TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Human sperm vs. the sperm whale - Aatish Bhatia
Traveling is extremely arduous for microscopic sperm -- think of a human trying to swim in a pool made ofother humans. We can compare the journey of a sperm to that of a sperm whale by calculating the Reynolds number, a prediction of how...
TED-Ed
Can you be awake and asleep at the same time? | Masako Tamaki
Many animals need sleep. But all of the threats and demands animals face don't just go away when it's time to doze. That's why a range of birds, mammals, and even humans experience some degree of asymmetrical sleep, where parts of the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History vs. Tamerlane the Conqueror | Stephanie Honchell Smith
He was born in the 1330s in the Chaghatayid Khanate, formerly the Mongol Empire. On the steppe, he rose from a lowly sheep thief to become one of history's greatest conquerors, uniting nearly all of Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The dark history of the Chinese Exclusion Act | Robert Chang
In 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first federal law that restricted immigration based explicitly on nationality. In practice, the Act banned entry to all ethnically Chinese immigrants besides...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Development of English drama - Mindy Ploeckelmann
When presented with the problem of hoards of illiterate commoners, English clergymen in the 11th century created plays to spread word about the Bible. Eventually, the plays moved out of the church and into the streets. Mindy Ploeckelmann...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The first asteroid ever discovered - Carrie Nugent
Over the course of history, we've discovered hundreds of thousands of asteroids. But how do astronomers discover these bits of rock and metal? How many have they found? And how do they tell asteroids apart? Carrie Nugent shares the story...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why should you read Tolstoy's "War and Peace"? - Brendan Pelsue
"War and Peace." A tome. A slog. The sort of book you shouldn't read in bed because if you fall asleep it could give you a concussion. Right? Only partly. "War and Peace" is a long book, sure, but it's also a thrilling examination of...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The left brain vs. right brain myth - Elizabeth Waters
The human brain is visibly split into a left and right side. This structure has inspired one of the most pervasive ideas about the brain: that the left side controls logic and the right side controls creativity. And yet, this is a myth,...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The world's most mysterious book - Stephen Bax
Deep inside Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library lies a 240 page tome. Recently carbon dated to around 1420, its pages feature looping handwriting and hand drawn images seemingly stolen from a dream. It is called the Voynich...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of Loki's monstrous children | Iseult Gillespie
Odin, the king of Asgard, was plagued by nightmares. Three fearsome figures haunted his dreams: a massive, writhing shadow; a shambling, rotting corpse; and worst of all, a monstrous beast with a deadly bite. Though their true forms were...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What is the tragedy of the commons? - Nicholas Amendolare
Is it possible that overfishing, super germs, and global warming are all caused by the same thing? In 1968, a man named Garrett Hardin sat down to write an essay about overpopulation. Within it, he discovered a pattern of human behavior...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Who was Confucius? - Bryan W. Van Norden
Most people recognize his name and know that he is famous for having said something, but considering the long-lasting impact his teachings have had on the world, very few people know who Confucius really was, what he really said and why....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Under the hood: The chemistry of cars - Cynthia Chubbuck
There are over one billion cars in the world right now, getting people from point A to point B. But cars aren't just a mode of transportation; they also teach an excellent lesson in chemistry. Cynthia Chubbuck navigates the intricate...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why the octopus brain is so extraordinary - Claudio L. Guerra
ctopuses have the ability to solve puzzles, learn through observation, and even use tools - just like humans. But what makes octopus intelligence so amazing is that it comes from a biological structure completely different from ours....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What's the best fuel for your car? | TED-Ed
Historically, most cars have run on gasoline, but that doesn't have to be the case in the future: other liquid fuels and electricity can also power cars. So what are the differences between these options? And which one's best? Dig into...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why is Herodotus called The Father of History? - Mark Robinson
About 2500 years ago, the writing of history as we understand it didn't really exist. Then, a man called Herodotus witnessed the Persian invasions of Greece and decided to find out why they happened. Mark Robinson investigates how the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What's a smartphone made of? - Kim Preshoff
As of 2018, there are around 2.5 billion smartphone users in the world. If we broke open all the newest phones and split them into their component parts, that would produce around 85,000 kg of gold, 875,000 of silver, and 40,000,000 of...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The mysterious life and death of Rasputin - Eden Girma
On a night in 1916, Russian aristocrats set a plot of assassination into motion. If all went as planned, a man would be dead by morning, though others had already tried and failed. The monarchy was on the brink of collapse, and they...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Brian A. Pavlac: Ugly History: Witch Hunts
In the German town of Nördlingen in 1593, innkeeper Maria Höll found herself accused of witchcraft. She was arrested for questioning, and denied the charges. She insisted she wasn't a witch through 62 rounds of torture before her...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A day in the life of an ancient Celtic Druid | Philip Freeman
As the sun rises in 55 BCE, Camma lays two pigeons on the altar at the center of her village. She wrings the birds' necks and cuts them open to examine their entrails for divine messages. Camma is a druid. She conducts religious rites,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you guess what's wrong with these paintings? | Noah Charney
Prior to the mid-20th century, art restorers took a heavy-handed approach, often drastically altering paintings in the name of "improving" art. Today, they focus on keeping the original work intact with minimal intervention, and must...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Mysteries of vernacular: Inaugurate - Jessica Oreck
From avian omens to the beginning of a new policy or the reign of a new politician, Jessica Oreck follows the flight path of the word inaugurate.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Calculating the odds of intelligent alien life - Jill Tarter
Could there be intelligent life on other planets? This question has piqued imagination and curiosity for decades. Explore the answer with the Drake Equation -- a mathematical formula that calculates the possibility of undiscovered life.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Football physics: The "impossible" free kick - Erez Garty
In 1997, Brazilian football player Roberto Carlos set up for a 35 meter free kick with no direct line to the goal. Carlos's shot sent the ball flying wide of the players, but just before going out of bounds it hooked to the left and...