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TED's Fight Against Bad Science

Sterin via Flickr Creative Commons

TED is the world-wide home for “Ideas Worth Spreading,” and the non-profit organization’s event videos are watched by an eager audience of millions.  People wanted their own local TED experience, and the TEDx phenomenon grew quickly with over 5700 events since starting in 2009.

These conferences are locally-produced, always free, and presented under strict licensing agreements. The content, however, is up to local teams. So when bad science started creeping onto the stage, TED issued a public letter telling TEDx organizers to vet their guests and be on the look-out for red flag topics or have their license revoked. 

Phil Plait spoke at TEDxBoulderlast year, and is an astronomer and writer for Slate.com where he wrote in support of TED’s guidelinesfor scientific skepticism.

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