Category: TED

TED talk notes: did you know humans have fewer genes than rice? (talks from John Lloyd, Andrew Hessel, Robert Full)

Every week, I share my notes from great TED talks. Here’s the complete list (pardon the load time, it’s a long page).

Here are 3 sets of brief notes: producer John Lloyd on what’s invisible, researcher Andrew Hessel on synthetic viruses, and biologist Robert Full on the secrets of animal movement.

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What’s invisible? More than you think – John Lloyd

  • we can’t see gravity. it’s the weakest and least understood of our 4 fundamental forces
    • the other three are strong and weak, nuclear
    • me: interestingly gravity is the only one you “feel”
  • we can’t see consciousness
  • Sufi masters say they’re all telepaths
  • initially we thought there were 100K genes in the human genome, continually revised downward, now think only 20K genes
    • rice by comparison has 38K genes (!)
  • every cell in your body is replaced at some point, after 7 years all have been replaced
  • we can’t see beam of light, only what it hits
  • we think there are 100B galaxies but can only observe 5
    • me: one of may reasons why I think there MUST be alien life
  • Thomas Edison: “we don’t know one percent of one millionth about anything”

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Synthetic virology | Andrew Hessel | TEDxDanubia

  • the Pink Army Movement is the exact opposite of a traditional pharma company:
    • not broad-use drugs, but narrow-based
    • not closed, but open-source
    • not for-profit, but non-profit
  • an oncolytic virus is a weak virus that can’t takeover a healthy cell, but can takeover a cancerous cell (which is by definition weaker); the cancer cell then makes copies of the oncolytic virus, the cell dies, and the virus goes on to infect other cancer cells
  • the cost of synthetically printing DNA has been dropping dramatically
  • pharma is the opposite of Moore’s Law
    • me: what a16z jokingly calls eroom’s law (‘Moore’ spelled backward, because the costs of development have risen dramatically while # of approved drugs has fallen dramatically)

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Robert Full: Secrets of movement, from geckos and roaches

  • animals have an array of secrets to move faster, better, up walls, etc
  • gecko feet literally act like tape, they peel onto and away from surfaces, this is intermolecular forces alone (unlike ants whose feet have some of the behavioral properties but use a type of biological glue)
  • other animals have tiny hooks on their feet, like cockroaches, to get more traction
  • still others use their legs to act like a second/supporting foot, for more traction

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Here’s the full list of TED notes!

TED talk notes: Chris Ryan on why humans are promiscuous but gorillas are not

Every week, I share my notes from great TED talks. Here’s the complete list (pardon the load time, it’s a long page).

Here are two talks from Chris Ryan about sex. I took notes on both, but the notes were smushed together like a chicken pot pie so it’s not clear what set of notes are from which talk.

Chris Ryan on sex

  • humans are more related to chimps and bonobos than one elephant species to another
  • the standard narrative: men trade resources for sex, a woman’s fidelity, and childcare
    • this has been the narrative since Darwin’s time
    • but it sets up male vs female as competing, oppositional genders
  • the standard narrative is wrong; instead, it’s about sperm competition INSIDE the woman’s reproductive tract, within an ovulatory cycle
  • this is fierce egalitarianism — everything is shared, which is the smartest way to survive in a foraging society
  • monogamous primates (gorillas, gibbons) have small testicles and penii
  • …while promiscuous primates (humans, chimps) have larger testicles and penii
    • the human female is rare in being available for sex through her ENTIRE menstrual cycle
    • humans have testicles in a sac outside of the body to keep them cool so they’re available for sex at any time
    • A chimp’s swollen ass signals she’s available for sex with different males; this confused Darwin because he expected a pair-bonding relationship
  • our sex act to birth ratio is 1000 to 1, whereas for gorillas (monogamous) is 10 to 1
    • most mammals don’t have sex unless there’s a good chance of fertilizing
    • why do we have so much sex? we use sex to develop complex social networks — common in intelligent social species like dolphins and chimps
    • sex is like vegetarianism — it’s healthy, it’s social
  • examples
    • in a SW China village, women and men are sexually autonomous, both have many sexual partners; when woman has a child, it’s cared for by her, her sisters and her brothers; the biological father is a non-issue
    • in a S American (?) village, children are viewed as product of many men’s sperm, so if you want a strong, smart, and funny child, you have sex with those types of partners; the partners all recognize the role they played in fathering the child

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Here’s the full list of TED notes!

TED talk notes: Thomas Piketty on why the US is more unequal than Europe, and Andrew Hessel on making cancer fighting viruses

Every week, I share notes from some of my favorite TED talks. Here’s the complete list (pardon the load time, it’s just a continuous, single page).

Thomas Piketty: New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century

  • in the long-run, r > g (return on capital is greater than the return on economic growth), which leads to income inequality
  • in the last century, Europe and US have flipped: the US is now much more unequal
  • there are many reasons for this, including unequal access to skills, fast rise in top incomes
  • wealth inequality is always a lot higher than income inequality
  • wealth inequality is still less extreme than 1900
  • with r > g, initial inequalities are amplified at faster pace
  • there is always some level of dynamism and change (e.g., large families, poor investment decisions)
  • for most of history r > g (g was mostly 0 in agrarian society)
  • r > 0 was necessary for eventual labor diversification and societal evolution
  • both r and g have risen over time
  • long-run g is about 1-2%, we’ve seen unusually high g (3-4%) in post-war 20th century
  • long-run r is about 4-5%
  • r-g delta is caused by technology, savings rate, other factors
  • r > g particularly strong for billionaires; there are scale effects (e.g., portfolio management, financial instruments, tax evasion and lawyers and accountants)
  • main suggestion: increased financial transparency
  • if he were to rewrite the book today, he’d actually conclude that US income inequality higher than he reported

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Andrew Hessel: Synthetic Virology

  • the Pink Army Movement is the exact opposite of a traditional pharma company:
    • focused not on broad, but narrow-based drugs
    • not a closed system, but open-source
    • not for-profit, but non-profit
  • an oncolytic virus is a weak virus that can’t takeover a healthy cell, but can takeover a cancerous cell (which is by definition weaker than a healthy cell); the cancer cell then makes copies of the oncolytic virus, the cancer cell dies and the virus goes on to infect other cancer cells
  • cost of synthetically printing DNA is dropping dramatically
  • pharma is the opposite of Moore’s Law, costs of development have risen dramatically while # of approved drugs has fallen dramatically (me: a16z  jokingly calls this eroom’s law)

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Here’s the complete list of TED notes

TED talk notes: William Li on how to starve cancer, Marcel Dicke on why we should eat insects

Every week, I share notes from some of my favorite TED talks. Here’s the complete list (pardon the load time, it’s just a continuous, single page).

William Li: Can we eat to starve cancer?

  • angiogenesis is the creation or reduction of blood vessels
  • it occurs for many diseases, e.g., cancer; also injury, pregnancy (uterus and placenta)
  • otherwise, blood vessels are largely fixed from early in life
  • once angiogenesis happens, cancer is much harder to treat (the tipping point)
  • treat cancer by cutting off its blood supply, “anti-angiogenic therapy”
  • avastin is one example
  • your diet is 30-35% of the environmental causes of cancer (5-10% is genes)
  • what foods are naturally anti-angiogenic?
    • red grapes (resveratrol)
    • strawberries
    • green tea
    • men who consumed cooked tomatoes 2x/week, lower incidences of prostate cancer, cause: anti-angiogenesis
  • anti-angiogenesis may also have applications for obesity

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Marcel Dicke: Why not eat insects?

  • 1/3 of fruit we eat is the result of insect pollination of plants
  • insects represent more biomass than humans
  • every processed food contains insects — tomato soup, peanut butter, chocolate
  • there are allowed FDA limits for insect material in foods
  • current meat supply has many problems:
    • animals cause diseases, e.g., pigs
  • insects are more efficient source of food — 10kg of feed produces 1kg of meat OR 9kg of insects
  • insects create less waste (e.g., manure for meat)
  • insects are more nutritious (me: need to research)
  • 70% of all agricultural land used for livestock
  • 80% of world already eats insects, 1000+ insect species

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Here’s the complete list of TED notes

TED talk notes: Allan Pease on why you should speak with palms up, and Chris McDougall on humans as born runners

I love listening to TED talks, and take notes on most of them. Every week, I share notes from some of my favorites! Here’s the complete list (pardon the load time, it’s just a continuous, single page).

Allan Pease, Body language: the power is in the palm of your hands

  • in handshakes, whose hand is on top is usually dominating; to maximize appeal, go in at complete vertical and match pressure of other person
  • in a study where a speaker gave the same instructions to 3 different audiences:
    • palms up — highest retention and cooperation
    • palms down — medium
    • finger pointing — lowest
  • forming a bridge (touch your fingertips together) gives you confidence and poise

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Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run?

  • Tarahumara — famous running tribe
  • unchanged for last 400 years
    • when the Spanish came, they hid in canyons (instead of being decimated like Aztecs and Incans)
    • they’re completely free of modern illness
  • arguably humans are DESIGNED for long-distance running, evidence:
    • women sprinters are much slower than male counterparts; gap MUCH smaller in long-distance, in ultra marathons top women are almost equal
    • also rare in long-distance running: 60-yos as fast as, if not faster than, 18-yos
    • humans are “hunting pack animal” – need women, elders to run long-distances too (so they’re not left behind)
    • we sweat really well, can run far on a hot day
    • our bodies are perfect for long distance running (long torso, short bipedal legs, head that can rotate side to side while running to watch for predators, obstacles)

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Here’s the complete list of TED notes