TED-Ed

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/dna-the-book-of-you-joe-hansonYour body is made of cells -- but how does a single cell know to become part of your nose, instead of your toes? The answer is in your body's instruction book: DNA. Joe Hanson compares DNA to a detailed manual for building a person out of cells -- with 46 chapters (chromosomes) and hundreds of thousands of pages covering eve...

Dig into the science of how psychedelic drugs affect your brain, and how they could be used for psychiatric treatment.--In 1943, chemist Albert Hofmann accidentally exposed himself to a drug he derived from ergot fungus and recorded its unexpected, mind-altering effects. The drug, lysergic acid diethylamide— or LSD— was soon heralded for its psychiatric potential. But how do LSD and other psychede...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/kevin-slavin-how-algorithms-shape-our-worldKevin Slavin argues that we're living in a world designed for -- and increasingly controlled by -- algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. Slavin also warns that we are writing code...

Why do we fill pauses in speech with words like “um,” “uh,” and “like”? Dig into the hesitation phenomenon to find out their linguistic significance.--For as long as we’ve had language, some people have tried to control it. And some of the most frequent targets of this communication regulation are the ums, ers, and likes that pepper our conversations. These linguistic fillers occur roughly 2 to 3...

Teaching is both a science and an art, and many teachers around the world spend endless hours perfecting their professional practice. At TEDActive 2013, a few teachers from the United States offer some tricks of the trade they've learned (and continue to hone) along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore 4 common misconceptions about Ancient Rome, and find out what living in this time period was actually like.--Minerva, the esteemed Roman goddess of reason, wisdom, handicrafts, and war, is judging a contest: duo vera et mendacium. Three brave contestants will put their knowledge about ancient Rome to the test. How much of what they know about the time period is actually true? And which con...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/margaret-wertheim-the-beautiful-math-of-coralScience writer Margaret Wertheim re-creates the creatures of the coral reefs using a technique invented by a mathematician -- simultaneously celebrating the amazements of the reef and deep-diving into the hyperbolic underpinnings of coral creation. Talk by Margaret Wertheim. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Explore the construction of California’s Golden Gate Bridge, and dig into the engineering innovations that made the structure possible.--Stretching 227 meters tall, two towers were assembled to support California’s Golden Gate Bridge. They were just one of the challenges facing engineers Charles Ellis and Joseph Strauss. Even before construction began, many thought the project impossible: the stra...

How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need -- as nations and individuals -- to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how non-violence works, she evokes historical heroes -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela -- and the personal philosophi...

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. In his talk, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults. (Filmed at TEDxEdmonton.)Talk by Cameron Herold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trace the history of bloodletting, a medical practice dating back to ancient Greece and its continued use into the 19th century.--Bloodletting was a pervasive medical practice that dates as far back as ancient Greece and continued well into the 19th century. Physicians like Hippocrates believed bad health could be attributed to a fluid imbalance, and recommended bloodletting to help reset the body...

Trace the strange history of Graham crackers, invented by minister Sylvester Graham in order to curb the vices of Americans.--In the 1800s, minister Sylvester Graham believed Americans had a big problem— not just with their bodies, but their souls. He argued that overindulgence was fueling their baser desires, making them immoral and oversexed. To curb this corruption, puritanical reformers advoca...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-genius-of-mendeleev-s-periodic-table-lou-sericoThe elements had been listed and carefully arranged before Dmitri Mendeleev. They had even been organized by similar properties before. So why is Mendeelev's periodic table the one that has endured? Lou Serico explains via eka-aluminum, an element whose existence Mendeelev predicted years before it was d...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/david-mccandless-the-beauty-of-data-visualizationDavid McCandless turns complex data sets, like worldwide military spending, media buzz, and Facebook status updates, into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut -- and it may just change the way we se...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-needle-in-countless-haystacks-finding-habitable-planets-ariel-anbarOut of billions of galaxies and billions of stars, how do we find Earth-like habitable worlds? What is essential to support life as we know it? Ariel Anbar provides a checklist for finding life on other planets. Lesson by Ariel Anbar, animation by TED-Ed. Learn more about your ad choice...

Puzzle through the ethical dilemma of intellectual property rights, and decide: how should we determine ownership of work?--In the city of Ockham, spellcasters invent incantations and publish them in scrolls that others can purchase. Unfortunately, you can’t always afford them. But one day, a friend tells you he uses an illegal duplication spell to copy scrolls. So, do you use his counterfeit scro...

Episode 4: Decide on a presentation plan that makes you feel prepared to communicate an idea to an audience confidently and passionately.--This is episode 4 of the animated series, “Public Speaking 101.” Ideas change everything — and since language lets us share our ideas, learning how to use it well gives speakers the power to inspire people and even change how they think. This 11-episode course...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/three-anti-social-skills-to-improve-your-writing-nadia-kalmanYou need social skills to have a conversation in real life -- but they're quite different from the skills you need to write good dialogue. Educator Nadia Kalman suggests a few "anti-social skills," like eavesdropping and muttering to yourself, that can help you write an effective dialogue for y...

Discover the world’s biggest battery and explore how inventors are creating other giant batteries to help power the world— sustainably. --As of 2020, the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery is hooked up to the Southern California power grid and can provide enough power for about 250,000 homes. But it's actually not the biggest battery in the world: a pair of lakes are. How can lakes be a battery?...

When two people are trying to make a deal -- whether they're competing or cooperating -- what's really going on inside their brains? Behavioral economist Colin Camerer shows research that reveals just how little we're able to predict what others are thinking. And he presents an unexpected study that shows chimpanzees might just be better at it than we are. (Filmed at TEDxCalTech.)Talk by Colin Cam...

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--It’s moments after the Big Bang and you’re still reeling. You’re a particle of matter, amidst a chaotic stew of forces, fusion, and annihilation. If you’re lucky and avoid being destroyed by antimatter, you’ll be the seed of a future galaxy. Can you ensure that you’re the last particle standing? James Tanton shows how. Lesson by James T...

Learn more at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--Ever since Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity, one equation has been the bane of humans hoping to explore the stars: E=mc². In addition to informing our understanding of gravity, space, and time, this formula implies that traveling at or beyond light speed is impossible. Why is that? Lindsay DeMarchi and Fabio Pacucci explain the physics...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-life-came-to-land-tierney-thysSpiders and crustaceans, also known as arthropods, led the charge from water to land--now outnumbering all terrestrial animals. But what about arthropods makes them so adaptable to life on land? Marine biologist Tierney Thys, and Noé Sardet and Sharif Mirshak of the Plankton Chronicles Project, shows us a world of fascin...

Travel into the digestive system to see how food is turned into waste, and what causes the different colors and textures of poop.--The average person poops out approximately 11,030 kilograms of cumulative waste in a lifetime. That’s the equivalent of more than 6 SUVs. Oftentimes, that poop is brown. Why is that, considering all the comestibles one consumes? And what’s going on when poop appears in...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/would-you-weigh-less-in-an-elevator-carol-heddenWhat happens when you jump in a moving elevator? Do you weigh more when you're going up and less when you're going down? Carol Hedden explores the relationship between gravity, weight, and relative motion, using a moving elevator to explain the fascinating physics. Lesson by Carol Hedden, animation by Londo...