{"id":640057,"date":"2013-01-25T18:39:36","date_gmt":"2013-01-25T23:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ted.com\/?p=68108"},"modified":"2013-01-25T18:49:56","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T23:49:56","slug":"in-short-j-j-abrams-to-direct-star-wars-scientists-investigate-storing-audio-on-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/640057","title":{"rendered":"In Short: J.J. Abrams to direct &ldquo;Star Wars,&rdquo; scientists investigate storing audio on DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"embed-ted\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/embed.ted.com\/talks\/j_j_abrams_mystery_box.html\" width=\"586\" height=\"329\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Enjoy a sampling of the stories from around the internet that captured our interest this week:<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s already the creative force between <i>Star Trek<\/i>. Now it\u2019s been confirmed that J.J. Abrams will also direct the next episode of <i>Star Wars. <\/i>[<a href=\"http:\/\/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/01\/24\/j-j-abrams-to-direct-next-star-wars-movie\/\">New York Times<\/a>] See how Abrams\u2019 mind works in his TED Talk, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/j_j_abrams_mystery_box.html\">The mystery box<\/a>,\u201d above. And for bonus points, watch this recent talk about the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/colin_stokes_how_movies_teach_manhood.html\">messages encoded in <i>Star Wars<\/i> for children<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A great article called \u201cMaking sense of Mali: The real stakes of the war rocking West Africa.\u201d [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/138767\/susanna-wing\/making-sense-of-mali\">ForeignAffairs.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/elizabeth_murchison.html\" class=\"video_teaser\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.ted.com\/images\/ted\/5d63c106befe8b4c09b275c680cb8721e8569438_240x180.jpg\" alt=\"Elizabeth Murchison: Fighting a contagious cancer\" width=\"132\" height=\"99\" \/>Elizabeth Murchison: Fighting a contagious cancer<span class=\"play\"><\/span><\/a>Science writer Carl Zimmer gives a depressing update on the contagious cancer decimating the Tasmanian Devil population. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/01\/22\/science\/saving-tasmanian-devils-from-extinction.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss\">New York Times<\/a>] In the piece, he talks about the work of Elizabeth Murchison, who gave the TED Talk \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/elizabeth_murchison.html\">Fighting a contagious cancer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>19-year-old Zack Kopplin may consider himself a quiet kid. But he\u2019s become one of the loudest critics of the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows teachers to bring creationist textbooks into the classroom. [<a href=\"http:\/\/io9.com\/5976112\/how-19+year+old-activist-zack-kopplin-is-making-life-hell-for-louisianas-creationists\">io9<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>How did dogs evolve? A theory that the carbs found in table scraps helped domesticate them. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/science\/la-sci-how-dogs-evolved-20130124,0,1620029.story\">Los Angeles Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/dan_dennett_on_our_consciousness.html\" class=\"video_teaser\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.ted.com\/images\/ted\/488_240x180.jpg\" alt=\"Dan Dennett: The illusion of consciousness\" width=\"132\" height=\"99\" \/>Dan Dennett: The illusion of consciousness<span class=\"play\"><\/span><\/a>The Edge has a conversation with philosopher and cognitive scientist Dan Dennett. [<a href=\"http:\/\/edge.org\/conversation\/normal-well-tempered-mind\">The Edge<\/a>] Check out any of his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/speakers\/dan_dennett.html\">four TED Talks<\/a>, including the classic \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/dan_dennett_on_our_consciousness.html\">The illusion of consciousness<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Werner Herzog&#8217;s newest movie,\u00a0<i>Happy People<\/i>, zooms in on the Siberian wilderness. It arrives in theaters in the U.S. today and the trailer is simply thrilling. [<a href=\"http:\/\/trailers.apple.com\/trailers\/independent\/happypeople\/\">iTunes Movie Trailers<\/a>] Maybe it will get you in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/playlists\/30\/natural_wonder.html\">mood for the TED playlist \u201cNatural Wonder\u201d \u00bb\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tim Carmody has written an amazing profile of internet activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life this month. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2013\/1\/22\/3898584\/aaron-swartz-profile-memory-to-myth\">The Verge<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets.html\" class=\"video_teaser\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.ted.com\/images\/ted\/121608_240x180.jpg\" alt=\"Henry Markram: A brain in a supercomputer\" width=\"132\" height=\"99\" \/>Henry Markram: A brain in a supercomputer<span class=\"play\"><\/span><\/a>Henry Markram\u2019s Human Brain Project has been awarded a major research grant, to the tune of half a billion Euros. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/news\/billion-euro-brain-simulation-and-graphene-projects-win-european-funds-1.12291\">Nature.com<\/a>] He gave a talk at TEDGlobal 2009 called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets.html\">A brain in a supercomputer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A business idea we like: chain restaurants opening up stores without cash registers, where the economically disadvantaged can pay what they can. Good call, Panera Bread. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boston.com\/businessupdates\/2013\/01\/23\/panera-cares-cafe-now-officially-open-boston\/Mwc65F5SoRSXCFyWoVsJ7I\/story.html\">Boston.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The world got its first clip of Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs this week. [<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.indiewire.com\/theplaylist\/watch-ashton-kutcher-marvels-at-the-power-to-create-in-first-clip-from-jobs-20130124\">Indiewire<\/a>] How does he stack up to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html\">real thing<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>Not sci-fi: Scientists are storing audio data on DNA. [<a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424127887324539304578259883507543150.html\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html\" class=\"video_teaser\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.ted.com\/images\/ted\/105511_240x180.jpg\" alt=\"Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success\" width=\"132\" height=\"99\" \/>Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success<span class=\"play\"><\/span><\/a>Alain de Botton, whose book <i>How to Think More About Sex<\/i> was released earlier this month, reveals the last tome that made him cry. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/01\/27\/books\/review\/alain-de-botton-by-the-book.html?hpw\">New York Times<\/a>] Watch his TED talk, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html\">A kinder, gentler philosophy of success<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New research suggests that dung beetles navigate by using the starlight from the Milky Way as their guide. [<a href=\"http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/sciencenow\/2013\/01\/dung-beetles-navigate-by-the-mil.html?rss=1\">Science<\/a>] Watch our <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.ted.com\/2012\/12\/13\/7-talks-that-contain-fascinating-facts-about-beetles\/\">playlist of 7 talks about beetles \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Musician Zoe Keating breaks down where her income comes from. Spoiler alert: It\u2019s mostly iTunes, and barely anything from Spotify and Pandora. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2012\/08\/how-you-turn-music-into-money-in-2012-spoiler-mostly-itunes\/260678\/\">The Atlantic<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Zach Weiner, creator of the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic strip, is Kickstarting his new book, tentatively titled <i>Science: Ruining Everything Since 1543<\/i>. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/weiner\/science-ruining-everything-since-1543-an-smbc-coll\">Kickstarter<\/a>] The book includes stories from TED Speakers <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/phil_plait_how_to_defend_earth_from_asteroids.html\">Phil Plait<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/sean_carroll_distant_time_and_the_hint_of_a_multiverse.html\">Sean Carroll<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>  <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/gocomments\/tedconfblog.wordpress.com\/68108\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/comments\/tedconfblog.wordpress.com\/68108\/\" \/><\/a> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=blog.ted.com&#038;blog=14795620&#038;%23038;post=68108&#038;%23038;subd=tedconfblog&#038;%23038;ref=&#038;%23038;feed=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/TEDBlog\/~4\/w5ygbuBEUrw\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Enjoy a sampling of the stories from around the internet that captured our interest this week: He\u2019s already the creative force between Star Trek. Now it\u2019s been confirmed that J.J. Abrams will also direct the next episode of Star Wars. [New York Times] See how Abrams\u2019 mind works in his TED Talk, \u201cThe mystery box,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640057\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}