Young Trailblazers

What do the world’s only female high-altitude archeologist, a 3-D visualization researcher, a high-tech magician and a mobile technology evangelist have in common?

They’re all on the team that’s designing the next Indiana Jones movie?

No, but they are indeed part of something very special: the new TED Fellows program.

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is an annual conference at which the world's most innovative thinkers and doers are asked to deliver “the talk of their lives” in no more than 18 minutes. TEDGlobal is the international version held in Oxford, U.K., which treats international themes in the TED format. And TEDIndia, taking place in 2010 only, explores issues of particular import to South Asia.

This year, TED is inviting what are described as “young world-changers and trailblazers” in a wide range of fields to take part in these conferences. Forty Fellows were selected to attend the TED conference, which took place in February, 25 will convene at TEDGlobal in July and 100 will experience TEDIndia.

TED Fellows get to attend the conference, network with each other, and may have the opportunity to speak on the TED Fellows or TED University stage. They are required to write about their experiences on the TED Fellows blog and submit a post-conference report.

Luckily, the wonders of technology make it possible for all of us to get a glimpse of what these Fellows have to say. Through its website, TED is now making the conference talks available to the general public. As TED puts it: “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.”