Radio host Julie Burstein has found the perfect analogy for creativity—raku pottery. A Japanese art form in which molded clay is heated for 15 minutes and then dropped in sawdust which bursts into flames, what makes this pottery so beautiful is its imperfections and cracks.
Burstein interviewed hundred of artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers for her book, Spark: How Creativity Works…
The average person lies once or twice a day. And as Cornell psychology professor Jeff Hancock shares in today’s fascinating talk, given at TEDxWinnipeg, the anonymity and ambiguity of technology give us a whole new arsenal of ways to fib. He and his team have identified three new types of lies made possible by text messages, email and online comments.
A plate of food overrun by roaches. A blood-encrusted scab. The squish of dog poo under one’s shoe. In this talk from TEDxEast, David Pizarro explains that each of these images elicits disgust, a visceral emotion that serves a good purpose -- to keep us away from harmful substances. But disgust may in fact do much more than that.
With just over a month to go before the 2012 presidential election in the US, eyes around the world are on the contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The election may well come down to a few key issues. So what matters most to Americans? The TED Blog read this Gallup poll from late July on issues that citizens want the next president to prioritize.
When we hear the phrase “the economy,” often the first images that pop to mind are crisp bills being printed in a government treasury, or suited traders wheeling and dealing on the floor of a stock exchange, or a mall where suburban shoppers buy T-shirts and sneakers before grabbing a Cinnabon. But as journalist Robert Neuwirth pointed out at TEDGlobal 2012…
Most farm machinery right now consists of huge machines. But in the future, farm machinery could be "a swarm of planting, tending, and harvesting robots running game theory and swarm behavior algorithms to help optimize every inch of arable space in a given field," Popular Science reports. That's one Iowan's vision, anyway, and he's created a prototype of a farmbot.
Our goal teaching for the National Science Foundation was to make a dent in the universe.
Could we actually teach tenured faculty how to turn an idea into a company? And if we did, could it change their lives?
We can now answer these questions.
Hell yes.
-----------
The Lean LaunchPad class for the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Over the last 6 months, we’ve been teaching a version of the Lean LaunchPad class for the…
It has been a week since the Facebook IPO, with a whole lot of drama in the aftermath about the glitch with Nasdaq (and the legal implications), and questions about how much traders have lost as a result, while the share price has fallen: from a start of $38 it is now $32.79 in pre-market trading. But in a speech earlier this week to the 2012 graduating class of Harvard Business School, Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg steered very clear of these topics.
Sweetened condensed milk is an essential ingredient in conventional Vietnamese coffee.
The topics of three different TEDTalks are converging this weekend in New York City ...
Street artist JR, the winner of the 2011 TED Prize, is pasting a portrait of a young member of the Lakota tribe on a wall of Manhattan's High Line Park -- part of a massive tribute to the Native American nation that's being pasted in North Dakota and around New York City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJVBqv3L5iY
Whose talk keeps you glued to your chair? Your hairdresser's. Which makes these talented folks a perfect vector for spreading big ideas. TEDxBuenosAires invited 60 hairdressers and stylists to their latest TEDx event -- and filmed what happened next. Watch the charming results ... and watch to the end for a sneak preview of the next big idea-spreading idea.
Peter Diamandis, onstage at TED2012, makes a case for optimism – we’ll invent, innovate and create ways to solve the challenges that loom over us. “I’m not saying we don’t have our set of problems; we surely do. But ultimately, we knock them down.”
A Model of Stephenson’s Steam Engine, made in 2008, by glassblower Michal Zahradník. Description:
The crankshaft is glass. The piston is glass. The counterweight that makes the wheel spin evenly is glass. Everything is made out of glass, and no sealants are used. All is accomplished by a perfectly snug fit. The gap between the piston and its compartment is so small, that the water that condensates from the steam seals it shut! Notice the elaborate excessive steam exhaust system next to the piston. The piston is the most arduous part to make due to extreme level of precision needed. Its parts have to be so accurate that no machinery is of use here. The piston and its cylinder must be hand sanded to perfection, and they are very likely to crack in the process. On average, three out of four crack.
Click to enlarge
Source: Disney Parks Blog.
WSJ Markets
Recent Comments