TED Tuesday: Healthy Living can be Killer

This video illustrates that you can have too much of a good thing. A. J. Jacobs has read the Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover, lived biblically for a year, and most recently, tried to be the healthiest person he could for an entire year (which required wearing a "walking helmet"). Unfortunately, his last quest almost had the opposite of its intended effect. It's an entertaining, if not enlightening talk, and relatively brief.

TED Tuesday: The Case for Same Sex Marriage

If you will permit me, I will stand on my soapbox a bit. On this day, it is hard to be happy and excited about my own personal relationship when I know that for a large portion of the population a day like today is bittersweet. As a heterosexual American I can marry the person I love legally and be afforded certain rights that are denied to millions of Americans who no doubt love their partners just as much as I do. That is wrong. Today's talk, although not a typical TED talk, is no less important (though, if it matters, I did find it through the TED website). It is an impassioned speech on the importance of this issue from New York state senator Diane J. Savino just prior to a vote that ultimately defeated a same sex equality bill in December of 2009. The words are as true now as they were then.




For further viewing, I also recommend watching this reaction from the mayor of Newark NJ, Cory Booker,  on a public referendum on same sex marriage and why civil rights issues should not ever be put to a popular vote.

TED Tuesday: The Happy Secret to Better Work

For a couple of decades now, a small group of psychologists has been urging the field to study the "positive" side of things. The leaders of this movement believe that psychologists spend too much time focusing on the negative and that we should try to understand how people can become "Self-actualized," that is, reach their full potential. They have given their movement the unoriginal title "Positive Psychology." I must admit that I've always been skeptical -- no one has yet convinced me that health is anything but the absence of mental illness -- but in recent years my stance has softened a bit. In other words, I think Monty Python was on to something. This funny and rather informative talk details the ideas behind the movement as well as some recent research that you may be able to apply to your own life.

TED Tuesday: Too many choices

In the past few years I've become very interested in how people make decisions and what kinds of contextual and individual factors affect people's choices. My dissertation focused on how manipulating the competitiveness of a game and the fairness of the competition can affect the ways that people distribute winnings. This week's TED Tuesday selection follows in a similar vein. Afterward you should be better able to navigate the ever-more complex world in which we live.

TED Tuesday: How Bacteria "Talk"

Only a scientist could call bacteria "beautiful." An interesting talk on the "intelligence" of bacteria, and what it could mean for us.

TED Tuesday: Battling Bad Science

For whatever reason, bad science has been on my radar recently. Last week I posted a link to an illustrated guide to the red flags of quackery, and this afternoon as I was subjected to an episode of Dr. Oz in the waiting room of a Jiffy Lube. So it only seemed appropriate that I keep the theme going with my selection for TED Tuesday. It's a frenetic talk on spotting the warning signs of bad science from an epidemiologist. Enjoy.

TED Tuesday: The Quest to Understand Consciousness

My pick for TED Tuesday is a little biased because of my occupation. I chose a talk by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, a legend of the field. For a great read try Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain.

In this talk Damasio discusses the neuroscience behind consciousness and how we construct our sense of self.

TED Tuesday: How Economic Inequality Harms Societies

This selection was inspired by my most recent Deconstructing December post.

Many people have a gut feeling that a large gap in wealth between the richest and poorest in a country is bad. However, it's nicer to have data illustrating these negative associations. This talk has lots of interesting graphs demonstrating the associations between economic inequality and various important outcomes. They pass quickly, so I recommend repeatedly pausing. The presentation is rather ho-hum, but I find the content fascinating.

TED Tuesday: Dennis Hong:'s seven species of robot

Ladies and gentlemen, the singularity is near. Much nearer than you probably realize. As evidence, I present to you this talk by Dennis Hong. In it, Hong describes seven different "species" of robot. These species include a War of the Worlds-inspired tripod robot that "doesn't" have a death ray, a robot that can climb, and a robot that can (awww) play soccer. Apparently by 2050 he intends to create a team of fully autonomous robots that can play against and defeat the world cup champion soccer team. Is this all just a ploy to get Americans to watch "the most popular sport in the world" or a clever ruse to divert the public's attention away from what is really going on behind the scenes?

TED Tuesday: Can we make foie gras foie greatly?

Also featured on a recent episode of This American Life, chef Dan Barber speaks about a gentleman in Spain who has figured out a way to raise geese to create foie gras humanely. The traditional practice involves force feeding geese and as a result the delicacy has begun to be outlawed across the United States.

Who wouldn't want to be a goose on this farm?!

TED Tuesday: How to Stop Asteroids from Killing Everything

In honor of our recent near miss, TED presents astronomy blogger Phil Plait and his plan to save the earth from impending doom. Apparently there are some subtle differences between us and the dinosaurs that we can use to our advantage. Take that sharp-toothed exstinct-asaurus!

TED Tuesday: New Research Hints at Ways to Double Lifespans

Cynthia Kenyon, biochemist and director of the Hillblom Center for the Biology of Aging at UCSF, explains how genetic experiments in worms, fruit flies, and mice may lead to advancements in science that will allow people to live twice as long.

In addition to living nearly twice as long, animals with specific genetic mutations are also more resistant to diseases associated with aging, such as cancer.

I'm just wondering where I can sign up for the human studies...

TED Tuesday: Thomas Suarez shares his thoughts on app development

Thomas Suarez is familiar with multiple progamming languages and is responsible for progamming apps such as Bustin Jeiber -- a "whack-a-mole" type game for Justin Bieber Haters. Oh yeah, and he's in 6th grade.


Sheesh. I turned 28 today and I am pretty sure that this kid will be my boss before I'm 40.

TED Tuesday: The World Population Explained Using Modern IKEA Technology

Right around the end of last month the world population may or may not have reached 7 billion people. Regardless of who that seven billionth person was or will be, the consensus seems to be that things are getting pretty crowded around here. Over a year ago, Hans Rosling illustrated where the world population has been and where it is going using mostly supplies procured from IKEA and a small dose of "dig-ital" technology. Proving once and for all that the Swedish furniture company's products are good for more than furnishing middle-class, post-graduate, one-bedroom apartments.