TED Talks
TED: How better tech could protect us from distraction | Tristan Harris
How often does technology interrupt us from what we really mean to be doing? At work and at play, we spend a startling amount of time distracted by pings and pop-ups -- instead of helping us spend our time well, it often feels like our...
TED Talks
TED: You owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse | David Baron
On August 21, 2017, the moon's shadow raced from Oregon to South Carolina in what some consider to be the most awe-inspiring spectacle in all of nature: a total solar eclipse. umbraphile David Baron chases these rare events across the...
TED Talks
TED: Let's launch a satellite to track a threatening greenhouse gas | Fred Krupp
When we talk about greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide gets the most attention -- but methane, which often escapes unseen from pipes and wells, has a far greater immediate impact on global warming. Environmentalist Fred Krupp has an idea to...
SciShow
Why Athletes Are Worried About COVID: Its Toll on the Heart
We tend to think of COVID-19 as a lung infection, but there's more evidence that it might also be affecting the hearts of healthy athletes without them even knowing it.
TED Talks
TED: 3 moons and a planet that could have alien life | James Green
Is there life beyond earth? Join NASA's director of planetary science James Green for a survey of the places in our solar system that are most likely to harbor alien life.
TED Talks
Christopher Soghoian: Government surveillance — this is just the beginning
Privacy researcher Christopher Soghoian sees the landscape of government surveillance shifting beneath our feet, as an industry grows to support monitoring programs. Through private companies, he says, governments are buying technology...
TED Talks
TED: How do daily habits lead to political violence? | Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah
What drives someone to commit politically motivated violence? The unsettling answer lies in daily habits. Behavioral historian Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah shares startling insights into how seemingly mundane choices can breed polarization...
TED Talks
Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone?
As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication -- and asks us to think deeply about the new kinds of...
TED Talks
Sally Kohn: Don't like clickbait? Don't click
Doesn't it seem like a lot of online news sites have moved beyond reporting the news to openly inciting your outrage (and your page views)? News analyst Sally Kohn suggests — don't engage with news that looks like it just wants to make...
TED Talks
TED: 3 ways we can redesign cities for equity and inclusion | Vishaan Chakrabarti
Cities are engines of culture, commerce, knowledge and community, but they're also centers of inequality and poverty. As the world rebuilds from the coronavirus pandemic, can we transform cities into bastions of equity and...
TED Talks
James Surowiecki: The power and the danger of online crowds
James Surowiecki pinpoints the moment when social media became an equal player in the world of news-gathering: the 2005 tsunami, when YouTube video, blogs, IMs and txts carried the news -- and preserved moving personal stories from the...
SciShow
The Coolest Space Mission You May Have Never Heard Of
Some space missions get a lot of attention, but not all the biggest space exploration stories get the recognition they deserve. This is the story of a robotic craft that captured the first-ever glimpse of a comet’s icy core!
TED Talks
Julia Bacha: Pay attention to nonviolence
In 2003, the Palestinian village of Budrus mounted a 10-month-long nonviolent protest to stop a barrier being built across their olive groves. Did you hear about it? Didn't think so. Brazilian filmmaker Julia Bacha asks why we only pay...
TED Talks
Christopher Emdin: Teach teachers how to create magic
What do rap shows, barbershop banter and Sunday services have in common? As Christopher Emdin says, they all hold the secret magic to enthrall and teach at the same time — and it's a skill we often don't teach to educators. A longtime...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How to master your sense of smell - Alexandra Horowitz
Some perfumers can distinguish individual odors in a fragrance made of hundreds of scents; tea-experts have been known to sniff out the exact location of a particular tea; and the NYC Transit Authority once had a employee responsible...
SciShow
Why the Way Back Feels Shorter (Even When it Isn’t)
You might have felt that coming back from somewhere seems to take less time than getting there did. But why?
TED Talks
Aparna Rao: Art that craves your attention
In this charming talk, artist Aparna Rao shows us her latest work: cool, cartoony sculptures (with neat robotic tricks underneath them) that play with your perception -- and crave your attention. Take a few minutes to simply be delighted.
SciShow
Why Athletes Choke Under Pressure
Even the most skilled athletes, musicians, and performers can make mistakes on relatively simple tasks, so what’s happening in our brains when we choke, and is there something we can do to overcome these moments?
SciShow
Personalized Cancer Treatment Just Got Harder
Scientists are working to develop personalized cancer treatments, but one obstacle in the way is figuring out how different cells react to one another.
TED Talks
Stefana Broadbent: How the Internet enables intimacy
We worry that IM, texting, Facebook are spoiling human intimacy, but Stefana Broadbent's research shows how communication tech is capable of cultivating deeper relationships, bringing love across barriers like distance and workplace rules.
TED Talks
Bobby Ghosh: Why global jihad is losing
Throughout the history of Islam, says journalist Bobby Ghosh, there have been two sides to jihad: one, internal, a personal struggle to be better, the other external. A small minority has appropriated the second meaning, using it as an...
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...
TED Talks
Abha Dawesar: Life in the "digital now"
One year ago, Abha Dawesar was living in blacked-out Manhattan post-Sandy, scrounging for power to connect. As a novelist, she was struck by this metaphor: Have our lives now become fixated on the drive to digitally connect, while we...
SciShow
Why We Like Bad News
Even if we say we prefer good news, we're wired to pay more attention to bad news. And while it might feel like the world is becoming a more scary, dangerous place, many things are actually better now than ever, and social media might be...