There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world -- and they all have different sounds, vocabularies and structures. But do they shape the way we think? Cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky shares examples of language -- from an...

What if every dollar you spend today could save you 10 dollars tomorrow? Development expert Harjeet Singh reveals how climate solutions like floating farms and “sponge cities” that absorb floodwater aren’t just clever adaptations —...

Oil companies may seem invincible, but they are more vulnerable than you think, says climate justice litigator Melinda Janki. She tells the story of how she took on ExxonMobil in her home country of Guyana, notching historic wins against...

In 1992, something unprecedented happened in Los Angeles: rival gang members negotiated a historic peace treaty, significantly reducing violence across the city. Aqeela Sherrills, one of the key negotiators of that treaty, continues to...

What if saving lives and growing a company went hand in hand? Public health expert Myriam Sidibe thinks many businesses are going about social impact all wrong — and leaving millions of dollars on the table at the same time. Drawing from...

As a teenager, social entrepreneur Anshul Tewari didn’t see young voices represented in the conversations that mattered. His solution? A simple blog that has since transformed into Youth Ki Awaaz (Voice of the Youth): India’s largest...

It's a hard nut to crack: in order to prevent food waste, we rely on plastic packaging and refrigeration, which harm the environment. What if we could turn to nature to address these challenges? Engineer and chemist Jenny Du shares how a...

Common knowledge is the secret engine of social life, letting us coordinate everything from meet-ups to markets to international diplomacy. In this fascinating talk, experimental cognitive scientist Steven Pinker explores its momentous...

Africa’s booming youth population is often seen as a "jobless generation." But in Kenya alone, young people are already adding more than 530 million dollars a month to the economy through informal businesses. Social entrepreneur Anuj...

Clean energy visionary Lei Zhang loves the Gobi Desert — the most Mars-like place on Earth. Why? Because of the promise it holds to provide the free, abundant solar and wind energy to fuel humanity’s next leap forward. Sharing the story...

How did a small, economically vulnerable country become a trailblazer in sustainable industry? Clean economy builder James Mnyupe explores how Namibia is teaming up with partners from around the world to turn sun, wind and water into...

In 2014, the world’s second largest coal consumer made a bold promise: to increase its solar capacity from three gigawatts to 100 gigawatts in just eight years. Many people called it overly ambitious, but energy expert Kanika Chawla saw...

Insurance is the hidden engine that keeps the economy churning, but climate change is making home insurance unaffordable for many people, says climate risk advisor Amy Barnes. She reveals why soaring premiums aren't just bad news for...

Your smartphone, computer and electric car all depend on one thing — critical minerals buried deep underground. But there’s a catch: the mining industry has gotten dramatically worse at discovering new deposits just when we need them...

Over the last 40 years, Brazil has lost an area larger than California to deforestation — and 90 percent of the clear-cutting has been illegal, all part of a multi-billion-dollar global environmental crime economy. Civic entrepreneur...

Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the...

Your immune system keeps a record of everything it’s ever fought, from the common cold to chronic disease. Neuroscientist and TED Fellow Beck Brachman explains how, by decoding this archive, scientists may be able to identify the root...

The number of forcibly displaced people across the world is on the rise. While aid systems often focus on providing basic necessities like food and shelter, Julienne Oyler and her team at the nonprofit Inkomoko have a more ambitious...

The real lever of a meaningful life isn’t intelligence or hustle — it’s personal agency, says Cate Hall, former Supreme Court attorney and once the world’s top-ranked female poker player. Sharing her journey from the throes of addiction...

As a film and television director, Barry Sonnenfeld had millions of dollars riding on his ability to get his cast and crew to play along — and much of what he learned along the way applies to everyday life. Here, he shares nine bits of...

Maps have long helped us understand the world — now, they can help us shape it. Digital cartographer Peter Wilczynski introduces the Living Globe: a real-time, data-rich digital twin of Earth that fuses satellite imagery, sensor data and...

Exhausted from carrying water up a hill to keep her small farm in Kenya thriving, Josephine Waweru received an unexpected call that offered a nearly unbelievable solution. She shares how one simple device allowed her crops (and her...

Sometimes feeding just one child can seem challenging. Not for entrepreneur Wawira Njiru, who’s gone from serving lunch to 25 children from a makeshift kitchen to establishing her nonprofit, Food4Education, as a cornerstone of Kenya’s...

The US political system is broken — and the solution might be in the palm of your hands, says political strategist Bradley Tusk. Drawing on his deep experience with government and technology, he makes the case for allowing Americans to...