TED-Ed

Explore the phenomenon known as peat fires, smoldering fires that burn underground and can continue for months or even years.--In 1997, a fire began in Indonesia that would rage for almost a year. Despite being one of the largest fires in recorded history, for months at a time it burned without a flame. This might sound like a uniquely freaky fire, but it’s actually one of many. So, is it possible...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/vermicomposting-how-worms-can-reduce-our-waste-matthew-rossNearly one third of our food ends up in the trash can. There is hope, however, in the form of worms, which naturally convert organic waste into fertilizer. Matthew Ross details the steps we can all take to vermicompost at home -- and why it makes good business sense to do so. Lesson by Matthew Ro...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-bottom-billion-paul-collierAround the world right now, one billion people are trapped in poor or failing countries. How can we help them? Economist Paul Collier lays out a bold, compassionate plan for closing the gap between rich and poor. Talk by Paul Collier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can you make your voice heard in a noisy world? The key is public speaking and presentation literacy, and we can help: http://bit.ly/TMCPSApp--Storytelling is an ancient art; as humans developed language and culture, we learned to share our stories, thoughts, and dreams. And that storytelling evolved into public speaking, and our audience— thanks to the internet— is the whole world, not just a...

Learn more at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--A spy presses a button on their suit and blinks out of sight. A wizard wraps himself in a cloak and disappears. A star pilot flicks a switch, and their ship vanishes into space. Invisibility is one of the most tantalizing powers in fiction, spanning all kinds of stories. But could this fantasy ever become a reality? Max G. Levy digs into the technologies...

Dig into the engineering of the Hoover Dam, a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River that supplies water to the US southwest.--In the early 20th century, the US had expanded from coast to coast, but many cities in the southwest still lacked reliable water sources. The Colorado River's erratic flow and frequent floods made it unreliable for agriculture, and the region’s growing cities need...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/write-your-story-change-history-brad-meltzerThe idea that youth is wasted on the young? Wrong. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the creators of Superman were all under 30 when they wrote themselves into history. In this inspirational TEDYouth 2011 Talk, Brad Meltzer encourages us to dream big, work hard, and stay humble. Talk by Brad Meltzer. Learn more about...

Dig into what causes your stress response to be triggered, and how you can best train your mind and body to deal with stress.--An upcoming project deadline, a fight with a family member, or even an embarrassing moment can easily trigger our body’s stress response. While we can’t always control what life throws at us, there are ways to better prepare for stressful events we may experience. So, how...

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. In his talk, he shows how his group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together. (Filmed at TEDxBloomington.)Talk by Charlie Todd. Learn more about your ad choice...

Teaching is both a science and an art, and many teachers around the world spend endless hours perfecting their professional practice. At TEDActive 2013, a few teachers from the United States offer some tricks of the trade they've learned (and continue to hone) along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-we-domesticate-germs-paul-ewaldEvolutionary biologist Paul Ewald drags us into the sewer to discuss germs. Why are some more harmful than others? How could we make the harmful ones benign? Searching for answers, he examines a disgusting, fascinating case: diarrhea. Talk by Paul Ewald. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the Chinese myth of Lady Meng Jiang, and how her grief over the death of her husband brought down the Great Wall.--Long ago, an emperor decided to build a great wall to protect his new empire and ensure his power. He ordered men across China to leave their homes and submit to the grueling labor required for its construction. As years passed and the wall grew, few returned home. But one wo...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-defeat-a-dragon-with-math-garth-sundemHaving trouble remembering the order of operations? Let's raise the stakes a little bit. What if the future of your (theoretical) kingdom depended on it? Garth Sundem creates a world in which PEMDAS is the hero but only heroic when in the proper order. Lesson by Garth Sundem, animation by Mark Phillips. Learn...

Discover how scientists developed atomic clocks, which use the vibrations of atoms to measure and maintain a globally consistent time. --In 1967, researchers gathered to answer a long-running scientific question: just how long is a second? It might seem obvious at first. A second is the tick of a clock, the swing of a pendulum, the time it takes to count to one. But how precise are those measureme...

Dig into the animal kingdom’s capacity for generosity, and find out how cooperation between animals may contribute to their survival.--Charles Darwin introduced the notion of “survival of the fittest,” where the fittest animals are those who can survive long enough to produce healthy offspring. The fittest animal can also be the most stealthy, resourceful, or even the most cooperative. So what exa...

Discover what factors helped Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” become the world’s most famous painting.--More than 500 years after its creation, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is arguably the world’s most famous painting. Many scholars consider it an outstanding work of Renaissance art— but history is full of great paintings. So, how did this particular portrait skyrocket to unprecedented fame? Noa...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/questioning-the-universe-stephen-hawkingIn keeping with the theme of TED2008, professor Stephen Hawking asks some Big Questions about our universe -- How did the universe begin? How did life begin? Are we alone? -- and discusses how we might go about answering them. Talk by Stephen Hawking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore how to build healthy habits when it comes to making, growing, and maintaining friendships.--Friendships can change how we see and move through the world. They can boost our academic performance, help us deal with setbacks, and even improve our health. And the relationships we form in adolescence can shape our beliefs, values, and emotional growth. But making and maintaining friends isn’t a...

How do we search for alien life if it's nothing like the life that we know? Christoph Adami shows how he uses his research into artificial life -- self-replicating computer programs -- to find a signature, a 'biomarker,' that is free of our preconceptions of what life is. (Filmed at TEDxUIUC.)Talk by Christoph Adami. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-aristotle-and-joshua-bell-can-teach-us-about-persuasion-conor-neill Imagine you are one of the world's greatest violin players, and you decide to conduct an experiment: play inside a subway station and see if anyone stops to appreciate when you are stripped of a concert hall and name recognition. Joshua Bell did this, and Conor Neill channels Aristo...

Discover the benefits of walking, and how this simple exercise can positively impact the health of your body and brain.--For years, Jean Béliveau walked from country to country, with the goal of circumnavigating the globe on foot. While few people have the time or desire to walk such extreme lengths, research shows that adding even a modest amount of walking to your daily routine can dramatically...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-there-a-center-of-the-universe-marjee-chmiel-and-trevor-owensIt's been a long road to the discovery that Earth is not the center of the Solar System, the Milky Way, or the universe; great thinkers from Aristotle to Bruno have grappled with it for millennia. But if we aren't at the center of the universe, what is? Marjee Chmiel and Trevor Owens discuss...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-find-the-true-face-of-leonardo-siegfried-woldhekMona Lisa is one of the best-known faces on the planet. But would you recognize an image of Leonardo da Vinci? Illustrator Siegfried Woldhek uses some thoughtful image-analysis techniques to find what he believes is the true face of Leonardo. Talk by Siegfried Woldhek. Learn more about your ad choice...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/detention-or-eco-club-choosing-your-future-juan-martinezGrowing up surrounded by gangs in South Central Los Angeles, Juan Martinez wasn't exposed to the great outdoors. One day in high school, he was given the life-changing choice between detention or Eco Club. He chose nature and has since devoted his life to getting kids back to the outdoors as a Natio...

Ada imagines how society would change if governments paid living organ donors. Should we receive compensation for our organs?--This is episode 2 of the animated series, “Ada.” This 5-episode narrative follows the young library assistant Ada as she juggles two worlds: her daily mundane reality and the future she vividly imagines for all humanity. Traveling through her visions of potential futures,...