TED-Ed
TED-ED: Mysteries of vernacular: Venom - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel
How did venom get its poisonous meaning? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel follow venom from something to desire to explicit reasons for avoiding a snake.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is there a "b" in doubt? - Gina Cooke
Say the word "doubt" aloud. What is that "b" doing there? Does it have any purpose? Gina Cooke explains the long and winding history of "doubt" and why the spelling, though it seems random, is a wink to its storied past.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The benefits of a good night's sleep - Shai Marcu
It's 4am, and the big test is in 8 hours. You've been studying for days, but you still don't feel ready. Should you drink another cup of coffee and spend the next few hours cramming? Or should you go to sleep? Shai Marcu defends the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Pizza physics (New York-style) - Colm Kelleher
People love eating pizza, but every style of pie has a different consistency. If "New York-style"--thin, flat, and large--is your texture of choice, then you've probably eaten a slice that was as messy as it was delicious. Colm Kelleher...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How stress affects your body - Sharon Horesh Bergquist
Our hard-wired stress response is designed to give us the quick burst of heightened alertness and energy needed to perform our best. But stress isn't all good. When activated too long or too often, stress can damage virtually every part...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What is a coronavirus?
For almost a decade, scientists chased the source of a deadly new virus through China’s tallest mountains and most isolated caverns. They finally found it in the bats of Shitou Cave. The virus in question was a coronavirus that caused an...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why haven't we cured arthritis? | Kaitlyn Sadtler and Heather J. Faust
The bad backs, elbow pain, and creaky knees so common in older people often aren't just "old age." In fact, the source of this stiffness plagues many young people as well. The culprit is arthritis: a condition that affects over 90...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The many meanings of Michelangelo's Statue of David - James Earle
We typically experience classic works of art in a museum, stripped of their original contexts, but that serene setting can belie a tumultuous history. Take Michelangelo's statue of David: devised as a religious symbol, adopted as a...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Would you opt for a life with no pain? - Hayley Levitt and Bethany Rickwald
Imagine if you could plug your brain into a machine that would bring you ultimate pleasure for the rest of your life. The only catch? You have to permanently leave reality behind. Hayley Levitt and Bethany Rickwald explore Robert...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How does a jellyfish sting? - Neosha S Kashef
You're swimming in the ocean when something brushes your leg. When the tingling sets in, you realize you've been stung by a jellyfish. How do these beautiful gelatinous creatures pack such a painful punch? Neosha S Kashef details the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How small are we in the scale of the universe? - Alex Hofeldt
In 1995, scientists pointed the Hubble Telescope at an area of the sky near the Big Dipper. The location was apparently empty, and the whole endeavor was risky _ what, if anything, was going to show up? But what came back was nothing...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why do cats act so weird? - Tony Buffington
They're cute, they're lovable, and judging by the 26 billion views on over 2 million YouTube videos of them, one thing is certain: cats are very entertaining. But their strange feline behaviors, both amusing and baffling, leave many of...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Mysteries of vernacular: Keister - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel
Originally meaning a woven container, the word keister has roots all over the place. The devil's tool box? Sure. A safe? That too. So, how did it become associated with the buttochs? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel get to the bottom of...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Higgs Field, explained - Don Lincoln
One of the most significant scientific discoveries of the early 21st century is surely the Higgs boson, but the boson and the Higgs Field that allows for that magic particle are extremely difficult to grasp. Don Lincoln outlines an...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: One is one or is it? - Christopher Danielson
One bag of apples, one apple, one slice of apple -- which of these is one unit? Explore the basic unit of math (explained by a trip to the grocery store!) and discover the many meanings of one.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Can you solve the egg drop riddle? - Yossi Elran
The city has just opened its one-of-a-kind Faberge Egg Museum, with a single egg displayed on each floor of a 100-story building -- and the world's most notorious jewel thief already has her eyes on the prize. Can you help the thief...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the fortress riddle? | Henri Picciotto
Bad news: your worst enemies are at the gate. Your fledgling kingdom guards the world's only herd of tiny dino creatures. To you, they're sacred. To everyone else, they're food. The three closest nation-states have teamed up to smash...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of Zeus' test | Iseult Gillespie
It was dark when two mysterious, shrouded figures appeared in a hillside village. The strangers knocked on every door in town, asking for food and shelter. But, again and again, they were turned away. Soon, there was just one door left:...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why plague doctors wore beaked masks | TED-Ed
The year is 1656. Your body is wracked by violent chills. Your head pounds and you're too weak to sit up. In your feverish state, you see a strange-looking man wearing a beak-like mask, his body covered from head to toe. Without seeing...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Do IQ tests actually measure intelligence?
In 1905, psychologists Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon designed a test for children who were struggling in school in France. Designed to determine which children required individualized attention, their method formed the basis of the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the prisoner hat riddle? - Alex Gendler
You and nine other individuals have been captured by super-intelligent alien overlords. The aliens think humans look quite tasty, but their civilization forbids eating highly logical and cooperative beings. Unfortunately, they're not...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to fossilizeyourself - Phoebe A. Cohen
You can aspire to great things in life, but how about in death? Could you be one of the world's greatest fossils many years from now? To ensure being found by a future paleontologist, you'll need to die in a highly specific way (think...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why are sloths so slow? - Kenny Coogan
Sloths spend most of their time eating, resting, or sleeping; in fact, they descend from their treetops canopies just once a week, for a bathroom break. How are these creatures so low energy? Kenny Coogan describes the physical and...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Greeting the world in peace - Jackie Jenkins
Conflict and cultural clashes are a part of our global reality, but so is the universal desire for peace. From Bangladesh to Myanmar to Lesotho, discover this inspiring common sentiment in traditional greetings of peace.