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Medicine, biology, cosmology, astrology, evolutionary biology, kinesiology, neurology, philosophy, poetry, prose, technology, genetics, therapeutics, and innovation.

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I'm the annoying guy who incessantly posts TED lectures on Facebook...sometimes more than once per day.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +20.70 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A comment on Talk: Mark Shaw: One very dry demo

  Mar 31 2013: Such an incredible application of science. I saw a YouTube video last year which similarly demonstrated the super hydrophobic properties of nanoparticles on a shoe doused with water. Blew my mind. I just a couple of quick questions, apologies if they've already been answered:
  
  Does the hydrophobic properties of the nanoparticles reduce friction? For instance, would a boat move more quickly through water?
  
  What happens when this gets onto a mucous membrane like your eye?
  
  Thanks for the entertaining talk!
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Nina Tandon: Could tissue engineering mean personalized medicine?

  Dec 9 2012: Cool necklace :)
• +3

  A comment on Talk: James Stavridis: A Navy Admiral's thoughts on global security

  Jul 23 2012: How come I have never heard: "The USNS Mercy provides sight for an entire village...tonight, at 11."
  
  I give credit to the forward thinking of its Supreme Commander Admiral Stavridis, opening lines of communication that foster international dialogue have already proven effective. In the last decade, the Eastern world utilized social networking to end several tyrannical dictatorships, despite their government's futile attempts at censorship.
  
  As Jullen Couvreur mentioned below, communication breeds familiarity, helping to "build trust, integration and tolerance." In this case, communication should ultimately bring peace.
  
  However, I'm certain many countries would be wary that NATO's attempt to set up these lines of communication is to control or monitor them. We desperately need new generations to remove such cynicism from their hearts and make the leap toward a global society rather than a secular one.

• A comment on Talk: Neil Harbisson: I listen to color

  Jul 21 2012: This guy makes me smile.

• A reply on Talk: Matt Mills: Image recognition that triggers augmented reality

  Jul 20 2012: Awesome reply man, thank you for pointing out the differences in information presentation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're saying SixthSense and the Google Glasses are basically a personalized means to facilitate tasks and gather information, while Aurasma is like a Twitter/Instagram/Youtube hybrid: where things experienced by the user can be shared to facilitate communication or gather information. Question is then: what will end up being the most useful and/or the most popular?

• A reply on Talk: Mina Bissell: Experiments that point to a new understanding of cancer

  Jul 20 2012: I just ordered five more full tilt textbooks that you are welcome to. Personally, I like a bit of fluff now and again! Education is not always meant to be serious :)

• A reply on Talk: Mina Bissell: Experiments that point to a new understanding of cancer

  Jul 20 2012: Well said, I should have read this before posting above.
• +9

  A comment on Talk: Mina Bissell: Experiments that point to a new understanding of cancer

  Jul 19 2012: Excellent talk, but in reading the comments, I think there are a couple clarifications that need to be made:
  
  Scientists certainly do think cancer is a genetic disease. This is backed by a multitude of cellular evidence indicating that most cancer cells demonstrate nuclear/chromosomal abnormalities, abnormal mitoses, and abnormal DNA content. Additionally, carcinogens (like cigarette smoke or viruses) cause genetic mutations in a cell's DNA. This is a problem especially if the mutation affects a proto-oncogene. A "proto-oncogene" is most typically considered a growth or inhibitory pathway in the cell (look up p53 if you're curious). When a carcinogen causes a mutation to these proto-oncogenes they become problematic "oncogenes." Single oncogene mutations probably occur more frequently than we realize, but through cellular feedback mechanisms, they are often told to undergo apoptosis before causing any problems. However, in a fairly famous paper published by Hanahan and Weinberg in Cell (2000; 100: 57-70), there are several established "changes" that must occur in order to establish a viable cancer cell. In no particular order, these are:
  
  1. Self-sufficiency in growth signals
  2. Insensitivity to anti-growth signals
  3. Evasion of apoptosis
  4. Unrestricted replicative potential
  5. Sustained angiogenesis
  6. Tissue invasion and metastasis
  7. Genetic instability
  
  From this talk, I surmise that Dr Bissell research specifically details the importance of "the microenvironment" - or the loss of coherent communication between cells. Therefore, I'm assuming she would place #1 and #2 in the list above as the paramount cause of cancerous growth. In working to reestablish this communication both in the physical (Form) and in the correct relaying of signals (Function), I believe she will push the boundaries of our understanding of cancer. A lifetime's amount of research (and blood, sweat, and tears) is summed up in this talk, for which we should all be humbled.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Matt Mills: Image recognition that triggers augmented reality

  Jul 19 2012: Is this similar to Sixth Sense technology?

• A reply on Talk: Chris Gerdes: The future race car -- 150mph, and no driver

  Jul 11 2012: Waiting patiently for the hoverboard lecture