er.

“I don’t have many words, but right there in front of me are millions of them—and they’re ripe for the taking,” said poet Austin Kleon during his talk, “Reimagining Poetry” at TEDxPennQuarter, describing the stack of newspapers piled by his desk that willed him out of writers’ block.

The Ohio native and current Texan was suffering an extreme case of the block when, unsure of where to look for inspiration, his recycling bin caught his eye, and he realized that he didn’t have to worry about finding words—the words had found him.

Austin at TEDxPennQuarter

The author of both Steal Like An Artist and Newspaper Blackout, Kleon has become very comfortable with plucking words ripe for the taking. In his talk at TEDxPennQuarter, Austin describes how he created what came to be Newspaper Blackout, his book of poems created by taking a permanent marker to newspaper articles—turning news alerts, exacting quotes, and pressing details into something completely different: poetry.

A Newspaper Blackout poem

When not TEDx’ing, Austin draws, writes, speaks, tweets, and blogs. An accomplished “doodler,” Kleon has brought not only insight into the creative process to the TEDx community, but also an assortment of artistic contributions, including an animated recap of TEDxAustin and illustrated notes for TEDxPennQuarter. He has also spoke at TEDxKC, where he gave a talk about “stealing like an artist”—using inspiration from the best artists to dig out the best artist inside yourself.

Austin at TEDxKC

Look below for his short film turning office sticky notes into a live diorama of ideas worth spreading at TEDxAustin, and a sampling of his visual notes for TEDxPennQuarter.

TEDxAustin gets sticky note’d!

Austin Kleon draws TEDxPennQuarter. See his Flickr album here and read more about his process here.

Find Austin at http://www.austinkleon.com/, where you can read more about his books, follow his blog, and see what new art he’s concocting. Here’s hoping Austin steals some ideas worth spreading to bring to many TEDx events to come!

Pain is all about perception: Silje Endersen Reme

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:53:39 -0400

Nearly all people will suffer from some form of back pain during their lifetime, often without a specific cause. At TEDxNHH, Silje Endersen Reme explains how our mental state can affect the way we perceive chronic and acute forms of back pain. (Filmed at TEDxNHH)

Democracy’s data revolution: Simon Jackman

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:51:39 -0400

At TEDxSydney, Stanford researcher Simon Jackman demonstrates some of the ways in which an increased availability of data gives us a more accurate picture of electoral trends, the political zeitgeist, and the serious implications this has on the shape of public conversation. (Filmed at TEDxSydney)

As they prepare for their first event, the team behind TEDxAUB,...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:00:57 -0400

As they prepare for their first event, the team behind TEDxAUB, an event taking place at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, has shared some beautiful snapshots of the city they love. See more at their Instagram.

Time-lapse the Opera House: TEDxSydney 2013 took place this...

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:16:31 -0400

Time-lapse the Opera House: TEDxSydney 2013 took place this month at the famed Sydney Opera House. Just in case you weren’t one of the 2,200 people in attendance, check out this beautiful time-lapse recap of the event — from dawn to dusk.

(Credits: The MilkBar)

Instagrammed: TEDx’ers at TEDxRiyadh in Riyadh, Saudi...

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:10:20 -0400

Instagrammed: TEDx’ers at TEDxRiyadh in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia complete the sentence, “Before I die I want to…” in Arabic.

(Photos, clockwise: Instagram users dselectived, maha_92, abdullah_kassab, and hemodos)

"It’s important that we acknowledge that the growing movement of men in the United States — in a..."

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:06:00 -0400

“

It’s important that we acknowledge that the growing movement of men in the United States — in a multicultural sense — and all around the world — in an international sense — the growing movement of men who are standing up and speaking out about men’s violence against women and going into parts of male culture that have historically been either apathetic about or openly hostile to women’s efforts to engage them. That movement of men is indebted to the leadership of women on a personal level, on a professional level, on a political level, on an intellectual level, on every level. Women built these movements, and these are movements that are affecting — in a positive way — everybody, not just women and girls, but also men and boys.

And oftentimes, men like myself get a lot of credit and public acclaim for doing the work that women have been doing for a long time.

”

- From Jackson Katz’s talk, “There are no women’s issues” at TEDxFiDiWomen. Watch the whole talk here.

Teach both 007 and MacGyver: Marc Chun

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:10:38 -0400

“Why am I learning this?” It’s a question familiar to parents and teachers alike. Marc Chun and other researchers set out to discover how students actually use general knowledge, and recommend the use of curriculums that focus on enhancing both efficiency and creativity in solving problems. (Filmed at TEDxDenverTeachers)

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week: 5 talks on education

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:52:00 -0400

May 6-10 is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States (and education week at TED — with TED’s first-ever television special, TED Talks Education premiering on PBS this week.) However, the TEDx program, with its global reach, is privileged to have a unique perspective on education across the world — and we’d like to celebrate teachers and schools the world over. Below, 5 TEDx Talks that explore some of the social, economic and political implications of guaranteeing good schools.

The impact desegregation had on schools: Rucker Johnson at TEDxMiamiUniversity
As schools were desegregated in the 1950s and 1960s, opponents feared that embracing students from low-performing, all-black schools would lower standards and unfairly disrupt white students’ performances. It’s been 60 years — were they right? No. As Rucker Johnson shows with his extensive research, desegregation had virtually no effect on white students, but propelled minority students to unprecedented levels of success.

No more easy answers: Adrián Paenza at TEDxJoven@RiodelaPlata
All too often, school lessons set concrete problems with clean answers. Which, suggests Adrián Paenza, can limit students’ creative problem-solving abilities. But perhaps more importantly, it can engender arrogance — setting classist expectations for the answers everyone ought to know. With humor and a few touching stories, he looks at some of the effects that unequal educational opportunities have on society. (In Spanish with English subtitles.)

Don’t mistake a dialect for a disorder: Sade Wilson at TEDxEMU
African American Vernacular English is a common dialect in the US. It’s not bad English, yet kids who grow up speaking it at home are too often misdiagnosed with speech and learning disabilities by teachers who either don’t recognize the dialect or give tests in their own dialect of English. At TEDxEMU, speech pathologist Sade Wilson sheds light on the issue and makes six recommendations to improve how teachers work with students who speak a dialect.

Where’s the R&D for better schools? Jim Shelton at TEDxMidAtlantic
If education is an essential social good, shouldn’t we make a bigger effort to figure out what’s worth investing in and what’s not? Governments invest in education, and governments invest in research, but according to Jim Shelton, many countries don’t invest much in education research. In this talk from TEDxMidAtlantic, he calls for expanding public investment into the research and development of new education practices and platforms.

A girl who demanded school: Kakenya Ntaiya at TEDxMidAtlantic
Kakenya Ntaiya made an unusual deal with her father in order to go to high school – something unheard-of for girls in her Maasai village. After continuing on to college in the US., Ntaiya returned to her village and set up a school for girls. In this talk, she shows how the school is changing the local culture by creating an alternative path for girls uninterested in marriage in their early teens.

Language and the wealth gap: Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:12:20 -0400

In a passionate talk at TEDxSoweto, Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi takes issue with the convention of teaching international students in English, claiming that this practice often hurts much more than it helps. (Filmed at TEDxSoweto)