TED-Ed

Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee has two powerful stories to tell -- of her own life's transformation and of the untapped potential of girls around the world. Can we transform the world by unlocking the greatness of girls? Talk by Leymah Gbowee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-cameras-see-that-our-eyes-don-t-bill-shribmanOur eyes are practically magical, but they cannot see everything. For instance, the naked eye cannot see the moment where all four of a horse's legs are in the air or the gradual life cycle of plants -- but cameras can capture these moments. Bill Shribman gives examples where photography can pick up where...

Explore the differences between farmed meat, plant-based meat, and lab-grown meat, and find out which is best for you and the planet.--In 2021, a survey of over 1,000 Americans found that nearly two-thirds had eaten plant-based meat alternatives in the past year. Many cited potential health and environmental benefits as their motivation. But are these alternative meats actually better for us and t...

Dig into the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which suspended Chinese immigration to the U.S. and blocked Chinese immigrants from citizenship.--In 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first federal law that restricted immigration based explicitly on nationality. In practice, the Act banned entry to all ethnically Chinese immigrants besides diplomats, and prohibited...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mysteries-of-veracular-jade-jessica-oreck-and-rachael-teelNow known for its beauty and green hue, the stone jade was previously thought to espouse magical properties, such as kidney treatment. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain the word's travels from 15th century to Spain to today (and why the word jaded is unrelated by root). Lesson by Jessica Orec...

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-beginning-of-the-universe-for-beginners-tom-whyntieHow did the universe begin -- and how is it expanding? CERN physicist Tom Whyntie shows how cosmologists and particle physicists explore these questions by replicating the heat, energy, and activity of the first few seconds of our universe, from right after the Big Bang. Lesson by Tom Whyntie, anima...

Explore the diverse and vital ecosystem of the Everglades, and discover why the alligator is so essential to the region.--Despite alligators ruling the swamplands of the Everglades for millennia, the last 500 years have brought deadly new predators that challenge their reign. And the origins of these international invaders are just as unexpected as their impact on the Everglades. So, what exactly...

What does a disgusting image have to do with how you vote? Equipped with surveys and experiments, psychologist David Pizarro demonstrates a correlation between sensitivity to disgusting cues -- a photo of feces, an unpleasant odor -- and moral and political conservatism. (Filmed at TEDxEast.) Talk by David Pizarro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into why jellyfish populations have increased, and how leatherback sea turtles can help get their numbers under control.--Over the past two decades, jellyfish have begun to overwhelm our oceans. If things stay on their current trajectory, we could be headed for a future where the entire ocean is thick with jellyfish. So, is there anything that can keep these gelatinous creatures under control?...

Explore the viability of wooden skyscrapers, and see how cross-laminated timber (CLT) helps make these once impossible structures possible.--Towering 85 meters above the Norwegian countryside, Mjøstårnet is the world’s tallest wooden building, made almost entirely from the trees of neighboring forests. But as recently as the end of the 20th century, engineers thought it was impossible to build a w...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/self-assembly-the-power-of-organizing-the-unorganized-skylar-tibbitsFrom something as familiar as our bodies to things vast as the formation of galaxies, we can observe the process of self-assembly, or when unordered parts come together in an organized structure. Skylar Tibbits explains how we see self-assembly at work in biology and chemistry -- and eve...

Explore the psychology behind how good and bad habits are formed, and get tips on how to manage these behaviors.--Many people deal with a nail-biting habit at some point in their lives. Some will go to great lengths to try to stop, employing strategies like dipping their hands in salt or wearing gloves. And while not all of us are nail-biters, most of us do have a habit we’d like to kick. So, what...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/healthier-men-one-moustache-at-a-time-adam-garoneAdam Garone has an impressive moustache, and it's for a good cause. A co-founder of Movember, Garone's initiative to raise awareness for men's health -- by having men grow out their moustaches every November -- began as a dare in a bar in 2003. Now, it's a worldwide movement that raised $126 million for pr...

Explore the differences between how a car’s internal combustion engine and an electric vehicle’s induction motor use fuel.--In 2015, two men drove a Volkswagen across the US on just over 100 gallons of fuel. Their 81-mile-per-gallon performance doubled the car’s estimated fuel rating, and set the record for the lowest fuel consumption ride of a diesel car. The duo were experts in techniques that m...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/da-vinci-s-vitruvian-man-of-math-james-earleWhat's so special about Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man? With arms outstretched, the man fills the irreconcilable spaces of a circle and a square -- symbolizing the Renaissance-era belief in the mutable nature of humankind. James Earle explains the geometric, religious and philosophical significance of this d...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-light-switch-for-neurons-ed-boydenEd Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural pros...

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--Ah, spring. As Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, it’s your favorite season. Humans and animals look to you to balance the bounty of the natural world which, like any self-respecting Goddess, you do with a pair of magical dice. But then, along comes the trickster god Loki, who invades your land and curses your dice. Can you fix the dice a...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/different-ways-of-knowing-daniel-tammetDaniel Tammet has linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia -- meaning that his perception of words, numbers and colors are woven together into a new way of perceiving and understanding the world. The author of "Born on a Blue Day," Tammet shares his art and his passion for languages in this glimpse into his beau...

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Explore how your circadian system acts as an internal clock to keep your body functioning.--An early bird rises with the sun, springing out of bed abuzz with energy. Meanwhile, a night owl groggily rises much later, not hitting their stride until late in the day. How many people are truly night owls or early birds? And are our sleep schedules predetermined at...

Dig into the Rubber Terror, the period in which King Leopold II’s horrific regime in the Congo resulted in the deaths of 10 million people.--In 1904, Chief Lontulu laid 110 twigs in front of a foreign commission. Every twig represented a person in his village who died because of King Leopold’s brutal regime in the Congo. His testimony joined hundreds of others to help bring an end to one of the gr...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-rosetta-stone-for-the-indus-script-rajesh-raoRajesh Rao is fascinated by "the mother of all crossword puzzles" - how to decipher the 4000 year old Indus script. At TED 2011, he tells how he is enlisting modern computational techniques to read the Indus language, the key piece to understanding this ancient civilization. Talk by Rajesh Rao. Learn more ab...

Dig into the truth about piranhas and their feeding frenzies, and find out what would likely happen if you fell into their waters.--You’re peering into the Amazon River when, suddenly, you lose your footing and fall. Piranhas dart about in the rapidly approaching water. So, are you doomed? Will your fall trigger a feeding frenzy that will skeletonize your body within minutes? Antonio Machado-Allis...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/try-something-new-for-30-days-matt-cuttsIs there something you've always meant to do, wanted to do, but just ... haven't? Matt Cutts suggests: Try it for 30 days. This short, lighthearted talk offers a neat way to think about setting and achieving goals. Talk by Matt Cutts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover the symbolism of Kazimir Malevich’s “Black Square,” and how it pushed the boundaries of what art is and what it can be.--In 1915, an exhibition of radical artworks opened in Russia. Many pieces pushed the boundaries of form and style, but one was particularly controversial: Kazimir Malevich’s “Black Square.” Criticized as simple and uninspired, Malevich’s work is more complicated than it...

Today medical scans produce thousands of images and terabytes of data for a single patient in mere seconds, but how do doctors parse this information and determine what's useful? In this talk, scientific visualization expert Anders Ynnerman shows us sophisticated new tools -- like virtual autopsies -- for analyzing this myriad data, and a glimpse at some sci-fi-sounding medical technologies in dev...