How can everyday people help foster and protect democracy? Detailing her work fighting for people power as an activist in Madagascar, Ketakandriana Rafitoson discusses how citizen assemblies — meetings where ordinary citizens get...

This video is about the famous 'Twins paradox' of special relativity, how time can appear to be faster for two different observers at the same time, and which twin really is older (or younger) - the one who stays on earth or the one who...

From the field to your closet, your clothes go on a long journey before they enter your life. Designer Amy Powney explores the fashion industry's brutal impact on the environment and human health, modeling what ethical, planet-friendly...

Physicists have a long history of sticking our noses where they don’t belong - and one of our favorite places to step beyond our expertise is the question of consciousness and free will. Sometimes our musings are insightful, sometimes...

What can we make of a design that shows up over and over in disparate cultures throughout history? Theorist Terry Moore explores "Penrose tiling" -- two shapes that fit together in infinite combinations without ever repeating -- and...

Pakistan contributes less than one percent to the global greenhouse gas emissions perpetrating climate change, yet one-third of the country was recently inundated with "biblical" floods that killed hundreds and displaced millions. If...

Could it be that all the electrons in the universe are simply one, single electron moving back and forth through time?

This video is about the famous 'Twins paradox' of special relativity, how time can appear to be faster for two different observers at the same time, and which twin really is older (or younger) - the one who stays on earth or the one who...

We all share one planet -- we breathe the same air, drink the same water and depend on the same oceans, forests and biodiversity. economist Naoko Ishii is on a mission to protect these shared resources, known as the global commons, that...

Jacqueline Novogratz applauds the world's heightened interest in Africa and poverty, but argues persuasively for a new approach.

We make important decisions every day -- and we often rely on experts to help us decide. But, says economist Noreena Hertz, relying too much on experts can be limiting and even dangerous. She calls for us to start democratizing expertise...

Speaking at a TED Salon in London, Martin Jacques asks: How do we in the West make sense of China and its phenomenal rise? The author of "When China Rules the World," he examines why the West often puzzles over the growing power of the...

Artist and TED Fellow Aparna Rao re-imagines the familiar in surprising, often humorous ways. With her collaborator Soren Pors, Rao creates high-tech art installations -- a typewriter that sends emails, a camera that tracks you through...

"Tipping Point" author Malcolm Gladwell gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce -- and makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.

If you needed to tell someone what numbers are and how they work, without using the notion of number in your answer, could you do it?

Can public spaces both reclaim the past and embrace the future? Landscape architect Walter Hood has explored this question over the course of an iconic career, with projects ranging from Lafayette Square Park in San Francisco to the...

In this thoughtful talk, David Puttnam asks a big question about the media: Does it have a moral imperative to create informed citizens, to support democracy? His solution for ensuring media responsibility is bold, and you might not...

In this practical talk, cybersecurity expert Nadya Bartol brings this crucial topic out into the open, lifting the shame around tech mistakes and offering creative ways to celebrate and reward good cybersecurity habits at work and...

What if the commonly accepted narratives about the foundation of civilization are all wrong? Drawing on groundbreaking research, archaeologist David Wengrow challenges traditional thinking about the social evolution of humanity -- from...

Have you ever watched a film or read a novel, wishing that you could change the narrative to save your favorite character? Game designer David Cage allows you do just that in his video games, where players make decisions that shape an...

David Macaulay relives the winding and sometimes surreal journey toward the completion of Rome Antics, his illustrated homage to the historic city.

Annette Gordon-Reed, a professor at Harvard University, wrote a groundbreaking book in the 1990s examining the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello. Initially interested in how...

What is Frame Dependence? Frame dependence means that people make decisions that are influenced by the manner in which the information is presented. Frame dependence manifests itself in the way that people form attitudes towards gains...

Rise of the City States in Italy Renaissance (Part 1)