More than 500 years after its creation, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is arguably the world's most famous painting. Many scholars consider it an outstanding work of Renaissance art— but history is full of great paintings. So, how did...

We've been trying to understand Mars for years, but some scientists think that ancient craters on earth might hold some answers to our red neighbor's history.

Scientists have found a way to hack the visual process and generate shapes directly on the brain, so a person can see them without using their eyes.

Carl Sagan famously observed that we are all made of "star stuff." But what does that mean? And how much of you is really made of dead stars? SciShow Space explains!

Lisa Gansky, author of "The Mesh," talks about a future of business that's about sharing all kinds of stuff, either via smart and tech-enabled rental or, more boldly, peer-to-peer. Examples across industries -- from music to cars -- show...

The most common type of exoplanets might be worlds like our ice giant, Uranus. Understanding it could be key to the history of planets all over the galaxy.

Can architects re-engineer their design process? Joshua Prince-Ramus shows how the results can be spectacular. He walks us through his fantastic re-creation of the Wyly Theater as a giant "theatrical machine" that reconfigures itself at...

What makes you, you? Is it how you think of yourself, how others think of you, or something else entirely? Philosopher Julian Baggini draws from philosophy and neuroscience to give a surprising answer.

You've just been injured, and you're on the way home from an hour of physical therapy. The last thing you want to do on your own is confusing exercises that take too long to show results. TED Fellow Cosmin Mihaiu demos a fun, cheap...

Remote work, while redefining the workplace landscape, seems stuck behind endless video conference calls that hinder free-flowing conversation and collaboration. In the 21st century, is that really the best we can do? Digital...

Technologist and TED Fellow Gautam Shah invites us to imagine how the metaverse could redefine the relationships between humans and other species. By giving individual wild animals a personal identity (such as Fio, a young orangutan in...

Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is "Big History": an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and...

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...

In 2013, a group of researchers wanted to create an AI system that could beat every Atari game. They developed a system called Deep Q Networks (DQN) and less than two years later, it was superhuman. But there was one notable exception....

It's taken the work of many programmers to turn computers into something we carry in our pockets, and here are five (technically 10!) that we think you should be aware of.

Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools -- robotics, new software, cognitive research -- to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at...

Rob Legato creates movie effects so good they (sometimes) trump the real thing. In this warm and funny talk, he shares his vision for enhancing reality on-screen in movies like Apollo 13, Titanic and Hugo.

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.

In crowds, at parties, meetings, get-togethers with friends, everyday interactions: social anxiety can show up as an unwelcome guest at any time. But why? Psychologist Fallon Goodman digs into the source of social anxiety, setting the...

All living things are made of cells. In the human body, these highly efficient units are protected by layer upon layer of defense against icky invaders like the cold virus. Shannon Stiles takes a journey into the cell, introducing the...

In the face of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we need a new radical humanism, says Tim Leberecht. For the self-described "business romantic," this means designing organizations and workplaces that celebrate authenticity...

Majd Mashharawi was walking through her war-torn neighborhood in Gaza when an idea flashed in her mind: What if she could take the rubble and transform it into building materials? See how she designed a brick made out of ashes that's...

In this funny (and actually poignant) 3-minute talk, social strategist Renny Gleeson breaks down our always-on social world -- where the experience we're having right now is less interesting than what we'll tweet about it later.

Scientists have discovered over 5,000 exoplanets in the last few decades, but where are the Exo-Earths?