TED Talk Thursday – Daniel Kish: How I use sonar to navigate the world

According to TED.com: “Daniel Kish has been blind since he was 13 months old, but has learned to “see” using a form of echolocation. He clicks his tongue and sends out flashes of sound that bounce off surfaces in the environment and return to him, helping him to construct an understanding of the space around him. In a rousing talk, Kish demonstrates how this works and asks us to let go of our fear of the ‘dark unknown.’ ”

“Daniel Kish expands the perceptual toolbox of both blind and sighted humans by teaching echolocation — the ability to observe our surroundings via sound.”

“When he was 13 months old, Daniel Kish lost both eyes to retinal cancer. Driven by fearless curiosity, he taught himself to navigate by clicking his tongue and listening for echoes — a method science calls echolocation, and that Kish calls FlashSonar.”

“In 2000, Kish founded World Access for the Blind as a platform to teach FlashSonar, along with other methods that the blind can use to “see” and that the sighted can use to expand their awareness. Kish and many researchers believe that echolocation produces images similar to sight, and allows the visually impaired to transcend the limited expectations of society. ”

Enjoy this inspiring talk.

 

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

Mandala Monday – How to Draw a Mandala by Mandy Rita Tardif

Today we have a tutorial by Mandy Rita Tardif on how to draw a simple mandala. Here is what she has to say about this tutorial:

“My name is Mandy Rita Tardif and I love everything art. I am a self-made business woman and I love to paint on just about everything. My favorite canvas to paint on is the human body.”

“My hope in making videos on Mandy TV is to inspire you, help you and bring out the creative side in you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I love making them.
Today I am showing you how to draw mandalas. I created my second coloring book full of my hand drawn mandalas and after a number of requests I created a video on HOW I draw them.”

How to Draw a Mandala by Mandy Rita Tardif

Mandy Rita Tardif

Mandy Rita Tardif

To find out more about Mandy go to:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandysartand…
Web site: http://www.mandysartandsoul.com/
(My website used to be http://www.mandyritatardif.com)
Buy my hand drawn coloring books at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/colormydoodles
Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/mandyritatardif/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/mandyritatardif

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

TED Talk Thursday – Carter Emmart: A 3D atlas of the Universe

According to TED.com: “For the last 12 years, Carter Emmart has been coordinating the efforts of scientists, artists and programmers to build a complete 3D visualization of our known universe. He demos this stunning tour and explains how it’s being shared with facilities around the world.”

“As the Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History, Carter Emmart directs their groundbreaking space shows and heads up development of an interactive 3D atlas called The Digital Universe. He coordinates scientists, programmers and artists to produce scientifically accurate yet visually stunning and immersive space experiences in the AMNH’s Hayden Planetarium. Over the last decade, he has directed four shows: Passport to the Universe, The Search for Life: Are we Alone?, Cosmic Collisions and Journey to the Stars.”

“Emmart’s interest in space began early, and at ten he was taking astronomy courses in the old Hayden. As a child born into a family of artists, he naturally combined his love of science with his tendency for visualization. His first work was in architectural modeling, soon moving on to do scientific visualization for NASA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, before joining the AMNH.”

Enjoy.

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!