Behind the Scenes at TEDxSMU 2011
Our incredible friends at Wright IMC have been hard at work since September cooking up a behind the scenes video of the conference. Voila! Today we unveil the finished product. Take a look at what it’s like backstage and before the show starting with the TEDxSMU Auditions in October 2011 and ending at this year’s conference.
TEDxSMU Tuesday 9.13.11
This week, we watched the unforgettable Ben Dunlap talk from TED2007. His talk, which reflects on the multitude of Hungarian mentors in his life, is touching and woven with stories bearing delicate, powerful messages. You’ll want to clear your mind for the next 18 minutes and give yourself over to Ben Dunlap.
The following quote from Kurt Vonnegut sums up the conversation:
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
TEDxSMU Tuesday 8.30 – Mikko Hypponen
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the first TEDxSMU Tuesday of the Fall Semester. We had a great group and a lively discussion on the ins and outs of Internet security and cyber terrorism after watching this fascinating talk by Mikko Hypponen.
Links from our discussion:
A history of Stuxnet
Pwn2Own Contest at CanSecWest Conference
For those of you who were hoping to see the other talk from TEDGlobal, it’s actually not up yet, but you can watch Underworld Investigator Misha Glenny’s other fascinating talk from TEDGlobal 2009 in the meantime. We’ll let you know if we notice the TEDGlobal 2011 talk is released.
And, not to be missed — a brief dose of magic from our friend Rives about what he would do if he controlled the Internet.
The Carole & Jim Young Fellows
Thanks to the generous support of a TEDxSMU donor, we’re thrilled to announce the creation of the Carole & Jim Young Fellows program to bring SMU students to TEDxSMU.
The Carole & Jim Young Fellows represent the most interesting SMU students. This fall, we will open applications for students from each of the seven schools at SMU. Two students per school will be selected as Young Fellows. These students will participate as TEDxKids @SMU Hosts Supervisors and have the ability to audition as a TEDxSMU Presenter. All Fellows will be given the opportunity to attend TEDxSMU. The Young Fellows will also be invited to participate in TEDxSMU programming throughout the remainder of the 2011-2012 academic year.
Starting on August 30, SMU students may apply for the Fellowship through www.TEDxSMU.org. Applications will be open through September 30, and the inaugural class of Fellows announced on October 7.
Young Fellows will participate during the day at TEDxKids @SMU on Friday, December 2. Young Fellows receive a complimentary ticket to attend TEDxSMU on Saturday, December 3.
As part of our commitment to the students in the Dallas area, we offer TEDxKids free of charge. Students are expected to complete a service learning project. All TEDxKids-coordinated service projects will take place on Monday, January 16, 2012 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), and the Young Fellows are invited and encouraged to participate in this day as well.
The link to apply for a Young Fellowship will be active on www.TEDxSMU.org starting on August 30.
Want to give a talk at TEDxSMU?
Ever wanted to give your own Talk at TEDxSMU? Now’s your chance! We’re crowdsourcing a talk this year. Use the form below to send us your greatest idea for a Talk, and we’ll invite the top 12-15 submissions to give a 3-minute version of the Talk at our TEDxSMU Auditions. The audience will vote on their favorite, and the presenter with the most votes will be invited to the TEDxSMU mainstage on December 3rd.
The deadline for submissions is September 16. We’ll let you know if you’ve been selected to present at the TEDxSMU Auditions by September 23.
Registration for the October event is forthcoming!
TEDxSMU Announces a Salon Event
New Event! TEDxSMU Salon
China: Artists Behind the Wall – 9.21.11, 7PM
In partnership with the Nasher Sculpture Center
Nasher Sculpture Center Director Jeremy Strick and Melissa Chiu, Director, Asia Society and Museum, discuss the current state of affairs in China as it relates to artistic freedom and expression, including the latest on the high-profile detainment and release of artist Ai Weiwei. TEDxSMU presents mind-stretching programs that connect thought leaders, solution seekers and the merely curious to “why not?” challenges.
Tickets are $12. To purchase tickets click here or call the Nasher at 888.695.0888*. *Ticketing service charge applies.
TEDxSMU Tuesday 7.26.11
On Creativity:
Malcolm Gladwell says genius isn’t a singular trait in his TEDTalk.
Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity in his TEDTalk.
TEDxSMU Tuesday 7.19.11
Paul Root Wolpe, Emory Center for Ethics
Genetically Engineered Animals
Beefalo are a fertile hybrid offspring of domestic cattle, Bos taurus, and the American bison, Bison bison (generally called buffalo in the US). The breed was created to combine the characteristics of both animals with a view towards beef production.
A sheep–goat chimera is a chimera produced by combining the embryos of a goat and a sheep; the resulting animal has cells of both sheep and goat origin. A sheep-goat chimera should not be confused with a sheep-goat hybrid, which can result when a goat mates with a sheep.
A cama is a hybrid between a male dromedary camel and a female llama, produced via artificial insemination at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai. The first cama was born on January 14, 1998. The aim was to create an animal with the size and strength of the camel, but the more cooperative temperament and the higher wool production of the llama.
The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a tigress (Panthera tigris). Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tiglon. It is the largest of all known cats and extant felines.
A zebroid (also zedonk, zebra mule, and zebrule) is the offspring of any cross between a zebra and any other equine: essentially, a zebra hybrid. In most cases, the sire is a zebra stallion. Offspring of a donkey sire and zebra dam, called a zebra hinny, or donkra, do exist but are rare. Zebroids have been bred since the 19th century. The extinct quagga was also crossed with horses and donkeys. Charles Darwin noted several zebra hybrids in his works.
A remotely-guided rat, popularly called a ratbot or robo-rat, is a rat with electrodes implanted in the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) and sensorimotor cortex of its brain.
Genetic Engineering News
Disgraced Korean Cloning Scientist Indicted, The New York Times, May 12, 2006
“…Dr. Hwang was hailed as a global stem cell pioneer and treated as a national hero until investigations late last year showed that he had fabricated key data in two papers published in the journal Science. He was later fired from his post as a professor at Seoul National University, where he did his research.”
F.D.A. Approves Drug From Gene-Altered Goats, The New York Times, February 6, 2009
Opening the barn door to a new era in farming and pharmaceuticals, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first drug produced by livestock that have been given a human gene.
Cloning Endangered Species and Undermining Conservation, American Anti-Vivisection Society
Animal cloning is cruel, experimental, and unnecessary. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Monkey’s Thoughts Make Robot Walk from Across the Globe, Duke Medicine News and Communications, January 2008
In a first-of-its-kind experiment, the brain activity of a monkey has been used to control the real-time walking patterns of a robot halfway around the world, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. The Duke team is working with the Computational Brain Project of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) on technology they hope will one day help those with paralysis regain the ability to walk.
Is That a Pilot in Your Pocket? Wired Magazine, October 23, 2004
Somewhere in Florida, 25,000 disembodied rat neurons are thinking about flying an F-22. These neurons are growing on top of a multi-electrode array and form a living “brain” that’s hooked up to a flight simulator on a desktop computer.
Smart Food for Robots, Discover Magazine, February 2001
Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University Medical Center, has created a robot with the brains of a fish. Not impressed? Consider how he did it: He wired a two-wheeled robot directly into a lamprey’s brain stem.
‘Designer Genes’: Stem Cells Used to Make Replacement Organs, Huffington Post, October 19, 2010
The human species is about to undergo an incredible transformation. Not only will we be able to use adult’s own stem cells to create replacement organs, but in the future it will likely be routine for parents to eliminate the genes that cause disease for their children and perhaps help choose the genes that will determine traits such as intelligence, appearance, and athletic abilities.
Related TED Talks
Anthony Atala: Printing a human kidney, TED2011
Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early-stage experiment that could someday solve the organ-donor problem: a 3D printer that uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney. Using similar technology, Dr. Atala’s young patient Luke Massella received an engineered bladder 10 years ago; we meet him onstage.
Craig Venter is on the verge of creating synthetic life, TED 2008
“Can we create new life out of our digital universe?” Craig Venter asks. His answer is “yes” — and pretty soon. He walks through his latest research and promises that we’ll soon be able to build and boot up a synthetic chromosome.
Alice Dreger: Is anatomy destiny? TEDxNorthwesternU
Alice Dreger works with people at the edge of anatomy, such as conjoined twins and intersexed people. In her observation, it’s often a fuzzy line between male and female, among other anatomical distinctions. Which brings up a huge question: Why do we let our anatomy determine our fate?
Edith Widder: The weird, wonderful world of bioluminescence, TED 2011
In the deep, dark ocean, many sea creatures make their own light for hunting, mating and self-defense. Bioluminescence expert Edith Widder was one of the first to film this glimmering world. At TED2011, she brings some of her glowing friends onstage, and shows more astonishing footage of glowing undersea life.
Gero Miesenboeck reengineers a brain, TEDGlobal 2010
In the quest to map the brain, many scientists have attempted the incredibly daunting task of recording the activity of each neuron. Gero Miesenboeck works backward — manipulating specific neurons to figure out exactly what they do, through a series of stunning experiments that reengineer the way fruit flies percieve light.
Ray Kurzweil: A university for the coming singularity, TED2009
Ray Kurzweil’s latest graphs show that technology’s breakneck advances will only accelerate — recession or not. He unveils his new project, Singularity University, to study oncoming tech and guide it to benefit humanity.
Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging, TEDGlobal 2005
Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that aging is merely a disease — and a curable one at that. Humans age in seven basic ways, he says, all of which can be averted.
Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science, TED 2009
Even as mega-banks topple, Juan Enriquez says the big reboot is yet to come. But don’t look for it on your ballot — or in the stock exchange. It’ll come from science labs, and it promises keener bodies and minds. Our kids are going to be … different.
TEDxSMU Tuesday 7.5.11
- Probabilistic Analysis of an Ancient Undeciphered Script, IEEE Computer, 2010
- Entropic Evidence for Linguistic Structure in the Indus Script, Science, May 2009
Indus Valley Civilization (aka Harappan Civilization, the Indus-Sarasvati or Hakra Civilization)
Indus Valley Civilization, Wikipedia
“The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) that was located in the northwestern region] of the Indian Subcontinent…Geographically, the civilization was spread over an area of some 1,260,000 km, making it the largest ancient civilization in the world.”
“The ancient Indus systems of sewerage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in many areas of Pakistan and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls.”
The Indus Valley and the Genesis Of South Asian Civilization, International World History Project
“Between about 1500 and 1000 B.C., as the great cities of the Indus region crumbled into ruins, nomadic Aryan invaders from central Asia moved into the fertile Indus plains and pushed into the Ganges River valleys to the east. It took these unruly, warlike peoples many centuries to build a civilization that rivaled that of the Harappans.”
New Developments in Study of Ancient Civilizations
Beyond Mesopotamia: A New View Of The Dawn Of Civilization, ScienceDaily, August 3, 2007
“For decades, school children have learned that human civilization emerged about 5000 years ago along the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia, along the Nile, and along the Indus River. But archaeologists working in a broad arc from the Russian steppes through Iran and onto the Arabian Peninsula are finding evidence that a complex network of cities may have thrived across the region in roughly the same era, suggesting a dramatic new view of the emergence of human civilization.”
Scientists Explore Hidden World of Ancient Maritime Maya, ScienceDaily, May 23, 2011
NOAA-sponsored explorers are searching a wild, largely unexplored and forgotten coastline for evidence and artifacts of one of the greatest seafaring traditions of the ancient New World, where Maya traders once paddled massive dugout canoes filled with trade goods from across Mexico and Central America. One exploration goal is to discover the remains of a Maya trading canoe, described in A.D. 1502 by Christopher Columbus’ son Ferdinand, as holding 25 paddlers plus cargo and passengers.
Lost Civilization Under Persian Gulf? ScienceDaily, Dec. 8, 2010
A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article published in Current Anthropology.
Pre-Columbian Societies in Amazon May Have Been Much Larger and More Advanced Than Thought, ScienceDaily, Oct. 25, 2010
The pre-Columbian Indian societies that once lived in the Amazon rainforests may have been much larger and more advanced than researchers previously realized. Together with Brazilian colleagues, archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg have found the remains of approximately 90 settlements in an area South of the city of Santarém, in the Brazilian part of the Amazon.
Further Resources
The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996* to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s accelerating culture and help make long-term thinking more common. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.
Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River, by Alice Albinia
One of the largest rivers in the world, the Indus rises in the Tibetan mountains and flows west across northern India and south through Pakistan. It has been worshipped as a god, used as a tool of imperial expansion, and today is the cement of Pakistan’s fractious union. Alice Albinia follows the river upstream, through two thousand miles of geography and back to a time five thousand years ago when a string of sophisticated cities grew on its banks.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition, by Jared Diamond
The phenomenal bestseller—over 1.5 million copies sold—is now a major PBS special. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the television series.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 2010
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting.
Related TED Talks
Wade Davis on endangered cultures, TED2003
With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world’s indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate.
Murray Gell-Mann on the ancestor of language, TED2007
After speaking at TED2007 on elegance in physics, the amazing Murray Gell-Mann gives a quick overview of another passionate interest: finding the common ancestry of our modern languages.
Erin McKean redefines the dictionary, TED2007
Is the beloved paper dictionary doomed to extinction? In this infectiously exuberant talk, leading lexicographer Erin McKean looks at the many ways today’s print dictionary is poised for transformation.
Steven Pinker on language and thought, TEDGlobal 2005
In an exclusive preview of his book The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker looks at language and how it expresses what goes on in our minds — and how the words we choose communicate much more than we realize.
TEDxSMU Tuesday 6.28.11
Janine Benyus
- Biomimicry Institute
- Biomimicry Guild
- AskNature.org
- Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (book)
- E.O. Wilson’s Encyclopedia of Life
Companies Using Biomimicry in Design
Sequestering CO2 in the Built Environment
Sharklet™ is the world’s first technology to inhibit bacterial growth through pattern alone. The antimicrobial Sharklet surface is comprised of millions of tiny diamonds arranged in a distinct pattern that mimics the microbe-resistant properties of shark skin. Sharklet Technologies puts the pattern into adhesive-backed films and manufactures the pattern into medical devices and consumer goods to prevent bacteria growth.
- Learn more about our breakthrough in microorganism management.
One hour of total sun energy received on this planet can meet the needs of humanity for one full year. Actually, few terawatts of sun energy hits our planet everyday. We only convert a very tiny fraction of it into electric energy. The rest is all disseminated into mother nature while the humanity continues to suffer from energy crisis.
Aquaporin is dedicated to revolutionizing water purification by means of industrial biotech techniques and thinking. The use of biotechnological principles in a technological context is a novel upcoming field with large commercial perspectives.
REGEN Energy’s EnviroGrid automated demand management, demand response and load scheduling controller can be installed onto any electrical heating, cooling or discretionary electrical load. The controllers dramatically reduce peak electrical demand by up to 30% in commercial properties and allow for effective scheduling of electrical loads, including Electric Vehicle chargers.
Building the energy future on a million years of field tests.
Academic Research
Beyond Manahatta- The Welikia Project
After a decade of research (1999 – 2009), the Mannahatta Project at the Wildlife Conservation Society un-covered the original ecology of Manhattan, one of New York City’s five boroughs. The Welikia Project (2010 – 2013) goes beyond Mannahatta to encompass the entire city, discover its original ecology and compare it what we have today.
- Eric Sanderson pictures New York — before the City, TEDGlobal 2009
A Synthetic Tree Grows at Cornell, Wired Science, September 12, 2008
Scientists have made the world’s first synthetic tree: a palm-sized duplication of the elegant process by which trees drink. Known as “transpiration,” the hydration process appears to require no biological energy. Scientists theorize that as evaporation occurs on the surface of a tree’s leaves, the resulting drop in water pressure propels water from the earth and through their bodies. The same principle pulls oil through the wick of a candle.
Researchers Design Artificial Cells That Could Power Medical Implants, Yale Bulletin, October 9, 2008
esearchers at Yale University have created a blueprint for artificial cells that are more powerful and efficient than the natural cells they mimic and could one day be used to power tiny medical implants.
Drawing inspiration from nature to build a better radio, MIT News, June 3, 2009
MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals.
Beetle’s Shell Offers Clues to Harvesting Water, National Geographic News, October 28, 2010
A beetle that lives in the Namib Desert, one of the hottest places on Earth, survives by using its bumpy shell to draw drinking water from periodic fog-laden winds. Scientists at the British Ministry of Defense are mimicking the shell’s architecture to design more efficient water-harvesting techniques.
Green Travel
TripSketch mobile apps fill green travel gap
Related TED Talks
Janine Benyus shares nature’s designs, TED2005
In this inspiring talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build.
E.O. Wilson on saving life on Earth, TED2007
As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere — and build a networked encyclopedia of all the world’s knowledge about life.
Fiorenzo Omenetto: Silk, the ancient material of the future, TED2011
Fiorenzo Omenetto shares 20+ astonishing new uses for silk, one of nature’s most elegant materials — in transmitting light, improving sustainability, adding strength and making medical leaps and bounds. On stage, he shows a few intriguing items made of the versatile stuff.
Michael Pawlyn: Using nature’s genius in architecture, TEDSalon London 2010
How can architects build a new world of sustainable beauty? By learning from nature. At TEDSalon in London, Michael Pawlyn describes three habits of nature that could transform architecture and society: radical resource efficiency, closed loops, and drawing energy from the sun.
Robert Full: Learning from the gecko’s tail, TED2009
Biologist Robert Full studies the amazing gecko, with its supersticky feet and tenacious climbing skill. But high-speed footage reveals that the gecko’s tail harbors perhaps the most surprising talents of all.
Jaime Lerner sings of the city
Jaime Lerner reinvented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. Along the way, he changed the way city planners worldwide see what’s possible in the metropolitan landscape.