• New TED Book asks: can changing how we teach make our kids smarter, more creative?
  Ten years ago, educator Sugata Mitra and his colleagues cracked open a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed a networked PC, and left it there for the local children to freely explore. What they quickly saw in their ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiment was that kids from one of [...]

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• Extreme swimming with the world’s most dangerous jellyfish: Diana Nyad on TED.com
  In the 1970s, Diana Nyad set long-distance swim records that are still unbroken. Thirty years later, at 60, she attempted her longest swim yet, from Cuba to Florida. In this funny, powerful talk at TEDMED, she talks about how to prepare mentally to achieve an extreme dream, and asks: What will YOU do with your [...]
• Event innovations from TEDx events: We pick 5
  TEDx events — powered by passionate volunteer hosts and committed audience members — are hotbeds of innovation, and we’re constantly looking to them for what’s next in event planning, audience participation and outreach. Each month, the TEDx team picks 10 great event ideas bubbling up from the TEDx community, highlighting them in a newsletter and [...]
• A primer on 3D printing: Lisa Harouni on TED.com
  2012 may be the year of 3D printing, when this three-decade-old technology finally becomes accessible and even commonplace. Lisa Harouni gives a useful introduction to this fascinating way of making things — including intricate objects once impossible to create. (Recorded at TEDSalon London, November 2011, in London, UK. Duration: 14:50) Watch Lisa Harouni’s talk on TED.com, where [...]

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• Is there a real you? Julian Baggini on TED.com
  What makes you, you? Is it how you think of yourself, how others think of you, or something else entirely? At TEDxYouth@Manchester, Julian Baggini draws from philosophy and neuroscience to give a surprising answer. (Recorded at TEDxYouth@Manchester, August 2011, in Miami Beach, Florida. Duration: 12:14) Watch Julian Baggini’s talk on TED.com, where you can download [...]
• Plant-based fuels that could power a jet: Bilal Bomani on TED.com
  Algae plus salt water equals … fuel? At TEDxNASA@SiliconValley, Bilal Bomani reveals a self-sustaining ecosystem that produces biofuels — without wasting arable land or fresh water. (Recorded at TEDxNASA@SiliconValley, August 2011, in Miami Beach, Florida. Duration: 14:27) Watch Bilal Bomani’s talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find [...]

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• Harnessing the power of reading: Q&A with illustrator Elizabeth Zunon
  Yesterday, TED Fellow William Kamkwamba debuted an illustrated children’s version of his memoir The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, co-written with Bryan Mealer and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. Since its publication in 2009, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind has been printed in 17 editions internationally. For this Young Readers edition, for ages 6 and [...]
• The beautiful math behind the ugliest music: Scott Rickard on TED.com
  Scott Rickard set out to engineer the ugliest possible piece of music, devoid of any pattern, using a mathematical concept known as the Golomb ruler. At TEDxMIA, he shares the math behind musical beauty (and its opposite). (Recorded at TEDxMIA, September 2011, in Miami Beach, Florida. Duration: 9:46) Watch Scott Rickard’s talk on TED.com, where [...]

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• Udder genius: Fellows Friday with Su Kahumbu
  Agriculturalist and social entrepreneur Su Kahumbu created iCow, a mobile app that supports farmers caring for livestock. Soon it will become an information-delivery platform that could help generate a whole new crop of young farmers. What does iCow do? The iCow application essentially reminds small-scale dairy farmers in Kenya of important periods in gestation. This [...]

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• Defend our freedom to share (or why SOPA is a bad idea): Clay Shirky on TED.com
  What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto — a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume. (Recorded at the TED offices, January 2012, in New York. Duration: 13:59) Watch Clay Shirky’s talk on [...]
• Three types of online attack: Mikko Hypponen on TED.com
  Cybercrime expert Mikko Hypponen talks us through three types of online attack on our privacy and data — and only two are considered crimes. (Recorded at TEDxBrussels 2011, November 2011, in Brussels, Belgium. Duration: 9:23) Watch Mikko Hypponen’s talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances [...]
• What we’re doing about PIPA/SOPA: Talking about it
  Today, several of our favorite websites are going dark or blacking out their homepages to raise awareness of two bills, in the US House and Senate, that threaten people’s ability to share on the web. In the past week, we’ve pondered what TED.com should be doing to help raise awareness of the PIPA and SOPA [...]
• FAQ with Alain de Botton on ‘religion for atheists’
  As a companion to today’s TEDTalk from Alain de Botton, he sent us this FAQ, a brief introduction to the thinking behind Atheism 2.0: What do you think of the aggressive atheism we have seen in the past few years? I am an atheist, but a gentle one. I don’t feel the need to mock [...]
• Announcing: TEDTalks DVD on Demand!
  Spreading ideas just got easier. Today TED announces DVD On Demand, which allows users to create custom TEDTalk DVDs from a library of over 700 available talks. Each disc holds up to six talks, each with the option to order with subtitles in up to 32 languages. DVDs, available for $9.99, can be shipped to [...]

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• Atheism 2.0: Alain de Botton on TED.com
  What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a “religion for atheists” — call it Atheism 2.0 — that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duration: 19:20.) Watch Alain de Botton’s talk on TED.com, [...]

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• Waterwise: Fellows Friday with Sonaar Luthra
  Sonaar Luthra is packing water-safety analysis and mobile networking into the Water Canary — a handheld, open-source, and easy-to-use gadget accessible to all — hoping to save lives and gather information that will improve global water health. You have a background as a writer, educator and journalist. How did you end up creating the Water [...]
• Time for change in Haiti: TED Senior fellow Peter Haas responds
  On the TED Fellows Blog today, TED Senior Fellow Peter Haas writes this powerful essay, considering the two-year anniversary of the deadly Haiti earthquake. The National Palace is still in ruins 2 years on. Photo Credit: Cat Laine – http://www.paintedfoot.com Today is the two-year anniversary of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and I wanted to [...]
• Rising Souls: Inside Out in Haiti
  Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti. This morning the people of Port au Prince woke up to portraits of their own – locals and members of the Haitian diaspora – plastered around the city. From Cité Soleil to Petion-Ville, over 500 images, taken by Haitian photographers and printed by JR’s [...]

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• Nominate your “global good” hero to speak at TEDxChange
  Do you know of a hero for the “global good”? Someone who inspires with their work to reduce poverty and improve health around the world? Someone who has ushered in significant change in their community through commitment and creativity? Then nominate this hero to take the stage alongside Melinda Gates at TEDxChange, happening this coming [...]

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• TED2012 speaker lineup revealed!
  Today, we’re thrilled to announce the TED2012 speaker program. This year’s conference program includes explorers, storytellers, photographers, scientists, pioneers and educators, visionaries and thinkers from all parts of the globe. Themed “Full Spectrum,” TED2012 will take place from February 27 through March 2 in Long Beach, CA, and Palm Springs, CA — and watchable around [...]

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