TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The science of falling in love | Shannon Odell
Love is often described as heartwarming, heart-wrenching, or even heartbreaking— and your brain is responsible for all these feelings. The journey from first spark to the last tear is guided by a symphony of neurochemicals and brain...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What's the smartest age? | Shannon Odell
Tomorrow is the annual Brain Clash — a decathlon of mental challenges, trivia competitions, and puzzles. Amir needs a smart and capable teammate and must choose between three people; all of different ages and talents. So, who should Amir...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The battle that formed the universe | Fabio Pacucci
It's time for the biggest battle in the Universe: the Big Bang. In one corner is gravity— the force that brings all matter together. In the other is pressure— the force that can push matter away. Over the next several hundred thousand...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What caused the Rwandan Genocide? | Susanne Buckley-Zistel
For one hundred days in 1994, the African country of Rwanda suffered a horrific campaign of mass murder. Neighbor turned against neighbor as violence engulfed the region, resulting in the deaths of over one-tenth of the country's...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Seeing things that aren't there? It's pareidolia | Susan G. Wardle
Imagine opening a bag of chips, only to find Santa Claus looking back at you. Or turning a corner to see a building smiling at you. Humans see faces in all kinds of mundane objects, but these faces aren't real— they're illusions due to a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What did people do before anesthesia? | Sally Frampton
The quest for anesthetics that could induce unconsciousness and enable more meticulous surgeries began around the early 3rd century CE. Before anesthesia was widely used, patients had to consciously endure every moment of surgery. So,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is Marie Antoinette so controversial? | Carolyn Harris
She was the Queen of France, notorious for living in opulence while peasants starved and became a symbol of everything wrong with monarchy. But was Marie Antionette a heartless, wasteful queen, or a convenient scapegoat in turbulent...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Who is the fastest creature in mythology? | Iseult Gillespie
It's time for the Myth Olympics: the eternal arena in which creatures and deities compete for glory. Almost every mythical tradition claims one creature as the fastest— from goddesses who run like the wind to creatures who outstrip every...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Are solar panels worth it? | Shannon Odell
Today in many countries solar is the cheapest form of energy to produce. Millions of homes are equipped with rooftop solar, with most units paying for themselves in their first seven to 12 years and then generating further savings. So,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Food expiration dates don't mean what you think | Carolyn Beans
Countries around the world waste huge amounts of food every year: roughly a fifth of food items in the US are tossed because consumers aren't sure how to interpret expiration labels. But most groceries are still perfectly safe to eat...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is William Faulkner so difficult to read? | Sascha Morrell
William Faulkner is considered one of America's most remarkable and perplexing writers. He confused his audience intentionally, using complex sentences, unreliable narrators, and outlandish imagery. His body of work is shocking,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The epidemics that almost happened | George Zaidan
In 2013, an Ebola outbreak began in Guinea. The country had no formal response system and the outbreak became the largest Ebola epidemic in recorded history. Guinea then completely overhauled their response system, and were able to...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: 1816: The year with no summer | David Biello
In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted and its emissions spread across the globe, blotting out the sun for almost an entire year. This wreaked havoc on agriculture, leading to famines all across the Northern hemisphere. It was the year without...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Is it normal to talk to yourself? | TED-Ed
Being caught talking to yourself can feel embarrassing, and some people even stigmatize this behavior as a sign of mental instability. But decades of research show that talking to yourself is completely normal; most if not all of us...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why were there three popes at the same time? | Joëlle Rollo-Koster
For almost two millennia, the Pope has been a figure of supreme spiritual authority for Catholics around the world. But in the late 14th century, Catholics found themselves with not one, not two, but three popes. Where did this plethora...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Test yourself: Can you tell the difference between music and noise? | Hanako Sawada
In 1960, composer John Cage went on television to share his latest work. But rather than using traditional instruments, Cage appeared surrounded by household clutter, including a bathtub, ice cubes, a toy fish, a rubber duck, several...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of the Mughal Empire | Stephanie Honchell Smith
Though he was descended from some of the world's most successful conquerors, Babur struggled to gain a foothold among the many other ambitious princes in Central Asia. So he turned his attention to India, where his descendants stayed and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why do we have crooked teeth when our ancestors didn't? | G. Richard Scott
According to the fossil record, ancient humans usually had straight teeth, complete with wisdom teeth. In fact, the dental dilemmas that fuel the demand for braces and wisdom teeth extractions today appear to be recent developments. So,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why did the British Empire burn, sink, and hide these documents? | Audra A. Diptée
In 2009, five Kenyan people took a petition to the British Prime Minister. They claimed they endured human rights abuses in the 1950s, while Kenya was under British colonial rule, and demanded reparations. They had no documentary...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you outsmart Fate and break her ancient curse? | Dan Finkel
Hundreds of years ago, your ancestor stole a magical tarot deck from Fate herself— and it came with a terrible cost. Once every 23 years, one member of your family must face Fate in a duel with rules only known to your opponent. And...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Whatever happened to the hole in the ozone layer? | Stephanie Honchell Smith
In the 1980s, the world faced a huge problem: there was a rapidly expanding hole in the ozone layer. If it continued to grow, rates of skin cancer could skyrocket, photosynthesis would be impaired, agricultural production would plummet,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can zoos actually save species from extinction? | Nigel Rothfels
For thousands of years, native Takhi horses roamed the steppes of Central Asia. But by the late 1960s, their extinction seemed inevitable. To prevent this, scientists and zoos started a breeding program and soon began releasing new...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The most important century in human history | TED-Ed
Is it possible that this century is the most important one in human history? The 21st century has already proven to be a period of rapid growth. We're on the cusp of developing new technologies that could entirely change the way people...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What is a poop transplant, and how does it work? | Kathryn M. Stephenson and David L. Suskind
1,700 years ago, Chinese alchemist Ge Hong was renowned for his soup that could cure diarrhea-stricken patients. It had a surprising secret ingredient: feces. While it might seem unwise to consume feces, exciting new research suggests...