The BEST episodes of TED Talks season 2009
Every episode of TED Talks season 2009, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of TED Talks season 2009!
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker "ideas worth spreading," talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world's most inspiring voices. [TED-Ed and TEDx are separate TVDB series and should NOT be listed here. Episode ordering and dates are sourced from YouTube.]
#1 - David Merrill: Toy tiles that talk to each other
Season 2009 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/12/2009
MIT grad student David Merrill demos Siftables -- cookie-sized, computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands. These future-toys can do math, play music, and talk to their friends, too. Is this the next thing in hands-on learning?
Watch Now:Amazon#2 - Sylvia Earle: How to protect the oceans
Season 2009 - Episode 28 - Aired 2/19/2009
Legendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Woody Norris: Hypersonic sound and other inventions
Season 2009 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/27/2009
Woody Norris shows off two of his inventions that treat sound in new ways, and talks about his untraditional approach to inventing and education. As he puts it: "Almost nothing has been invented yet." So -- what's next?
#5 - Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius
Season 2009 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/9/2009
"Eat, Pray, Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.
#6 - Bill Gates: Mosquitos, malaria and education
Season 2009 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/6/2009
Bill Gates hopes to solve some of the world's biggest problems using a new kind of philanthropy. In a passionate and, yes, funny 18 minutes, he asks us to consider two big questions and how we might answer them.
#7 - Geoff Mulgan: Post-crash, investing in a better world
Season 2009 - Episode 146 - Aired 9/2/2009
As we reboot the world's economy, Geoff Mulgan poses a question: Instead of sending bailout money to doomed old industries, why not use stimulus funds to bootstrap some new, socially responsible companies -- and make the world a little bit better?
#8 - Willard Wigan: Hold your breath for micro-sculpture
Season 2009 - Episode 131 - Aired 8/4/2009
Willard Wigan tells the story of how a difficult and lonely childhood drove him to discover his unique ability -- to create art so tiny that it can't be seen with the naked eye. His slideshow of figures, as seen through a microscope, can only be described as mind-boggling.
#9 - Josh Silver demos adjustable liquid-filled eyeglasses
Season 2009 - Episode 145 - Aired 9/1/2009
Josh Silver delivers his brilliantly simple solution for correcting vision at the lowest cost possible -- adjustable, liquid-filled lenses. At TEDGlobal 2009, he demos his affordable eyeglasses and reveals his global plan to distribute them to a billion people in need by 2020.
#10 - Natasha Tsakos' multimedia theatrical adventure
Season 2009 - Episode 143 - Aired 8/31/2009
Natasha Tsakos presents part of her one-woman, multimedia show, "Upwake." As the character Zero, she blends dream and reality with an inventive virtual world projected around her in 3D animation and electric sound.
#11 - Hans Rosling: Let my dataset change your mindset
Season 2009 - Episode 142 - Aired 8/31/2009
Talking at the US State Department this summer, Hans Rosling uses his fascinating data-bubble software to burst myths about the developing world. Look for new analysis on China and the post-bailout world, mixed with classic data shows.
#12 - Eric Giler demos wireless electricity
Season 2009 - Episode 141 - Aired 8/31/2009
Eric Giler wants to untangle our wired lives with cable-free electric power. Here, he covers what this sci-fi tech offers, and demos MIT's breakthrough version, WiTricity -- a near-to-market invention that may soon recharge your cell phone, car, pacemaker.
#13 - Joachim de Posada: Don’t eat the marshmallow!
Season 2009 - Episode 139 - Aired 8/10/2009
In this short talk from TED U, Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification -- and how it can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.
#14 - Nina Jablonski breaks the illusion of skin color
Season 2009 - Episode 137 - Aired 8/7/2009
Nina Jablonski says that differing skin colors are simply our bodies' adaptation to varied climates and levels of UV exposure. Charles Darwin disagreed with this theory, but she explains, that's because he did not have access to NASA.
#15 - Olafur Eliasson: Playing with space and light
Season 2009 - Episode 136 - Aired 8/7/2009
In the spectacular large-scale projects he's famous for (such as "Waterfalls" in New York harbor), Olafur Eliasson creates art from a palette of space, distance, color and light. This idea-packed talk begins with an experiment in the nature of perception.
#16 - Emmanuel Jal: The music of a war child
Season 2009 - Episode 135 - Aired 8/7/2009
For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he's become an international hip-hop star and an activist for kids in war zones. In words and lyrics, he tells the story of his amazing life.
#17 - Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in action
Season 2009 - Episode 134 - Aired 8/6/2009
Janine Benyus has a message for inventors: When solving a design problem, look to nature first. There you'll find inspired designs for making things waterproof, aerodynamic, solar-powered and more. Here she reveals dozens of new products that take their cue from nature with spectacular results.
#18 - Paul Romer: Why the world needs charter cities
Season 2009 - Episode 133 - Aired 8/5/2009
How can a struggling country break out of poverty if it's trapped in a system of bad rules? Economist Paul Romer unveils a bold idea: "charter cities," city-scale administrative zones governed by a coalition of nations. (Could Guantánamo Bay become the next Hong Kong?)
#19 - Michael Pritchard: How to make filthy water drinkable
Season 2009 - Episode 132 - Aired 8/4/2009
Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it -- inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. An amazing demo from TEDGlobal 2009.
#20 - Evgeny Morozov: How the Internet strengthens dictatorships
Season 2009 - Episode 160 - Aired 9/22/2009
TED Fellow and journalist Evgeny Morozov punctures what he calls "iPod liberalism" -- the assumption that tech innovation always promotes freedom, democracy -- with chilling examples of ways the Internet helps oppressive regimes stifle dissent.
#21 - Hans Rosling's answers to the TED and Reddit community interview
Season 2009 - Episode 147 - Aired 9/8/2009
Here, Hans Rosling answers the top 10 questions asked and voted on by the TED community through Reddit. See the original blog post here: http://blog.ted.com/2009/09/reddit_and_ted.php And see all the questions here: http://www.reddit.com/comments/9ga2p/ask_hans_rosling_ted_rockstar_and_stats_guru/ Look for similar community interviews in the next weeks!
#22 - Evan Grant: Making sound visible through cymatics
Season 2009 - Episode 148 - Aired 9/9/2009
Evan Grant demonstrates the science and art of cymatics, a process for making soundwaves visible. Useful for analyzing complex sounds (like dolphin calls), it also makes complex and beautiful designs.
#23 - Steve Truglia: A leap from the edge of space
Season 2009 - Episode 149 - Aired 9/9/2009
At his day job, Steve Truglia flips cars, walks through fire and falls out of buildings -- pushing technology to make stunts bigger, safer, more awesome. He talks us through his next stunt: the highest jump ever attempted, from the very edge of space.
#24 - James Balog: Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss
Season 2009 - Episode 150 - Aired 9/9/2009
Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change.
#25 - Lewis Pugh swims the North Pole
Season 2009 - Episode 151 - Aired 9/11/2009
Lewis Pugh talks about his record-breaking swim across the North Pole. He braved the icy waters (in a Speedo) to highlight the melting icecap. Watch for astonishing footage -- and some blunt commentary on the realities of supercold-water swims.