ted

Animations show how you work at the molecular scale (video)

If you've ever wanted to get a glimpse of the microscopic world inside the human body, then Drew Berry is your man.

Berry, whose bio describes him as a biomedical animator, gave a TED talk last year in Sydney showing how molecules interact inside the human body. The computer animations he created--scientifically accurate, by the way--to illustrate those processes are mesmerizing.… Read more

Access TED Talks anywhere, anytime

TED Air gives you on-the-go access to video content from the one of the world's most popular platforms for idea-sharing--TED Conferences. Right from your Android mobile device, you can sift through and watch over 900 TED Talks, share them with friends, or even download them for offline access.

The TED Air interface is clean and simple--just the way we like it. It opens up to a chronological listing of TED Talks, each with title, speaker, topic, video length, and a thumbnail image. Along the bottom of the screen there is a scrolling dock that lets you search by Tag, … Read more

Festo's robo-seagull gets standing O at TED

Germany's Festo wowed the audience at TEDGlobal 2011 in Scotland recently by showing off its flying robot seagull.

The bird is made of carbon fiber and polyurethane foam, weighs about 1 pound, and has a wingspan of some 6.5 feet.

It contains a microcontroller, four servo drives, and a lithium polymer battery. Its wings move in a split-stage helical transmission, and their positions are monitored with sensors that relay data to ground operators via a radio link.

Related link • Leonardo da Vinci would love this robo-bird

The audience at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre applauded when the gull was hand-launched, tentatively flapping its wings and then beating the air to circle above the auditorium.

When it obediently returned to its handlers, it got a standing ovation, and again after a second demonstration. Check it out in the video below. … Read more

Imogen Heap controls music with 'magic gloves'

Grammy Award winner Imogen Heap has a firm grasp on her music. In fact, she's able to perform it with little more than her own hands and one awesome set of gloves.

At a TEDGlobal 2011 event in Edinburgh, Scotland, Heap debuted the "magical musical gloves," which allow her to control music through gestures, in a four-minute performance. The system is connected wirelessly to a laptop that does the actual audio processing.

"The gloves comprise a high-tech musical instrument that enables artists to manipulate multilayered recordings of vocals, acoustic, and virtual instruments live on-stage," says Tom Mitchell of the University of the West of England, who developed the gloves with Heap in mind. "It takes improvisation to a new level and frees the artist from interactions with electronic equipment on-stage."… Read more

Skyhook CEO undaunted by mobile giants

LONDON--Skyhook Wireless, whose technology uses Wi-Fi signals to pinpoint a mobile phone's location, is in something of a tight spot. On the one hand, it's embroiled in a major lawsuit against Google, and on the other, Apple stopped using its services beginning with the iPhone 4.

In other words, the two biggest rising powers in the mobile market are not exactly on the Boston company's side. So perhaps it's a bit surprising that Chief Executive Ted Morgan is as optimistic as he is.

The way Morgan sees it, though, there's plenty of room for … Read more

The 404 794: Where all we are is dust in the wind, dude (podcast)

Babysitting troubles steal Natali away from today's podcast, but Keanu Reeves brings us news about the next "Bill & Ted" sequel and we spin off into the rest of today's rundown, which includes a FaceTime camera glitch, a tilting Safari Easter egg, and a new way to promote viral advertisements.

The 404 Digest for Episode 794

A new "Bill & Ted" is in the works, says Keanu. A supposed FaceTime glitch shows random pictures when you initiate a call. Googling "tilt," "askew," and "slanted" reveals misaligned search results. Hot Wheels erects a clever marketing campaign on a bridge in Columbia. Would you let a company paint an advertisement on your wall? What if they paid your mortgage?

Episode 794 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Ashton Kutcher suffers Twitter hack attack?

This could be an example of being punk'd. Or even meta-punk'd.

But strange tweets have begun to appear on Ashton Kutcher's Twitter feed during the TED conference. And he seems to have done nothing about them.

The first tweet read: ""Ashton, you've been Punk'd. This account is not secure. Dude, where's my SSL?"

SSL--so my fallback engineering encyclopedia, Steve, tells me--stands for Secure Sockets Layer, something that many of those in the know believe Facebook and Twitter should use as a standard.

However, the phantom tweeter doesn't appeared to have … Read more

When YouTube sensation Ted Williams was removed from YouTube

When we see someone else's redemption, it gives us hope for our own.

Perhaps someone will finally see us the way we would like to be seen. Perhaps someone will finally recognize our true talents, rather than, say, the ones we get paid for.

So the story of Ted Williams, the so-called "golden voice," which was first posted on the Web site of the Columbus Dispatch, has moved people to emotive heights. Footage of Williams has been seen by a figure that might now be 15 million people on YouTube.

However, the original video didn't have … Read more

Value of a prime TV episode to Netflix: $100,000?

Netflix is willing to pay big bucks to offer current prime-time TV shows to subscribers of its streaming service, according to a published report.

The Web's top video rental service is offering to pay as much as $100,000 per episode for in-season TV shows, the New York Post reported today. In recent weeks, Netflix has signaled that it will wants to build out the company's library of streaming TV shows.

In the race to deliver movies and TV shows over the Internet, Netflix is far out in front. But the company's burgeoning streaming-video service could stumble, … Read more