SciShow
How Farmers Accidentally Killed Off North America's Locusts
Locusts are a huge agricultural pest...except in North America. What happened to the Rocky Mountain locusts that once swarmed this continent? Researchers think that the colonization of the North American West might have had something to...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The history of the world according to cats - Eva-Maria Geigl
In ancient times, wildcats were fierce carnivorous hunters. And unlike dogs, who have undergone centuries of selective breeding, modern cats are genetically very similar to ancient cats. How did these solitary, fierce predators become...
TED Talks
Mohammad Modarres: Why you should shop at your local farmers market
The average farmer in America makes less than 15 cents of every dollar on a product that you purchase at a store. They feed our communities, but farmers often cannot afford the very foods they grow. In this actionable talk, social...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The dark history of bananas | John Soluri
In December 1910, the exiled former leader Manuel Bonilla boarded a borrowed yacht and set sail for Honduras in hopes of reclaiming power by whatever means necessary. Bonilla had a powerful backer: the notorious organization known...
TED Talks
Laura Boykin: How we're using DNA tech to help farmers fight crop diseases
Nearly 800 million people worldwide depend on cassava for survival -- but this critical food source is under attack by entirely preventable viruses, says computational biologist and TED Senior Fellow Laura Boykin. She takes us to the...
TED Talks
TED: What farmers need to be modern, climate-friendly and profitable | Beth Ford
TED talks about what farmers need to be modern, climate-friendly and profitable
TED Talks
TED: Got millet? How marketing could improve the lives of African farmers | Zoë Karl-Waithaka
From "got milk?" to "avocados from Mexico," marketing influences what you eat more than you may realize. But despite the known power of food marketing, farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than...
TED Talks
TED: Climate change is becoming a problem you can taste | Amanda Little
Our food systems have not been designed to adapt to major disruptions like climate change, says environmental journalist Amanda Little. In this eye-opening talk, she shows how the climate crisis could devastate our food supply -- and...
TED Talks
TED: A transparent, easy way for smallholder farmers to save | Anushka Ratnayake
A safe space to save money is life-changing -- especially for the 60 million smallholder farmers in West Africa (the majority being women) who often live on less than two dollars a day. Poverty fighter Anushka Ratnayake introduces her...
TED Talks
TED: This computer will grow your food in the future | Caleb Harper
What if we could grow delicious, nutrient-dense food, indoors anywhere in the world? Caleb Harper, director of the Open Agriculture Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, wants to change the food system by connecting growers with technology....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Does "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" have a hidden message? - David B. Parker
In his introduction to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," L. Frank Baum claims that the book is simply an innocent children's story. But some scholars have found hidden criticisms of late-nineteenth-century economic policies in the book. Is...
TED Talks
Eleni Gabre-Madhin: A commodities exchange for Ethiopia
Economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin outlines her ambitious vision to found the first commodities market in Ethiopia. Her plan would create wealth, minimize risk for farmers and turn the world's largest recipient of food aid into a regional food...
TED Talks
TED: The "greenhouse-in-a-box" empowering farmers in India | Sathya Raghu Mokkapati
For smallholder farmers in India, agriculture has long been an unreliable source of income -- crops that flourish one season can fail the next, thanks to heat, pests and disease. But climate risk is now making the profession nearly...
TED Talks
TED: What moral decisions should driverless cars make? | Iyad Rahwan
Should your driverless car kill you if it means saving five pedestrians? In this primer on the social dilemmas of driverless cars, Iyad Rahwan explores how the technology will challenge our morality and explains his work collecting data...
Crash Course
How do we Classify Climates? Crash Course Geography
From gnocchi and salchipapas to potato chips and french fries, it seems like every cuisine around the world has embraced the potato! And this humble tuber did not originate in Ireland or France, but near Lake Titicaca near the border of...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why are there so many types of apples? - Theresa Doud
Have you ever walked into a grocery store and wondered where all the varieties of apples came from? You might find SnapDragon, Pixie Crunch, Cosmic Crisp, Jazz, or Ambrosia next to the more familiar Red Delicious and Granny Smith. So why...
SciShow Kids
4 Reasons Cows are Awesome!
Did you know that there were over 200 types of cows? Join Jessi and Squeaks as they discuss some cool facts about these amazing animals.
SciShow
Beware the Bug Spit: How Spittlebugs Accidentally Doom Plants
Ever wondered what makes those balls of white foam you sometimes find clinging to plants? Spittlebugs create these bubbly cocoons after feeding on a plant’s fluids; but unfortunately, their eating habits help transmit a deadly bacteria...
SciShow
How Safe Are Pesticides, Really?
If you’ve heard anything about pesticides, it’s probably about how toxic they are. But they make growing food more cost-effective, so when some make it into your groceries, how bad can they be?
TED Talks
TED: The future of the food ecosystem -- and the power of your plate | Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli
Many people across the world don't have access to healthy food -- while in other places tons of food go to waste. Social entrepreneur Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli thinks we can take bold steps to fix this problem. She lays out what it would...
MinuteEarth
The Secret Global Sewer System
Ditches and drain pipes help crops survive but can negatively impact the broader landscape.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can we create the "perfect" farm? | Brent Loken
About 10,000 years ago, humans began to farm. This agricultural revolution was a turning point in our history and enabled the existence of civilization. Today, nearly 40 percent of our planet is farmland. Spread all over the world, these...
SciShow
Why are GMOs Bad?
Why are GMOs bad? They aren't. They just aren't, not intrinsically, and certainly not for your health. We've been eating them for decades with no ill effects, which makes sense, because a genetically modified organism is simply an...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: From the top of the food chain down: Rewilding our world - George Monbiot
Our planet was once populated by megafauna, big top-of-the-food-chain predators that played their part in balancing our ecosystems. When those megafauna disappear, the result is a "trophic cascade," where every part of the ecosystem...