Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions – motion, speech, self-awareness – shut down one by one. This is an astonishing story of a remarkable woman! About Jill Bolte Taylor About TED.COM Originally posted at synaptici.com January 29, […]
Harmony Rocket, King Of Guitars
The Harmony Rocket was my dad’s guitar when he played in a band in the 60s. It was the first guitar I’d ever seen or heard up close. My soul didn’t have a chance.
The Brothel Project: One Strange Journey
I guess I can consider myself a movie star now, even if The Brothel Project is the only film I ever star in. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as nervous as I was in the moments just before the movie started, having not been allowed to see it before its debut on January 31 at the Victoria Film Festival.
Being Broken, Being Human
The book Olive Kitteridge inspires reflections on “what it means to be human”, the power of words, and a broken stained glass window.
Mongolia Adventures and Goat’s Head Soup: Steven Erikson’s Notes on a Crisis
In his Notes on a Crisis, Steven Erikson, best-selling author of Malazan Book of the Fallen series, writes about moving from Canada to the UK, his archeological adventures in Mongolia, and his dicey encounter with goat’s head soup.
Winner Takes All. Again.
Charisma is no longer magic, it’s measurable. So will the winner keep winning if the rest of us can now study her secrets to success? The playing field’s been leveled.
Oh So Human
As far as I know, I am a human. Last time I had an MRI, nobody saw anything alien in my body — or at least nothing that worried them. My blood tests don’t raise eyebrows. It appears my human-ness is valid. But how do I really know?
The Pale Blue Dot
A photo of Earth taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 as it sailed away from us, more than 4 billion miles away, inspired Dr. Carl Sagan to say the following about our home — The Pale Blue Dot.
William Kamkwamba on building a windmill
When he was just 14 years old, Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba built his family an electricity-generating windmill from spare parts, working from rough plans he found in a library book. – from TED.COM I cried happy tears as I watched this remarkable young man make a short presentation about the windmill he built to produce […]