After our collective exertions, it's time for a well-earned lunch.
Here's that "Observer at 220" film in the meantime- embedded for your viewing pleasure.
Wow. Well, I'm pretty sure that even if he hadn't already got the audience up on their feet, Peter Lovatt would have got a standing ovation for that: the weirdest, wackiest talk yet.
A psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire and professionally trained dancer, Lovatt has married his two passions in the Dance Psychology Lab in order to explore how dance can affect the brain.
And he was determined to show us today. Sadler's Wells has seen many an experimental performance in its time, but I'm not sure it has ever seen the entire auditorium do a Mexican wave or do the John Travolta snake hips.
For dance to have a positive affect on the brain and the all-important, memory-enabling hippocampus, Lovatt told us, it had to have a social (interactive) element, a physical element, and bit of a cognitive challenge in there too. And then we were off. I don't want to see the videos.
But it seems to have gone down well with my fellow guests.
Just danced with 300 others! What fun! Thanks peter lovatt! #tedxobserver
— Ekta Kaul (@ekta_kaul) March 10, 2012
It's Miguel Torres's dream that one day the wine industry will be regarded as a friend to the environment, which is why he's been trying to implement changes at his own prestigious winery to help tackle the effects of climate change.
At Torres, the decision has been taken to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020. Already, he said, levels have decreased 5.9% since 2008.
But making the changes at just his winery was not good enough, he said. He needed to get the rest of the industry on board. So last year the first summit was held for wineries against climate change in Barcelona, and so far 140 of them have signed up to a manifesto for change.
And he's optimistic:
Maybe we'll be followed by France, maybe other countries, maybe other industries.
I should imagine there are a few not-so-dry eyes in the house after Simon Eccles's talk, who took us through the efforts of the Facing the World charity and its attempts to tackle facial childhood disfigurement in the third world.
The easiest thing about the work, he said, was the operating itself. The most difficult thing was choosing who should be operated on. From Mohammed, the little boy who suffered from the flesh-eating disease Leishmaniasis, to Landina, the girl who suffered severe wounds to her head and face when a hospital collapsed on top of her in Haiti, the world provides them with a never-ended supply of tragic cases to deal with.
Loud applause for Lianne La Havas, the up-and-coming British singer/songwriter who debuted on Jools Holland last year. The Observer explained why it reckoned she was one to watch last year.
We've just been laughing along to Professor Robin Dunbar as he took us through his take on technology and relationships (some funny, some not so funny- like the fact that for every romantic relationship you begin, you lose a friendship. No punchline there).
Due to a slight technological hitch my end I'm afraid I missed the first few minutes of his talk. But I did make it for this bit: Dunbar reckons that we are basically capable of nurturing an 'inner core' of five close friends and that, while women keep up relationships best by chatting, men prefer to talk little and do lots together.
Dunbar- who is, of course, the man who came up with 'Dunbar's number' - the number of people with whom we can hold meaningful friendships (150)- also says that that face-to-face talking, and Skype, are the best ways of interacting- not least because they let you see someone's smile breaking out during the telling of a joke.
For a basic sum-up, see this tweet:
Men do, women talk. Social group size correlates with brain size. Laughter is universal. Robin Dunbar's wiseness. #tedxobserver
— Charlotte Beckett(@londoncharlotte) March 10, 2012
What a fascinating, interactive talk from Kish. Despite having only prosthetic eyes, he is able to distinguish an SUV from a pick-up truck, a tall building from 1000 ft and can even ride a mountain bike. How does he find his way around by sonar?
I click- that essentially asks two questions of the environment. The two questions are 'where are you?' and 'what are you'?
But the really big issue for him, he says, is helping not only blind people but all of us feel that we can work our way through darkness in our lives.
What can we do to find a way through that darkness because there is always a way.
Well, someone's certainly promising great things later today (although maybe Pirate Party founder Rick Valkwinge's just suffering from the optimism bias).
Preparing to present at #tedxobserver in London. This is going to be one of my best presentations ever. I'm on at 17:24 today.
— Falkvinge (@Falkvinge) March 10, 2012
The wild thyme breads (courtesy of Kamal Mouzawak) have almost all gone, and it's back to the auditorium. Up next is Daniel Kish, a teacher and campaigner who uses a technique called echolocation to 'see' his way around the world- even though his eyes were removed at the age of 14.
His talk is entitled: "What do you mean, you have blind vision?"
And...it's a break. Time to check out what people are saying about this morning's talks so far.
Of course, I'm a bit impartial. But it's all seeming rather positive so far.
Really enjoying #tedxobserver. The speakers and performers sharing their stories of what a diverse and wonderful world this is.
— Janet Wilkinson (@Jw3x3) March 10, 2012
Wow, wonderful musical interlude fromAmadou Mariam. Pretty much made my morning. #TEDxObserver
— Sonya Thomas(@writehandmedia) March 10, 2012
First session at #tedxobserver already worth the tickets. Very moved by Giles Duley's talk and laughed so much at Pauline Pierce's QA. #fb
— Sam C (@kintarasan) March 10, 2012
A stunning performance now from Amadou and Mariam, the Malian musicians who have become international superstars and wowed the west with their intoxicating music.
In a brief interview before they took to the mic, the couple (once known as 'the blind couple of Mali') explained the thinking behind their Eclipse show, a show premiered in Manchester last year and performed in the pitch dark. According to a translation, Amadou said:
Our aim was to allow people to reflect on music in the same way as we do...We wanted everyone to be on the same starting block.
He also reflected on the implications of great success.
Once you have success you have responsibility.
If you missed today's performance, or just want more, here's a session that Amadou and Mariam recorded at the Guardian last month.
We've just been watching a short film about the 220 years of the Observer- the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. And now for Amadou and Mariam!
Introduced by Yottam Ottolenghi ("miracles do happen over a plate of hummus"), the culinary activist Kamal Mouzawak just spoke wittily and eloquently about the ideas behind his Souk el-Tayeb farmers' market.
The son of a farmer, he grew up in a Lebanon torn asunder by civil war. When, finally, it ended, he set about trying to discover the parts and the peoples he had never known- only to find, he said, that they were just like him.
With its diverse faiths and ethnicities, Lebanon is a country with a fragility that sees it veer between catastrophe and celebration, he said. Which was why he decided to embark on a "common project, a common dream" that would help overcome those differences.
Wow. Louis Armstrong isn't a patch on the heroine of Hackney, it turns out. Pearce just gave Sadler's Wells a brief rendition of It's A Wonderful World.
And she had this message for Britain, six months after the riots that made her so furious with her own community.
Six months on, if they start again I'd do it again. We need to get some love out there... It was heartbreaking to see. I really want people to reach out to their neighbours and give support where support is needed.
Up now- I'm very excited about this- is Pauline Pearce, the heroine of Hackney. I've only ever seen her oratory on the street corner- but it certainly was effective.
Loud applause for Pearce.
Interesting. I've always been one of those people who assumes that lowering your expectations is a sure-fire way to stay more content. Turns out, according to Sharot, I'm misguided.
It's a very good theory but it turns out it's wrong.
Not only because anticipation of good things enhances your well-being (the I'd-prefer-a-snog-from-George-Clooney-in-three-days-rather-than-this-morning-please test) but also because high expectations, Sharot says, can act as self-fulfilling prophecies. (The higher your hopes, the more you put in, and therefore the better the result.)
So how do we face reality while at the same time remaining hopeful?
"The key here is knowledge," says Sharot.
In other words: be a penguin with a parachute.
On stage now is Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist currently based at the department of cognitive perceptual and brain science at University College London.
She's the author of The optimism bias, or, why some of us look on the bright side. You can read an extracthere.
A warm, witty and wise talk from Duley, who spoke of the importance of telling stories: that of the young man, Nick, who self-harmed; the street kids of Odessa, with whom he lived; that of himself, who stepped on IED and lost three of his limbs.
My body was a living example of what war does to somebody.
But photography had become his way of telling stories and making a difference- something he said everyone was able to do if they found their "tool."
We can all be cogs in a wheel of change...If we want to make a difference we can.
Lest anyone accuse us of being too London-centric, let's take a moment to look at what's going on today in the rest of Britain.
First up today we have Giles Duley, an erstwhile photographer of celebrities who, years ago, shifted his attention to the third world and travelled to countries including Sudan, Angola and Ukraine in a bid to tell a different kind of story. Last year, he stepped on a landmine in Afghanistan and became a triple amputee.
My colleague Kate Kellaway interviewed him in October last year, when he was lying in a hospital bed. You can read it here.
Oh, and by the way: for Twitter followers, the hashtag for today's event is #TEDxObserver.
A very good morning to you from Sadler's Wells in London, where excitement is mounting ahead of the second TEDx Observer day of inspirational talks, performances and films.
Last year, among others, we had Goldie and Jude Law, Sarah Brown and Geoff Mulgan. This year promises to be an equally diverse and intoxicating mixture, as thinkers, musicians, campaigners and inspirational people from all walks of life join forces to explore the theme of "where inspiration meets action".
The doors have just opened... Let the fun begin!