I've been trying to get caught up on the TED talks podcast. Here are some micro-reviews of the best talks I've watched recently, a follow-up to my first post on the subject.
- Richard Dawkins
- Though there are no new ideas in this talk, Dawkins pulls together quantum theory and evolutionary biology to explain how narrow our slice of reality really is.
- Aubrey de Grey
- Makes a well-reasoned case that 'Ending Aging' is challenge that biomedicine can, and should, tackle.
- Keith Barry
- Magician / mentalist Keith Barry was stupendous. I'm still trying to figure out how he did those tricks. In the one at the end where he's smashing the paper cups, I'm gonna take a stab and guess that from his angle, he can see which cup has a nail under it. When he's driving the car blind-folded maybe he has driven the exact route so many times, gradually decreasing his vision, that he gets to where he can do it. I could be completely wrong of course....
- Nathan Mrhyvold
- I didn't think I'd like the former Microsofter and intellectual property miner. But I was really blown away with the diversity of his interests. You've gotta admit that he lives an amazing life. And hey, check out the whale penises.
- Susan Blackmore
- Lays down a solid foundation for memetics in this highly thought-provoking talk.
- Peter Diamandis
- Just a real brief slideshow of Stephen Hawking's zero-G flight, which was cool to see. Hopefully there will be a talk from him on the X-Prize or space entrepreneurship at some point.
- George Dyson
- Shows some amazing log entries and photos of the first real computer hackers, in the 1950's at Princeton.
- Mark Bittman
- Although he admits to not being a vegetarian, he puts forth a damning case on the industrialization of food, especially the wastefulness of the beef industry. Although he comes off sounding like the stereotypical self-righteous Leftist, it's hard to argue with his conclusions.
