TED-Ed

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/disappearing-frogs-kerry-m-krigerFrogs (and amphibians in general) are in danger -- worldwide, nearly one-third of the world's amphibian species are on the verge of extinction. And yet, frogs contribute to our well-being in many important ways. Kerry M. Kriger describes why frogs are in trouble and how you can help save them. Lesson by Kerry M. Kriger, a...

Will Bai Su Zhen, the white snake demon, and her love, Xu Xian, ever be free of the meddling monk? (Part Two of the myth of the white snake).--Xu Xian had just received an invitation to the opening ceremony of a new temple. His wife, Bai Su Zhen, warned him not to attend, but Xu Xian, a devout Buddhist, felt obligated to make an appearance. What they didn’t know was that these invitations had come...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/should-you-trust-your-first-impression-peter-mende-siedleckiYou can't help it; sometimes, you just get a bad feeling about someone that's hard to shake. So, what's happening in your brain when you make that critical (and often lasting) first judgment? Peter Mende-Siedlecki shares the social psychology of first impressions -- and why they may indicate tha...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-was-the-point-of-the-space-race-jeff-steers On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik and, with it, an international space race. The United States and the Soviet Union rushed to declare dominance of space for 18 years, until the two countries agreed to a more collaborative model. The real winner? Science. Jeff Steers descri...

The adventure continues! Episode 6: Ethic, Hedge, and Octavia must find a way to cross the bottomless ravine to get to the tower. Can they make it before the guards return? --This is episode 6 of our animated series “Think Like A Coder.” This 10-episode narrative follows a girl, Ethic, and her robot companion, Hedge, as they attempt to save the world. The two embark on a quest to collect three art...

Explore the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, how it affects the brain and scientists’ search for a cure.--Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting over 40 million people worldwide. And though it was discovered over a century ago, scientists are still grappling for a cure. Ivan Seah Yu Jun describes how Alzheimer's affects the brain, shedding light on t...

Plunge into the ocean’s depths to take a closer look at the sea lion’s hunting skills, and to learn more about how climate change is affecting its habitat. --Sunning themselves on rocks or waddling awkwardly across the beach, it’s easy to think of sea lions more as sea house cats. But don’t be fooled by their beachside behavior. Under the waves, sea lions are incredible endurance hunters, reaching...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-good-news-of-the-decade-hans-roslingHans Rosling reframes 10 years of UN data with his spectacular visuals, lighting up an astonishing -- mostly unreported -- piece of front-page-worthy good news: We're winning the war against child mortality. Along the way, he debunks one flawed approach to stats that blots out such vital stories. (Filmed at TEDxCha...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/nature-s-smallest-factory-the-calvin-cycle-cathy-symingtonA hearty bowl of cereal gives you the energy to start your day, but how exactly did that energy make its way into your bowl? It all begins with photosynthesis, the process that converts the air we breathe into energizing glucose. Cathy Symington details the highly efficient second phase of photosy...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-video-games-part-i-safwat-saleemVideo games are everywhere these days, but where did they actually come from? The history of video games is a complicated story that involves giant computers in science labs, the founder of Chuck E. Cheese and billions of dollars in quarters. Safwat Saleem examines the evolution of the beloved world of g...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/urbanization-and-the-future-of-cities-vance-kiteAbout 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers, aided by rudimentary agriculture, moved to semi-permanent villages and never looked back. With further developments came food surpluses, leading to commerce, specialization and, many years later with the Industrial Revolution, the modern city. Vance Kite plots our u...

Get to know the Russian classic “The Master and Margarita,” a genre-defying blend of political satire and occult mysticism about a visit from the Devil.--The Devil has come to town. But don’t worry– all he wants to do is stage a magic show. This absurd premise forms the central plot of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, “The Master and Margarita.” Its blend of political satire, historical fiction and...

Get to know the life of West African revolutionary Thomas Sankara, and his pursuit of liberating Burkina Faso from colonial rule.--In 1972, Thomas Sankara was swept into the revolution seeking to wrest control of Madagascar from France’s lingering colonial rule. The protests inspired the West African native to read works by socialist leaders and seek wisdom from military strategy. Leaving Madagasc...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/sugar-hiding-in-plain-sight-robert-lustigWhile sugar is easy to spot in candy, soft drinks and ice cream, it also hides out in foods you might not expect -- including peanut butter, pasta sauce and even bologna! Robert Lustig decodes confusing labels and sugar's many aliases to help determine just how much of that sweet carbohydrate makes its way into ou...

Discover history’s first empire: Sumer, located in Mesopotamia, which built the world’s first cities and created the first writing system.--History’s first empire rose out of a hot, dry landscape, without rainfall to nourish crops, without trees or stones for building. In spite of all this, its inhabitants built the world’s first cities, with monumental architecture and large populations— and they...

A classroom erupts into a war of words as students grapple with a seemingly simple prompt: what is the opposite of a gun?--A TED-Ed ProductionA film by Anna Samo + Lisa LaBracioA poem by Brendan ConstantinePoem performed by Brendan ConstantineSound Design by Weston FongerAnimation & Design by Anna Samo + Lisa LaBracioProduced by Gerta XheloThis animation is part of our series, "There's a Poem for...

Dig into the psychology of political partisanship, how to recognize it and what strategies can be used to combat it. --Can someone’s political identity actually affect their ability to process information? The answer lies in a cognitive phenomenon known as partisanship. While identifying with social groups is an essential and healthy part of life, it can become a problem when the group’s beliefs a...

Download a free audiobook version of "Children of Time" and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-edCheck out our full book recommendation: https://shop.ed.ted.com/collections/ted-ed-book-recommendations/products/children-of-time--Imagine a distant future when humans reach beyond Earth, forge cities on planets thousands of light-years away, and maintain a galactic web of...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-many-ways-can-you-arrange-a-deck-of-cards-yannay-khaikinOne deck. Fifty-two cards. How many arrangements? Let's put it this way: Any time you pick up a well shuffled deck, you are almost certainly holding an arrangement of cards that has never before existed and might not exist again. Yannay Khaikin explains how factorials allow us to pinpoint the ex...

Dig into the ancient manuscripts, scrolls, and books of Timbuktu— and find out why they’ve been hidden for centuries. --On the edge of the vast Sahara desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness. They buried chests in the desert sand, hid them in caves, and sealed them in secret rooms. Inside these chests was a treasure more valuable than gold: the city’s ancient...

Dig into the burden of proof fallacy, which assumes that something is true unless proven false and relies on arguments from ignorance.--It’s 1950. Anti-communist sentiment in the United States is at an all-time high. Senator Joseph McCarthy claims he has a list of communists who are influencing government policy. He makes his first accusation without providing any legitimate evidence, yet the sena...

Discover how scientists are using light and integrated photonics technology to create medical devices that can diagnose illness.--It’s an increasingly common sight in hospitals around the world: a nurse measures our height, weight, blood pressure, and attaches a glowing plastic clip to our finger. Suddenly, a digital screen reads out the oxygen level in our bloodstream. How did that happen? Sajan...

Learn how Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, and how the antibiotic has changed medicine and the treatment of infections. --In 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming returned to his lab and found something unexpected: a colony of mold growing on a Petri dish he’d forgotten to place in his incubator. And around this colony of mold was a zone completely and surprisingly clear of bacteria. What was...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/lee-hotz-inside-an-antarctic-time-machineScience columnist Lee Hotz describes a remarkable project at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, where a hardy team are drilling into ten-thousand-year-old ice to extract vital data on our changing climate. Robert Lee Hotz is the science columnist for the Wall Street Journal, where he writes about cutting-edge research on cl...

Learn about the science of stem cells and how these incredible, transforming cells could lead to personalized medicine for individual bodies.--Is personalized medicine for individual bodies in our future? Possibly -- with the use of stem cells, undifferentiated cells with the power to become any tissue in our bodies. Craig A. Kohn describes the role of these incredible, transforming cells and how...