GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: technology, neurobiology, brain, Three ways the Brain Creates Meaning, Tom Wujec, streaming video
Information designer Tom Wujec talks through three areas of the brain that help us understand words, images, feelings, connections. In this short talk from TEDU, he asks: How can we best engage our brains to help us better understand big ideas? [6:26]
Take Home message: Creating technology that works intuitively with the way our brains function enhances our ability to solve really complex problems more efficiently.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts.
Technology
Education
Comments
I'm not a fan of videos of talks, interviews or lectures: I like to get my information much more quickly than they can deliver - I simply prefer to read a transcript. One of the reasons is that the ideas presented in most of these videos of talks or lectures are just not worth the time it takes to view the video - often they are not worth the time to scan the transcript. TEDtalks are a bright and shining counterexample to that rule. I have view almost all of the TEDtalks and with no exception did I ever feel that the time was wasted. In fact, in just about every case, I felt that the time invested in watching was just about the best use I could have made of my time.
Posted by: jdhuey | July 11, 2009 2:27 PM
I'd second that emphatically. If you think powerpoint presentations are eyeball rollers, watch some of these TED vids and that expression will take on new meaning. Great example, this latest one. Thanks.
Posted by: doug l | July 11, 2009 4:12 PM
I'd second that emphatically. If you think powerpoint presentations are eyeball rollers, watch some of these TED vids and that expression will take on new meaning. Great example, this latest one. Thanks.
Posted by: doug l | July 11, 2009 4:16 PM
I'd second that emphatically. If you think powerpoint presentations are eyeball rollers, watch some of these TED vids and that expression will take on new meaning. Great example, this latest one. Thanks.
Posted by: doug l | July 11, 2009 4:18 PM