TED Talks
Svante Pääbo: DNA clues to our inner neanderthal
Sharing the results of a massive, worldwide study, geneticist Svante Pääbo shows the DNA proof that early humans mated with Neanderthals after we moved out of Africa. (Yes, many of us have Neanderthal DNA.) He also shows how a tiny bone...
TED Talks
TED: Are brain waves the secret to treating Alzheimer's? | Li-Huei Tsai
What if we could use brain waves to treat Alzheimer's? Professor and neuroscientist Li-Huei Tsai details a promising new approach to artificially stimulate gamma brain waves using light and sound therapy, to increase connectivity and...
TED Talks
TED: How to fix broken supply chains | Dustin Burke
Supply chain challenges are real, but they're not new, says global trade expert Dustin Burke. In the face of disruptions ranging from natural disasters to pandemics, how do we make sure supply chains can keep up? Burke offers a...
TED Talks
TED: Puppies! Now that I’ve got your attention, complexity theory | Nicolas Perony
Animal behavior isn't complicated, but it is complex. Nicolas Perony studies how individual animals -- be they Scottish Terriers, bats or meerkats -- follow simple rules that, collectively, create larger patterns of behavior. And how...
TED Talks
Elizabeth Howell: How we can improve maternal healthcare -- before, during and after pregnancy
Shocking, but true: the United States has the highest rate of deaths for new mothers of any developed country -- and 60 percent of them are preventable. With clarity and urgency, physician Elizabeth Howell explains the causes of maternal...
TED Talks
TED: How radical hospitality can change the lives of the formerly incarcerated | Reuben Jonathan Miller
For the nearly 20 million Americans with a felony record, punishment doesn't end after their prison sentence. Sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller sheds light on the aftershocks of mass incarceration through the stories of people who've...
TED Talks
The shadow pandemic of domestic violence during COVID-19 | Kemi DaSilva-Ibru
Mandatory lockdowns, quarantines and shelter-in-place orders meant to contain COVID-19 have created a shadow pandemic of domestic abuse, says physician Kemi DaSilva-Ibru. Sharing alarming statistics on the rise of gender-based violence...
TED Talks
TED: How games make kids smarter | Gabe Zichermann
Can playing video games make you more productive? Gabe Zichermann shows how games are making kids better problem-solvers, and will make us better at everything from driving to multi-tasking.
TED Talks
Chuck Plunkett: When local news dies, so does democracy
Nearly 1,800 newsrooms have shuttered across the US since 2004, leaving many communities unseen, unheard and in the dark. In this passionate talk and rallying cry, journalist Chuck Plunkett explains why he rebelled against his employer...
TED Talks
TED: The incredible cancer-detecting potential of photoacoustic imaging | Lei Li
Could we use the energy from light and sound to detect disease? TED Fellow Lei Li shares the exciting promise of photoacoustic imaging: an affordable, painless and accurate method of converting light into sound in order to create...
TED Talks
Paola Antonelli: Design and the Elastic Mind
MOMA design curator Paola Antonelli previews the groundbreaking show Design and the Elastic Mind -- full of products and designs that reflect the way we think now.
TED Talks
TED: Let's design social media that drives real change | Wael Ghonim
Wael Ghonim helped touch off the Arab Spring in his home of egypt ... by setting up a simple Facebook page. As he reveals, once the revolution spilled onto the streets, it turned from hopeful to messy, then ugly and heartbreaking. And...
TED Talks
TED: The US can move past immigration prisons -- and towards justice | César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández
Imagine seeking safety abroad and instead being detained and forced to defend yourself in a high-stakes legal battle — alone. Law professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández explains how the asylum process in the US became warped into...
TED Talks
TED: Community-powered solutions to the climate crisis | Rahwa Ghirmatzion and Zelalem Adefris
Climate change is the epic challenge of our lives, and community leaders like Rahwa Ghirmatzion and Zelalem Adefris are already working on sustainable, resilient solutions. Through their organizations in Buffalo and Miami, they're...
TED Talks
T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison: The trauma of systematic racism is killing Black women. A first step toward change...
T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, founders of the health nonprofit GirlTrek, are on a mission to reduce the leading causes of preventable death among Black women -- and build communities in the process. How? By getting one million...
TED Talks
Mustafa Akyol: Faith versus tradition in Islam
Journalist Mustafa Akyol talks about the way that some local cultural practices (such as the seclusion of women) have become linked, in the popular mind, to the articles of faith of Islam. Has the world's general idea of the Islamic...
TED Talks
Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture
How can architects build a new world of sustainable beauty? By learning from nature. Michael Pawlyn describes three habits of nature that could transform architecture and society: radical resource efficiency, closed loops, and drawing...
TED Talks
Mia Birdsong: The story we tell about poverty isn't true
As a global community, we all want to end poverty. Mia Birdsong suggests a great place to start: Let's honor the skills, drive and initiative that poor people bring to the struggle every day. She asks us to look again at people in...
TED Talks
Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work
Work-life balance, says Nigel Marsh, is too important to be left in the hands of your employer. Marsh lays out an ideal day balanced between family time, personal time and productivity -- and offers some stirring encouragement to make it...
TED Talks
TED: Progress is not a zero-sum game | Robert Wright
Author Robert Wright explains "non-zero-sumness" -- the network of linked fortunes and cooperation that has guided our evolution to this point -- and how we can use it to help save humanity today.
TED Talks
Rahul Mehrotra: The architectural wonder of impermanent cities
Every 12 years, a megacity springs up in India for the Kumbh Mela religious festival -- what's built in ten weeks is completely disassembled in one. What can we learn from this fully functioning, temporary settlement? In a visionary...
TED Talks
Craig Venter: Sampling the ocean's DNA
Genomics pioneer Craig Venter takes a break from his epic round-the-world expedition to talk about the millions of genes his team has discovered so far in its quest to map the ocean's biodiversity.
TED Talks
Tim Brown: Designers -- think big!
Tim Brown says the design profession has a bigger role to play than just creating nifty, fashionable little objects. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory "design thinking" -- starting with the example of...
TED Talks
Taylor Wilson: Yup, I built a nuclear fusion reactor
Taylor Wilson believes nuclear fusion is a solution to our future energy needs, and that kids can change the world. And he knows something about both of those: When he was 14, he built a working fusion reactor in his parents' garage. Now...