TED: David Blaine: How I Held My Breath For 17 Min
Aug 15
In this highly personal talk from TEDMED, magician and stuntman David Blaine describes what it took to hold his breath underwater for 17 minutes — a world record (only two minutes shorter than this entire talk!) — and what his often death-defying work means to him…
Eric Whitacre: A Virtual Choir 2,000 Voices Strong
May 05
In a moving and madly viral video last year (see below), composer Eric Whitacre led a virtual choir of singers from around the world. He talks through the creative challenges of making music powered by YouTube, and unveils the first 2 minutes of his new work, “Sleep,” with a video choir of 2,052. The full piece, which premiered April 7, 2011 on YouTube, is also included below…
TED: A Next-Generation Digital Book
May 05
Software developer Mike Matas demos the first full-length interactive book for the iPad — with clever, swipeable video and graphics and some very cool data visualizations to play with. The book is “Our Choice,” Al Gore’s sequel to “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Video: Hans Rosling: 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes
Feb 21
Hans Rosling’s famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport’s commentator’s style to reveal the story of the world’s past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before — using augmented reality animation. In this spectacular section of ‘The Joy of Stats’ he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers — in just four minutes. Plotting life expectancy against income for every country since 1810, Hans shows how the world we live in is radically different from the world most of us imagine…
TED Video: Lesley Hazleton: On Reading The Koran
Jan 18
Lesley Hazleton sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found — as a non-Muslim, a self-identified “tourist” in the Islamic holy book — wasn’t what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in this myth-debunking talk from TEDxRainier…
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor on Gabrielle Giffords
Jan 17
The nation’s hopes soared for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when President Barack Obama reported at a memorial for the victims of the Tucson rampage that she’d opened her eyes, and after Nancy Pelosi witnessed Giffords follow her husband’s commands. But a top neuro-scientist whose miraculous recovery from her own brain trauma inspired a New York Times bestseller and a forthcoming movie warned that friends and family must set aside their ideas of who Giffords was and “embrace the person she will become now.” Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor said in an interview that commands from Giffords’ bedside could do more harm than good, and urged her loved ones to let the Congresswoman sleep and check negative energy at the door…
Video: Viktor Frankl: Why To Believe In Others
Jan 12
In this rare clip from 1972, legendary psychiatrist and Holocaust-survivor Viktor Frankl delivers a powerful message about the human search for meaning — and the most important gift we can give others…
TED: Arianna Huffington: How To Succeed?
Jan 05
In this short talk, Arianna Huffington shares a small idea that can awaken much bigger ones: the power of a good night’s sleep. Instead of bragging about our sleep deficits, she urges us to shut our eyes and see the big picture: We can sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness — and smarter decision-making…
Dan Buettner on Blue Zones, Happiness & Living To Be 100+
Nov 29
Writer and explorer Dan Buettner has spent his life traveling the world in search of answers. His early life consisted of trekking throughout the world on a bicycle, covering thousands of miles in Africa, Asia, South America and beyond. His travels around the world (and on assignment for National Geographic) inspired him to discover and name the globe’s “blue zones,” the countries and societies with the longest life expectancy, the greatest happiness and other strengths. His first book to come out of this research was 2008’s The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, a prescription for life extension that became an international best-seller. Now, Buettner is back with a new book, Thrive, which focuses on happiness in the “blue zones,” and how everyone can attain a better quality of life by following the happiest countries’ examples…
Video: David McCandless: The Beauty Of Data Visualization
Nov 03
David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut — and it may just change the way we see the world.
Amazing Facts About Facebook & Breakups
Nov 03
Chart illustrates the peak break-up times on Facebook: Most breakups are announced on Mondays; A big peak right before Spring Break; People like to start the summer being single; A big peak right before Christmas; The lowest day throughout the whole year is Christmas Day…
Video: Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index
Sep 03Statistician Nic Marks asks why we measure a nation’s success by its productivity — instead of by the happiness and well-being of its people. He introduces the Happy Planet Index, which tracks national well-being against resource use (because a happy life doesn’t have to cost the earth). Which countries rank highest in the HPI? You might be surprised....
