About this event: The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. There are many possibilities to understand how to future will look like. It's all thanks to small changes that lead to bigger transformations in a few years from now. Visionaries can see those changes as soon as possible. At this event, there are going to be many important examples of...

What's that too-often quoted aphorism? "Good artists copy; great artists steal"? In this nuanced conversation, biologist and founder of Biomimicry 3.8 Janine Benyus speaks with Tim Brown, chief executive of IDEO, to discuss what's really interesting about borrowing. Tim Brown: As a creative person, I’ve always believed that I can’t be creativ...

In a single year, there are 200-300 million cases of malaria and 50-100 million cases of dengue fever worldwide. So: Why haven't we found a way to effectively kill mosquitos yet? Hadyn Parry presents a fascinating solution: genetically engineering male mosquitos to make them sterile, and releasing the insects into the wild, to cut down on diseas...

About this event: Those who work in the area of sustainability seek to enable our world and its inhabitants to support life in a holistic and enduring manner. But what does sustainability strategy actually look like? Sometimes humans seek to solve problems with complex solutions when a simpler path is best. Dr. Mariappan Jawaharlal of Cal Poly Pomona and the B...

The old take-make-use-lose model of industrial design has depleted resources and dumped waste into the environment. By taking nature as our model and mentor, we can transform manufacturing -- and the earth, says economist Kate Raworth. Traveling through Europe a few years ago, I met Prakash, a student from India who was studying for an advanced...

In a corner of the Vancouver Convention Center -- set against a beautiful backdrop of Vancouver Harbour and the mountains of the North Shore, and right between a comfy simulcast lounge and a pop-up coffee and espresso shop -- it's hard to miss an eye-catching vintage red car. It's the anchor of Altair's exhibit gallery, showing off the possi...

In 2009, futurist and venture capitalist Juan Enriquez had big ideas about how the human species is about to evolve. In his TED Talk that year, The next species of human, he suggested that a new wave of innovation was going to emerge from the science labs -- around concepts that might make our kids very different from us. To bring the talk up to...

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" asks Regina Dugan, then director of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In this breathtaking talk she describes some of the extraordinary projects -- a robotic hummingbird, a prosthetic arm controlled by thought, and, well, the internet -- that her agency has create...

From geese flying through the sky in formation to schools of fish swimming in the ocean, the world's creatures show an efficiency that is the envy of physicists, architects and designers. Writer Gary Ferguson explains the inspiration that we humans can draw from how energy flows in the natural world. More energy falls from the sun in just an ho...

Shea Hembrey explores patterns from nature and myth. A childhood love of nature, and especially birdlife, informs his vision.

Marcus Byrne begins today’s talk with the words:  “What I want to do today is share my passion for poo with you.” But before you delve into a Freudian analysis, you should probably know that Byrne is an entomologist who studies dung beetles, of which there are about 6,000 species across the planet. As Byrne shares, “This animal has a brai...

So what went down at TED on day two? Well, a lot, as it happens. As curator Chris Anderson commented rather tiredly later, "that was the most intense day of TED I can remember, ever." Here, a lightning round-up of some of the day's key moments. Edward Snowden trundles onto stage The first big surprise of the day when a small robot rolled...

Fashion designer and BioCouture founder Suzanne Lee harnesses the labor of microorganisms to grow clothing. Computational architect Skylar Tibbits -- who's setting up a lab at MIT focused on self-assembly technologies and programmable materials -- examines biological systems to develop his methods. We asked them to discuss the directions they're...

TED Studies, created in collaboration with Wiley, are curated video collections — supplemented by rich educational materials — for students, educators and self-guided learners. In Ecofying Cities, speakers reveal ideas about sustainable development (and redevelopment) that aren't all about setting limits, going without or preparing for the worst...

For most of us, trying to picture the future is a futile exercise that leads at best to some bad ideas that should likely never be shared out loud. For people like TED Fellow Chris Woebken, it's why the present exists. Along with Elliott Montgomery, Woebken runs The Extrapolation Factory, a studio devoted to imagining future scenarios. One re...

Clusters of fabric blossoms wave in response to movement, delicately laser-cut wood panels expand and contract in moisture or heat. Elaine Ng Yan Ling's textile and furnishing designs weave the magical movements of nature with manmade technologies, creating functional art that harmonizes urban spaces with the elements. How would you describe ...

About this event: To Attend: click the 'Attend' Button to your right, OR email mcca8940@mylaurier.ca if you do not have facebook. We are hosting the next Live feed of the main TED event and will be tying in other talks that incorporate an interdisciplinary understanding of the world and how we must unite our skills together if we want to effectively tackle the...

Who says homes need to be built out of bricks and mortar? Or that blimps can't be used for public transport? Architect Mitchell Joachim shares his remarkable concepts for creating earth-friendly next-gen urban human habitats. Imagine a future in which dismantled Navy ships create hurricane-proof coastlines for cities; airborne buses collect com...

About this event: Following an audience suggestion from our first pop up TEDxBend Salon our next event will explore the remarkable ways people have looked to our natural world to find solutions to problems and challenges. These range from examining how insects do some of the crazy things they do to trying to understand how a shark sees and how that might help us ...

Smart materials artist + designer

When we throw away our plastic trash, where does it go? In this hard-hitting talk, Van Jones shows us how our throwaway culture hits poor people and poor countries "first and worst," with consequences we all share no matter where we live. He offers some ways to reclaim our planet from plastic garbage.

Here's a huge list of TED speaker-recommended books, with all the diversity of titles and topics you might expect. No matter your mood, preference or occasion, we’ve got you covered. When you’re lying in the sun Any book by Isaac Asimov I have stacks of collections of science-fiction short stories. I grab these before getting on a long f...

Our descendants own the future, but the decisions and actions we make now will tremendously impact generations to come, says philosopher Roman Krznaric. From a global campaign to grant legal personhood to nature to a groundbreaking lawsuit by a coalition of young activists, Krznaric shares examples of ways we can become good ancestors -- or, as ...

Octopus, squid and cuttlefish -- collectively known as cephalopods -- have strange, massive, distributed brains. What do they do with all that neural power? Dive into the ocean with marine biologist Roger Hanlon, who shares astonishing footage of the camouflaging abilities of cephalopods, which can change their skin color and texture in a flash....

What if robots could build and optimize themselves -- with little to no help from humans? Computer scientist Emma Hart is working on a new technology that could make "artificial evolution" possible. She explains how the three ingredients of biological evolution can be replicated digitally to build robots that can self-assemble and adapt to any e...

Natsai Audrey Chieza is a designer on a mission -- to reduce pollution in the fashion industry while creating amazing new things to wear. In her lab, she noticed that the bacteria Streptomyces coelicolor makes a striking red-purple pigment, and now she's using it to develop bold, color-fast fabric dye that cuts down on water waste and chemical r...

What do you learn when you sail around the world on your own? When solo sailor Ellen MacArthur circled the globe – carrying everything she needed with her – she came back with new insight into the way the world works, as a place of interlocking cycles and finite resources, where the decisions we make today affect what's left for tomorrow. She pr...

Pleo the robot dinosaur acts like a living pet -- exploring, cuddling, playing, reacting and learning. Inventor Caleb Chung talks about Pleo and his wild toy career at EG07, on the week that Pleo shipped to stores for the first time.