You are a Superorganism: Larry Smarr at TEDxYouth@SanDiego 2012

If Larry Smarr doesn't make you squirm a bit with his graphic illustration of the obesity epidemic in America, you aren't paying attention. In an engaging first-person narrative of his journey to enlightenment about the state of his own health, the revered scientist admits that 10 years ago he knew more about the surface of Mars than he did about his own body. Accompanying his rallying cry to arm ourselves with knowledge ("You are in a war zone and you are surrounded by lies"}, he encourages us to resist advertising messages, think for ourselves and learn the truth about our bodies. He also offers exciting news about discoveries in science and technology that are changing the understanding of how the human body really functions.

Dr. Smarr heralds the discovery of the microbiome, the term for a universe of 100 different microbes in the human body that outnumber our cells 10 to one. He explains why it's key to understanding disease and healing and how the coming revolution in information technologies over the next five to 10 years will allow us to track and support what's really going on inside of us.

Recognized and respected as an expert in astrophysical sciences, computer science and engineering, bioinformatics, genomic medicine, climate change and marine biology, Larry Smarr, Ph.D. is the founding director of California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. He advises NASA, NIH, DOE and NSF and has been quoted in Science, Nature, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, Wired, Fortune, Business Week, CNN and the Atlantic.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[Margar]

A) This isn't weird at all. B) This is TED-X, which are independantly organized TED events, and not always approved or endorsed by TED.