Scientists, Artists, Creators, and Explorers to Share Adventures
at TEDxWoodsHole, October 15
Event to feature talks, live performances, and videos on
Technology, Entertainment, and Design
WOODS HOLE, MA—Following on a very popular and successful inaugural event in 2010, TEDxWoodsHole 2011: xPlorations will be held Saturday, October 15 from 12:30-5:00 PM. The live show will be held in Lillie Auditorium, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole. A simulcast will be screened in Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 57 Water Street, Woods Hole. Doors at both locations open at noon.
The independently organized event, licensed by TED, will feature scientists, artists, thinkers, and creators from the Woods Hole community and beyond. Brief, unique talks, stirring performances, and TEDTalks videos will take the audience from the Arctic to the tropics to the depths of the sea; from gorgeous music to amazing robotics to ecology, bio-design and beyond; and into the minds of passionate people who believe in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives, and ultimately, the world.
The event is FREE for non-reserved seats, which are available that day on a first come, first served basis. Limited reserved seating is available for $50/seat and includes a reserved parking space and limited edition TEDxWoodsHole t-shirt not available for sale. To reserve a seat, call 508-289-7423.
TEDxWoodsHole is sponsored by The Marine Biological Laboratory; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Woods Hole Research Center; and local businesses and individuals.
The Program
Musician and online multimedia content producer Catherine Cramer of Woods Hole will emcee the TEDxWoodsHole live show in Lillie Auditorium, while WHOI associate scientist and TEDxWoodsHole 2010 presenter Hanumant Singh will emcee the simulcast in Redfield Auditorium. The event will feature the following speakers and performers:
Sylvia Earle — Famed oceanographer, explorer, author, lecturer, former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and explorer in residence at the National Geographic Society will speak on “Exploring the Deep Frontier.”
New York Polyphony —The renowned classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony will premiere an excerpt from the Missa Charles Darwin, a work for four voices by composer Gregory Brown that celebrates the author of On The Origin of Species.
John Francis — Known the world over as the “Planetwalker,” John Francis will offer his visionary views on “Redefining Environment.”
David Hanson — The founder and chief scientist of Hanson Robotics, which has introduced a series of the world’s most lifelike intelligent robots, will introduce you to “Robots Who Like Us.”
Chris Reddy — In a light-hearted, sometimes humorous talk, “Communicating Science using the Original Star Trek Series,” the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution chemical oceanographer will look at how various TV characters talk about science.
Bora Yoon — The New York-based experimental composer, performer, and sound artist will present excerpts from her soundwork “( (( PHONATION )) ): An Experimental Performance of Sound into Language.”
Roger Hanlon — MBL senior scientist whose research on the amazing camouflage skills of octopus, squid, and cuttlefish has uncovered some basic principles of biological coloration will speak on “Dynamic Octopus Camouflage: Art, Science and Technology."
Diane Cowan — The founder of The Lobster Conservancy will share the joys and challenges of bridging conservation biology and Gulf of Maine lobstermen in “Sustaining a Fishery and a Way of Life.”
John Bates of Wemo Media, based in Venice, Calif., will present The Blu, an interactive, animated, web-based world, in "The Ocean as Globally Shared Art on the World Wide Web."
R. Max Holmes —The Woods Hole Research Center senior scientist will describe a controversial experiment underway in a remote corner of Siberia in “An Arctic Solution to Climate Warming.”
Jennifer Pogue — A plastic and reconstructive surgeon who left the medical field to go into business and finance, Pogue will reveal how she re-channeled her creative energy in “Reconstructing Creativity.”
Photographer Chris Linder will premiere the audio slideshow “Woods Hole in the Field,” featuring images of scientists at work in beautiful and sometimes fierce conditions, with music by renown American composer John Luther Adams (from In the White Silence, issued on New World Records).
Ron Zweig —Aquaculturist and former staff member of the World Bank will present his innovative solution to nitrogen pollution in “The Oyster Collective: Resistance is Futile.”
Colleen Flanigan —Art, scientific inquiry, and engineering meet with emotion, compassion, and composition to provide coral reef support, shore protection, and marine habitat in Flanigan’s “Living Sea Sculpture: Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge.”
The event will also feature an Innovation Lounge, a gallery of experiments and artworks that embrace both science and art, in and around the Meigs Room, located in the MBL’s Swope Center, 5 North Street, Woods Hole. Among the artists/scientists who will have work in the Innovation Lounge include Woods Hole innovators Judy Laster, Adam Lazarus, Ryan Schenk, and Ari Daniel Shapiro; Cambridge artist Joe Davis; and BioBus, a mobile science lab.
For more information on speakers and presentations, visit the TEDxWoodsHole website at tedxwoodshole.org, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/tedxwoodshole and Facebook at facebook.com/TEDxWoodsHole.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.
TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the new TED Conversations, enabling broad conversations among TED fans; and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.
TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration
Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED