How to store digital data on DNA

"Storing data on DNA is not new. Nature's been doing it for several billion years." Read online

This week on TED.com March 10, 2019

Talk of the week Dina Zielinski: How we can store digital data in DNA 12:54 minutes · Filmed Oct 2017 · Posted Mar 2019 · TEDxVienna From floppy disks to thumb drives, every method of storing data eventually becomes obsolete. What if we could find a way to store all the world's data forever? Bioinformatician Dina Zielinski shares the science behind a solution that's been around for a few billion years: DNA. Watch now »

Playlist of the week Making sense of too much data It's the age of Big Data. But what, exactly, do we do with all this information? These talks explore practical, ethical -- and spectacularly visual -- ways to understand near-infinite data. Watch » Browse these 17 TED Talks or watch 'em all

This week's new TED Talks Majd Mashharawi was walking through her war-torn neighborhood in Gaza when an idea flashed in her mind: What if she could take the rubble and transform it into building materials? See how she designed a brick made out of ashes that's helping people rebuild their homes -- and learn about her new project: bringing solar-powered energy to families living in darkness. Watch » Everyone's heard of Martin Luther King Jr. But do you know the woman Dr. King called "the architect of the civil rights movement," Septima Clark? T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, the cofounders of GirlTrek, are taking a page from Clark's playbook to launch a revolution in the US for health and justice. Learn how. Watch » César Hidalgo has a radical suggestion for fixing our broken political system: automate it! In this provocative talk, he outlines a bold idea to bypass politicians by empowering citizens to create personalized AI representatives that participate directly in democratic decisions. This talk will challenge -- and, perhaps, expand -- your understanding of democracy. Watch » How do we make sense of a world that doesn't? By looking in unexpected places, says mathematician Eugenia Cheng. She explains how a concept from abstract math can lead us to a deeper understanding of daily life. Learn more about how this surprising tool can help us to empathize with each other. Watch »

Read more on ideas.ted.com Tired of eating your feelings? Solid ideas from a dietician on how to re-set your relationship to food. Read more » The complex lives of glaciers. Yes, the world's glaciers are disappearing — but that’s far from their only story. Meet a scientist who studies the strange relationship between glaciers and humans. Read more » How to find your self-worth. If your self-esteem rises and falls depending on what other people think, you're not alone, says psychologist Meag-gan O’Reilly. Read more » Is your to-do list making you nuts? Start a to-don’t list instead — with inspiration from author Adam Grant. Read more »

JOIN US IN the comments! “ A very inspiring idea, and probably if done properly a better representation of the population's decisions. But: Is the goal of democracy to represent the population or to serve the population? People aren't necessarily good decision makers. Most of our decisions are based on emotional triggers. That's why people eat too much, don't save enough for pension and form bad habits.  Training a model to mimic our own decision preferences will yield a solution that might represent the population well but won't serve it well.” Commenter: Yonatan Loewidt Talk: Cesar Hidalgo A bold idea to replace politicians

New podcast episode: WorkLife with Adam Grant The Creative Power of Misfits: TED's podcast WorkLife with Adam Grant is back for season 2! This week: Harness the power of frustrated people to shake up the status quo — just like Pixar did. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

TED Radio Hour: HardWired How much of who we are is biology? How much is learned? And how much can we change? This hour, TED speakers on how genes and experience collaborate — and compete — to make us who we are. Listen on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

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