TED-Ed

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/tededUploaded 13-12-18View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brie-f-history-of-cheese-paul-s-kindstedtBefore empires and royalty, before pottery and writing, before metal tools and weapons – there was cheese. As early as 8000 BCE, Neolithic farmers began a legacy of cheesemaking almost as old as civilization. Today, the world produces rou...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-we-pass-gas-purna-kashyapUploaded 08-09-14Flatulence is a daily phenomenon. In fact, most human beings pass gas 10-20 times a day (yes, that includes you). Where does your bodily gas come from? Purna Kashyap takes us on a journey into the intestines, shedding light on how gas is made, which foods contribute most to its production...and why it stin...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 17-12-18View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/from-slave-to-rebel-gladiator-the-life-of-spartacus-fiona-radfordSpartacus was enslaved — one of millions taken from territories conquered by Rome to work the mines, till the fields or fight for a crowd’s entertainment. Imprisoned for deserting the Roma...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/corruption-wealth-and-beauty-the-history-of-the-venetian-gondola-laura-morelliUploaded 04-09-14It’s hard to imagine Venice without the curious, banana-shaped gondolas that glide down the canals. How did these boats come to be the trademark transportation of Venice? Laura Morelli details the history of the gondola, explaining why these boats were needed,...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 18-12-18--A male firefly emits a series of enticing flashes. He hopes a female will respond and mate with him. A female from a different species mimics his patterns: by tricking the male, she lures him in -- and turns him into a meal. Where else do we see this kind of trickery in the animal kingdom? Eldri...

Dig into the principles of the exposure effect, which helps music listeners become active participants through repetition. Uploaded 02-09-14--How many times does the chorus repeat in your favorite song? How many times have you listened to that chorus? Repetition in music isn’t just a feature of Western pop songs, either; it’s a global phenomenon. Why? Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis walks us through t...

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd/Solution to bonus riddle: https://brilliant.org/TedEdTrollParadox/Uploaded 20-12-18You and your brother have discovered another realm and set off exploring the new wonderful world. Along the way, you see a troll catching creatures in an enormous net. The troll agrees to release the creatures if you can come up with a statement that is bo...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-did-dogs-teach-humans-about-diabetes-duncan-c-fergusonUploaded 28-08-14Diabetes has a history dating back to Ancient Greece. Our treatment of it, however, is more recent and was originally made possible with the help of man's best friend. Due to physiological traits shared with humans, dogs have saved countless lives through the discovery of insulin...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 03-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-history-of-the-world-according-to-cats-eva-maria-geiglIn ancient times, wildcats were fierce carnivorous hunters. And unlike dogs, who have undergone centuries of selective breeding, modern cats are genetically very similar to ancient cats. How did...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-happens-when-you-remove-the-hippocampus-sam-keanUploaded 26-08-14When Henry Molaison (now widely known as H.M.) cracked his skull in an accident, he began blacking out and having seizures. In an attempt to cure him, daredevil surgeon Dr. William Skoville removed H.M.'s hippocampus. Luckily, the seizures did go away — but so did his long-term memory!...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 07-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-thor-got-his-hammer-scott-a-mellorLoki the mischief-maker, writhes in Thor’s iron grip. The previous night, he’d snuck up on Thor’s wife and shorn off her beautiful hair. To fix what he’d done, Loki rushes to the dwarves and tricks them into making...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/feedback-loops-how-nature-gets-its-rhythms-anje-margriet-neutelUploaded 25-08-14While feedback loops are a bummer at band practice, they are essential in nature. What does nature’s feedback look like, and how does it build the resilience of our world? Anje-Margriet Neutel describes some common positive and negative feedback loops, examining how an ecosys...

Explore the possibility of surviving a nuclear explosion and dig into a scientifically supported plan of action in case of a detonation. Uploaded 08-01-19--Nuclear weapons are some of the most powerful tools of destruction on Earth, and the full scope of a nuclear detonation is almost unimaginable. However, there is a scientifically supported plan of action that could save thousands of lives. What...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-can-schrodinger-s-cat-teach-us-about-quantum-mechanics-josh-samaniUploaded 21-08-14The classical physics that we encounter in our everyday, macroscopic world is very different from the quantum physics that governs systems on a much smaller scale (like atoms). One great example of quantum physics’ weirdness can be shown in the Schrödinger's cat thoug...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 10-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-multiplying-rabbits-riddle-alex-gendlerAfter years of experiments, you’ve finally created the pets of the future – nano-rabbits! They’re tiny, they’re fuzzy ... and they multiply faster than the eye can see. But a rival lab has sabotag...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-tornadoes-form-james-spannUploaded 19-08-14Tornadoes are the most violent storms on Earth, with wind velocities that can exceed 200 miles per hour. How do these terrifying cyclones form? Meteorologist James Spann sheds light on the lifespan of tornadoes as they go from supercell thunderstorms to terrible twisters before eventually dissolving back...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 14-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-truth-about-electroconvulsive-therapy-ect-helen-m-farrellIn 1982, a young nurse was suffering from severe, unrelenting depression. She couldn’t work, socialize or concentrate. One controversial treatment changed everything: after two courses of elec...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-past-present-and-future-of-the-bubonic-plague-sharon-n-dewitteUploaded 18-08-14The bubonic plague, which killed around 1/5 of the world’s population in the 14th century, is still around today -- but it now claims only a few thousand lives each year. How did that number shrink so drastically? Sharon N. DeWitte investigates the causes and effects of th...

Find out how students can share their ideas as TED Talks here: http://bit.ly/2zpAQUcUploaded 15-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-myth-of-pandora-s-box-iseult-gillespiePandora was the first mortal woman, breathed into being by Hephaestus, god of fire. The gods gave her gifts of language, craftsmanship and emotion. From Zeus she received two gifts: the trait of curiosity and a h...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-you-know-you-exist-james-zuckerUploaded 14-08-14How do you know you’re real? Is existence all just a big dream? Has some mad scientist duped us into simply believing that we exist? James Zucker investigates all of these questions (and more) in this mind-boggling tribute to René Descartes’s "Meditations on First Philosophy."Lesson by James Zucker,...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 17-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-mongolian-queen-anne-f-broadbridgeAs dawn breaks over a moveable city of ten thousand yurts, Queen Boraqchin readies her kingdom for departure to their summer camping grounds. While her husband, the grandson of Genghis Khan, is ou...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-optical-illusions-trick-your-brain-nathan-s-jacobsUploaded 12-08-14Optical illusions are images that seem to trick our minds into seeing something different from what they actually are. But how do they work? Nathan S. Jacobs walks us through a few common optical illusions and explains what these tricks of the eye can tell us about how our brains asse...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 22-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-should-you-read-fahrenheit-451-iseult-gillespieRay Bradbury’s novel imagines a world where books are banned- and possessing, let alone reading them, is forbidden. The protagonist, Montag, is a fireman responsible for destroying what remains. The sto...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-secret-lives-of-baby-fish-amy-mcdermottUploaded 11-08-14Coral reef fish, like the yellow tang surgeonfish, begin life in a fascinating and weird way – as tiny floating larvae! These babies are capable of drifting thousands of miles on ocean currents, far from the reefs where they were born. Amy McDermott describes how these tiny trekkers travel acros...

Explore the science of the groundbreaking technology for editing genes, called CRISPR- Cas9, and how the tool could be used to cure diseases. Uploaded 24-01-19--From the smallest single-celled organism to the largest creatures on Earth, every living thing is defined by its genes. With recent advancements, scientists can change an organism’s fundamental features in record time using gene editing to...