This is a spectacular talk… one of the best yet on TED so far.
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
1) Scale. How big is the global economy relative to the global ecosystem?
2) Stress development over growth. That is, make the economy better at satisfying human needs, not simply bigger.
3) Make prices tell the ecological truth.
4) Account for nature’s services.
5) The precautionary principle. This is just the age-old wisdom of “first, do no harm” and “look before you leap,” but applied to public policy toward new products (like chemicals) and technologies that could pose serious risk.
6) Commons management.
7) Value women.
What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Buddhist monk, photographer and author Matthieu Ricard has devoted his life to these questions, and his answer is influenced by his faith as well as by his scientific turn of mind: We can train our minds in habits of happiness. Interwoven with his talk are stunning photographs of the Himalayas and of his spiritual community.
Another thoughtful (and humorous) TED talk was the one given by Bob Thurman sometime ago. It is one of my favorite TED talks and I have blogged about it previously. But it is probably appropriate to include it once more:
TED has hosted a number of excellent speakers on the topic of climate change. However, I found 2 interesting almost opposite approaches to solving the issue.
In this talk, energy guru Amory Lovins lays out his plan for weaning the US off oil and revitalizing the economy in the process. It’s the subject of his book Winning the Oil Endgame, and he makes it sound fairly simple: On one hand, the deadly risks of continued dependency, and on the other, some win-win solutions.
Environmental scientist David Keith talks about a cheap, effective, shocking solution to climate change: What if we injected a huge cloud of ash into the atmosphere, to deflect sunlight and heat? As an emergency measure to slow a melting ice cap, it could work. Keith discusses why it’s a good idea, why it’s a terrible one — and who, despite the cost, might be tempted to use it.
The cyclone Sidr narrowly missed hitting India directly and instead hit Bangladesh causing widespread devastation. I encourage you all to donate to help alleviate the suffering of one of the poorest countries of the world. Coastal Bangladesh is bearing the brunt of environmental disasters - rising sea levels will make it worse. I support Direct Relief International since 100% of the contribution goes into disaster relief especially medical aid. Why should you donate? Sheril explains lucidly:
All the major petro-companies are pushing for the hydrogen economy as a replacement for fossil fuels….some argue that this would allow them to keep their existing monopoly on transportation fuel.
My gut feeling is this an over-simplification. I came across the concept of ‘deep hydrogen reserves’ sometime ago. Apparently the Kola Superdeep Borehole, the deepest hole drilled by man at 12+ kms (~7.5miles) has been found to be bubbling with hydrogen. So do you think, the petroleum companies will simply shift from petroleum drilling to hydrogen drilling? Or maybe even methane drilling? I would be interested in your thoughts / opinions.
It seems that global warming maybe hitting the positive feedback loop. Are the skeptics listening??
The article here points out that, “…a source of methane - which likely originated during the last ice age - has surfaced in the Arctic, a likely result of global warming’s thawing effect on the permafrost.” The methane bubbles from thermokarst lakes in the Artic.
This is the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few … all » savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone. He also meets the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film ‘Rain Man’. (2005)
This is an unbelievably eye-opening story on the ancients doing terraforming-type activities on a massive scale. Maybe I am going a little over the top. But read this to find out more about this ‘carbon-negative’ agricultural practice … I think this has a tremendous potential for addressing some really critical global issues.
Amazonian Dark Earth, or terra preta do indio, has mystified science for the last hundred years. Three times richer in nitrogen and phosphorous, and twenty times the carbon of normal soils, terra preta is the legacy of ancient Amazonians who predate Western civilization. Scientists who long debated the capacity of ’savages’ to transform the virgin rainforest now agree that indigenous people transformed large regions of the Amazon into amazingly fertile black earth.
This post is for today being Blog Action Day. The theme is ‘Environment’ and here are some quick and easy things we can all do to preserve the environment and probably even save some money in the bargain. I can’t think of a better bargain !
As featured on Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria. This video excerpt from a film by Dan Schreiber explores the tension between tradition and tourism in a remote region of Northern India.
This is a video of the the Pale Blue Dot.
As the Youtube psot says having Carl Sagan read to you from the book with the same title is something else. Enough said. Take a listen and leave comments please.
Treehugger reports that the Northwest Passage has become ice-free for the first time in recorded history. Is it now too late to act? The melting poles has renewed interest in their mineral wealth. The article also says
While it had long been expected that the Northwest Passage would gradually open up as a result of rising global temperatures, scientists were taken aback at the speed with which it happened.
Check ‘The 11th Hour‘ the upcoming movie by Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie looks at some of the most critical man-made problems of the planet and seeks to find answers from some of the best scientific minds of our times. After the movie I ended up playing the PlanetGreenGame and even got this badge… I think I will catch the movie when it releases….
I am a MS (Information Science) graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and work for a management consulting firm. When I am not travelling for work, I live in Pittsburgh. My hometown is Bangalore, India and did my college education from New Delhi, India and Chapel Hill, USA.
