full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Zach Kaplan + Keith Schacht: Toys and materials from the future

Unscramble the Blue Letters


KS: So that was the six we had for you today, but I hope you're sttanrig to see why we find these things so fascinating. Because every one of these six changed our unatidnrdnseg of what was possible in the world. proir to seeing this, we would have assumed: a 10-foot pole couldn't fit in your pocket; something as inexpensive as ink couldn't ssene the way paper is being bent; every one of these things — and we're constantly trying to find more.

ZK: This is something that kteih and I really enjoy doing. I'm sure it's obvious to you now, but it was actually yesterday that I was reminded of why. I was having a conversation with Steve Jurvetson, over downstairs by the escalators, and he was tiellng me that when Chris sent out that little box, one of the ietms in it was the hydrophobic sand — the sand that doesn't get wet. He said that he was playing with it with his son. And you know, his son was mesmerized, because he would dunk it in the water, he would take it out and it was bone dry. A few weeks later, he said that his son was pnyliag with a lock of his mother's hair, and he ncoetid that there were some drops of water on the hair. And he took the thing and he looked up to Steve and he said, "Look, hydrophobic string." (Laughter) I mean, after hearing that story — that really summed it up for me. Thank you very much.

Open Cloze


KS: So that was the six we had for you today, but I hope you're ________ to see why we find these things so fascinating. Because every one of these six changed our _____________ of what was possible in the world. _____ to seeing this, we would have assumed: a 10-foot pole couldn't fit in your pocket; something as inexpensive as ink couldn't _____ the way paper is being bent; every one of these things — and we're constantly trying to find more.

ZK: This is something that _____ and I really enjoy doing. I'm sure it's obvious to you now, but it was actually yesterday that I was reminded of why. I was having a conversation with Steve Jurvetson, over downstairs by the escalators, and he was _______ me that when Chris sent out that little box, one of the _____ in it was the hydrophobic sand — the sand that doesn't get wet. He said that he was playing with it with his son. And you know, his son was mesmerized, because he would dunk it in the water, he would take it out and it was bone dry. A few weeks later, he said that his son was _______ with a lock of his mother's hair, and he _______ that there were some drops of water on the hair. And he took the thing and he looked up to Steve and he said, "Look, hydrophobic string." (Laughter) I mean, after hearing that story — that really summed it up for me. Thank you very much.

Solution


  1. telling
  2. playing
  3. prior
  4. keith
  5. items
  6. starting
  7. noticed
  8. understanding
  9. sense

Original Text


KS: So that was the six we had for you today, but I hope you're starting to see why we find these things so fascinating. Because every one of these six changed our understanding of what was possible in the world. Prior to seeing this, we would have assumed: a 10-foot pole couldn't fit in your pocket; something as inexpensive as ink couldn't sense the way paper is being bent; every one of these things — and we're constantly trying to find more.

ZK: This is something that Keith and I really enjoy doing. I'm sure it's obvious to you now, but it was actually yesterday that I was reminded of why. I was having a conversation with Steve Jurvetson, over downstairs by the escalators, and he was telling me that when Chris sent out that little box, one of the items in it was the hydrophobic sand — the sand that doesn't get wet. He said that he was playing with it with his son. And you know, his son was mesmerized, because he would dunk it in the water, he would take it out and it was bone dry. A few weeks later, he said that his son was playing with a lock of his mother's hair, and he noticed that there were some drops of water on the hair. And he took the thing and he looked up to Steve and he said, "Look, hydrophobic string." (Laughter) I mean, after hearing that story — that really summed it up for me. Thank you very much.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
unexpected properties 3
gel magnet 3
directors bureau 3
favorite idea 3
japan called 2
technical standpoint 2
aluminum tube 2
dry liquid 2


Important Words


  1. bone
  2. box
  3. changed
  4. chris
  5. constantly
  6. conversation
  7. downstairs
  8. drops
  9. dry
  10. dunk
  11. enjoy
  12. escalators
  13. fascinating
  14. find
  15. fit
  16. hair
  17. hearing
  18. hope
  19. hydrophobic
  20. inexpensive
  21. ink
  22. items
  23. jurvetson
  24. keith
  25. laughter
  26. lock
  27. looked
  28. mesmerized
  29. noticed
  30. obvious
  31. paper
  32. playing
  33. pole
  34. prior
  35. reminded
  36. sand
  37. sense
  38. son
  39. starting
  40. steve
  41. story
  42. string
  43. summed
  44. telling
  45. today
  46. understanding
  47. water
  48. weeks
  49. wet
  50. world
  51. yesterday