Colorado State University animal science expert Temple Grandin discusses alternative cognitive processes, public education and its applications to science, technology and agriculture.

Grandin was featured at the TED2010 conference in Long Beach, Calif., a global confab designed to provoke conversation about innovative ideas.

Diagnosed with autism as a child, she talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.

Here’s a nice companion piece to our Daily Digit feature on Internet usage in the Rocky Mountain West.

The global numbers on email, video viewing and social media content are staggering.

What could this mean for civic engagement and journalism? How can community organizers cut through the Can this poodle wearing a tinfoil hat get more fans than Glenn Beck? Facebook page diversions and Viagra spam?

Drive through most any city in America and the offers will leap out at you: “Repair Your Credit!” “Modify Your Loan!” “Sell Your House Quick!”

The creators of these signs — Hard Times Profiteers, as we at the Huffington Post Investigative Fund have dubbed them — are moving to capitalize on the financial troubles of others. They are posting advertisements on walls, street lamps and bus shelters. The ads range from handwritten cardboard cutouts to printed plastic signs.

I guess you’ve got to give NASA and the National Science Foundation credit for trying to shed their nerdiness for…

If Congressional leaders need a kick in the tail to reassert the need for comprehensive health care reform this video ought to do it.

David Cameron, the leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, talks about government ceding its power to the people through technology.

It’s a bit of a Pollyanna viewpoint delivered by a skilled politician to an eager tech-oriented audience. But the TED2010 conference in Long Beach, Calif., is designed to provoke conversation about innovative ideas in technology, science, business, the arts and global issues.

And that it did. The comments about direct democracy generated by Cameron’s remarks are pretty remarkable.

Here’s a sample: