Paul Andersen describes how cell communication is used in both single-celled and multicellular organisms. He starts by describing the symbiotic relationship between the bobtail squid and the bacteria Vibrio fisheri. He explains how...

Every act of communication is, in some way, an act of translation. Writer Chris Bliss talks about the way that great comedy can translate deep truths for a mass audience.

The most popular language on earth isn't spoken, it's smelled. Those smells are made up of terpenes, a multipurpose class of chemical compounds.

Dialects are a part of how we communicate, but it also turns out that many animals have dialects depending on what part of the world they live in.

It’s hard to study dreams because it’s not like you can communicate back and forth with someone while they’re asleep...at least you couldn’t, until now!

Could someone hack your pacemaker? Avi Rubin shows how hackers are compromising cars, smartphones and medical devices, and warns us about the dangers of an increasingly hack-able world.

Faith Jegede tells the moving and funny story of growing up with her two brothers, both autistic -- and both extraordinary. In this talk from the TED Talent Search, she reminds us to pursue a life beyond what is normal.

A puppy's tail wagging on the left side of their body might mean something profoundly different than wagging on the right side.

You can find groups of people from all over the world who communicate full conversation by whistling. And neuroscientists found how our brain works with whistled language is mind-blowing.

Explore cell signaling with the Amoeba Sisters! This introductory video describes vocabulary such as ligand and receptor. It includes the stages of cell signaling (reception, transduction, and response) and different types of signaling...

People love Santa. Christmas is the largest holiday in western culture, and Santa Claus is the centerpiece of that holiday (sorry baby Jesus). But even though our understanding of Santa changes as we mature, we still maintain and...

Your mobile phone, computer and game console have a bloody past — tied to tantalum mining, which funds the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Drawing on his personal story, activist and refugee Bandi Mbubi gives a stirring call...

Sending an email message is like sending a postcard, says scientist Andy Yen in this thought-provoking talk: Anyone can read it. Yet encryption, the technology that protects the privacy of email communication, does exist. It's just that...

Although they don’t seem like the talkative type, recent research suggests that bird eggs can use vibrations to relay warnings about the outside world to their nest-mates.

Information designer Tom Wujec talks through three areas of the brain that help us understand words, images, feelings, connections. In this short talk from TEDU, he asks: How can we best engage our brains to help us better understand big...

The nerve disease ALS left graffiti artist TEMPT paralyzed from head to toe, forced to communicate blink by blink. In a remarkable talk at TEDActive, entrepreneur Mick Ebeling shares how he and a team of collaborators built an...

Paul Andersen explains how organisms use information to communicate with each other. Signals are used by bees doing the waggle dance to communicate the location of flowers. Territorial markings are used by wolves to establish...

Imagine being unable to say, "I am hungry," "I am in pain," "thank you," or "I love you,” -- losing your ability to communicate, being trapped inside your body, surrounded by people yet utterly alone. For 13 long years, that was Martin...

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.

No business, no matter how innovative and amazing it is, will survive if people haven’t heard of it. If people don’t know something exists, they’ll never be able to purchase it. It’s time to work on our communication skills.

Cane toads will eat just about anything, including each other! And researchers have reported a different way to help those with ALS continue to communicate their needs after losing the ability to move and speak.

Communicating underwater is challenging. Light and odors don't travel well, but sound moves about four times faster in water than in air - which means marine mammals often use sounds to communicate. The most famous of these underwater...

About 150 years ago, scientists found the two main areas that are responsible for language production and comprehension in the brain. But it turns out they might have over-exaggerated what these parts actually do.

Hyenas communicate via an information-dense physical medium (hyena butter) - and now MinuteEarth does too (book).