TED Talk Response #8

TED Talk by Suzanne Lee

1. From this video I've taken away the amazing concept of growing clothes. From a simple combination of tea, sugar, microbes and heat, a material can be formed that can be shaped into clothing. As the ingredients ferment together, they form into layers that turn into a mat. Once the mat is at a desired thickness, it can be dried into a fabric-like material! It can be easily colored, shaped, and made into clothing. A few perks about these new kinds of clothing are that they are completely "home-grown", they are colored with organic colors (like fruit and vegetable colors or indigo), are biodegrateable, and are a new, green option for clothing. Also, this material that Suzanne has discovered can hopefully be used later for medical purposes, such as synthetic blood vessels or replacement bone tissue. This discovery not only opens up a whole new line of environmentally-friendly clothing, but can also be used to change or even save lives. Simple discoveries like this one and wonderful because it proves that every little thing counts, and every little thing can make a difference.
2. The speaker had an interesting way of talking. She talked very quickly and very straightforward. She did not ask the audience questions or try to connect to them in any way. She spoke clearly and directly, but did not have any sort of connection with her audience.
3. Her presentation style was very informative and detatched. She gave tons of information, included the process in which she grows her clothing, and showed lots of pictures and examples. But at the same time there was no heart-touching or inspiring aspect in her presentation. It was a flat out, fact filled formal presentation with a very small amount of personalization.
4. This concept matters because it is a new, greener way to produce things that everyone wants. It also opens a whole new door for medicine and the replacement of things like blood vessels and bone tissue. This connects to me personally because, being a teenager, I am quite caught up in fashion. With new organic, biodegrateable, simple fashions out there, the teen culture may explode over it. Also, this idea effects education because it can change the way medicial students research the replacement of certain organs in the body. This effects the world because it brings forward a new kind of clothing, that many women, I'm sure, will enjoy very much, and it also brings a new factor to the medicial table and the fight to create blood vessels and bone tissue to use to save human lives.