Connexion
Christmas movies have been a tradition for decades, but the days when we had to watch George Bailey try to jump off of a bridge year after year are well past us. Holiday movies are an industry in and of themselves, with dozens, if not hundreds of new seasonal offerings released starting around June. Most of them are…
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Law enforcement officers and agents will hide who they are for all kinds of reasons, from catching speeders to infiltrating extremist political groups to preventing the kidnappings of state governors. It’s often hard to recognize undercover cops, but there are some tells, so here’s a rough guide to recognizing cops…
Before the 1950s, filmmakers didn’t think about teenagers as anything other than adults-in-waiting—accessories to the adult characters in films. That changed circa the release of Nicholas Ray’s 1955 James Dean star vehicle Rebel Without a Cause, the success of which made studios realize that teens were driving around…
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If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Friday, October 13, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 13, NYT Connections #124! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s…
This epic clash pits two powerhouses of the Southeastern Conference meeting in to-the-death combat. The undefeated Kentucky Wildcats, fresh from embarrassing the Florida Gators in week five, are traveling to Sanford Stadium in Georgia to take on the number one college team in the nation, the undefeated Georgia…
Head of TED Chris Anderson and actress Meg Ryan host Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Session 7 of TED2022 focused on play, with talks on the science behind what it really means to “have fun”, finding your personal groove through dance, the next era of video games, foraging for food in your backyard and more.
The event: Talks from Session 7 of TED Fellows Talks at TED2022, hosted by TED’s Chris Anderson and vintage TEDster and actress Meg Ryan
When and where: Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Speakers: Catherine Price, Agnes Larsson, James Hodge, Noah Raford, Ryan Heffington, Alexis Nikole Nelson
Music: Joined by vocalist KAZU, drumming virtuoso Ian Chang thumped through a set of songs he dreamed up in his living room, creating fully realized music using the physicality of drums.
Ian Chang performs at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada.. Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED
The talk in brief:
Catherine Price speaks at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED)
Catherine Price, recovering science journalist
Big idea: We use the word “fun” to describe all kinds of activities that are frivolous and optional — but only a few of these activities truly trigger joy and create memories. Far from being frivolous, fun is the secret to feeling alive.
How can we have more fun? We tend to describe fun in terms of activities rather than the actual enjoyment we derive from them — but according to Catherine Price, these activities have little to do with what really matters when we have fun. Leisure activities, despite our best efforts to cram more of them in, aren’t a sure prescription for fun. Rather, fun consists of playfulness (i.e., not taking ourselves too seriously), connection (a shared experience with loved ones) and flow (a sense of engagement that leads to a loss of a sense of time). If we can cultivate these spontaneous mental states, Price believes we can drop our guard and learn how to truly thrive within each moment.
Agnes Larsson speaks at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Agnes Larsson, game director
Big idea: We’re entering the era of the metaverse. As people spend more of their time online in 3D digital landscapes, we should ensure that we design and build metaverses for fun, creativity and inclusivity.
How? For the gaming world, the metaverse is nothing new. Every day, millions of people log into games like Minecraft and use virtual building blocks to create remarkable metaverses, like big cities or castles or underwater playgrounds for fish. As game director at Minecraft, Agnes Larsson has seen how these digital spaces allow people to spend time together online in a fun and meaningful way. She describes a dad who created a Minecraft server specifically for children on the autism spectrum and an organization that uses metaverses as a neutral playground to foster dialogue, friendship and trust between young people in conflict zones. In a future where we’ll spend more time in the metaverse, Larsson advises developers to design for delight and longevity, not for quick profits. She also encourages us to build online spaces that are equitable and accessible to everyone. Because what we create online can have a profound impact on the real world.
James Hodge speaks at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED)
James Hodge, data-driven technologist
Big idea: Technology is closing the gap between esports and in-person sports, making elite competition more accessible than ever before
How? At age 16, Rudy van Buren won a high-profile Dutch racing championship, but his dreams of going pro slipped away because the sport was too expensive. Fast forward 15 years: Rudy won a worldwide gaming competition and scored a contract as a simulation driver — and then he did something even more amazing. He made the jump from “world’s fastest gamer” to pro racing in the physical world. According to data strategist James Hodge, Rudy’s story is emblematic of how new gaming technology is revolutionizing our understanding of sports, closing the gap between virtual and real-world competition — and making elite competition more accessible than ever. These days, you don’t need a racecar to be a Formula 1 driver, Hodge says. All you need is a video game console and a gaming steering wheel.
Noah Raford speaks at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED)
Noah Raford, futurist
Big idea: People on the internet believe weird things — and, if the rise of QAnon and the uprisings of January 6, 2020 are any indication, bizarre beliefs will begin to bleed into everyday reality more and more as we move further into the metaverse. Futurist Noah Raford sees this not as a cause for despair nor a sign of impending apocalypse, but rather as a reason to hold out hope for humanity.
How? Virtual worlds lend “a sense of meaning and purpose” when the real world becomes unstable, confusing and seemingly hostile — and this is the reason internet forums descend into fantasy and fanaticism. Video games, with their immersive realities (and the immediate satisfaction they provide for our deepest psychological needs), are potential powder kegs for generating escapist realities. Many kids already live primarily in virtual worlds — and it’s only a matter of time before they’re mobilized by virtual leaders promising a simpler, better reality. And while social change driven from within these virtual worlds may seem ominous, Raford thinks that they also could lead to greater justice in the real world.
Ryan Heffington speaks at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED)
Ryan Heffington, dancer, choreographer
Big idea: By turning off our critical minds and tuning into our most basic daily movements, we can all become our own choreographers and find joy in dance.
How? Each of us has our own unique way of moving, according to choreographer Ryan Heffington, but in order to unlock our “dance magic,” we have to set aside our preconceived notions about what “good” dance is. The most unlikely experiences can offer inspiration — tying a shoe, rocking a baby, cleaning your mustache or whisking up some mac-n-cheese. “Once you have the perspective that life is dance,” Heffington says, “you’ll begin to see dance everywhere around you.” Guided by this philosophy, Heffington started an online dance party during the first COVID lockdown, helping people find joy and release in anxious times. After Heffington’s talk, in a dazzling proof of concept, dancers Nico Lonetree and Ryan Spencer perform a routine infused with the humor and beauty of our daily movements.
Alexis Nikole Nelson speaks at Session 7 of TED2022: A New Era on April 12, 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Alexis Nikole Nelson, foraging enthusiast
Big idea: You can find your next healthy — and planet-friendly — snack growing on your neighbor’s lawn or in between cracks in the sidewalk.
Why? As a self-proclaimed “dirty vegan” and a forager, Alexis Nikole Nelson takes pride in identifying, collecting, preparing and eating wild foods. On her popular TikTok, she shows her followers how she can turn foraged puffballs into pizza bagels or make a sweet syrup with wisteria petals. But the veggies, fruits and fungi Nikole Nelson forages aren’t just tasty; they’re often healthier than produce in the grocery store and better for our planet because they require no watering, fertilizer, labor or long-distance transportation. Now Nelson wants to get more people in on the wild food game — even if convincing others isn’t always easy. “Tell an omni to try something vegan, and you might get some hesitation already. But tell them it’s vegan and you pulled half of it out of the ground?” While preparing sweet and salty kelp chips (Dasima Twigak) live on the TED stage with local Vancouver bull kelp, she shares her often-hilarious tips for introducing foraged food to skeptical mouths.
The TED Theater at TED2022: A New Era in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED)
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Lisa Choi Owens, TED’s Head of Partnerships, welcomes the audience to TED@BCG: Recalibrate 2021, held at the TED World Theater in New York City. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
As the world opens up and we move out of crisis mode, the most important lesson might be that change and disruption will continue to happen frequently and dramatically. So the question becomes: How can we adapt? In a day of talks and performances, a range of speakers explore how to harness creativity and imagination to redefine tech, business, government and society for the better.
The event: TED@BCG: Recalibrate is the eleventh event TED and Boston Consulting Group have co-hosted to spotlight leading thinkers from around the globe. Hosted by TED’s Head of Partnerships Lisa Choi Owens, with opening remarks from Rich Lesser, Global Chair of BCG.
Music: A serene, smoldering performance from the French band Kimberose along with the East-African retro-pop sound of singer-songwriter Alsarah.
The talks in brief:
Warren Valdmanis, private equity investor
Big idea: Good jobs make for committed employees, profitable companies and interested investors.
How? Oftentimes, investors pride themselves on leaning out a company to boost its profit — but Warren Valdmanis believes that there is another way. By shifting the focus to creating good jobs, rather than cutting labor costs, companies have the opportunity to create a thriving environment that attracts employees, customers and investors. But what is a “good job”? Valdmanis breaks it down to four parts: Fair treatment, a promising future, psychological safety and a sense of purpose. When all these elements come together, mission-driven companies take care of the people bringing that vision to life and, in turn, they get creative, profitable returns. “Good jobs aren’t just good for society,” Valdmanis says. “They are good business.”
What will the next generation of smart digital assistants look and sounds like? Karen Lellouche Tordjman offers answers at TED@BCG: Recalibrate 2021. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Karen Lellouche Tordjman, customer experience professional
Big idea: There are two key challenges to crack in order to usher in the age of smart digital assistants.
How? From Siri to Alexa, digital assistants already permeate our lives. But, according to Karen Lellouche Tordjman, engineers must still overcome two crucial obstacles before digital assistants start to feel like a truly indispensable part of our lives. Obstacle one: voice. Currently, digital assistants have a relatively limited level of fluency, struggling with such things as accent, background noise and the different meanings of words within different contexts. But, with 10,000 Amazon employees working on Alexa’s voice technology alone, we could soon see leaps in the performance of voice interfaces. Which brings us to obstacle two: breadth of recommendations. Right now, most recommendation algorithms stay in one lane, specifically recommending things like videos, music, clothing items and the like. The next generation will be able to do everything, Lellouche Tordjman says, offering an integrated and wide range of recommendations across product categories. Once that happens, smart assistants may soon feel as necessary as our smart phones.
Massimo Russo, data cooperation expert
Big Idea: Sharing data can help us solve climate change. Here are three research-backed ways for companies to actually do it.
How: We are in a dilemma, says Massimo Russo. If we want to defeat climate change, we need to optimize our cities and systems — and that requires sharing data. (In researching the most effective climate change solutions, Russo and his team found that 85 percent of the best plans require more data sharing.) But the companies that have this crucial data are often reluctant to share it, falling susceptible to what he calls “FOMA”: fear of missing out on competitive advantage. But there is a ray of hope — companies are more likely to share their data when it serves a greater common goal, like solving climate change. Russo offers three ways for companies to jumpstart an altruistic cycle of innovative data sharing: first, companies should look for new, unexpected sources of and partners for data. For example, farmers could look to satellite information systems to help them decide when and what to plant. Second, companies should quickly develop new sustainability solutions, which includes hiring climate scientists to use data and digital innovations together to create effective solutions. Finally, companies should act together for change. In cities, this could look like transportation hubs and utility companies sharing data so each can optimize their operations. We need data to find our way out of climate change — and the quickest way is to share.
Richard Thompson Ford takes a fascinating historical walk through the rise and power of fashion at TED@BCG: Recalibrate 2021. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Richard Thompson Ford, civil rights and gender equity lawyer
Big idea: Let’s try to check our biases before calling the fashion police.
Why? The fashion police are real — or, at least, the laws and policies that empowered them, which still echo and influence modern biases everywhere from school to the workplace. Richard Thompson Ford takes a fascinating historical walk through the rise and power of fashion, and how it’s more about status than statement when what’s considered appropriate is often clouded by stereotypes, snap judgements and limited experiences. But dismissing dress codes doesn’t instantly dissolve the tensions around who should wear what, Ford explains. There’s nuance to be understood when it comes to culture, self-expression and archaic beliefs of what constitutes professional dress. And while no tailor-made solution exists to divest society of such haute judgment, he encourages everyone to outfit themself to think twice about clothing and the people in them.
Zoe Karl-Waithaka, development visionary
Big Idea: Marketing can dramatically improve the lives of African farmers.
How? The development community (NGOs, philanthropies and international development agencies) traditionally focuses on helping African farmers grow their foods — but they should help them grow their markets, too. Zoe Karl-Waithaka points to the success of avocado and milk campaigns in the United States as examples of how marketing created a whole generation of guacamole eaters and milk drinkers. She says there are three ways marketing can help African farmers grow a market for their products. First, the development community can fund world-class marketing campaigns to promote African foods, both in domestic and international markets. Second, as a large procurer of food, African governments can provide a consistent market for farmers’ goods. And finally, farmers should band together to promote their crops, like jointly funding marketing campaigns through cooperatives. By pooling their resources together, farmers would be able to make a bigger marketing splash. These principles of marketing don’t just apply to African farmers, says Karl-Waithaka. They could be used to promote healthier and more climate-friendly foods, too!
Dustin Burke, supply chain expert
Big idea: We’re overdue for a true streamlining of supply chains to create real resiliency in the face of major crises.
How? Supply chain challenges are real, but they’re not new, says Dustin Burke. Some chains are simple — like buying strawberries from a local farm — but others are complicated, such as the approximately thirty thousand parts from numerous separate manufacturers that it takes to build a car. Even in light of disruptions ranging from natural disasters to pandemics and political instability, Burke asks why companies have yet to make their supply chains more resilient. The answer is straightforward: steep competition and clashing priorities always win when there’s no apparent crisis. Burke suggests developing better ideas that could potentially beat out those constant pressures, which boil down to sharing risk, radical transparency and automated recommendations. He believes that with the assistance of AI and machine learning today, companies (paired by need) could share resource costs and help create a more resilient, efficient tomorrow.
Charlotte Degot, green technologist
Big Idea: To reduce emissions, companies need to measure them accurately — and AI can help.
How? Colorless, scentless and invisible — greenhouse gases are hard to measure, explains Charlotte Degot. But getting an accurate estimate of pollution is vital to setting meaningful goals to reducing it. Enter: artificial intelligence. AI can help process and optimize massive amounts of data to help wean out misinformation and turn the data into useful patterns. For example, Degot points to an international wine and spirits company — from the glass that makes up their bottles to the liquid inside them, they have countless processes to track. Without AI, most of the information is inaccessible to the corporation. But, by having more reliable figures instead of rough estimates, corporations can set meaningful climate targets, identify concrete initiatives and recalculate emissions over time. To put it simply: “You cannot reduce what you cannot measure,” Degot says.
James Rhee shows the value of not only investing dollars in your business, but also time and heart. He speaks at TED@BCG: Recalibrate 2021. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
James Rhee, goodwill strategist
Big idea: Goodwill and kindness can reshape a business for the better.
How? Lots of people are demanding that we rethink capitalism — how we treat our employees and one another. But are we focused on the right things? What really creates value? James Rhee, the former CEO of the fashion brand Ashley Stewart, shares the story of how he pulled the company back from the brink of bankruptcy by cultivating the transformative power of kindness at work. By creating a culture of goodwill, inviting customers into marketing and creative efforts and centering people over profits across all operations, Rhee shows the true value of not only investing dollars, but also time and heart.
Martin Reeves, business strategist
Big idea: Play isn’t just about fun. It’s also a helpful and advantageous business exercise in imagining what could be.
How? Martin Reeves shows how in business, play is not only possible but urgently essential in a world that demands companies reinvent themselves in order to stay afloat. He invites the audience to play a series of games that he uses to get executives to stretch their thinking. These thought experiments inspire a fresh look at business-as-usual by flipping it on its head in ways that both humble and motivate the thinker in the direction of new possibilities. Failures to imagine in business are really failures in leadership, Reeves says. By unlocking and harnessing the innate creativity within, companies have the opportunity to uncover new disruptive strategies and keep a foothold on the future.
Larry Irvin, TED Fellow and education innovator
Big idea: Representation and diversity in teaching is vital to a student’s education. In the US, Black men make up less than three percent of teachers in schools — and this needs to change.
How? While teaching a summer program, Larry Irvin wanted to gain a better understanding of his students. So he asked them the age-old question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The answers he heard from his young students of color existed within the confines of outdated narratives that Irvin is committed to changing by working to increase teacher diversity. He created a program called Brothers Empowered to Teach that provides education, opportunity and job placement through a holistic, people-centered approach. By recruiting and training more Black teachers, educators provide a mirror to their students — and vice versa. “Just one Black male teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade for a low-income Black boy substantially reduces his chances of dropping out of high school by almost 40 percent,” Irvin says.
How should we reimagine work coming out of the pandemic? Debbie Lovich says we must do three key things. She speaks at TED@BCG: Recalibrate 2021. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Debbie Lovich, work futurist
Big idea: We have an opportunity to create a future of work that is more engaging, productive and humane.
How? Over the past 18 months of the pandemic, there’s been no shortage of conversations about the future of work. To Debbie Lovich, it’s abundantly clear that going back to a work life dictated by a fixed time, place and job description doesn’t make any sense. Employees have enjoyed unprecedented autonomy during the pandemic, and they’ve developed great work practices along the way. Now’s the time to bottle those practices and do away with the rigid, sluggish, bureaucratic ways of the past. To get the future of work right, Lovich says we must do three things: first, trust your people (they’ve proven they deserve it); second, be data-driven (survey people to see what they like about the new way of working, and experiment based on that feedback); and third, think beyond the schedule (reimagining, or even eliminating, things like long commutes, recurring meetings and silo work). If we do all this, we can stop contorting our lives around work — and instead reshape work to better fit our lives.
Axel Reinaud, biochar entrepreneur
Big Idea: Biochar is an exciting climate, agricultural and a renewable energy solution that can help farmers increase crop yields while reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
How? Photosynthesis is the most effective form of carbon sequestration … but what happens when plants and trees are burned? All the carbon that was captured by the plants is released back into the atmosphere. Enter: biochar. Biochar is a form of carbon made when organic ingredients are superheated without oxygen. It remains stable for hundreds of years and when sown into soil, its porous structure helps plants retain the important water, nutrients and microbes they need to thrive. Moreover, the production of biochar produces an abundant renewable source of energy. So why isn’t biochar more popular? Axel Reinaud explains that the price of biochar is too high — but things are changing. He outlines three ways to bring biochar to scale: first, improve access to the biomass needed to produce biochar; second, develop more efficient production systems that can create biochar and power a renewable energy grid 24/7; and third, encourage farmers to use biochar more, which would help reduce the amount of damaging fertilizers used and increase crop yields.
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Would you pay two percent more for the carbon-neutral version of things you already buy? Tracing the journey of a lump of coal through the steelmaking supply chain, Jens Burchardt reveals the surprisingly cheap economics of low-carbon products. He speaks at TED@BCG on April 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Evolutions don’t happen overnight. After a year of slowing down and shifting priorities due to the pandemic, we can use this moment to find a better way forward. In a day of talks, interviews and performances, nine speakers and performers explored a range of innovative solutions aimed at addressing the climate crisis, cybersecurity, inequality, trust and more.
The event: TED@BCG: Evolutions is the tenth event TED and Boston Consulting Group have co-hosted to spotlight leading thinkers from around the globe and share their solutions for a better world. Hosted by TED’s Head of Partnerships Lisa Choi Owens, with opening remarks from Rich Lesser, CEO of BCG, and Chris Anderson, Head of TED.
Fun fact: TED@BCG events have generated 138 TED Talks, which have been viewed more 143 million times to date.
Music: Performance by neo-soul songstress MALIA.
The talks in brief:
Marcos Aguiar, digital trust advisor
Big idea: Trust plays a massive role in the success of businesses — and should be designed into their ecosystems.
How? Delivering on a promise or behaving in an expected way is key to earning a customer’s loyalty. Whether you’re scrolling through Facebook, hailing cars via Uber or booking a vacation on Airbnb, each business uses unique elements to win over consumers — oftentimes, with trust as their foundation. How can companies design with trust in mind? Sharing findings from a study that analyzed trust in business ecosystems, Marcos Aguiar offers a toolbox to building systemic trust that consists of seven elements: access; contracts with formalized terms and conditions; incentives to cooperate; control, or gentle guidance, that shapes behavior; transparency; intermediation; and mitigation when mishaps occur. While not all companies need every tool, he says, many will benefit greatly from three to six of them, depending on their industry. Aguiar encourages us all to consider the role trust plays in the platforms we use — and how it can improve our lives beyond them, too.
Anu Puusa, co-op enthusiast
Big idea: Cooperatives — businesses or other enterprises jointly owned, operated and controlled by their members — represent a sustainable model that can achieve long-term social, economic and environmental goals.
How? Cooperatives, also known as co-ops, are the invisible giant of the global economy, says Anu Puusa. Worldwide, there are more than three million co-ops, made up of one billion members, employing 280 million people and selling more than two trillion dollars in goods and services. How exactly do they work? Unlike most businesses, in which certain owners can buy power and influence, a co-op is fully owned by its members, who are also its customers and decision-makers. Each member has one vote, making each member an equal partner and owner in the business — whether the co-op is a farm, grocery store, bank, water supplier or any other organization. Co-ops find that sweet spot between for-profit businesses and the nonprofit world, Puusa says: while they do aim to make money, they also center members’ social and environmental goals and hope to anchor wealth in a community across generations. Because co-ops think in the long term rather than quarter to quarter, creating a sustainable business is the top priority. “Unlike capitalism, the cooperative movement is not broken,” Puusa says. “It just needs better marketing.”
Biotech pioneer Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw talks about equitable access to health care, the Indian biopharma industry and the essential role of international cooperation during the pandemic. She speaks with TED tech curator Simone Ross at TED@BCG on April 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, biotech pioneer, in conversation with TED technology curator Simone Ross
Big idea: Key partnerships, global cooperation and a willingness to experiment with new ideas made COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution possible.
How? Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of Indian biopharmaceutical giant Biocon, discusses the development of COVID-19 vaccines, pointing to India’s critical role in the global vaccine supply chain and championing equitable health care access. Unlike many governments worldwide, the pharmaceutical industry formed key partnerships at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, which enabled the rapid development of vaccines and facilitated a wide-ranging distribution effort. Small biotech companies, such as BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax were first to create innovative vaccine programs when the virus hit. Importantly, they partnered with established pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson to fund, license and develop the vaccines and tap into the necessary networks and supply chains to distribute them. What’s more, Mazumdar-Shaw says, these “big Pharma” companies then partnered with each other to overcome production and manufacturing limitations and supply the world with millions of doses. From these partnerships, as well as equitable distribution initiatives like Cepi, COVAX and the Gates Foundation, she says, we’ve seen growing support for equitable access to health care.
Jens Burchardt, climate impact advocate
Big idea: Saving the planet doesn’t have to break the bank. By spending one to two percent more on eco-friendly products, consumers can help shift industries towards massively smaller (or non-existent) carbon footprints.
How? The steel industry is a highly competitive market — and a massive emitter of greenhouse gases. From the outset, the cost of transforming steelmaking into a low-carbon process would seem too high and potentially risky for suppliers. Jens Burchardt brings a fresh perspective to the challenge, walking us through the ins and outs of production in “hard-to-abate” (or energy-intensive) sectors. By tweaking the price consumers pay for products, he says, the world could take a huge step forward in lowering carbon emissions — and it may not be as expensive as we think. Using the example of an average European midsize sedan (which sells for approximately 30,000 euros), Burchardt breaks down the cost of materials — separate from assembly, marketing and other aspects of production — and calculates that it makes up only fifteen percent of the car’s total price. Companies could employ a low-carbon supplier and market their product as eco-friendly — for only 500 extra euros for consumers at the point of sale. For many industries, a greener world may not be as unreachable as once thought.
Want to do business in Africa? Emerging markets expert Nomava Zanazo shares four things companies need to understand about African customers. She speaks at TED@BCG on April 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Nomava Zanazo, emerging markets expert
Big idea: A message to businesses: stop assuming and get to know African consumers before you sell to them.
How? When looking to sell a new product or service in a country’s market, companies seek to understand the consumer base before jumping in, inquiring about aspects like shopping habits and brand loyalty. But when it comes to the African continent, they seem to abandon these considerations and lump assumptions broadly across its hyper-diverse 55 countries. Emerging markets expert (and South African) Nomava Zanazo gives a crash course on the everyday African spender. For example, Africans don’t want the cheapest product lines — but they do value brands and are much tech savvier than they’re given credit for. By debunking these misconceptions and myths, Zanazo encourages businesses to respect the African market and stop underestimating its consumers. Want your business to thrive in Africa? “Do the homework,” she says. “My continent is worth it.”
Nadya Bartol, cybersecurity leader
Big idea: We must remove the shame around cybersecurity mistakes in order to have safe digital lives.
How? We like to think of ourselves as confident and tech-savvy digital citizens. But many of us have accidentally downloaded a virus, been phished or had our identities stolen. Even software developers sometimes write insecure code without realizing it. These mistakes shouldn’t be hidden but highlighted in order to thwart future cybersecurity attacks, says Nadya Bartol — and we must start by lifting the shame. Much of modern life is computerized, from cars we drive to pacemakers that save lives, and anything digitally interconnected can be hacked. How do we truly stay safe in a digital world? Bartol suggests positive reinforcement and celebrated accountability to foster better, healthier cultures of cybersecurity. Only by being open and honest can we create an environment to learn, grow and protect ourselves in our hyperconnected world.
Beth Ford, farmer’s advocate, in conversation with TED business curator Corey Hajim
Big idea: US farmers face a wide range of challenges — from spotty broadband access to mounting climate disruptions. But there are also a variety of exciting solutions aimed at building 21st-century resilience.
How? As the CEO of Land O’Lakes, Beth Ford works to create a future for farmers that’s both environmentally and economically sustainable. Among many initiatives, she’s focused on expanding technology infrastructure, specifically by pushing for greater broadband access in rural areas. Many farming communities have little to no internet access, leaving children without remote learning opportunities and farmers without modern agricultural tech that requires bandwidth to operate. Ford is speaking with governments and other stakeholders in order to make broadband access a priority — and establish it as a basic right nationwide. She’s also helping farmers build out sustainable business practices in the face of climate volatility. Her team’s agronomists, for instance, work with farmers to get acre-by-acre insights into soil health; they’re also helping establish carbon credits, whereby farmers who reduce their carbon emissions can sell those offsets to other industries. It’s a climate-friendly approach that’s also profitable, Ford says — part of a wave of initiatives aimed at making farmers part of the solution.
We spend a lot of time trying to gain mastery over a set of skills or knowledge base. Adam Grant shows why it might be better to aspire not for mastery but rather being able to rethink what we think we know. He speaks at TED@BCG on April 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Adam Grant, organizational psychologist
Big idea: Confident humility allows us to remain flexible and rethink a situation, a critical skill in a rapidly changing world.
How? Most of us love trying on new clothes, eating at new restaurants and picking up new hobbies. But when it comes to our goals, identities and habits, we don’t like change — especially if it means giving up. Adam Grant digs into how we can avoid getting stuck in our same old ways of thinking and instead broaden our thought patterns and ourselves, even if it means choosing a path we didn’t originally envision. From an unlikely career as a diver to a fateful hike in Panama and a newfound hobby performing magic tricks, Grant shares examples from his own life that illustrate the confident humility needed to know “when to grit and when to quit.” Understanding when you’re in over your head or simply recognizing that you’re not on the right path is a crucial part of remaining flexible and dodging debilitating tunnel vision, so you can achieve your bigger goals.
Jens Burchardt speaks at TED@BCG, April 8th, 2021. Photo courtesy of TED.
As we usher out 2020 — the (enter superlative of your choice) year — let’s take a moment to look back before we close the door for good. What captured our imaginations, reflected our emotions and sparked our hope for a better tomorrow? From the wisdom of Dolly Parton to the life-saving potential of snail venom to the transformative work of antiracism, here are some of the TED Talks that stayed with us as the world shifted beneath our feet.
Why do people distrust vaccines? Anthropologist Heidi Larson describes how medical rumors originate, spread and fuel resistance to vaccines worldwide.
Host of Radiolab Jad Abumrad gives a captivating talk on truth, difference, storytelling — and Dolly Parton.
A more equal world starts with you. Yes, it’s that simple, says equity advocate Nita Mosby Tyler.
Housewife-turned-politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya shares a beautiful meditation on the link between fearlessness and freedom.
Backed by the real, often-untold story of Rosa Parks, professor David Ikard makes a compelling case for the power and importance of historical accuracy.
Racism makes our economy worse — and not just for people of color. Public policy expert Heather C. McGhee offers a crucial rethink on how we can create a more prosperous world for all.
In a talk that’s part cultural love letter, part history lesson, France Villarta details the legacy of gender fluidity in his native Philippines — and emphasizes the universal beauty of all people, regardless of society’s labels.
For the poor and vulnerable, the health impacts of climate change are already here. Physician Cheryl Holder calls on doctors, politicians and others to build a health care system that incorporates economic and social justice.
Venom can kill … or it can cure. A fascinating talk from marine chemical biologist Mandë Holford on the potential of animal venom to treat human diseases.
Why has there been so little mention of saving Black lives from the climate emergency? David Lammy, a Member of Parliament for Tottenham, England, talks about the link between climate justice and racial justice.
“It shouldn’t be an act of feminism to know how your body works,” says gynecologist and author Jen Gunter. The era of menstrual taboos is over.
Scientists predict climate change will displace more than 180 million people by 2100. Disaster recovery lawyer Colette Pichon Battle lays out how to prepare for this looming crisis of “climate migration.”
In a talk brimming with original illustrations and animations, visual artist Oliver Jeffers offers observations on the “beautiful, fragile drama of human civilization.”
Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, calls on us all to rise to our greatest challenge ever: the “Earthshots,” a set of ambitious objectives to repair the planet.
If you: do laundry, are (or have been) pregnant, shop for your household or do similar labor, then by GDP standards, you’re unproductive. Economist Marilyn Waring explains her vision for a better way to measure growth.
The fossil fuel industry is waiting for someone else to pay for climate change. Climate science scholar Myles Allen shares a bold plan for the oil and gas companies responsible for the climate crisis to clean up the mess they made — and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Just like the rest of 2020, the aftermath of the US presidential election was unprecedented. Learn why the concession speech is one of the most important safeguards for democracy in this prescient talk from lawyer and political commentator Van Jones.
The way we’ve been doing business is hurting us and the environment. What’s the fix? Economist Rebecca Henderson calls for a reimagined capitalism where companies pay for the climate damage they cause.
Author and historian Ibram X. Kendi explains how the concept of antiracism can help you actively uproot injustice and inequality in the world — and replace it with love.
A stunning talk and performance from theater artist Daniel Alexander Jones on how coming undone can be the first step toward transformation.
How do we eradicate racial bias? Psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt explores how interrupting and adding friction to our thought processes could address the unfair targeting Black people face at all levels of society.
“Complete silence is very addictive,” says Rebecca Knill, a writer who has cochlear implants that enable her to hear. With humor and charm, she explores the evolution of assistive listening technology — and how we could build a more inclusive world.
Starbucks COO Rosalind G. Brewer invites business leaders to rethink what it takes to create a truly inclusive workplace — and lays out how to bring real, grassroots change to boardrooms and communities alike.
It takes more than rhetoric or elegance to win a dispute. US Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal shares stories of some of his most impactful cases — and the key to crafting a persuasive and successful argument in (and out of) court.
Get the inside story behind Thomas Crowther’s headline-making research on reforestation — and the platform he created to help restore the biodiversity of Earth, everywhere.
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For the penultimate session of TED2020, an exploration of amazing forces shaping the future — from cancer-fighting venom to spacecraft powered by lasers and much more. Below, a recap of the night’s talks and performances.
Amanda Gorman shares a powerful spoken-word poem about ending the devastation of climate change. She speaks at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Amanda Gorman, poet
Big idea: We all have the power to end the devastation of climate change. Let’s get to work.
How? In a stunning spoken word poem, Gorman calls on us all to recognize the urgency of climate action. She weaves vivid imagery and metaphors to underscore searing insights on the state of global environmental damage, and hope for a sustainable future. Gorman encourages us to use our unique abilities and expertise to reverse the harm of climate change, and says that we all have a place in the movement. “We see the face of a planet anew, we relish the view … which inspires us to ask deeply, wholly, what can we do,” she says.
“Someday, snail venom might just save your life,” says molecular chemist Mandë Holford. She speaks at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Mandë Holford, molecular chemist
Big Idea: Venom can kill … or it can cure. We’re now learning how it can be used as a force for good.
How: Chemist Mandë Holford is investigating the power of venom to treat diseases and disorders, like certain cancers. Beyond common venomous snakes and spiders, Holford introduces us to the underbelly of the animal kingdom: killer snails, deadly platypuses and assassin Gila monsters. But she sees these creatures as both the supervillain and superhero, and she’s harnessing their venom to transform lives. She explains that venom’s power lies in its complex mixture of deadly peptides — a “cluster bomb” that attacks specific physiological targets like the blood, brains or membranes of the victim. Holford’s research focuses on discovering and utilizing these peptides to create therapeutics that disrupt cancer cells communications, particularly liver cancer. Venomics, or the study of venom, is an especially attractive area of research because poison has been honed and tested by nature over millennia, making for particularly potent, successful concoctions. “Someday, snail venom might just save your life,” Holford says.
Physicist Philip Lubin investigates how to use concentrated light as a propellant for spacecraft. He speaks at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Philip Lubin, physicist
Big idea: By using massive quantities of concentrated light as a propellant, we can fuel spacecraft to journey to explore solar systems beyond our own.
How? We’re making huge strides in the field of laser technology that will enable us to transform how we launch and fuel spacecraft. Much like wind in a sailboat, light can be concentrated as energy to push spacecraft towards new and farther destinations. This would work by synchronizing enormous numbers of lasers into “phased arrays”, which may be as large as a city, to build up the power necessary for inter-solar system flight. Though spacecraft may initially only be as big as a human hand, the discoveries this technology could reveal are awe-inspiring. Traveling to another solar system could alter our fundamental understanding of life itself — and breakthroughs in this technology could revolutionize how we live on Earth as well. “Everything is profound in life. The same is true of the lowly photon which we use to see every day,” says Lubin, “But when we look outside and imagine something vastly greater, we can imagine things which are extraordinary. The ability to go to another star is one of those extraordinary capabilities.”
Antonio Muñoz Fernández plays “Taranta” and “Calblanque” at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Guitarist and composer Antonio Muñoz Fernández keeps the session moving and lively with performances of plays “Taranta” and “Calblanque.”
“What would America look like if everyone had a seat at the table?” asks Shari Davis, executive director of the Participatory Budgeting Project. She speaks at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Shari Davis, executive director, Participatory Budgeting Project
Big idea: We have to throw out the top-down processes that have hobbled democracy, and throw the doors of government open so wide that all kinds of people will be inspired to claim the reins.
How? For most of US history, government has overwhelmingly consisted of rich white men, who installed systems rewarding people like themselves, says Davis. “What would America look like if everyone had a seat at the table?” she asks. Participatory budgeting is a grassroots democratic initiative that empowers marginalized voices from young queer communities, communities of color and the economically disenfranchised, by giving them chunks of city budgets to solve problems close to their hearts. In Boston, this came about via Youth Lead the Change, an initiative to increase education, expand technology access to students and give graffiti artists a space to legally practice their art. By nurturing new political leaders drawn from those historically denied governmental access, participatory budgeting has become a global phenomenon with the potential to transform democracy. “Participatory budgeting is actually about collective radical imagination,” Davis says. Everyone has a role to play in PB, and it works because it allows community members to craft real solutions to real problems. It provides the infrastructure for the promise of government.”
“If machines can learn, or process memories, can they also dream, hallucinate, involuntarily remember or make connections between multiple people’s dreams?” asks media artist Refik Anadol. He speaks at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Refik Anadol, media artist
Big idea: What does it mean to be an AI in the 21st century?
How? The year is simultaneously 1991 and 2019, media artist Refik Anadol having just seen Blade Runner and its sci-fi future for the first time — an experience which sets in motion his inspired career of using architectural spaces as canvases to make buildings dream and hallucinate via AI. Anadol brings us on a journey from that formative childhood moment to his studio’s collaborations with architects, data scientists, neuroscientists, musicians and storytellers in experimenting with ways of augmenting our perceptions to collide the virtual and physical worlds. Each project showcases the poetic, ethereal and dynamic power of data — such as “Archive Dreaming,” conceptualizing vast knowledge in the age of AI; “Machine Hallucination,” an exploration of time and space; and “Melting Memories,” which visualizes the moment of remembering — evoking a meditative experience beyond human imagination while simultaneously enveloping you into the mind of the machine. “If machines can learn, or process memories, can they also dream, hallucinate, involuntarily remember or make connections between multiple people’s dreams?” Anadol asks.
“Most people think technology and they think that’s going to lead to unethical behavior. I think it’s exactly the opposite: I think new technologies lead to more ethical behaviors,” says futurist Juan Enriquez. He speaks at TED2020: Uncharted on July 2, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Juan Enriquez, futurist
Big idea: Tech doesn’t always lead to unethical behavior.
How? By making problematic systems obsolete, technology is actually a powerful force for ethical change. If we embrace these changes, we’ll put ourselves on the right side of history for issues like civil rights, climate change and economic justice. As ethics continue to evolve over time, technology’s explosive growth will lead to an exponential transformation of culture. Some examples: our tolerance of wasteful meat production will soon change with lab-created, cruelty-free beef, and as tech revolutionizes renewable energy, we will naturally leave behind coal and oil. “Technology is moving at exponential rates,” Enriquez says. “Technology is changing ethics, and therefore one might expect ethics could change exponentially, and that means your notion of right and wrong changes exponentially.”
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Twelve mainstage sessions, two rocking sessions of talks from TED Fellows, a special session of TED Unplugged, a live podcast recording and much more amounted to an unforgettable week at TED2019. (Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED)
If we learned anything at TED2019, it’s that life doesn’t fit into simple narratives, and that there are no simple answers to the big problems we’re facing. But we can use those problems, our discomfort and even our anger to find the energy to make change.
Twelve mainstage sessions, two rocking sessions of talks from TED Fellows, a special session of TED Unplugged, a live podcast recording and much more amounted to an unforgettable week. Any attempt to summarize it all will be woefully incomplete, but here’s a try.
What happened to the internet? Once a place of so much promise, now a source of so much division. Journalist Carole Cadwalldr opened the conference with an electrifying talk on Facebook’s role in Brexit — and how the same players were involved in 2016 US presidential election. She traced the contours of the growing threat social media poses to democracy and calls out the “gods of Silicon Valley,” naming names — one of whom, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, sat down to talk with TED’s Chris Anderson and Whitney Pennington Rodgers the following day. Dorsey acknowledged problems with harassment on the platform and explained some of the work his team is doing to make it better.
Hannah Gadsby broke comedy. Her words, and she makes a compelling case in one of the most talked-about moments of the conference. Look for her talk release on April 29.
Humanity strikes back! Eight huge Audacious Project–supported ideas launched at TED this year. From a groundbreaking project at the Center for Policing Equity to work with police and communities and to collect data on police behavior and set goals to make it more fair … to a new effort to sequester carbon in soil … and more, you can help support these projects and change the world for good.
10 years of TED Fellows. Celebrating a decade of the program in two sessions of exuberant talks, the TED Fellows showed some wow moments, including Brandon Clifford‘s discovery of how to make multi-ton stones “dance,” Arnav Kapur‘s wearable device that allows for silent speech and Skylar Tibbits‘s giant canvas bladders that might save sinking islands. At the same time, they reminded us some of the pain that can exist behind breakthroughs, with Brandon Anderson speaking poignantly about the loss of his life partner during a routine traffic stop — which inspired him to develop a first-of-its-kind platform to report police conduct — and Erika Hamden opening up about her team’s failures in building FIREBall, a UV telescope that can observe extremely faint light from huge clouds of hydrogen gas in and around galaxies.
Connection is a superpower. If you haven’t heard of the blockbuster megahit Crazy Rich Asians, then, well, it’s possible you’re living under a large rock. Whether or not you saw it, the film’s director, Jon M. Chu, has a TED Talk about connection — to his family, his culture, to film and technology — that goes far beyond the movie. The theme of connection rang throughout the conference: from Priya Parker’s three easy steps to turn our everyday get-togethers into meaningful and transformative gatherings to Barbara J. King’s heartbreaking examples of grief in the animal kingdom to Sarah Kay’s epic opening poem about the universe — and our place in it.
Meet DigiDoug. TED takes tech seriously, and Doug Roble took us up on it, debuting his team’s breakthrough motion capture tech, which renders a 3D likeness (known as Digital Doug) in real time — down to Roble’s facial expressions, pores and wrinkles. The demo felt like one of those shifts, where you see what the future’s going to look like. Outside the theater, attendees got a chance to interact with DigiDoug in VR, talking on a virtual TED stage with Roble (who is actually in another room close by, responding to the “digital you” in real time).
New hope for political leadership. There was no shortage of calls to fix the broken, leaderless systems at the top of world governments throughout the conference. The optimists in the room won out during Michael Tubbs’s epic talk about building new civic structures. The mayor of Stockton, California (and the youngest ever of a city with more than 100,000 people), Tubbs shared his vision for governing strategies that recognize systems that place people in compromised situations — and that view impoverished and violent communities with compassion. “When we see someone different from us, they should not reflect our fears, our anxieties, our insecurities, the prejudices we have been taught, our biases. We should see ourselves. We should see our common humanity.”
Exploring the final frontier. A surprise appearance from Sheperd Doeleman, head of the Event Horizon Telescope — whose work produced the historic, first-ever image of a black hole that made waves last week — sent the conference deep into space, and it never really came back. Astrophysicist Juna Kollmeier, head of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, shared her work mapping the observable universe — a feat, she says, that we’ll complete in just 40 years. “Think about it. We’ve gone from arranging clamshells to general relativity in a few thousand years,” she says. “If we hang on 40 more, we can map all the galaxies.” And in the Fellows talks, Moriba Jah, a space environmentalist and inventor of the orbital garbage monitoring software AstriaGraph, showed how space has a garbage problem. Around half a million objects, some as small as a speck of paint, orbit the Earth — and there’s no consensus on what’s in orbit or where.
Go to sleep. A lack of sleep can lead to more than drowsiness and irritability. Matt Walker shared how it can be deadly as well, leading to an increased risk of Parkinson’s, cancer, heart attacks and more. “Sleep is the Swiss army knife of health,” he says, “It’s not an optional lifestyle luxury. Sleep is a non-negotiable biological necessity. It is your life support system, and it is mother nature’s best effort yet at immortality.”
The amazing group of speakers who shared their world-changing ideas on the mainstage at TED2019: Bigger Than Us, April 15 – 19, 2019 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
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Executive Director of the Audacious Project Anna Verghese and Head of TED Chris Anderson help unveil eight big, bold projects that are receiving the support of The Audacious Project in 2019. They speak at TED2019: Bigger Than Us, on April 16, 2019 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
In the program guide for Session 4 of TED2019, “Audacity,” a group of eight mysterious figures stands silhouetted in black. That’s because the speakers in this session were a total surprise — to those in TED audience and to those tuning in via Twitter Live from around the world. These eight speakers all have big, bold ideas for global change — and they’re representing eight projects that are receiving the support of The Audacious Project in 2019. Over the next three to six years, these ideas have the potential to change broken systems and impact millions of lives in a positive way. And each needs your support. After each idea, find out how you can get involved.
The event: Session 4 of TED2019, hosted by Chris Anderson, Head of TED, and Anna Verghese, Executive Director of the Audacious Project
When and where: Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 5pm, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC
Speakers: Phillip Atiba Goff, Joanne Chory, Claudia Miner, David Baker, Safeena Husain and Julie Cordua, with special videos on ideas from Ellen Agler and Mark Tercek
Music: Emeli Sandé singing three beautiful songs: “You Are Not Alone,” “Extraordinary Being” and “Read All About It Part III”
The talks in brief:
“When we change the definition of racism from attitudes to behaviors, we transform that problem from impossible to solvable,” says Phillip Atiba Goff, president of the Center for Policing Equity. He speaks at TED2019: Bigger Than Us, on April 16, 2019 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Phillip Atiba Goff, behavioral scientist and president of the Center for Policing Equity
Joanne Chory, plant biologist and director of the Plant Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
In this jar, there are 200 roundworms — because that’s the number that might be found in the belly of one child with an intestinal worm infection. Ellen Agler, the CEO of the END Fund, has a big plan to end disease from worms. (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
Ellen Agler, public health leader, CEO of the END Fund and author of Under the Big Tree
Claudia Miner, historian, education entrepreneur and executive director of Waterford’s UPSTART project
At the Institute for Protein Design, biochemist David Baker and his team are working on five grand challenges: including developing a universal flu vaccine that you would only need to take once. (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine
Mark Tercek, global environmental leader and CEO of The Nature Conservancy
Safeena Husain, executive director of Educate Girls, plans to enroll a staggering 1.6 million girls in school in the next five years. She speaks at TED2019: Bigger Than Us, on April 16, 2019 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
Safeena Husain, social entrepreneur and executive director of Educate Girls
“This Audacious project is a declaration of war against one of humanity’s darkest evils,” says Julie Cordua, social entrepreneur and CEO of Thorn. She speaks at TED2019: Bigger Than Us, on April 16, 2019 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Julia Cordua, social entrepreneur and CEO of Thorn
And with these eight projects revealed, it’s time for the audience to get involved. Each project has a significant gap between what’s been committed to it so far and what’s needed to complete it. Anderson and Verghese called on the audience at the TED Conference and watching online to donate to the projects that most moved them, and pledges started rolling in, scrolling on the screens on stage.
Together, these eight projects will require $567 million in funding. And between presentations to donor groups earlier in the year and pledges made tonight, they have now raised $283,561,215. Each project is at least halfway funded, and will able to launch. Now … to watch them in action.
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As usual, the TED community is making headlines. Below, some highlights.
A close look at the beauty and pain of hospice care. End Game, a short documentary that follows the last few days of terminally ill patients, is up for an Oscar this weekend. The heart-rending film highlights the work of doctors and caregivers — including BJ Miller — reimagining what palliative care and hospice work can be. In a column for Hollywood Reporter, Motion Picture and Television Fund head Bob Beitcher says, “End Game’s Dr. BJ Miller embodies the commitment and compassion that is crucial to cutting-edge palliative care, helping families and patients travel the difficult journey together.” The film is streaming on Netflix. (Watch Miller’s TED Talk.)
Also up for an Oscar? Period. End of Sentence. Entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham kickstarted a cultural revolution in India with his sanitary pad machine, and now the tale is a compelling Netflix documentary. The Oscar-nominated short doc explains how Muruganantham’s invention empowers rural women, providing them with both clean sanitary napkins and reliable employment, while reducing stigma. “The strongest creature created by God in the world is not the lion, not the elephant, not the tiger … the girl,” says Muruganantham in the film. (Watch Muruganantham’s TED Talk.)
Nita Farahany co-leads AI seminars for congressional staff. Alongside Vincent Conitzer and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, ethicist Nita Farahany kicked off the three-part Duke in DC seminar series on artificial intelligence for a congressional audience. Farahany, a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University, spoke on the potential impact of AI and human collaboration on policy. Questions ranged from predictive policing methodologies to the role of government in AI development. As quoted on Duke’s website, Farahany said, “Because AI is still in such a nascent phase of its development, and because we as a society are going to increasingly face ethical and legal dilemmas from its use and development, there is an important role for government in the field.” (Watch Farahany’s TED Talk.)
Stroke of insight: A choral work based on Jill Bolte Taylor. Identical twin composers the Brothers Balliett have written a new three-part piece for a choral orchestral and mezzo soprano called Fifty Trillion Molecular Geniuses — based on neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor’s book and TED Talk. The Cecilia Choir of New York will premiere the piece with soloist Amanda Lynn Bottoms at Carnegie Hall in early May. Tickets are available now. (Watch Taylor’s TED Talk.)
Mark Kelly runs for US Senate. Retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly has launched a campaign in Arizona’s 2020 senatorial special election. Kelly and his wife, former congressional rep Gabby Giffords, announced the campaign with a video highlighting Kelly’s career as an astronaut and pilot, his family roots and his pivot toward gun control activism following an assassination attempt on Giffords in 2011. Kelly describes the issues he cares for most including health care, job and economic growth and the environment. “We’ve seen this retreat from science and data and facts, and if we don’t take these issues seriously, we can’t solve these problems,” he says. (Watch Kelly and Giffords’ TED Talk.)
The Explorers Club Medal awarded to Kenneth Lacovara. For his discoveries of some quite remarkable dinosaur fossils, paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara will be honored at the 115th Explorers Club Annual Dinner. The Explorers Club Medal, the group’s highest award, is presented to those who have made “extraordinary contributions directly in the field of exploration, scientific research, or to the welfare of humanity.” Other TEDsters who have received the honor include Sylvia Earle, Jane Goodall and James Cameron. In a statement for Rowan University Lacovara said, “I’m honored and humbled to be joining a group of medalists that includes so many of the heroes and adventurers who inspired me as a child … I am fortunate to have played a small role in uncovering our wondrous past.” (Watch Lacovara’s TED Talk or see his TED Book, Why Dinosaurs Matter.)
Have a news item to share? Write us at contact@ted.com and you may see it included in this round-up.
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For a second year, TED and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, have partnered to explore the art of possibility. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
The possibilities life affords us are endless. We can find them everywhere, at the micro and macro levels and across all fields. Do you see them? Look closer: they are there every time we use our curiosity and imagination to explore and try new things.
For a second year, TED and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, have partnered to explore the art of possibility. At this year’s TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, hosted by TED’s international curator Bruno Giussani at Staatstheater Darmstadt on November 26, 2018, a lineup of 13 visionaries, dreamers and changemakers shared the possibilities of past, present and future.
After opening remarks from Stefan Oschmann, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, the talks of Session 1 kick off.
Sharks could be our newest weapons against cancer, says antibody researcher Doreen Koenning. She shares her work at TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
Can sharks help us fight cancer? The time-worn cliché, “If you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras,” is meant to remind us that the most obvious solution is usually the correct ones. Yet antibody researcher Doreen Koenning has dedicated her career to doing exactly the opposite — and in the process, she’s uncovered surprising weapons that may help us fight cancer. Koenning studies sharks — specifically, their antibodies, which are unusually stable and robust, and which interact with a wide variety of complex molecules. What does this have to do with cancer? Medicines made from human antibodies help us battle cancer — but since they blend into our immune system so well, it’s difficult to track their side effects. Shark antibodies, by contrast, stand out like a sore thumb. Because of this, they could become a valuable tool for neglected diseases and clinical drug trials — and potentially create a new breed of cancer medicines. In the end, Koenning reminds us that we can find useful molecules in many other species, each of them having very special traits. So our search for “zebras” shouldn’t stop at the shark tank.
By bridging immunology and biology, we can engineer vaccines that evolve alongside the superbugs, says pharmacist Vikas Jaitely. He speaks at TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
We can fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs with a new class of vaccines. We urgently need to revamp our approach to developing solutions for bacterial diseases, says pharmacist Vikas Jaitely. Deadly superbugs like MRSA and Clostridium difficile are quickly evolving to resist antibiotics by continuously mutating their genes and even borrowing stronger DNA from other bacteria. Although medical science is trying to keep up, these strains are progressing at a much faster rate than our antibiotics; by 2050, superbugs could claim up to 10 million lives a year globally. Jaitely proposes a new source of help: learning directly from the bacteria and developing what he calls an “ecosystem of evolving vaccines” that can be rapidly modified to target ever-changing bacteria strains. Jaitely says that by modeling superbug behavior and tracking the most probable adaptations (similar to how we approach the flu virus), we can engineer vaccines that evolve alongside the superbugs, functioning as protective shields in our bodies. By “bridging immunology and biology,” he concludes, “we can remove these bugs’ superpowers through the power of our own immune systems, fully trained by these new vaccines.”
What your breath could reveal about your health. There’s no better way to stop a disease than catching and treating it early, before symptoms show. That’s the whole point of medical screening techniques like radiography, MRIs and blood and tissue tests. But there’s a medium with overlooked potential for medical analysis: your breath. Technologist Julian Burschka shares the latest in the art of breath analysis — the screening of the volatile organic compounds we exhale — and how it can be used to better understand the biochemical processes happening inside a patient’s body. Burschka explains how research on breath analysis has skyrocketed recently, and that there’s substantial data suggesting that diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes and even colon cancer can be detected in our breath. As the technology matures, the decision of whether or not to treat a disease based on early detection will still be debated, Burschka says. But it’s opening up exciting new possibilities like the creation of longitudinal data that could track the same patient over her lifetime, enabling doctors to detect abnormalities based on a patient’s own medical history, not the average population. “Breath analysis should provide us with a powerful tool not only to proactively detect specific diseases, but also to predict and ultimately prevent them,” Burschka says.
The possibilities of dynamic lighting. Light is all around us, yet many of us don’t realize how much of an effect it has on our behavior and productivity. Lighting researcher Sarah Klein believes we can use lighting to improve our daily lives. Lighting is often chosen with installation costs in mind — not designed to help us feel our best. Klein thinks we should change that approach and make it work with our biological needs. She suggests a “dynamic light system” — a network of adjustable, condition-specific LED lights that NASA uses to help their astronauts get the right amount of sleep. This kind of solution isn’t just for astronauts — it can be useful back on Earth, too, Klein says. For example, a dynamic light system could help travelers cope with jetlag on airplanes and enable people to heal faster in hospitals. Now that we know the impact that light has on us, she says, “We can create a healthier environment for our colleagues, our friends, our families — and ultimately ourselves.”
The impact of a TED Talk, one year later. In a personal, eye-opening talk at last year’s TED@Merck, patient advocate Scott Williams highlighted the invaluable role of informal caregivers — those friends and relatives who go the extra mile for their loved ones in need. More than a million views later, Williams is back on the TED stage, discussing the impact of his talk both within Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and on the general public. Since the talk, the company has launched a program called Embracing Carers that supports informal caregivers, and people from around the world have reached out to Williams to share their stories and perspectives. Now, Williams and Embracing Carers are partnering with like-minded organizations, such as Eurocarers and the American Cancer Society (and actor Rob Lowe!), to share tools and resources. “This journey generated interest and brought people together,” Williams says. “It sparked a dynamic conversation about the situation of carers.”
A grassroots healthcare revolution in Africa. The last several decades have brought revolutionary advances in medical technology — and yet, according to the World Health Organization, half of the world’s population still can’t get basic health care. How can we fix this glaring gap? Inclusive health care advocate Boris A. Hesser believes that the answer lies in community pharmacies, and developing them into bonafide centers of care. Throughout Africa, for example, small pharmacies can be logical local service points for basic medical care and long-term patient outcomes — if they can access the tools they need. Hesser’s team has already built five basic, sustainable facilities around Nairobi that provide preventative care, affordable medication and even refrigeration for medicines. It’s one step in bringing affordable health care to everyone, everywhere.
Scientist Li Wei Tan is passionate about bubbles. At TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, she shares the magic of these soapy spheres. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
The wonderful, surprisingly scientific world of bubbles. Ink formulation scientist Li Wei Tan wants to burst your bubble. It’s actually her job to do just that; when you hold a smartphone, it’s her work that helps give the screen such a crisp, clear quality, by removing the micro- and nano-sized bubbles that want to live in the ink beneath the screen. Tan knows all about the secret world of bubbles — how to remove tiny ones and create the giant bubbles that may have fascinated you as a child — and shares the magic of these soapy spheres. Bubbles are mathematical marvels because they’re constantly seeking geometric perfection, which gives them their shape, Tan says. (Did you know six connected bubbles form a cube in the center?) And these spectacular orbs have influenced industries from manufacturing and shipping (where boats are trying to mimic the bubble-producing tendencies of swimming penguins) to medicine — even down to the tiny bubbles in champagne. “As a scientist who is passionate about bubbles,” she says, “I love to see them, I love to play with them, I love study them, and also I love to drink them.”
Why multitasking works — if we slow it down. “To do two things at once is to do neither,” so the saying goes. But economist and journalist Tim Harford thinks that doing two things at once — or three or even four — is exactly what we should be going for, so long as we slow down to do them right. Harford calls this concept “slow-motion multitasking,” and it’s a pattern of behavior common in highly creative people of all stripes — from Einstein and Darwin to Michael Crichton and Twyla Tharp. Slow-motion multitasking is “when we have several projects in progress at the same time, and we move from one to the other and back again as the mood takes us or the situation demands,” he says. The benefits of this approach are manifold. For instance, creativity often comes from moving an idea out of its original situation and into a new context. As Harford puts it: “It’s easier to think outside the box if you spend some time clambering from one box to another.” What’s more, learning to do one thing may help you do something else. Harford gives the example of medical trainees who became significantly better at analyzing and diagnosing images of eye diseases after spending time studying art. And by balancing several fulfilling projects at once, Harford explains, you’re less likely to get stuck: a setback on one project presents itself as an opportunity to work on another. So how do you keep all these creative pursuits straight in your head? Harford suggests storing related information in separate boxes — whether these are actual physical boxes or digital folders — that can be easily accessed when inspiration strikes. “We can make multitasking work for us, unleashing our natural creativity,” Harford says. “We just need to slow it down.”
Breaking down cultural barriers — with cake. Materials scientist Kathy Vinokurov says that when faced with cultural boundaries in unfamiliar environments, we should be bold and take the first step to bridge those gaps. Born in Russia, Vinokurov moved to Israel as a teenager, where she says she built an imaginary wall between her and her classmates. Fast forward to a new job in Germany later in life and Vinokurov realized she had done the same thing at her workplace. While we can’t control the perceptions others have of us, Vinokurov says, we can control how we communicate and share with those around us. She suggests that when we’re in new settings, we can ease cultural barriers by showing up as our full, authentic selves — and, perhaps, bringing sweet treats from home, like cake. “This opens up the possibility to talk about all the bricks that, if not addressed, may build that wall,” Vinokurov says. While not everyone will immediately open up, she encourages us to spark conversation and “cultural barriers will start to melt away.” Though the tensions of a new workplace can be daunting, sometimes it really is as easy as pie.
By combining AI and blockchain, we could enter an era where we render all data — published and unpublished — searchable and shareable, says complexity specialist Gunjan Bhardwaj. He shares his vision of the future at TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
Technological tools for mining medical data. Complexity specialist Gunjan Bhardwaj begins his talk with a grim statement: “All of us in this room have a friend or a loved one who has suffered from a life-threatening disease.” When faced with this reality, we find ourselves trying to sort through a mountain of medical data to figure out what therapies are available, pinpoint where we can get them and identify the best experts to help. And this mountain is constantly growing; according to a study by Peter Densen: at the present rate, medical knowledge will double itself every 73 days in the year 2020. Doctors and researchers — let alone patients and their families — will find it impossible to attain a cohesive view of this “deep, dense and diverse” data. Bharwaj identifies two potential technological solutions to this problem: artificial intelligence and blockchain. An AI trained in the specialized language of medical science could crawl data and enable users to answer their most pressing questions. And using blockchain to encrypt siloed, proprietary and otherwise unavailable data could allow researchers to share their unpublished findings more securely, sparking innovation. By combining AI and blockchain, we could enter an era where we render all data — published and unpublished — searchable and shareable. “That era is now,” Bharwaj says.
The self-assembling circuits of the future. We’ve all experienced the frustration of an old computer or smartphone grinding to a halt. It’s the circuits to blame. In time, if we don’t develop better hardware for evolving tech like facial recognition and augmented reality, we could hit a point where the mind-blowing potential of software may be limited, warns developer Karl Skjonnemand. Right now, much of our technology runs thanks to transistors — big, hulking machines that after 50 years of continuous reinvention are now smaller than a red blood cell. But Skjonnemand says that we’re reaching their physical limits, while still needing to go smaller. It’s time for a totally different, robust and cost-effective approach inspired by nature and brought to life by science: designing self-assembling materials after membranes and cell structures in order to continue with the spectacular expansion of computing and the digital revolution. “This could even be the dawn of a new era of molecular manufacturing,” says Skjonnemand. “How cool is that?”
What should electric cars sound like? Renzo Vitale designs an automotive system that few of us consider — the sonic environments cars produce. Electric cars, with their low audio footprints, offer some welcome silence in our cities — as well as new dangers, since they can easily sneak up on unsuspecting pedestrians. So what kind of sounds should they make to keep people safe? Instead of an engine sound, Vitale explores “sonic textures that are able to transmit emotion … connecting feelings and frequencies” that “speak to the character and identity of the car” — or “sound genetics.” In practice, this could mean a car that sounds like a harmonious synthesizer reaching crescendo as it accelerates. Vitale is also an artist and a performer, using his automotive environments as blueprints for mind-boggling installations and musical scores. To close of his talk, he plays selections from his piano albums, Storm and Zerospace.
At TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Daniel Sherling shares his work bringing the joy of science to American kids who don’t have access to high-tech facilities. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
How a shipping container sparks students’ curiosity. “How can students get excited about science if they don’t have access to the resources that actually make science fun?” asks science education promoter Daniel Sherling. With his team at MilliporeSigma, Sherling transformed a yellow shipping container into a “Curiosity Cube” — a mobile science lab meant to create an engaging, dynamic learning environment. Inside the Curiosity Cube, students can find technology like programmable robots, 3D printers, interactive microscopes, virtual reality and more. The Cube is strapped to a trailer and travels throughout North America, visiting schools that lack the resources for real hands-on science experiments. This way, he says, interactive science can be brought to the students who need it most. And on weekends, families and students can find the Cube in large city centers or public spaces. It’s open to anyone interested in learning more about science — no matter their age. “If we can expose students to the wonders of science, if we can get them just that much more excited for science class the next day, we truly believe we can have a domino effect,” says Sherling. “Because what students need is the opportunity to see and experience how awesome science is. To feel safe to learn, to build their confidence, and most importantly to have their curiosity sparked.”
Deutsche Philharmonie Merck wrapped up the evening with a piece composed by Ben Palmer in 2018 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. (Photo: Richard Hadley / TED)
“Part II. The Journey Through Time.” After closing remarks from Belén Garijo, CEO Healthcare, at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Deutsche Philharmonie Merck wraps up the evening performing a piece composed by its conductor Ben Palmer in 2018 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the company. This is followed by a second piece by Mikhail Glinka, “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” an overture based on a poem by Pushkin, providing a contemplative melody with toiling bravado, soaring strings and notes of inspiration — which one could imagine as the sounds of a working mind struck by brilliance.
TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany at Staatstheater Darmstadt, November, 26, 2018.
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