Childhood is surreal. Why shouldn't children's books be? In this whimsical talk, award-winning author Mac Barnett speaks about writing that escapes the page, art as a doorway to wonder -- and what real kids say to a fictional whale.

This year, explorer Ben Saunders attempted his most ambitious trek yet. He set out to complete Captain Robert Falcon Scott's failed 1912 polar expedition — a four-month, 1,800-mile round trip journey from the edge of Antarctica to the...

What's it like to be pals with a genius? Physicist Leonard Susskind spins a few stories about his friendship with the legendary Richard Feynman, discussing his unconventional approach to problems both serious and ... less so.

Artist Aaron Koblin takes vast amounts of data -- and at times vast numbers of people -- and weaves them into stunning visualizations. From elegant lines tracing airline flights to landscapes of cell phone data, from a Johnny Cash video...

Call it "fuel without fossils": Jonathan Trent is working on a plan to grow new biofuel by farming micro-algae in floating offshore pods that eat wastewater from cities. Hear his team's bold vision for Project OMEGA (Offshore Membrane...

Every city has its neighborhoods, cliques and clubs, the hidden lines that join and divide people in the same town. What can we learn about cities by looking at what people share online? Starting with his own home town of Baltimore, Dave...

Learn about the life and tragic death of gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay public official. -- By 1973, Harvey Milk had already been many things: naval officer, high school teacher, bit-part actor and...

Scott Dinsmore quit a job that made him miserable, and spent the next four years wondering how to find work that was joyful and meaningful. He shares what he learned in this deceptively simple talk about finding out what matters to you —...

Imagine an electric vehicle that can get you to work -- or anywhere in a six-mile radius -- quickly, without traffic frustrations or gasoline. Now imagine you can pick it up and carry it with you. Yes, this souped-up skateboard could...

Stewart Brand is a futurist, counterculturist and visionary with a very wide-ranging mind. In conversation with TED Curator Chris Anderson, Brand discusses ... just about everything: human nature, bringing back the wooly mammoth,...

Maybe you'd like to just hear about one topic for a while. We understand. Thus, we've created our Compilation Series. In this first (and longest) compilation video, we look at some of our videos about Engineering. Sabrina helps us to...

After he ended up on a watch list by accident, Hasan Elahi was advised by his local FBI agents to let them know when he was traveling. He did that and more ... much more.

Meet the friendly robot that could deliver your next burrito. Ali Kashani introduces us to Postmates' autonomous delivery robot and explains how it could help reduce carbon emissions and free up valuable real estate in cities everywhere....

Scientists are trying to figure out if they can predict big earthquakes by simulating small quakes in labs and studying big quakes under the ocean. Thanks to the University of Rhode Island for...

Rob Forbes, the founder of Design Within Reach, shows a gallery of snapshots that inform his way of seeing the world. Charming juxtapositions, found art, urban patterns -- this slideshow will open your eyes to the world around you.

On February 10, 2015, Suzanne Barakat's brother Deah, her sister-in-law Yusor and Yusor's sister Razan were murdered by their neighbor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The perpetrator's story, that he killed them over a traffic dispute,...

What if everything in your life was randomized: from the food you ate to the things you did and the places you traveled? Computer scientist Max Hawkins created algorithms to make decisions like these for him -- and got hooked on the...

Childcare needs a transformation -- but rather than investing billions in new buildings and schools, what if we could unlock the potential of people already nearby? Entrepreneur Chris Bennett offers an innovative way to tackle the...

With sandwiches and toast, sourdough bread always adds an extra accented flavor to your meals. But where does the signature tartness come from?

Learn about engineers, who dream up a lot of the things you use every day, from toys to tools!

The history of discovering what DNA is, what it looks like, and how it works is... complicated. But, in this episode of History of Science, Hank Green does his best to lay out the basics so we can understand the beginnings of Biotechnology.

David Logan talks about the five kinds of tribes that humans naturally form -- in schools, workplaces, even the driver's license bureau. By understanding our shared tribal tendencies, we can help lead each other to become better...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how natural disasters (like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and flooding) have affected and will continue to affect humans on the planet. Many of the natural hazards (like volcanoes and storms) can...

New ReviewFormer U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer reflects on his life, career, and judicial philosophy. Born in San Francisco in 1938, Breyer taught at Harvard Law School before being appointed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in...