TED-Ed

How does a fact become a misconception? Dig into the world of misinformation to see how facts can become distorted and misleading.--In 1901, David Hänig published research that led to what we know today as the taste map: an illustration that divides the tongue into four separate areas. It has since been published in textbooks and newspapers. There is just one problem: the map is wrong. So how do m...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-the-shape-of-a-molecule-george-zaidan-and-charles-mortonA molecule is nearly all empty space, apart from the extremely dense nuclei of its atoms and the clouds of electrons that bond them together. When that molecule forms, it arranges itself to maximize attraction of opposite charges and minimize repulsion of unlike. George Zaidan and Charles Mo...

In this engaging talk, world champion whistler Geert Chatrou performs the whimsical "Eleonora" by A. Honhoff, and his own "Fête de la Belle." In a fascinating interlude, he talks about what brought him to the craft. (Filmed at TEDxRotterdam .)Talk by Geert Chatrou. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the psychology of how memories are susceptible to false information and why we shouldn’t treat them as truth.--In a 1990’s study, participants recalled getting lost in a shopping mall as children. Some shared these memories in vivid detail, but there was one problem: none of these people had actually gotten lost in a mall. They produced these false memories after psychologists told them t...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-uncertain-location-of-electrons-george-zaidan-and-charles-mortonThe tiny atoms that make up our world are made up of even tinier protons, neutrons and electrons. Though the number of protons determine an atom's identity, it's the electrons -- specifically, their exact location outside the nucleus -- that particularly perplex scientists. George Zaidan...

Uncover the rich history of illuminated manuscripts and the often bizarre images that filled the margins of medieval books.--A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban craftspeople, populate the margins of the...

In this funny and blunt talk, Larry Smith pulls no punches when he calls out the absurd excuses people invent when they fail to pursue their passions. (Filmed at TEDxUW.)Talk by Larry Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her talk, Ali Carr-Chellman pinpoints three reasons boys are tuning out of school in droves, and lays out her bold plan to re-engage them: bringing their culture into the classroom, with new rules that let boys be boys, and video games that teach as well as entertain. (Filmed at TEDxPSU.)Talk by Ali Carr-Chellman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore how synthetic biologists are programming bacteria to fight cancer by manipulating their DNA. --In 1884, an unlucky patient who had a rapidly growing cancer in his neck came down with an unrelated bacterial skin infection. As he recovered from the infection, the cancer surprisingly began to recede. The infection had stimulated the patient’s immune system. Today, synthetic biologists program...

Learn how to identify, develop, and share your best ideas with TED Masterclass: http://bit.ly/tedmasterclass --What we call language is something more specific than communication. Language is about sharing what’s in our minds: stories, opinions, questions, the past or future, imagined times or places, ideas. It is fundamentally open-ended, and can be used to say an unlimited number of things. So w...

In 2010, technologist Tan Le took the TEDGlobal stage to demo a powerful new interface. But now, at TEDxWomen, she tells a very personal story: the story of her family -- mother, grandmother and sister -- fleeing Vietnam and building a new life. (Filmed at TEDxWomen.)Talk by Tan Le. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-science-of-attraction-dawn-maslarRomantic chemistry is all about warm, gooey feelings that gush from the deepest depths of the heart...right? Not quite. Actually, the real boss behind attraction is your brain, which runs through a very quick, very complex series of calculations when assessing a potential partner. Dawn Maslar explores how our five sen...

Get to know Amy Tan’s novel “The Joy Luck Club,” a series of interconnected vignettes centered around four Chinese American families. --In her Auntie An-mei’s home, Jing-Mei reluctantly takes her seat at the eastern corner of the mahjong table. At the north, south and west corners are her aunties, long-time members of the Joy Luck Club. This gathering is the point of departure for a series of inte...

Explore the differences between weather and climate – what they are, how we predict them, and what those predictions can tell us. --From 2016 to 2019, the world saw record-breaking heat waves, rampant wildfires, and the longest run of category 5 tropical cyclones on record. The number of extreme weather events has been increasing for the last 40 years, and current predictions suggest that trend wi...

When Ramona Pierson was 22, she was hit by a drunk driver and spent 18 months in a coma. In this talk, she tells the remarkable story of her recovery -- drawing on the collective skills and wisdom of a senior citizens' home. (Filmed at TEDxDU.)Talk by Ramona Pierson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Puzzle through the classic game theory challenge, The Prisoner’s Dilemma, and decide: would you choose to spare or sacrifice? --Two perfectly rational gingerbread men, Crispy and Chewy, are out strolling when they’re caught by a fox. Instead of simply eating them, he decides to put their friendship to the test with a cruel dilemma. He’ll ask each gingerbread man whether he’d opt to Spare or Sacrif...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-atoms-bond-george-zaidan-and-charles-mortonAtoms can (and do) bond constantly; it's how they form molecules. Sometimes, in an atomic tug-of-war, one atom pulls electrons from another, forming an ionic bond. Atoms can also play nicely and share electrons in a covalent bond. From simple oxygen to complex human chromosome 13, George Zaidan and Charles M...

Why do our muscles get tired and sore after exercise? Explore how our muscles function, and how you can exercise longer without experiencing muscle fatigue.--You're lifting weights. The first time feels easy, but each lift takes more and more effort until you can’t continue. Inside your arms, the muscles responsible for the lifting have become unable to contract. What’s going on? Christian Moro ex...

Join #TeamSeas! Together, we're going to raise $30M to remove 30M pounds of plastic and trash from our ocean, rivers and beaches. Learn more and get involved here: https://bit.ly/3mrdV3JTrace the history of the invention of plastic, and how the material ushered in what became known as the plastics century.--For centuries, billiard balls were made of ivory from elephant tusks. But when excessive hu...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-sweaty-teacher-s-lament-justin-lambJustin Lamb would love to be the compassionate teacher. Or the tough but fair teacher. He'd even settle for the wacky teacher, if it meant he could shake his current, less flattering alias: the sweaty teacher. In "Sweaty Teacher," a lively spoken word performance, Lamb defends the "geysers he calls armpits," remindi...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-oil-and-water-mix-john-pollardSalt dissolves in water; oil does not. But why? You can think of that glass of water as a big, bumpin' dance party where the water molecules are always switching dance partners -- and they'd much rather dance with a salt ion. John Pollard explains how two chemistry principles, energetics and entropy, rule the dance...

In her talk, Melinda Gates makes a provocative case for nonprofits taking a cue from corporations such as Coca-Cola, whose plugged-in, global network of marketers and distributors ensures that every remote village wants -- and can get -- a Coke. Why shouldn't this work for condoms, sanitation, vaccinations too? (Filmed at TEDxChange.)Talk by Melinda French Gates. Learn more about your ad choices....

Discover Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic, “Dune,” which tells the story of a man catapulted into the middle of a planetary revolution. --A mother and son trek across an endless desert. Wearing special suits to dissipate heat and recycle moisture, the travelers aren’t worried about dying of thirst. Their fears are much greater. Soon, the sound of the desert is drowned out by a hissing: a mo...

Explore how fiber optics uses light to transmit data over long distances, and with integrated photonics, expands our virtual world beyond the internet.--In 2012, a team of researchers set a world record, transmitting 1 petabit of data— that’s 10,000 hours of high-def video— over a fifty-kilometer cable, in a second. This wasn’t just any cable. It was a souped-up version of fiber optics, the hidden...

Dennis Hong introduces seven award-winnning, all-terrain robots -- like the humanoid, soccer-playing DARwIn and the cliff-gripping CLIMBeR -- all built by his team at RoMeLa, Virginia Tech. Watch to the end to hear the five creative secrets to his lab's incredible technical success. (Filmed at TEDxNASA.)Talk by Dennis Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices