The first TEDxCERN event will take place on 3 May 2013, under the theme ‘Multiplying Dimensions’, at the Globe of Science and Innovation with a Live Webcast at the CERN Main Auditorium and at the TEDxCERN site. Partner institutes all over the world will be hosting live simulcast and tickets are available for people in the Geneva area interested to attend the event at CERN.
Going beyond particle physics, the event, organized with the support of Rolex, will provide a stage for the expression of science in multiple disciplines, unveiling bold, new insights into emerging research and innovations that may fundamentally shape the course of things to come.
“At TEDxCERN, we are opening the door to a multiverse of scientific disciplines, showcasing the many ways that science is present in all our lives,” said Sergio Bertolucci, Director for Research and Scientific Computing at CERN. With the aim of inspiring young people to become a part of the new generation of scientists, TEDxCERN will also be webcast at participating institutes around the globe. The event will have special hosts, including Nobel laureate George Smoot.
Four short animation movies specially made for the occasion will be presented on that day including this on the origin of the Universe.
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. For example, a talk not to be missed is (my thesis adviser) Pat Burchat’s stunning performance on the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
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.)
The speakers for TEDxCERN range from pioneers to young scientists: Londa Schiebinger, historian, on gendered innovation; Chris Lintott, on how to discover a planet from your sofa; Hiranya Peiris, winner of the 2012 Royal Astronomical Society Fowler Prize, on the early universe; Marc Abrahams, MC of the Ig Nobel Awards and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, on why all good — and some bad — research is improbable; Eliezer Rabinovici and Zehra Sayers on SESAME, a ground breaking research project in the Middle East that is bringing together Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian, Turkish, Pakistani, and Iranian scientists; Brittany Wenger, 18-year-old scientist and Grand Prize Winner 2012 Google Science Fair, on Research and Inspiration; Becky Parker, winner of the first RAS Patrick Moore Medal, on why you are never too young to be a research scientist; Gian Giudice, theoretical physicist, on what the current Higgs measurement could mean for the future of the Universe and Alison Lester, an ATLAS physicist, will talk about chasing fundamental particles at CERN.
The full program and the biographies of the speakers can be found on TEDxCERN site.
The organizing team hopes to inspire, encourage, and celebrate scientific thinking through these talks, and above all, convey that science matters to everyone.
Pauline Gagnon
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(Based on CERN press release)
