350

This is yet another talk dealing with global warming issues. However, what's special about it is that it offers a better understanding of the reasons why global warming is bad for the oceans. Rob Dunbar talks the most about what he thinks it's the oceans' biggest problem: ocean acidification. The cause is the CO2 in the atmosphere. The effect is the death of ocean life, and the destruction of it's ecosystems. Potentially, this can mean the extinction of all ocean life. The solution would involve the reduction of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere until it reaches 350. Now it is 390, and most people would say we'll be fine until 450. Find out more right here:

* Today's talk was translated by Madalina Dinita.

Reuse. Recycle. Reclaim.

Dan Phillips is builder and a designer who uses solely reused, recycled and reclaimed materials to make creative and interesting houses. Cheaper, too :)

* Today's talk was translated by Karina Herman.

Sometimes, having a voice is the most important thing.

This story would have been very hard to believe if it weren't told by the one who lived it. Charity Tillemann-Dick is a soprano who had a double lung transplant. Now, the fact that she survived is a miracle in itself, but that's not all. She can still sing. Isn't that amazing? I think it is :) 

* Today's talk was translated by Veronica Lupascu.

Women in diplomacy.

Today's speaker is Madeleine Albright. I didn't know much about her before seeing this talk. I guess it's just my ignorance of all things political. I knew the name, I knew where it came from, but I didn't know the accomplishments and the influence she had on women issues worldwide. Oh, and she's funny too :).

* Today's talk was translated by Magda Marcu.

Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood.

In other words, what do USA, India and Nigeria have in common? Film industries. The three largest film industries in the world, to be precise. And I have to say, Nigeria was a bit unexpected. 

I always thought that making a full-length movie is crazy expensive, no matter where you're doing it. And it is. It's just that some of them cost millions of dollars (yes, you guessed correctly, that's the "Holly" part), while others cost 10.000 dollars. Which is next to nothing in USA, but is quite a lot if you think that many Nigerians still live with one dollar a day. Oh, and while making a movie in USA can cost 250 million dollars, that's the whole value of Nollywood in 2008 (they made 2,000 movies with that cash).

Anyway, today's talk is more about stories than about money. And I personally learned two things from it. First, stories are important, they are so important that they can become a commodity, much like food or water. Second, if Romania's film industry will ever become one of the largest in the world, we won't have to bother ourselves with finding a name. It's going to be called Rollywood. It's fate. 

Well then, here's Franco Sacchi, the director of "This is Nollywood", giving his TED talk:

* Today's talk was translated by Andrei G.

Social media news.

You should keep in mind, when watching this talk, that it was given in 2005. So, there's no talk of Facebook, Twitter, Quora or anything else. Social media here means blogs, and especially the blogs who reported news about the 2005 tsunami. As it turns out, in 2005 there were about 20 big bloggers all around the world, and some of them could actually make a living with their blog. Which is, more or less, the case in Romania's blogosphere, 6 years later. James Surowiecki about when social media becomes news:

* This talk was translated by Anda Drasovean.

Virtual autopsies.

To be honest, the technology presented in this talk didn't take me by surprise. I blame Hollywood for this. I mean, with all the scientific visualization going on in any serious crime fighting TV show, I thought forensic scientists everywhere could see 3D images of victims. Well, it turns out they don't, and this kind of visualization is still TEDtalk worthy.  Nevertheless, doctors, biologists, and forensic scientists all around the world should be able to do what Anders Ynnerman shows in his talk. Because it's totally awesome! :)

* This talk was translated by Laszlo Kereszturi.