Trees, Design, and Inspiring Conference Lectures

I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
            -- Joyce Killmer

A quote from systems sustainability expert William Mcdonough, during a TED conference lecture:

Imagine this design assignment. Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, acrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates micro-climates, changes colors with the seasons and self-replicates.

Watch the video here.

I highly recommend watching all TED Conference videos for inspiration. My friend Nick is lucky enough to have attended several of these invite-only $6000 conferences, but fortunately for the rest of us, the lectures are made available for free to watch online. You can watch them at the TED website or via iTunes podcast.