TED-Ed

View full lesson here: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-plural-word-s-john-mcwhorterAll it takes is a simple S to make most English words plural. But it hasn't always worked that way (and there are, of course, exceptions). John McWhorter looks back to the good old days when English was newly split from German -- and books, names and eggs were beek, namen and eggru! Lesson by John McWho...

Dig into the 4 biggest existential risks that threaten the survival of humanity, and explore how we can safeguard our future.--With the invention of the atomic bomb, humanity gained the power to destroy itself for the first time in our history. Since then, our risk of either extinction or the collapse of civilization has steadily increased. Just how likely are we to destroy ourselves? And what pos...

Mice, bugs and hamsters are no longer the only way to study the brain. Functional MRI (fMRI) allows scientists to map brain activity in living, breathing, decision-making human beings. Read Montague gives an overview of how this technology is helping us understand the complicated ways in which we interact with each other. Talk by Read Montague. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-new-way-to-diagnose-autism-ami-klinEarly diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can improve the lives of everyone affected, but the complex network of causes make it incredibly difficult to predict. At TEDxPeachtree, Ami Klin describes a new early detection method that uses eye-tracking technologies to gauge babies' social engagement skills and reliably...

Trace the rise and fall of the Islamic Empire, from the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century to the sacking of Baghdad. --In the 7th century CE, the prophet Muhammad united the people of the Arabian Peninsula through the formation of Islam. Over the next 30 years, caliphs conquered vast areas beyond Arabia, including their mighty neighbors the Persians and Byzantines. But an empire this vast was at...

Dig into how foreign corporations exploit African nations like Mali for their gold mining, and often rob them of proper compensation.--In 2020, Mali produced over 71 tons of gold— an amount worth billions of dollars. But Mali saw only $850 million dollars from that gold. And this situation isn’t unique: a number of other gold-rich countries in Africa aren’t seeing the income they should given the...

When a new drug gets tested, the results of the trials should be published for the rest of the medical world -- except much of the time, negative or inconclusive findings go unreported, leaving doctors and researchers in the dark. In this impassioned talk, Ben Goldacre explains why these unreported instances of negative data are especially misleading and dangerous. Talk by Ben Goldacre. Learn more...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-mysterious-workings-of-the-adolescent-brain-sarah-jayne-blakemoreWhy do teenagers seem so much more impulsive, so much less self-aware than grown-ups? Cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore compares the prefrontal cortex in adolescents to that of adults, to show us how typically "teenage" behavior is caused by the growing and developing brain...

Is infinite economic growth possible on a planet with finite resources? Explore how countries can balance efficiency with sustainability.--Many economists think that an eternally growing economy is necessary to keep improving people’s lives, and that if the global economy stops growing, people would fight more over the fixed amount of value that exists, rather than working to generate new value. W...

Download a free audiobook version of "Take a Nap: Change Your Life" by Sara Mednick or Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed--Your eyes get heavy and gradually close… But wait! It’s only lunch time and you still have so much to do. Would taking a nap help? Or would it derail your day? Well, that depends on a few things— especially wh...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mining-literature-for-deeper-meanings-amy-e-harterWriting a great English paper can be tough because literature doesn't always reveal its deeper meanings immediately. You might not know Mr. Darcy's true feelings for Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" or grasp the complex moral universe of Toni Morrison's "Beloved" at first reading....

Discover the tradition of worm grunting, and find out why earthworms come to the surface when they sense vibrations in the earth.--In the middle of Florida’s Apalachicola National Forest, a bizarre, almost magical scene is unraveling. Sliding a metal strip over a wooden stake, a master summoner is sending deep croaking noises reverberating throughout the area. And, as if in a trance, hundreds of e...

Because of poor acoustics, students in classrooms miss 50 percent of what their teachers say and patients in hospitals have trouble sleeping because they continually feel stressed. Julian Treasure sounds a call to action for designers to pay attention to the "invisible architecture" of sound. Talk by Julian Treasure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get to know the life and works of poet Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who became one of colonial America’s most famous writers.--In 1775, General George Washington received a poem from one of colonial America’s most famous writers. Its verses praised the burgeoning revolution, invoking the goddess of their new nation to aid the general’s cause. But this ode to liberty wasn’t written by some a...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/gyotaku-the-ancient-japanese-art-of-printing-fish-k-erica-dodgeHow did fishermen record their trophy catches before the invention of photography? In 19th century Japan, fishing boats were equipped with rice paper, sumi-e ink, and brushes in order to create gyoktaku: elaborate rubbings of freshly caught fish. K. Erica Dodge recounts the story of this comp...

Dig into the science of touchscreens, and find out the difference between the two most common types: capacitive and resistive.--In 2010, South Korea experienced a particularly cold winter. People couldn’t activate their smartphones while wearing gloves, so they began wielding snack sausages— causing one company to see a 40% rise in sausage sales. So, what could sausages do that gloves couldn’t? In...

When a squirrel chewed through a cable and knocked him offline, journalist Andrew Blum started wondering what the Internet was really made of. So he set out to go see it -- the underwater cables, secret switches and other physical bits that make up the net. Talk by Andrew Blum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into Agatha Christie’s writing style to find out how she crafted her mystery novels and how to employ these strategies in your own work. --With almost 100 mystery novels, each one a cleverly constructed puzzle box of clues, misdirection, and human drama, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her eccentric detectives, clever clues, and simplified suspects have stumped countl...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danleyView original lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danleySlam poetry packs an emotional punch by using powerful verbal metaphors; animation can do the same using visual tools. TED-Ed animators show how two separate techniques -- rotoscoping and more traditional hand-drawn an...

Trace the history and evolution of the Spanish language, from its origins in the 3rd century BCE to modern day. --Beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans conquered the Iberian peninsula. This period gave rise to several regional languages in the area that’s now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. One of these would become Spanish— but not for another 1,500 years. Those years...

Map designer Aris Venetikidis is fascinated by the maps we draw in our minds as we move around a city -- less like street maps, more like schematics or wiring diagrams, abstract images of relationships between places. How can we learn from these mental maps to make better real ones? As a test case, he remakes the notorious Dublin bus map. (Filmed at TEDxDublin)Talk by Aris Venetikidis. Learn more...

Download a free audiobook version of “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle“ and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed--How do you know you’re a person who has lived your life, rather than a just-formed brain full of artificial memories, momentarily hallucinating a reality that doesn’t actually exist? That may sound absurd, but it’s kept several generations of top cosm...

One day, Ed Gavagan was sitting on the subway, watching two young med students practicing their knots. And a powerful memory washed over him -- of one shocking moment that changed his life forever. An unforgettable story of crime, skill and gratitude. Talk by Ed Gavagan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-on-earth-is-spin-brian-jonesWhy does the Earth spin? Does a basketball falling from a spinning merry-go-round fall in a curve, as it appears to, or in a straight line? How can speed be manipulated while spinning? In short, why is the spinning motion so special? Brian Jones details the dizzyingly wide array of ways that spinning affects our lives. Le...

Discover the scientific process art conservators use to restore centuries-old paintings and fix the damage of past restorations. --Prior to the mid-20th century, art restorers took a heavy-handed approach, often drastically altering paintings in the name of “improving” art. Today, they focus on keeping the original work intact with minimal intervention, and must regularly contend with past modific...