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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The Snoozebox - a "portable" hotel solution.

Handy for events: The portable hotel

3.12.2014

 Tell someone about on-site accommodation along with the description „box style“, and you’ll usually not harvest much enthusiasm. Unlike the familiar containers utilised as office space and living quarters on regular construction sites around the globe, this innovative temporary housing scheme stands for a comfy hotel arrangement rather than the interim solution it actually is.

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Toastmasters: Learning to speak in public.

Confident public speaking: Toastmasters International

20.11.2014

Heartbeat accelerating. Knees wobbly. Palms sweaty. Hands shaky. You are standing in front of your audience ready to deliver your talk. Ready? Of course you’re not ready! You are panic-stricken! You know that your trembling voice will give you away. You are afraid of failure and of exposing yourself to ridicule. You are dead-tired after a merciless night of restless tossing and turning resulting in your worst-ever bad-hair day. Your urge to escape is virtually untamable.

The fears of speaking in public (Glossophobia) are manifold. Fact is, that they won’t go away by allowing them to thrive. Yet, there’s remedy for the brave: Building up one’s confidence by adopting the proper techniques and by honing one’s communication, speaking and presentation skills, does work wonders! Good to know that even the best of speakers were once terrified novices who eventually succeeded in pacifying their jittery nervous system.

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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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Grilled sausages: Herman ze German restaurants are London's sausage dorado.

German Voorst-appeal entices ze Londoners

5.11.2014

No Carbs, Fräulein?

It is an undeniable fact: The common sausage is not a stunner to look at – nor does it photograph well. No matter the species, a regular Wurst’s mere shape and colour are giving food stylists a hard time: There is absolutely no way to let it shine. Yet, once thrown on to the grill and noisily sizzling, its distinct aroma promptly exerts its wondrous magnetism and lures entranced workers and bankers, housewives and business women, young, old or canine straight into places such as Herman ze German’s. London’s cosmopolitan denizens, its native population and tourists alike seem to succumb to the multiple stimuli exuded by the authentic German sausage … if the verifiable afflux accounts for anything. The Bratwurst (pork & veal), Bockwurst (smoked pork) or the Chilli Beef Wurst (pork & beef) on the menu all are eligible for ennoblement, thus crowned the sausage of sausages: the legendary Currywurst.

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