TED Talks
Karl Skjonnemand: The self-assembling computer chips of the future
The transistors that power the phone in your pocket are unimaginably small: you can fit more than 3,000 of them across the width of a human hair. But to keep up with innovations in fields like facial recognition and augmented reality, we...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read Kurt Vonnegut? - Mia Nacamulli
Kurt Vonnegut found the tidy, satisfying arcs of many stories at odds with reality, and he set out to explore the ambiguity between good and bad fortune in his own novels. He tried to make sense of human behavior by studying the shapes...
TED Talks
TED: How AI can bring on a second Industrial Revolution | Kevin Kelly
The actual path of a raindrop as it goes down the valley is unpredictable, but the general direction is inevitable, says digital visionary Kevin Kelly -- and technology is much the same, driven by patterns that are surprising but...
TED Talks
Stewart Brand: What squatter cities can teach us
Rural villages worldwide are being deserted, as billions of people flock to cities to live in teeming squatter camps and slums. Stewart Brand says this is a good thing. Why? It'll take you 3 minutes to find out.
SciShow
The Universe Is Expanding... But Not Everywhere
The Universe is expanding which means distant galaxies are only moving farther away from us. So in the farthest future, will our night sky be empty?
TED Talks
Suzanne Lee: Grow your own clothes
Designer Suzanne Lee shares her experiments in growing a kombucha-based material that can be used like fabric or vegetable leather to make clothing. The process is fascinating, the results are beautiful (though there's still one minor...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How the COVID-19 vaccines were created so quickly | Kaitlyn Sadtler and Elizabeth Wayne
In the 20th century, most vaccines took over a decade to research, test, and produce. But the vaccines for COVID-19 were cleared for emergency use in less than 11 months. The secret behind this speed is a medical technology that's been...
TED Talks
Jarrell Daniels: What prosecutors and incarcerated people can learn from each other
A few weeks before his release from prison, Jarrell Daniels took a class where incarcerated men learned alongside prosecutors. By simply sitting together and talking, they uncovered surprising truths about the criminal justice system and...
TED Talks
Norman Foster: My green agenda for architecture
Architect Norman Foster discusses his own work to show how computers can help architects design buildings that are green, beautiful and "basically pollution-free." From the 2007 DLD Conference, Munich; www.dld-conference.com
TED Talks
TED: Teach girls bravery, not perfection | Reshma Saujani
We're raising our girls to be perfect, and we're raising our boys to be brave, says Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code. Saujani has taken up the charge to socialize young girls to take risks and learn to program -- two skills...
TED Talks
TED: AI isn't as smart as you think -- but it could be | Jeff Dean
What is AI, really? Jeff Dean, the head of Google's AI efforts, explains the underlying technology that enables artificial intelligence to do all sorts of things, from understanding language to diagnosing disease -- and presents a...
TED Talks
TED: The pharmacy of the future? Personalized pills, 3D printed at home | Daniel Kraft
We need to change how we prescribe drugs, says physician Daniel Kraft: too often, medications are dosed incorrectly, cause toxic side effects or just don't work. In a talk and concept demo, Kraft shares his vision for a future of...
TED Talks
How synthetic biology can improve our health, food and materials | Emily Leproust
What if we could use biology to restore our balance with nature without giving up modern creature comforts? Advocating for a new kind of environmentalism, scientist and entrepreneur Emily Leproust rethinks modern sustainability at the...
TED Talks
Siddhartha Mukherjee: Soon we'll cure diseases with a cell, not a pill
Current medical treatment boils down to six words: Have disease, take pill, kill something. But physician Siddhartha Mukherjee points to a future of medicine that will transform the way we heal.
Be Smart
How Science Defines A Year
It's been one (tropical/sidereal/anomalous) year since I uploaded the very first It's Okay To Be Smart. Here's everything that's happened since!
TED Talks
TED: How farming could employ Africa's young workforce -- and help build peace | Kola Masha
Africa's youth is coming of age rapidly, but job growth on the continent isn't keeping up. The result: financial insecurity and, in some cases, a turn towards insurgent groups. In a passionate talk, agricultural entrepreneur Kola Masha...
TED Talks
TED: Let's protect the oceans like national parks | David Lang
You don't have to be a scientist to help protect the world's oceans, says underwater drone expert and TED Fellow David Lang -- in fact, ordinary citizens have pulled together to save the planet's natural treasures many times in history....
TED Talks
TED: Dare to refuse the origin myths that claim who you are | Chetan Bhatt
We all have origin stories and identity myths, our tribal narratives that give us a sense of security and belonging. But sometimes our small-group identities can keep us from connecting with humanity as a whole -- and even keep us from...
TED Talks
Molly Stevens: A new way to grow bone
What does it take to regrow bone in mass quantities? Typical bone regeneration -- wherein bone is taken from a patient’s hip and grafted onto damaged bone elsewhere in the body -- is limited and can cause great pain just a few years...
TED Talks
TED: The awesome potential of many metaverses | Agnes Larsson
In the multitude of metaverses that exist there are infinite possibilities for inclusivity and creativity. Inviting us to craft our own digital universes, Minecraft's game director Agnes Larsson shares how the experience of building and...
TED Talks
TED: The future race car -- 150mph, and no driver | Chris Gerdes
Autonomous cars are coming -- and they're going to drive better than you. Chris Gerdes reveals how he and his team are developing robotic race cars that can drive at 150 mph while avoiding every possible accident. And yet, in studying...
TED Talks
Andrew Forrest: A radical plan to end plastic waste
Plastic is an incredible substance for the economy -- and the worst substance possible for the environment, says entrepreneur Andrew Forrest. In a conversation meant to spark debate, Forrest and head of TED Chris Anderson discuss an...
TED Talks
TED: The rapid growth of the Chinese internet -- and where it's headed | Gary Liu
The Chinese internet has grown at a staggering pace -- it now has more users than the combined populations of the US, UK, Russia, Germany, France and Canada. Even with its imperfections, the lives of once-forgotten populations have been...
TED Talks
TED: How we'll find life on other planets | Aomawa Shields
Astronomer Aomawa Shields searches for clues that life might exist elsewhere in the universe by examining the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. When she isn't exploring the heavens, the classically trained actor (and TED Fellow) looks...