TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to squeeze electricity out of crystals - Ashwini Bharathula
It might sound like science fiction, but if you press on a crystal of sugar, it will actually generate its own electricity. This simple crystal can act like a tiny power source because sugar happens to be piezoelectric. Ashwini...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How one of the most profitable companies in history rose to power | Adam Clulow
During the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company cornered the booming spice market and pioneered trade routes between Asia and Europe. It is widely considered the most profitable corporation ever created. But such success came with...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the time travel riddle? - Dan Finkel
Your professor has accidentally stepped through a time portal in his physics lab. You’ve got just a minute to jump through before it closes and leaves him stranded in history. Your only way back is to grab enough colored nodules to...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Einstein's twin paradox explained | Amber Stuver
On their 20th birthday, identical twin astronauts volunteer for an experiment. Terra will remain on Earth, while Stella will board a spaceship. Stella's ship will travel to visit a star that is 10 light-years away, then return to Earth....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Could the Earth be swallowed by a black hole? - Fabio Pacucci
From asteroids capable of destroying entire species to supernovae that could exterminate life on Earth, outer space has no shortage of forces that could wreak havoc on our planet. But there's something in space that is even more...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Vultures: The acid-puking, plague-busting heroes of the ecosystem | Kenny Coogan
In the African grasslands, a gazelle suffering from tuberculosis takes its last breath. The animal's corpse threatens to infect the water, but for the vulture, this isn't a problem: it's a feast. With a stomach of steel that can digest...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What cameras see that our eyes don't - Bill Shribman
Our eyes are practically magical, but they cannot see everything. For instance, the naked eye cannot see the moment where all four of a horse's legs are in the air or the gradual life cycle of plants -- but cameras can capture these...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: History through the eyes of the potato - Leo Bear-McGuinness
Baked or fried, boiled or roasted, as chips or fries; at some point in your life you've probably eaten a potato. But potatoes have played a much more significant role in our history than just that of the dietary staple we have come to...
TED-Ed
Demolition, disease, and death: Building the Panama Canal | Alex Gendler
In the 19th century, the California gold rush brought thousands of settlers to America's west coast. But finding gold may have been easier than transporting it back east. The only hope for avoiding a grueling six month wagon journey was...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Debunking the myths of OCD - Natascha M. Santos
There's a common misconception that if you like to meticulously organize your things, keep your hands clean, or plan out your weekend to the last detail, you might be OCD. In fact, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is a serious...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Should we eat bugs? - Emma Bryce
What's tasty, abundant and high in protein? Bugs! Although less common outside the tropics, entomophagy, the practice of eating bugs, was once extremely widespread throughout cultures. You may feel icky about munching on insects, but...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How the Normans changed the history of Europe - Mark Robinson
In the year 1066, 7,000 Norman infantry and knights sailed in warships across the English Channel. Their target: England, home to more than a million people . Around the same period of time, other groups of Normans were setting forth all...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How aspirin was discovered - Krishna Sudhir
4000 years ago, the ancient Sumerians made a surprising discovery: if they scraped the bark off a particular kind of tree and ate it, their pain disappeared. Little did they know that what they'd found was destined to influence the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Which sunscreen should you choose? - Mary Poffenroth
Sunscreen comes in many forms, each with its own impacts on your body and the environment. With so many options, how do you choose which sunscreen is best for you? To answer that question, Mary Poffenroth explains how sunscreens work and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What can DNA tests really tell us about our ancestry?
Two sisters take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other? Tests...
TED-Ed
The surprising secrets of hummingbird flight | Kristiina J. Hurme and Alejandro Rico-Guevara
In just a matter of seconds, hummingbirds can perform astonishing aerial acrobatics, eat lunch in midair, pollinate a flower, even escape threats while upside-down. And they can do this all while achieving sustained hovering flight— an...