TED Talks
TED: Evolution's gift of play, from bonobo apes to humans | Isabel Behncke
With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo (a TED Fellow) shows how bonobo ape society learns from constantly playing -- solo, with friends, even as a prelude to sex. Indeed, play appears to be the bonobos' key...
SciShow
5 Groundbreaking Women in Engineering
After many years of quietly changing the world, women are finally receiving recognition for contributions in STEM. Let’s celebrate these 5 groundbreaking women, and their contributions to the field of engineering
TED Talks
Caroline Lavelle: Casting a spell on the cello
Caroline Lavelle plays the cello like a sorceress casting a spell, occasionally hiding behind her wild mane of blond hair as she sings of pastoral themes. She performs "Farther than the Sun," backed by Thomas Dolby on keyboards.
SciShow
Why We’ve Been Ignoring These Brain Cells | Great Minds: Ben Barres
Neurons often get all the credit for running the brain, but the work done by Ben Barres at Stanford University proved that glial cells are far more crucial to brain functioning than we had previously realized.
TED Talks
Natalie MacMaster: Fiddling in reel time
Natalie MacMaster and her musical partner Donnell Leahy play several tunes from the Cape Breton tradition -- a sprightly, soulful style of folk fiddling. It's an inspired collaboration that will have you clapping (and maybe dancing) along.
TED Talks
TED: What if women built the world they want to see? | Emily Pilloton-Lam
Only four percent of construction workers are female -- that's totally unacceptable, but it's also a huge opportunity both for women and for the trades, says youth educator and builder Emily Pilloton-Lam. She makes the case for putting...
TED Talks
TED: To raise brave girls, encourage adventure | Caroline Paul
Gutsy girls skateboard, climb trees, clamber around, fall down, scrape their knees, get right back up -- and grow up to be brave women. Learn how to spark a little productive risk-taking and raise confident girls with stories and advice...
SciShow
These Slugs See with Their Brains
If you’re a person with sight, your two eyes are your only window into the visual world. But slugs see not only with their eyes, but with their brains as well!
SciShow
Video Games Hack Your Brain (In a Fun Way)
Most of us can probably think of a time when we were enjoying a video game and then suddenly...it's 2 am. And that may not be entirely your fault! Video games are designed with elements that suck you in and put you in a state of flow,...
TED Talks
TED: How record collectors find lost music and preserve our cultural heritage | Alexis Charpentier
For generations, record collectors have played a vital role in the preservation of musical and cultural heritage by "digging" for obscure music created by overlooked artists. Alexis Charpentier shares his love of records -- and stories...
TED Talks
TED: How I'm using LEGO to teach Arabic | Ghada Wali
After a visit to a European library in search of Arabic and Middle Eastern texts turned up only titles about fear, terrorism and destruction, Ghada Wali resolved to represent her culture in a fun, accessible way. The result: a colorful,...
TED Talks
Ge Wang: The DIY orchestra of the future
Ge Wang makes computer music, but it isn't all about coded bleeps and blips. With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, he creates new instruments out of unexpected materials—like an Ikea bowl—that allow musicians to play music that's both...
TED Talks
TED: On tennis, love and motherhood | Serena Williams and Gayle King
Twenty-three Grand Slam titles later, tennis superstar Serena Williams sits down with journalist Gayle King to share a warm, mischievous conversation about her life, love, wins and losses -- starting with the story of how she...
TED Talks
TED: Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness | Michele L. Sullivan
We all go through challenges -- some you can see, most you can't, says Michele L. Sullivan. In a talk about perspective, Sullivan shares stories full of wit and wisdom and reminds us that we're all part of each other's support systems....
TED Talks
Usman Riaz + Preston Reed: A young guitarist meets his hero
Usman Riaz is a 21-year-old whiz at the percussive guitar, a style he learned to play by watching his heroes on YouTube. The TED Fellow plays onstage at TEDGlobal 2012 -- followed by a jawdropping solo from the master of percussive...
SciShow
Déjà Vu
Hank describes some of the best explanations that neurologists have come up with to account for the strange sensation we know as déjà vu.
TED Talks
TED: How kids can help design cities | Mara Mintzer
Adults tend to think of kids as "future citizens" -- their ideas and opinions will matter someday, just not today. But kids make up a quarter of the population, so shouldn't they have a say in what the world they'll inherit will look...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Joshua W. Pate: The mysterious science of pain
In 1995, the British Medical Journal published a report about a builder who accidentally jumped onto a nail, which pierced straight through his steel-toed boot. He was in such agonizing pain that any movement was unbearable. But when the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik's Cube like a piano - Michael Staff
Mathematics explains the workings of the universe, from particle physics to engineering and economics. Math is even closely related to music, and their common ground has something to do with a Rubik's Cube puzzle. Michael Staff explains...
TED Talks
Eva Zeisel: The playful search for beauty
The ceramics designer Eva Zeisel looks back on a 75-year career. What keeps her work as fresh today (her latest line debuted in 2008) as in 1926? Her sense of play and beauty, and her drive for adventure. Listen for stories from a rich,...
TED Talks
Derek Paravicini and Adam Ockelford: In the key of genius
Born three and a half months prematurely, Derek Paravicini is blind and has severe autism. But with perfect pitch, innate talent and a lot of practice, he became a concert pianist by the age of 10. Here, his longtime piano teacher, Adam...
Crash Course
Casual Gaming: Crash Course Games
Today, we're moving on from game consoles to talk about a bigger shift that was happening in the gaming industry. In the mid 2000s, we saw a proliferation of Internet accessible devices and with them gaming would expand to a new...
TED Talks
George Smoot: The design of the universe
At Serious Play 2008, astrophysicist George Smoot shows stunning new images from deep-space surveys, and prods us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way.
TED Talks
Apollo Robbins: The art of misdirection
Hailed as the greatest pickpocket in the world, Apollo Robbins studies the quirks of human behavior as he steals your watch. In a hilarious demonstration, Robbins samples the buffet of the TEDGlobal 2013 audience, showing how the flaws...