TED-Ed

Get to know the life and works of poet Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who became one of colonial America’s most famous writers.--In 1775, General George Washington received a poem from one of colonial America’s most famous writers. Its verses praised the burgeoning revolution, invoking the goddess of their new nation to aid the general’s cause. But this ode to liberty wasn’t written by some a...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/gyotaku-the-ancient-japanese-art-of-printing-fish-k-erica-dodgeHow did fishermen record their trophy catches before the invention of photography? In 19th century Japan, fishing boats were equipped with rice paper, sumi-e ink, and brushes in order to create gyoktaku: elaborate rubbings of freshly caught fish. K. Erica Dodge recounts the story of this comp...

Dig into the science of touchscreens, and find out the difference between the two most common types: capacitive and resistive.--In 2010, South Korea experienced a particularly cold winter. People couldn’t activate their smartphones while wearing gloves, so they began wielding snack sausages— causing one company to see a 40% rise in sausage sales. So, what could sausages do that gloves couldn’t? In...

When a squirrel chewed through a cable and knocked him offline, journalist Andrew Blum started wondering what the Internet was really made of. So he set out to go see it -- the underwater cables, secret switches and other physical bits that make up the net. Talk by Andrew Blum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into Agatha Christie’s writing style to find out how she crafted her mystery novels and how to employ these strategies in your own work. --With almost 100 mystery novels, each one a cleverly constructed puzzle box of clues, misdirection, and human drama, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her eccentric detectives, clever clues, and simplified suspects have stumped countl...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danleyView original lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danleySlam poetry packs an emotional punch by using powerful verbal metaphors; animation can do the same using visual tools. TED-Ed animators show how two separate techniques -- rotoscoping and more traditional hand-drawn an...

Trace the history and evolution of the Spanish language, from its origins in the 3rd century BCE to modern day. --Beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans conquered the Iberian peninsula. This period gave rise to several regional languages in the area that’s now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. One of these would become Spanish— but not for another 1,500 years. Those years...

Map designer Aris Venetikidis is fascinated by the maps we draw in our minds as we move around a city -- less like street maps, more like schematics or wiring diagrams, abstract images of relationships between places. How can we learn from these mental maps to make better real ones? As a test case, he remakes the notorious Dublin bus map. (Filmed at TEDxDublin)Talk by Aris Venetikidis. Learn more...

Download a free audiobook version of “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle“ and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed--How do you know you’re a person who has lived your life, rather than a just-formed brain full of artificial memories, momentarily hallucinating a reality that doesn’t actually exist? That may sound absurd, but it’s kept several generations of top cosm...

One day, Ed Gavagan was sitting on the subway, watching two young med students practicing their knots. And a powerful memory washed over him -- of one shocking moment that changed his life forever. An unforgettable story of crime, skill and gratitude. Talk by Ed Gavagan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-on-earth-is-spin-brian-jonesWhy does the Earth spin? Does a basketball falling from a spinning merry-go-round fall in a curve, as it appears to, or in a straight line? How can speed be manipulated while spinning? In short, why is the spinning motion so special? Brian Jones details the dizzyingly wide array of ways that spinning affects our lives. Le...

Discover the scientific process art conservators use to restore centuries-old paintings and fix the damage of past restorations. --Prior to the mid-20th century, art restorers took a heavy-handed approach, often drastically altering paintings in the name of “improving” art. Today, they focus on keeping the original work intact with minimal intervention, and must regularly contend with past modific...

Take a look inside the conehead termite colony as a queen begins her reign as one of the longest living insects in the animal kingdom.--A single determined termite braves countless threats to participate in the only flight of her lifetime. She evades the onslaught of predators as she lands, flips off her wings, secretes pheromones, and attracts a mate. But she's not alone. Unlike most termite spec...

Discover the unique adaptations that make the Atlantic bluefin tuna one of the most dominant predators in the ocean.--What’s as big as a polar bear, swallows its prey whole, and swims at forty miles an hour? It’s not a shark or a killer whale... it’s the Atlantic bluefin tuna— the largest and longest-lived of the 15 tuna species. Its unique set of adaptations make it one of the most dominant preda...

Cross-country skier Janine Shepherd hoped for an Olympic medal -- until she was hit by a truck during a training bike ride. She shares a powerful story about the human potential for recovery. Her message: you are not your body and giving up old dreams can allow new ones to soar. Talk by Janine Shepherd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the experiment known as the lost wallet test, and find out the surprising results of this study of honesty.--Picture this: you’re working a shift in a hotel lobby when someone approaches the front desk. They found a lost wallet around the corner, but they’re in a rush and don’t have time to follow up. Looking at the wallet you see it contains a key, grocery list, about $13, and three busi...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore the benefits and drawbacks of the gig economy, and find out the key factors of becoming a successful freelancer.--A 2016 survey of freelancers in six countries found that those who freelance by choice– 70% of respondents– were happier than people in traditional jobs, specifically when it came to things like independence and flexibility in terms of where and when they work. So what does it...

Imagine having a surgery with no knives involved. At TEDMED, Yoav Medan shares a technique that uses MRI to find trouble spots and focused ultrasound to treat such issues as brain lesions, uterine fibroids and several kinds of cancerous growths. Talk by Yoav Medan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-space-trying-to-kill-us-ron-shaneyfeltHow likely is it that a massive asteroid will do major damage to Earth and its inhabitants? What about the sun -- is it dying out anytime soon? And the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way -- should we be worried about that? Ron Shaneyfelt assesses the dangers of space. Lesson by Ron Shaneyfelt,...

Download a free audiobook version of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring“ and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed--More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato recounted the legend of the Ring of Gyges in “Republic.” The story of the ring surfaces as the philosopher, Socrates, and his student discuss why people act justly: is it because it’s...

Explore the history of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and find out how old words get redefined and how new words are added. --While the concept of a dictionary dates back to ancient civilizations, the first English dictionary wasn’t published until 1604. In the centuries that followed, many more dictionaries were written by individual authors who chose what to include or exclude, with most quickly...

Oceanographer Paul Snelgrove shares the results of a ten-year project with one goal: to take a census of all the life in the oceans. He shares amazing photos of some of the surprising finds of the Census of Marine Life. Talk by Paul Snelgrove. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/making-a-ted-ed-lesson-animationEver wondered how a TED-Ed animation is made? Go behind-the-scenes of "How do cancer cells behave differently from healthy ones" with educator George Zaidan, animation director Biljana Labovic, and animator Lisa LaBracio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enter the mind of a bored teenager to discover what happens in the brain when we daydream and find out what purpose it serves.--On a daily basis, you spend between a third and half of your waking hours daydreaming. That may sound like a huge waste of time, but scientists think it must have some purpose, or humans wouldn’t have evolved to do so much of it. So, what exactly happens in the brain whil...