Wisdom Blog

Articles, reflections, and teachings from our community.

Biology

The line between life and not-life: Martin Hanczyc on TED.com

In his lab, Martin Hanczyc makes “protocells,” experimental blobs of chemicals that behave like living cells. His work demonstra...

Nov 7, 2011
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Biology

The real reason for brains: Daniel Wolpert on TED.com

Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert starts from a surprising premise: the brain evolved, not to think or feel, but to control movement. In this en...

Nov 3, 2011
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Biology

Trust, morality — and oxytocin: Paul Zak on TED.com

What drives our desire to behave morally? Neuroeconomist Paul Zak shows why he believes oxytocin (he calls it “the moral molecule&#822...

Nov 1, 2011
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Biology

Battling Bad Science: Ben Goldacre on TED.com

Every day there are news reports of new health advice, but how can you know if they’re right? Doctor and epidemiologist Ben Goldacre s...

Sep 29, 2011
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Biology

Making matter come alive: Lee Cronin on TED.com

Before life existed on Earth, there was just matter, inorganic dead “stuff.” How improbable is it that life arose? And — c...

Sep 8, 2011
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Biology

Explore the relaunched Encyclopedia of Life: EOLv2

Yesterday, the Encyclopedia of Life launched EOLv2 — a new design and new features for this database of all life on Earth. Inspired by...

Sep 6, 2011
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Biology

Can we make things that make themselves? Skylar Tibbits on TED.com

MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits works on self-assembly — the idea that instead of building something (a chair, a skyscraper), we can cre...

Sep 1, 2011
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Biology

DNA clues to our inner Neanderthal: Svante Pääbo on TED.com

Sharing the results of a massive, worldwide study, Svante Pääbo shows the DNA proof that early humans mated with Neanderthals after we moved...

Aug 30, 2011
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Biology

Beware conflicts of interest: Dan Ariely on TED.com

In this short talk, psychologist Dan Ariely tells two personal stories that explore scientific conflict of interest: How the pursuit of know...

Aug 29, 2011
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