TEDx

We've moved to the TED Tumblr. Follow it here>>

Ahem -- This is a story all about how two Tumblrs got flipped upside down. I’d like to take a minute — just sit right there. I’ll tell you how the TED Tumblr got some TEDx flair:

Well, hello Tumblr. This is Hailey, the human being behind the TEDx Tumblr for the past two years. I hate to have to say it, but as of today, the TEDx Tumblr is no more.

I, and the whole TEDx team, have cherished dearly all your likes, your reblogs, your witty Ask box questions, your thoughtful comments, your jokes, your suggestions, your shared love for cute baby animals.

But don't fret: This is not an end, but a beginning. While the TEDx Tumblr settles in with old GeoCities pages and Full House fan blogs of yore, you can go get all the great TED and TEDx content you crave at the TED Tumblr. I will be writing there with my friends at TED, bringing you all the TEDx Talks, GIFs, and factoids fit to reblog.

You guys really are the best (around! Nothing's ever gonna keep you down.) Thank you for following us and giving props to the thousands of great, super A+ TEDx events around the world. And if you want to read our old posts -- they'll still be here --  beautiful memories preserved in Tumblr's Internet amber.

We're up all night to ... TEDx. Dance troupe iLuminate breaks it down at TEDxTeen. Watch the whole performance here>>

Wonderful, whimsical illustrations by Ann Nowacka -- TEDxKraków's resident designer. "Drawing is my primary way of thinking," Ann says. "Before I can speak my mind, I see pictures ... I draw the magical world that surrounds us ... I continue to look for beauty around me."

At TEDxYouth@Manchester, genetics researcher Dan Davis introduces the audience to compatibility genes -- key players in our immune system's functioning, and the reason why it's so difficult to transplant organs from person to person: one's compatibility genes must match another's for a transplant to take.

To learn more about these fascinating genes, watch the whole talk here>>

Prosthetic limbs that match your body ... and your style:  Industrial designer Scott Summit uses 3D printing technology to create individualized artificial limbs that users can choose and personalize to fit their unique style.

In a talk at TEDxCambridge, Summit explains how this process not only gives users autonomy over the aesthetics of their prosthetics, but also makes for artificial limbs that factor in the quirks, curves, and uniqueness of a user's body, eliminating the need for prosthetic-wearers to hack their artificial limbs — with socks, bubble wrap, even duct tape — to feel comfortable. Watch the whole talk here>>

Photographer Timm Suess is passionate about capturing decay in our world. He travels to abandoned factories, clinics, and military installations to photograph the places people leave behind.

In a talk at TEDxGundeldingen, Suess details his Chernobyl Journal: a project that led him to the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, which was abandoned after the Chernobyl disaster.

Happy Friday! Dance it out, friends.

The dung beetle is more than just a poo pusher. This fascinating animal has a brain about the size of a grain of rice, and yet it is capable of doing some amazing things -- says dung beetle researcher Marcus Byrne in a talk at TEDxWitsUniversity -- like use celestial cues to roll giant balls of dung in a straight line, keep cool in sweltering heat through a complex dance, and track landmarks on the way to its nest. 

In his talk, Byrne explains how he and his team used refrigerated balls of poo, tiny dung-beetle-sized boots, and mini dung beetle highways to learn how these fascinating creatures have evolved to handle their very peculiar food source.