An asteroid streaked across Arizona's night sky, and we have a new theory on where the hypothetical Planet Nine came from.

What's up with cats' "ekekekek" sounds? #shorts #science #animalbehavior #cats

Good sound is easy to miss because, usually, you're not paying attention to it. You're just simply, "in the story." But, sound recordists and engineers need to have a lot of technical know how as well as an instinct for story to help...

In this video Paul Andersen describes some of the properties of waves. He starts be identifying particles and waves as the only phenomenon that can transfer energy from place to place. He identifies the defining characteristics of...

In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums.

Thanks to a couple of Norwegian musicians, a lot of people have become obsessed with one question: What does the fox say? It turns out that foxes "say" lots of different things depending on the situation, and if you think the song is...

If you’re a person with sight, your two eyes are your only window into the visual world. But slugs see not only with their eyes, but with their brains as well!

Scientists are working to develop personalized cancer treatments, but one obstacle in the way is figuring out how different cells react to one another.

Ge Wang makes computer music, but it isn't all about coded bleeps and blips. With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, he creates new instruments out of unexpected materials—like an Ikea bowl—that allow musicians to play music that's both...

Right now, billions of neurons in your brain are working together to generate a conscious experience -- and not just any conscious experience, your experience of the world around you and of yourself within it. How does this happen?...

Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time.

In a dark cave, bats can't see much. But even with their eyes shut, they can navigate rocky topography at incredible speeds. This is because bats aren't just guided by their eyes, but rather, by their ears. It may seem impossible to see...

Has our technology -- our cell phones and iPods and cameras -- stopped us from dreaming? Young artist Shilo Shiv Suleman says no, as she demos "Khoya," her new storybook for iPad, which floats us through a magical world in 7 minutes of...

Many of those with severe speech disorders use a computerized device to communicate. Yet they choose between only a few voice options. That's why Stephen Hawking has an American accent, and why many people end up with the same voice,...

An orchestra fills an opera house with music, but a singer’s voice soars above the instruments. Its melody rings out across thousands of patrons— all without any assistance from a microphone. How is it possible that a single voice can be...

Living under the constant threat of violence has a lasting effect -- even after you escape from danger, says writer and refugee advocate Zarlasht Halaimzai. One of the millions of people worldwide who have been forcibly displaced by...

Clifford Stoll captivates his audience with a wildly energetic sprinkling of anecdotes, observations, asides -- and even a science experiment. After all, by his own definition, he's a scientist: "Once I do something, I want to do...

Evan Grant demonstrates the science and art of cymatics, a process for making soundwaves visible. Useful for analyzing complex sounds (like dolphin calls), it also makes complex and beautiful designs.

Cochlear implants don't generate sound like a hearing aid would. Instead, they zap your cochlea.

Caroline Phillips cranks out tunes on a seldom-heard folk instrument: the hurdy-gurdy, a.k.a. the wheel fiddle. A searching, Basque melody follows her fun lesson on its unique anatomy and 1,000-year history.

In a mesmerizing set, musician Nora Brown breathes new life into two old-time banjo tunes: "East Virginia" and "John Brown's Dream." An evocative performance paired with a quick history of the banjo's evolution.

There's nothing quite like a good night's sleep. What if technology could help us get more out of it? Dan Gartenberg is working on tech that stimulates deep sleep, the most regenerative stage which (among other wonderful things) might...

Today we're talking the heart and heart throbs -- both literal and those of the televised variety. Hank explains how your heart's pacemaker cells use leaky membranes to generate their own action potentials, and how the resulting...

Sound can't actually travel through a vacuum like space, but scientists have learned that there's still plenty to hear.