Captivating TED Talk on the Unseen Worlds that Time-Lapse, Microscopic Imagery and Slow Motion Reveal

The intersection of Science, Technology and Art, at least according to renowned filmmaker and time-lapse photographer Louie Schwartzberg, is curiosity and wonder. And in the TED talk above, he makes the case for how few things pique that curiosity and inspire that wonder like the “hidden miracles of the natural world” that time-lapse, slow motion and microscopic imagery reveal.

Seven and a half minutes of awe and wonder await on the other side of that play button as Schwartzberg — who is already something of a TED star and an incredible visual storyteller — shows how the events that are too slow, too fast or too small for us to see with the naked eye come alive thanks to these imaging techniques.

Screenshot from a slow motion clip shown during the presentation.
Screenshot from a slow motion clip shown during the presentation.

Time-lapse tunes us into the much slower, but no less vibrant, pulse of mother nature; slow motion imagery reveals the incredibly complex nature of what might seem like simple actions on the surface; and microscopic imagery can help answer mind-blowing questions like why spider’s silk is, pound for pound, stronger than steel.

Of course words without visuals do not do this presentation justice in the least. So, if you have the time (or even if you don’t, we suggest you make it), kick back and enjoy what has to be one of the most engaging and visually stimulating TED talks on the web.

(via Laughing Squid)

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