Ideas worth spreading

When a friend referred me to this page to watch a video on Biomimetics (the study of biological designs as they pertain to human designed objects) I got a lot more out of that simple link then just a basic understanding of how nature’s designs can help in making a better plane or cleaner water pipes, I found a website that contains more than 300 videos on as many topics as I could possibly want to learn about. Things I normally would never see or hear about in day to day life I could now watch at my leisure.

TED talks is a website dedicated to the propagation of “ideas worth spreading”, these ideas spring forth annually during the TED Conference during which a select panel of speakers discusses their ideas, principals, and observations in relation to a myriad of topics, in roughly 18 minutes. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and is held annually at Long Beach, CA. It was started in 1984 as a way of getting individuals from these three fields to interact and benefit from one another. Today TED encompasses a far greater field of interest, distinguished individuals from all professions and studies are invited to share their voice and contribute. Talks are given by many, from the famous like Frank Gehry and Al Gore, to the obscure like Paul Moller and Garrett Lisi.

The website itself is simple to use, the interface allows you to categorize all the videos by themes which helps the casual visitor easily find the video pertaining to ones interests. A search and list function makes searching for particular subjects even easier. All videos are free and of a good quality, even videos as far back as 1984 (first conference) are available for those interested in decades old wisdom. The use of this website for both research and inspiration is only limited by the topics and themes covered over the past couple decades, but considering that the website was only launched in April of 07 its fair to say that it will continue to be a valuable resource to anyone who is interested in expanding their knowledge of the world around them.

I highly recommend everyone to watch at least a few of the videos on this website, even talks on the scary world of physics and math are made simple and clear.

The website is TED.COM, and this is a video of Theo Jansen and his really kick ass beach walking creations.