TED-Ed

At TEDxRotterdam, Bart Weetjens talks about his extraordinary project: training rats to sniff out land mines. He shows clips of his "hero rats" in action, and previews his work's next phase: teaching them to turn up tuberculosis in the lab. Talk by Bart Weetjens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/dissecting-botticelli-s-adoration-of-the-magi-james-earleThe scene of the three wise men offering gifts to a newborn Jesus was widely painted during the Renaissance era, so how did painter Sandro Botticelli create a version that's still well known today? James Earle describes who and what set Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi apart in the annals of art...

Follow the nighttime routine of a vampire bat as it hunts for prey, and find out how these unique creatures work together to survive.--Vampire bats are the only mammals to subsist on blood alone. Their ancient ancestors might have eaten parasites and insects off larger animals until vampire bats began feeding directly from those animals themselves. So, how do these nocturnal creatures find their s...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-does-math-guide-our-ships-at-sea-george-christophWithout math, would our seafaring ancestors ever have seen the world? Great mathematical thinkers and their revolutionary discoveries have an incredible story. Explore the beginnings of logarithms through the history of navigation, adventure and new worlds. Lesson by George Christoph, animation by the...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/making-sense-of-spelling-gina-cookeWhat can spelling tell us about relationships between words? While spelling may sometimes seem random or unexpected, this lesson illuminates how peeling back the layers of spelling helps us understand the complex history and meaningful structure of words. Lesson by Gina Cooke, animation by The Leading Sheep (http://www....

Dig into why there is so much trash orbiting Earth, and find out what could happen if the debris continues to accumulate.--There are over 131 million pieces of debris currently whipping around the planet. They range in size from a grain of sand to the size of an entire bus. These orbital debris pose a serious threat to the thousands of satellites that underpin Earth’s vital technologies. So, how c...

Explore different philosophers’ ideas on immortality and dig into their theories about the positives and negatives of eternal life.--While cleaning out your uncle’s attic you find a chest with a sparkling potion. The attached tag declares drinking this liquid will make you immortal. Your body will be frozen at its current age, and these effects would be final and irreversible. The instructions are...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/describing-the-invisible-properties-of-gas-brian-bennettHow do you explain the properties of something we can't see? See how scientists use scientific principles, such as gravity, to observe gases. This lesson explores gases and how we have come to know what we know about them. Lesson by Brian Bennett, animation by Cognitive Media. Learn more about your...

View full lesson on ed.ted.com http://ed.ted.com/lessons/jane-hirshfield-the-art-of-the-metaphorHow do metaphors help us better understand the world? And, what makes a good metaphor? Explore these questions with writers like Langston Hughes and Carl Sandburg, who have mastered the art of bringing a scene or emotion to life. Lesson by Jane Hirshfield, animation by Ben Pearce Learn more about your a...

Get to know the story of the Mirabal sisters, who led a revolution against Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. --For over 30 years, thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured, and murdered under Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Three sisters would go on to lead an underground revolution. But while their courage inspired many, it threatened the man...

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--It’s your first day as Center Realm’s official cartographer, and you’ve already got a big problem. Center Realm is home to three elder dragons: two ice, one fire, and they’ve lived in harmony for centuries. But scouts have sighted three fire dragons and five ice dragons flying towards the region. Can you figure out where to place the ne...

Opera singer Denyce Graves-Montgomery shares how to find your voice, range, breath, and, ultimately, your truth.--"Think Like A Musician" connects you with working musicians who want to help the music-curious and music-passionate hone and share the gift of music with the world. Part interview, part animated course, our first season "Think Like A Performer" features artists sharing their insight on...

Download a free audiobook and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed--Bizarre things happen in dreams: you fly, or conjure an all-you-can-eat buffet out of thin air, or get chased by witches through the halls of your school. But the strange things that happen in dreams don’t seem strange at the time. So, how do you know you’re not in a dream right now? Is there a way to...

Catherine the Great presided over a golden age of Russian expansion — but was she a dedicated ruler or a ruthless oppressor?--Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia for over three decades, used strategic dalliances, military might, and cutting-edge philosophy to modernize, expand, and transform the Russian Empire. But was she a dedicated ruler determined to move Russia into the future, or a ruthle...

View full lesson on ed.ted.com http://ed.ted.com/lessons/1207-1-a-bennet-brianh264How can bottles and balloons help explain the different laws that govern gas? See how Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and Avogadro's Law help us understand the laws that govern gas properties. Lesson by Brian Bennett, animation by Cognitive Media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Improve your understanding of molecular properties with this lesson on the fascinating property of chirality. Your hands are the secret to understanding the strange similarity between two molecules that look almost exactly alike, but are not perfect mirror images. Lesson by Michael Evans, animation by Safwat Saleem and Qa'ed Tung. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore the science of sinkholes, how they commonly form, and what human activities can also trigger them.--It was a rainy December morning in San Francisco when the Earth opened up. The ground suddenly fell away into a 12-meter-deep sinkhole that engulfed a garage, part of a street, and a multi-million-dollar mansion. Sinkholes can seem to strike out of nowhere, but they’re more common than peopl...

Explore different poverty intervention and aid programs, and how direct cash giving can address a community's needs.--In 2018, a nonprofit gave every adult in the Ahenyo village $500. Most families had lived in extreme poverty for generations, and this sum was roughly equivalent to their annual salaries. The money came with no strings attached to how it could be spent. Would this lift villagers ou...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mysteries-of-vernacular-zero-jessica-oreck-and-rachael-teelThough the first written number system can be dated back to 2500 years ago in Mesopotamia, a zero-like symbol did not appear until 7th century CE India. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel track the evolution of zero from a dot to the symbol we use today, as well as the Arabic, Italian and French root...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-story-behind-your-glasses-eva-timothyWhat scientific thinkers and achievements have led to vast improvements in optics over the centuries? Discover the fascinating ways that our understanding of light informs the world in which we live. Lesson by Eva Timothy, animation by Matt Snyman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watch full lesson here: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/joshua-manley-newton-s-3-laws-with-a-bicycleWhy would it be hard to pedal a 10,000 pound bicycle? This simple explanation shows how Newton's 3 laws of motion might help you ride your bike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daphne Koller is enticing top universities to put their most intriguing courses online for free -- not just as a service, but as a way to research how people learn. With Coursera (cofounded by Andrew Ng), each keystroke, quiz, peer-to-peer discussion and self-graded assignment builds an unprecedented pool of data on how knowledge is processed. Talk by Daphne Koller. Learn more about your ad choice...

View full lesson on ed.ted.com http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-twisting-tale-of-dna-judith-hauckWhat do a man, a mushroom, and an elephant have in common? A very long and simple double helix molecule makes us more similar and much more different than any other living thing. But, how does a simple molecule determine the form and function of so many different living things? Lesson by Judith Hauck, ani...

Get to know the Japanese legend of Hōichi the earless, a monk summoned by a mysterious samurai to perform songs of past battles.--Long ago, a temple was built near the site of a naval battle that concluded the long and gruesome conflict known as the Genpei Wars. For centuries after, performers throughout the country honored this tragic past in beautiful, haunting performances. But the most skilled...

Discover how much electricity humanity uses, and how clean energy sources could help revolutionize our energy supply in the future. --All around the world, millions of people are flipping a switch, plugging in, and pressing an ‘on’ button every second. So how much electricity does humanity use? And how much will we need in the future? Discover how much energy it takes to power the world, and how c...