tidbot

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.

First broadcast on 14 November 2006, RT 48:49. Clouds of alien life forms are sweeping through outer space and infecting planets with life it may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. The idea that life on Earth came from another planet has been around as a modern scientific theory since the 1960s when it was proposed by Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. At the time they were ridiculed for their idea known as panspermia. But now, with growing evidence, it's back in vogue and even being studied by NASA. We meet the scientists on a mission to get to the bottom of the beginnings of life on Earth - from the team in Texas who are lovingly building a robotic submarine called DEPTHX to explore a moon of Jupiter, to Southern India where they are investigating a mysterious red rain which fell for two months in 2001. According to local scientist Godfrey Louis, the rain contains biological cells unlike any he had seen before with no DNA and the ability to replicate at 300C. Louis has come to the conclusion that the cells are extra-terrestrial in origin. Could all this really be proof that We Are the Aliens?

The new music video from director Martin De Thurah.

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 Guantanamo Bay become the next Hong Kong?)

Passport to Pluto takes you inside this historic NASA endeavor, from Plutos discovery at Lowell Observatory in 1930 through launch of the New Horizons spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Enter the clean rooms, scan control screens, and visit the launch pad to see the mission come together for its voyage to Pluto and beyond. This documentary, a New Horizons Education and Public Outreach product, has aired on the Discovery Science Channel as well as on NASA TV beginning in January 2006. During National Space Week, starting May 5 2007, Discovery Channel aired the updated version of the highly successful New Horizons E/PO product Passport to Pluto the behind-the-scenes look at how the New Horizons mission came together.

Collin Cunningham of MAKE produced this fun video about cymatics, the study of visible sound and vibration. As he shows, you can have a lot of fun with cornstarch, water, tone generator software, a guitar amp, and a speaker. The simple process of vibrating a dish of liquid can make for some pretty interesting results - mixing in a bit of cornstarch can be downright freaky.

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.

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.

Jem Stansfield builds a vortex cannon to blow a house of bricks over.

The Cast of Frasier puts on a funny spoof of a Star Trek: Voyager audition for cast members.

Rare Star Wars photos replete with 1977 Carrie Fisher adorability

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus", from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009.

You must kill the enemy before they destroy your mothership

What will our future look like? Floating cities, flying to work and traveling in cars capable of operating underwater? And how will technology advance to make use of our natural resources to help feed our growing population in such areas as food, water and electricity? The era of smog-filled skies will be over, because fewer of us will be driving cars. There will no longer be the use for cars and roads as well be piloting environmentally friendly personal vehicles between cities and under the seas. And we will never be lost again thanks to GPS-driven virtual mapping. Then again, with teleportation we will not need to travel at all. And, best of all, well all have more time to enjoy the astounding advances of our near future, because well all be living longer. A lot longer. Find out what we can expect to see in the future in this well produced documentary.

http://www.ted.com Elaine Morgan is a tenacious proponent of the aquatic ape hypothesis: the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. Hear her spirited defense of the idea -- and her theory on why mainstream science doesn't take it seriously. 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. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10