science

TEDMED

TEDMED is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand TEDMED rather than just read about it. In short: TEDMED is an annual conference focusing on health and medicine, with a year-round web-based community. TEDMED is an independent event operating under license from the nonprofit TED conference.

Key takeaways

TEDMED belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect TEDMED to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of TEDMED from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

TEDMED is an annual conference focusing on health and medicine, with a year-round web-based community. TEDMED is an independent event operating under license from the nonprofit TED conference.

Background As of 2014, TEDMED staff operates from Stamford, Connecticut. Talks given at TEDMED combine "the nexus of health, information and technology" with "compelling personal stories" and "a glimpse into the future of healthcare." The intent of the conference has been described as "a gathering of geniuses" that brings together "some of the most innovative, thoughtful pioneers of healthcare technology, media, and entertainment into one big four-day 'dinner party' to learn from one another and mix people up from different disciplines and industries to solve big problems in healthcare."

History TEDMED was founded in 1998 by TED's founder Richard Wurman. TEDMED was inactive for a number of years, and in 2008 Wurman sold the rights to TEDMED to entrepreneur Marc Hodosh. Hodosh recreated TEDMED and launched its first conference under his guidance in San Diego in October 2009. In January 2010, TED.com began including videos of TEDMED talks on the TED website. In October 2010, TEDMED was held in San Diego again and sold out for a second year, attracting notable healthcare leaders and Hollywood celebrities. In 2011, Jay Walker and a group of executives and investors purchased TEDMED from Hodosh for $16 million with future additional payments of as much as $9 million. The conference was then moved to Washington, DC. In November 2016, TEDMED was held in Palm Springs, California.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with TEDMED

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what TEDMED claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to TEDMED before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about TEDMED ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of TEDMED

In research: TEDMED appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses TEDMED in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: TEDMED is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Stamford, Connecticut, Medical conferences, TED (conference), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for TEDMED outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study TEDMED in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what TEDMED means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain TEDMED out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is TEDMED in simple terms?

TEDMED is an annual conference focusing on health and medicine, with a year-round web-based community. TEDMED is an independent event operating under license from the nonprofit TED conference.

Why does TEDMED matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study TEDMED?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on TEDMED.