Posts in category: Video/Talk

TED Talk. Will Marshall’s Space Doves

4.12.2014

Tiny satellites show us the Earth as it changes in near-real-time

Digital maps and detailed images of the world’s surface are readily available online. Will Marshall, cofounder of Planet Labs, says that improvement and refreshment of existing data could easily be accomplished. In this talk, he introduces minute earth-observing satellites no bigger than 10 x 10 x 30 centimetres. When launched as a flock, they provide high-res images – updated daily – of the entire planet. William Marshall calls himself a “quantum physicist cum space scientist in search of world peace and harmony.”

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Close-up of a colourful motor bike: The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded to the world's weirdest inventions.

TED Talk. Ig – a science award that makes you laugh

16.11.2014

Marc Abrahams talking about truly weird brainchildren

Revolutionary or at least useful inventions have been made in the course of history – starting with the kindling of fire and the more or less smoothly turning wheel around the 4th century B.C. Electricity, the automobile, the rotating toothbrush and innumerable objects of questionable relevance have been creeping out of busy brains relentlessly. Some contraptions could make it into our daily lives, others most likely won’t. Luxuries like the duck-billed muzzle for dogs, the mobile fishbowl with handles, the crocheted sweater for apples, the space-saving square melon or the mask protecting hair and clothes during absent-minded noodle-slurpings, for instance.

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TED Talk. Glenn Greenwald: Why your privacy matters

20.10.2014

None of us has anything to hide. We are righteous, hard-working citizens with no criminal relatives in our history. We pay our taxes, don’t drink and drive, abstain from drug abuse, raise our kids well, indulge in the odd harmless outing or occasional holiday, meet some friends once in a while and have to make ends meet on the basis of a regular but mediocre income. This is mostly it. Nothing exciting, really. Then why would we have to be overly protective of our personal sphere online? And even if our privacy had been invaded severely, how could we possibly be harmed?

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A jumble of cables: Frankfurt is the world's largest internet exchange point.

Internet Exchange Point Frankfurt

10.10.2014

A gigantic digital hub

In fact, Frankfurt is the world’s largest Internet exchange node with more than 3.2 terabits per second peak traffic; the leading Internet exchange for Central and Eastern Europe; has the world’s largest and most advanced Ethernet-based platform, DE-CIX Apollon – delivering high-availability peering with full 100G Ethernet capabilities, about 600 participants at the peering platform and more than 10 terabits of connected customer capacity (Public Peering) …
You are not an IT expert and all of this is absolutely Greek to you? Well, welcome to the club!

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Playing cards for cyber-magic tricks

TED Talk: Cyber-magic card tricks

30.09.2014

Do you know what a “cyber illusionist” is? Those who thought that “cyber” automatically meant “illusion” are right, of course – and, in this case, oh so wrong. The expansion of the internet and social media provides unknown opportunities for digital illusions and ways of interacting with audiences. Marco Tempest expertly combines “regular” magic with cutting-edge technology and: poof! creates a lyrical tale while dealing cards in a virtuoso manner. Via the augmented reality goggles he straps on, his entranced onlookers learn that suits, numbers and colors in a deck of cards actually correspond to our calendar and astonishes them with many an unexpected magic trick. View this video to witness top-notch hocus-pocus.

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