Articles in Category: TED Talks (Individual)

 


Jane Chen: A Warm Embrace That Saves Lives

Susan notes: Thanks to TED for making TED Talks downloadable and embeddable, and for providing the biographical information that goes along with them.

jane-chen.jpgIn the developing world, access to incubators is limited by cost and distance, and millions of premature babies die each year. TED Fellow Jane Chen shows an invention that could keep millions of these infants warm -- a design that's safe, portable, low-cost and life-saving.

Jane Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Embrace, a social enterprise that aims to help the millions of vulnerable babies born every year in developing countries through a low-cost infant warmer. Unlike traditional incubators that cost up to $20,000, the Embrace infant warmer costs less than 1% of this price. The device requires no electricity, has no moving parts, is portable and is safe and intuitive to use.

Cindy Gallop: Make Love Not Porn

Susan notes: Thanks to TED for making TED Talks downloadable and embeddable, and for providing the biographical information that goes along with them. (WARNING: This particular talk contains graphic language that some people may find offensive.)

As a woman who has dated younger men, I applaud Cindy Gallop for standing on a stage in all her power, and speaking her mind. Her controversial, witty and hard-hitting talk is honest, forthright and thought-provoking.

Human beings are sexual beings, we wouldn't be around if we weren't. In my view, sexuality is an aspect of our humanity that deserves to be celebrated, not denigrated.

Personally, I'm not a fan of pornography, I know not everyone shares my opinion. However, I believe we should not be ashamed of loving, respectful, healthy intimate physical relationships between consenting adults. On the other hand, we should be deeply ashamed of the kinds of pornography that demean women, men and/or children, perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes and cheapen acts of physical intimacy that are the core and essence of life itself.

cindy_gallop.jpgAt TED2009, audience member Cindy Gallop gave a 4-minute presentation that became one of the event's most talked about. Speaking from her personal experience, she argued that hardcore pornography had distorted the way a generation of young men think about sex, and talked about how she was fighting back with the launch of a website to correct the myths being propagated.

Andrea Ghez On The Hunt For A Supermassive Black Hole

Susan notes: Thanks to TED for making TED Talks downloadable and embeddable, and for providing the biographical information that goes along with them.

andrea_ghez.jpgWith new data from the Keck telescopes, Andrea Ghez shows how state-of-the-art adaptive optics are helping astronomers understand our universe's most mysterious objects: black holes. She shares evidence that a supermassive black hole may be lurking at the center of the Milky Way.

Seeing the unseen (from 26,000 light-years away) is a specialty of UCLA astronomer Andrea Ghez. From the highest and coldest mountaintop of Hawaii, home of the Keck Observatory telescopes, using bleeding-edge deep-space-scrying technology, Ghez handily confirmed 30 years of suspicions of what lies at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy -- a supermassive black hole, which sends its satellite stars spinning in orbits approaching the speed of light.

Rachel Pike On The Science Behind A Climate Headline

Susan notes: Thanks to TED for making TED Talks downloadable and embeddable, and for providing the biographical information that goes along with them.

rachel_pike.jpgIn 4 minutes, atmospheric chemist Rachel Pike provides a glimpse of the massive scientific effort behind the bold headlines on climate change, with her team -- one of thousands who contributed -- taking a risky flight over the rainforest in pursuit of data on a key molecule.

Rachel Pike knows the intricacies of climate research -- the laborious, exacting and subtle techniques behind findings that end up in IPCC reports and, later, news headlines.

Stefana Broadbent On How The Internet Enables Intimacy

Susan notes: Thanks to TED for making TED Talks downloadable and embeddable, and for providing the biographical information that goes along with them.

stefana_broadbent.jpgWe worry that IM, texting, Facebook are spoiling human intimacy, but Stefana Broadbent's research shows how communication tech is capable of cultivating deeper relationships, bringing love across barriers like distance and workplace rules.

Stefana Broadbent, a cognitive scientist, has spent decades observing people as they use technology, both at home and in complex workspaces such as air-traffic control towers. She looks at the way we use our brand-new tools, and at the evolving practices for each tool (for instance, you might phone your mother, but text your spouse; IM with a co-worker, but tweet among friends) that speak volumes on the way we think about our relationships.