Crash Course
The Dying God: Crash Course World Mythology
This week on Crash Course World Mythology, it's the Circle of Life. And Death. And sometimes, Life again. Mike Rugnetta is teaching you about Dying Gods, by which I mean gods that die, and then return to life. You'll learn about the Corn...
TED Talks
TED: A smarter, more precise way to think about public health | Sue Desmond-Hellmann
Sue Desmond-Hellmann is using precision public health -- an approach that incorporates big data, consumer monitoring, gene sequencing and other innovative tools -- to solve the world's most difficult medical problems. It's already helped...
TED Talks
Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit
Here's a powerful provocation from artist Jae Rhim Lee. Can we commit our bodies to a cleaner, greener Earth, even after death? Naturally -- using a special burial suit seeded with pollution-gobbling mushrooms. Yes, this just might be...
TED Talks
TED: Big data, small farms and a tale of two tomatoes | Erin Baumgartner
The path to better food is paved with data, says entrepreneur Erin Baumgartner. Drawing from her experience running a farm-to-table business, she outlines her plan to help create a healthier, zero-waste food system that values the...
TED-Ed
What happens when you die? A poetic inquiry | Emily Dickinson
Death, a kindly gentleman riding in a horse carriage, comes to collect a woman for her journey to the afterlife. So begins Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for Death," an exploration of both the uncertainties of death and...
SciShow
Will the Opportunity Rover Survive This Dust Storm?
The global dust storm on Mars is threatening the Opportunity rover and the wind on Venus might be changing the length of its days.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What would happen if you didn't sleep? - Claudia Aguirre
In the United States, it's estimated that 30 percent of adults and 66 percent of adolescents are regularly sleep-deprived. This isn't just a minor inconvenience: staying awake can cause serious bodily harm. Claudia Aguirre shows what...
TED Talks
TED: Why I train grandmothers to treat depression | Dixon Chibanda
Dixon Chibanda is one of 12 psychiatrists in Zimbabwe -- for a population of more than 16 million. Realizing that his country would never be able to scale traditional methods of treating those with mental health issues, Chibanda helped...
SciShow
The Strange, Smelly Science of Decomposing Bodies
How is it we know so much of decomposition? The smelly truth? - Body Farms! Michael Aranda explains what happens after you die and how eventually you turn back into dust.
TED Talks
Amy Padnani: How we're honoring people overlooked by history
Since its founding in 1851, the "New York Times" has published thousands of obituaries -- for heads of state, famous celebrities, even the inventor of the sock puppet. But only a small percentage of them chronicle the lives of women and...
TED Talks
Lindy Lou Isonhood: A juror's reflections on the death penalty
Lindy Lou Isonhood grew up in a town where the death penalty was a fact of life, part of the unspoken culture. But after she served as a juror in a capital murder trial -- and voted "yes" to sentencing a guilty man to death -- something...
TED Talks
Stephen Cave: The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death
Philosopher Stephen Cave begins with a dark but compelling question: When did you first realize you were going to die? And even more interesting: Why do we humans so often resist the inevitability of death? Cave explores four narratives...
TED Talks
Matthew O'Reilly: “Am I dying?” The honest answer.
Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York. In this talk, O’Reilly describes what happens next when a gravely hurt patient asks him: “Am I going to die?”
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it) - Mikael Cho
Heart racing, palms sweating, labored breathing? No, you're not having a heart attack -- it's stage fright! If speaking in public makes you feel like you're fighting for your life, you're not alone. But the better you understand your...
TED-Ed
Can you cheat death by solving this riddle? | Shravan S K
You and your best friend Bill are the greatest bards in the kingdom— but maybe not the brightest. Your hit song has insulted the king and now you're slated for execution. Luckily, Death is a connoisseur of most excellent music and has...
TED-Ed
Savitri and Satyavan: The legend of the princess who outwitted Death | Iseult Gillespie
Princess Savitri was benevolent, brilliant, and bright. Her grace was known throughout the land, and many princes and merchants flocked to her family's palace to seek her hand in marriage. But upon witnessing her blinding splendor in...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Alex Gendler: Why should you read "The Master and Margarita"?
The Devil has come to town. But don't worry– all he wants to do is stage a magic show. This absurd premise forms the central plot of Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece, "The Master and Margarita." Its blend of political satire, historical...
TED Talks
TED: When I die, recompose me | Katrina Spade
What if our bodies could help grow new life after we die, instead of being embalmed and buried or turned to ash? Join Katrina Spade as she discusses "recomposition" -- a system that uses the natural decomposition process to turn our...
TED Talks
TED: What comes after tragedy? Forgiveness | Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix
On one awful night in 1995, Ples Felix's 14-year-old grandson murdered Azim Khamisa's son in a gang initiation fueled by drugs, alcohol and a false sense of belonging. The deadly encounter sent Khamisa and Felix down paths of deep...
TED Talks
Candy Chang: Before I die I want to ...
In her New Orleans neighborhood, artist and TED Fellow Candy Chang turned an abandoned house into a giant chalkboard asking a fill-in-the-blank question: "Before I die I want to ___." Her neighbors' answers -- surprising, poignant, funny...
TED Talks
David R. Dow: Lessons from death row inmates
What happens before a murder? In looking for ways to reduce death penalty cases, David R. Dow realized that a surprising number of death row inmates had similar biographies. In this talk he proposes a bold plan, one that prevents murders...
TED Talks
Emma Belcher: 3 questions we should ask about nuclear weapons
There are more than 10,000 nuclear weapons in existence today, each one capable of causing immense destruction. Why don't we talk about this threat as much as some other major issues? In this practical talk, nuclear security expert Emma...
TED Talks
Nick Bostrom: A philosophical quest for our biggest problems
Oxford philosopher and transhumanist Nick Bostrom examines the future of humankind and asks whether we might alter the fundamental nature of humanity to solve our most intrinsic problems.