TED Community » Timothy Chuang

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• A comment on Conversation: Let's have mandatory military service in the U.S.

  May 10 2011: "Our educational system is turning out citizens who don't understand the military well enough to make informed voting decisions, who don't have meaningful job skills, who have no sense of duty or service, and who have never been a part of something larger than themselves in a meaningful way."
  
  I think the answer to your discontent lies in reshaping or fine-tuning America's public education system then. Mandatory military service may be one solution, but I hardly think it would be the most optimal. Besides - and you can correct me if I'm wrong - I don't think it would be constitutional let alone affordable.
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  A reply on Talk: Hans Rosling: The magic washing machine

  Mar 26 2011: I agree with you Josh. Only one minor comment though, studies do show that giving the impoverished money does elevate their level of happiness, but that's because it helps to improve or ease their basic living conditions. Good words from you.
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  A comment on Talk: Bill Gross on new energy

  Feb 11 2009: This is fascinating Bill. I studied Concentrated Solar Power technologies in my junior year in high school ('05-'06) as part of a year-long Chemistry project and was very curious about this technology's potential in comparison to solar cells.
  
  One thing that I found particularly striking about your talk was the way you mentioned that you used some computer-generated genetic algorithm to conceptualize your solar concentrator's physical design and the result mirrors what we see in nature, flower petals. This reminded me of two other people's works in the field of wind technology and propeller blades.
  
  I don't believe either of them used any genetic algorithm's to conceptualize their improved design of wind turbines and propeller blades, but instead they studied the way air and water flow in say twisters and whirlpools. The man who designed a more efficient propeller blade for boats somehow made a cast from a whirlpool and used that cast(imagine an upside-down vortex) as the basis of his design. Likewise, the man who crafted a new, significantly smaller, and lower maintenance wind-turbine also based his design off of an upside-down, air vortex.
  
  My point is this, I think that scientists/designers/engineers should give more attention to what is physically found in nature and, as you put, give it a twist in the process of seeking improved technological solutions.

• A comment on Talk: Bill Gates: Mosquitos, malaria and education

  Feb 10 2009: To Mr. Hugh Lampert:
  Do you really think that Bill Gates is pursuing mundane topics? Let me ask you, since when did focusing on helping the poor and the less educated serve no higher purpose? Would you just stand by and watch a child die or let a teenager fall into deprivation and poverty because he/she could not get a decent education? By helping those who are bereft of the benefits of modern technology and the best of education, Bill Gates is optimizing the world's potential for even greater productive output and technological advancement.
  
  Think about it. Isn't investing in future generations, where there is clearly a lack of attention, funding, and help, as meaningful, if not more, as investing in technologies that are already currently being attended to by armies of scientists, doctors, and engineers? In case you haven't realized by now, Bill Gates is doing what he simply does best, taking advantage of the best opportunities at the right time. That's what made him not just such a shrewd businessman but the wealthiest man alive.
  
  I think Bill Gates is going in the right direction by charitably giving to humanity's less conspicuous and lucrative concerns.

• A comment on Talk: George Smoot: The design of the universe

  Nov 22 2008: The geometry of the universe and everything in nature is incredible.
  But what I find even more incredible than the beautiful geometry of creation is the fact that we living being ourselves are an evolved aggregation of cells that are trying to fathom and comprehend the intricacies of the universe and creation itself. Existence is so fascinating.
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  A comment on Talk: Newton Aduaka tells the story of Ezra

  Nov 1 2008: Indeed. That was a very moving piece of work you created Mr. Aduaka.
  To think that an entire generation in Africa will have lived through such psychologically traumatizing events is incredible. I wonder though, what can we do for those who have lived through such times to better their world today?

• A comment on Talk: Laura Trice suggests we all say thank you

  Sep 28 2008: Thank you Dr. Trice. You gave me the answer to why I sometimes swallow a thank you to the people closest to me.

• A comment on Talk: Joshua Klein: The intelligence of crows

  Sep 16 2008: I heard somewhere else four or five years back that the Javan Myna, a bird now indigenous to the Southeast Asian nations (i.e. Malaysia and Singapore), could also take a simple wire and fashion it to make hook to pull food out of container. The bird was initially an exotic pet that was introduced to Singapore, but after a while, after they either escaped or were released to the wild, they came to flourish in Singapore's urban environments much like the crow. In fact, they seem to be more adept at living alongside humans in urban settings than the crow.
  In that one part of Mr. Kelin's talk where he showed a crow walking on the street, I thought about how often I see Javan Mynas walking around on the streets and sidewalks in Singapore and Malaysia even in the vicinity of humans. Hmmm.