TED-Ed

Dig into the Bengali tale of a trio of siblings who attempt to scale the fearsome Magic Mountain to gain treasures for their home.--Inspired by a king’s visit, a trio of siblings began building a palace, traveling far and wide to collect rare jewels, seeds, and marble. A holy man stopped by and told them of a Magic Mountain, east of north and north of east, where they’d find their most meaningful...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-case-against-good-and-badDon't take the easy route! Instead, use this little trick to improve your writing -- let go of the words "good" and "bad," and push yourself to illustrate, elucidate and illuminate your world with language. Lesson by Marlee Neel, animation by The STUDIO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Puzzle through this classic ethical dilemma and decide: does your upbringing affect your moral responsibility for your actions?--Jo the First is a ruthless dictator who rules with an iron fist. To most onlookers, his rule appears cruel and unjust. But for his beloved son JoJo, this life is all he’s ever known and he grows up to inherit his father’s role and style of rule. Given JoJo’s unusual upbr...

Could someone hack your pacemaker? At TEDxMidAtlantic, Avi Rubin explains how hackers are compromising cars, smartphones and medical devices, and warns us about the dangers of an increasingly hack-able world. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)Talk by Avi Rubin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a "religion for atheists" -- call it Atheism 2.0 -- that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence. Talk by Alain de Botton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/calculating-the-odds-of-intelligent-alien-lifeCould there be intelligent life on other planets? This question has piqued imagination and curiosity for decades. Explore the answer with the Drake Equation -- a mathematical formula that calculates the possibility of undiscovered life. Lesson by Jill Tarter; Animation by TED-Ed Learn more about your ad choic...

Professional musicians share what makes a great pop song, and how to grow your songwriting skills to make your music stand out.--"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 second season "Think Like A Songwriter" features artists sharing...

Dig into the Irish myth of lovers Gráinne and Diarmuid, and follow their journey as they flee from her betrothed, Fionn.--Gráinne, princess of Tara and bride-to-be, was furious. She had thought she was betrothed to a young soldier, bold and brilliant enough to be her equal. Yet it soon became clear she was expected to marry Fionn, a warrior far past his prime. Not willing to suffer this insult, Gr...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-pain-relievers-workSome people take aspirin or ibuprofen to treat everyday aches and pains, but how exactly do the different classes of pain relievers work? Learn about the basic physiology of how humans experience pain, and the mechanics of the medicines we've invented to block or circumvent that discomfort. Lesson by George Zaidan, animated by A...

Dig into the era of the Spanish Inquisition, when the Catholic Church was charged with rooting out and punishing heresy.--In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV issued a decree authorizing the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, to root out heresy in the Spanish kingdoms. The inquisition quickly turned its attention to ridding the region of people who were not part of the Catholic Church— leading to more...

Dig into the epic of Mwindo, a boy seeking vengeance upon his power-hungry and murderous father who has fled to the underworld.--If any of his wives ever birthed a son, he’d be killed immediately. That was the threat Shemwindo, ruler of the village of Tubondo, had delivered, for he wanted all the power to himself. But he was about to meet his match— and enter a rivalry that would take him to the u...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-contributions-of-female-explorers-courtney-stephensDuring the Victorian Age, women were unlikely to become great explorers, but a few intelligent, gritty and brave women made major contributions to the study of previously little-understood territory. Courtney Stephens examines three women -- Marianne North, Mary Kingsley and Alexandra David-Néel -- w...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-speed-up-chemical-reactions-and-get-a-dateThe complex systems of high school dating and chemical reactions may have more in common than you think. Explore five rules for speeding up chemical reactions in the lab that might just land you a date to a dance! Lesson by Mark Paricio & Aaron Sams, animation by Cognitive Media. Learn more about your ad c...

Explore the viruses which can cause herpes, how the infection affects your body, and what makes it so hard to prevent and cure.--In the 1st century CE, Emperor Tiberius made an unprecedented decision: banning kissing at all public events. This move was aimed at thwarting a puzzling outbreak, which many historians believe was an epidemic of oral herpes. Today, more than half the population is infec...

After a crisis, how can we tell if water is safe to drink? Current tests are slow and complex, and the delay can be deadly, as in the cholera outbreak after Haiti's earthquake in 2010. TED Fellow Sonaar Luthra previews his design for a simple tool that quickly tests water for safety -- the Water Canary. Talk by Sonaar Luthra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-wacky-history-of-cell-theoryScientific discovery isn't as simple as one good experiment. The weird and wonderful history of cell theory illuminates the twists and turns that came together to build the foundations of biology. Lesson by Lauren Royal-Woods, animation by Augenblick Studios. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore the 5 most common misconceptions about the Viking Age, and find out what living as a Viking was actually like.--The Viking Age. When medieval, horn-helmeted Scandinavian men ravaged Europe, scribbling mysterious runes and toasting their victories in goblets forged from enemy skulls before bidding farewell in fiery funerals. Except… that’s not quite how it went. So, what were the Vikings ac...

Travel through the history of mapmaking and discover what big mistakes cartographers made about the world’s geography.--For thousands of years, people made both functional maps and what are known as cosmographies, illustrating the earth and its position in the cosmos, often including constellations, gods, and mythic locations. These maps were meant to depict the world's geography, but weren't nece...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-key-to-media-s-hidden-codesColors, camera angles and logos in the media can all prompt immediate associations with emotions, activities and memories. Learn to decode the intricate system of symbols that are a part of everyday life -- from media messages to traffic signs. Lesson by Ben Beaton, animation by TED-Ed. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--After much debate, the realm has decided dragon jousting may not be the best way to choose its leaders, and has begun transitioning to democracy. Your company was hired to survey the citizens of the land and predict which candidate will win. There’s a lot riding on this: if you get it wrong, heads— well, your head— will quite literally...

Explore what causes vaginal discharge, what’s a healthy baseline, and how to identify when there are unhealthy changes in the fluids.--Our bodies are constantly producing, purging, and recycling secretions to fulfill all sorts of functions. Our reproductive organs are no exception. Vaginas are engaged in ongoing cycles of fluid discharge. But it can be hard to know what is "normal" when there’s a...

One bag of apples, one apple, one slice of apple -- which of these is one unit? Explore the basic unit of math (explained by a trip to the grocery store!) and discover the many meanings of one. Lesson by Christopher Danielson, animation by TED-Ed. View the full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/one-is-one-or-is-it Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--In 1900, Greek divers stumbled upon a 2,000-year-old shipwreck whose contents would shake our understanding of the ancient world. Among the remains were fragments of mangled wood and corroded metal, which archaeologists soon realized were parts of the oldest geared device ever discovered — and humankind’s first computer. So, how did it work? Max G. Levy e...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/an-exercise-in-time-perception-matt-danzicoWhy is that some experiences feel like they last forever, while others fly by? We tend to miscalculate the time it takes to engage in novel activities due to the influence of memories. Matt Danzico explains why your childhood feels like it lasted forever and why that beach vacation seemed like two months rather...

For a full year, A.J. Jacobs followed every piece of health advice he could -- from applying sunscreen by the shot glass to wearing a bicycle helmet while shopping. Onstage at TEDMED, he shares the surprising things he learned. Talk by A. J. Jacobs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices