Following on from yesterday’s thin ‘n’ see-through supercapacitors now we have thin ‘n’ shiny speakers from researchers at Warwick University:
Engineers claim their new ultra-thin speakers, as well as looking good and being easy to conceal, will also deliver clearer, crisper sound.
The loudspeakers could replace public address systems in passenger terminals and shopping centres.
They could also be used as speaking posters to deliver adverts.
Cheers for clearer tannoys. Jeers for annoying talking posters.
[from the BBC][image from the BBC]
Ever since finding a superb Spore video by Will Wright on TED.com, I’ve been keeping an eye on the website for new videos which are released on a regular basis. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and is an annual conference in which respected thinkers from all aspects of the world come to give fascinating speeches about their pet subjects. Only recently has the website started giving access to these speeches to anyone who didn’t attend the conference.
As well as Will Wright’s speech (and if you haven’t watched at least one presentation about the forthcoming groundbreaking game, you should), there’s a recent video by bioengineer Hod Lipson about his work on small robots which can learn and self-replicate. The website and video player is cleverly designed with an ingenious overlay on the bottom of the video telling you about the subsections of the talk, how long they go on for and what the subtopics are. Other enjoyable talks include speakers like Al Gore on global warming, Carolyn Porco on flying to Saturn with Cassini, James Kunstler’s engaging criticism of the tragedy of suburbia and Aubrey de Grey’s controversial belief that we can defeat ageing. That’s barely scratching the surface – I could spend weeks watching nothing but TED talks and not get bored. Have a browse and find the ones that engage you.
It seems like every day I learn about some new, uberbrainy conference that I can’t afford to attend and aren’t smart enough to speak at, the most recent being Supernova. Supernova is all about “how decentralization and pervasive connectivity are changing our world.” Mitigating my frustration is the fact that many of these conferences are now publishing their proceedings online (to name two biggies: TED and SXSW). Supernova’s got video too. Don’t miss Clay Shirky, always a healthy dash of common sense for our collective moments of irrational exuberance. [oreilly radar]
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