TED talks

[myrklix]

I have found the TED talks almost always inspiring, interesting, fascinating, motivating, etc. The speakers are top notch from all walks of life and professions.

I've not found them mentioned in a search of ESMB so I thought I'd start a thread on the topic.

I just listened to and really enjoyed a talk by Jane McGonigal entitled "The game that can give you 10 extra years of life."
http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgoni...s_of_life.html

On any other day I might have posted something completely different if that's what I'd just watched.
I'm curious if there are any favorite talks that any of you have bookmarked that you'd like to share.

[myrklix]

Seriously?! No one here has a TED or TEDx talk they'd like to recommend? I'm...ahem...open-minded to hear about what you've heard and liked as suggestions.
Thanks.

[freethinker]

That was a good one.

There was one on nano technology where they had changed the nature of the carbon atom (I forget how they did it) and it became transparent, a superconductor and could absorb energy from the sun better than silicon for solar cells. And, they had a company design and build a storage unit for the energy. It could be put on windows, eliminating the need for solar panels and could absorb enough energy to supply six houses.

It was free energy that some people object to and think it's not OK, or abnormal , or aginst the laws of nature to have free energy. Weird huh?

Nikolai Tesla figured out how to produce free energy in the late 1800's. He was destroyed by JP Morgan for doing so.

Seriously?! No one here has a TED or TEDx talk they'd like to recommend? I'm...ahem...open-minded to hear about what you've heard and liked as suggestions.
Thanks.

[Infinite]

..

[Pooks]

One of my favorites

http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_...f_insight.html

[Mark A. Baker]

That was a good one.

There was one on nano technology where they had changed the nature of the carbon atom (I forget how they did it) and it became transparent, a superconductor and could absorb energy from the sun better than silicon for solar cells. ...

Not modified carbon atoms, engineered carbon molecules. They are based on the idea of 'fullerenes' or 'buckyballs'. [Named for Buckminster Fuller whose research in geometrical engineering suggested technological uses for such geometric objects.] Instead of carbon atoms arranged in rings they are carbon atoms arranged in structures similar to soccer balls and variations thereon (columnar forms, etc.).

Having a different molecular configuration they have different chemical properties, e.g. translucence, conductivity, strength, stability, etc.. They do occur naturally under the right conditions, but simpler molecular forms like graphite, carbon rings, etc., are more common in nature. The different properties lend themselves to technological exploitation.


Mark A. Baker

[freethinker]

Not molecules either but electrons. Here is the TED talk by Justin Hall which describes carbon at the nano level. The structure he speaks of is tubular not soccerball like, so would more resemble a Buckytube.

This is more about application than discovery.

Not modified carbon atoms, engineered carbon molecules. They are based on the idea of 'fullerenes' or 'buckyballs'. [Named for Buckminster Fuller whose research in geometrical engineering suggested technological uses for such geometric objects.] Instead of carbon atoms arranged in rings they are carbon atoms arranged in structures similar to soccer balls and variations thereon (columnar forms, etc.).

Having a different molecular configuration they have different chemical properties, e.g. translucence, conductivity, strength, stability, etc.. They do occur naturally under the right conditions, but simpler molecular forms like graphite, carbon rings, etc., are more common in nature. The different properties lend themselves to technological exploitation.


Mark A. Baker

[myrklix]

Great talk. Thanks for sharing.

There was a recent New Yorker article about TED that mentioned that this was the second most viewed talk. The most viewed talk is by Sir Ken Robinson about creativity and the corresponding failure of education. He has a good sense of humo(u)r, too.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken...reativity.html
There are other talks by him that can be found on TED but I've not yet listed to them.

One of my favorites

http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_...f_insight.html

[themadhair]

Some of my personal favourites:

Probably the most accurate description of how we will actually find extraterrestrial life from the perspective of real science (you may not find this one exciting, but this is fascinating to me):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLGuwXomYQ

Debunking the notion that the presence of the internet leads to democracy and sunshine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hFk6FDrZBc

Good old Phillip Zombardo and situational influences:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg