TED-Ed

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/sylvia-earle-s-ted-prize-wish-to-protect-our-oceansLegendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet. Sylvia Earle has been at the frontier of deep ocean exploration for four...

Dig into the science of thermal batteries, and how this technology can generate heat more efficiently than fossil fuels.--Industrial manufacturers spend a huge amount of energy generating heat to make everyday materials and objects, like cement, steel, and paper. And since most companies use fossil fuels to reach these high temperatures, industrial heat accounts for 20% of our annual global carbon...

Dig into the complicated history of divorce— from the earliest known divorce laws in ancient Mesopotamia to modern day. --Formally or informally, human societies across place and time have made rules to bind and dissolve couples. The stakes of who can obtain a divorce, and why, have always been high. Divorce is a battlefield for some of society’s most urgent issues, including the roles of church a...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/curiosity-discovery-and-gecko-feet-robert-fullThe scientific method is widely used to make many scientific discoveries, but Robert Full suggests the possibility of finding world-changing results with less formulaic approaches. In his TEDYouth Talk, Full describes the unlikely way he studied gecko's feet and how these beneficial discoveries could eventual...

Dig into what makes head lice so difficult to get rid of, and the effectiveness of our most common treatments.--For as long as humans have had lice, we’ve fought hard to get rid of them. Nit combs, the fine-tooth brushes used to remove lice and their sticky eggs, have been found among the ancient remains of cultures across the globe. Today it’s estimated we spend billions of dollars each year trea...

What kind of data is your cell phone company collecting? Malte Spitz wasn't too worried when he asked his operator in Germany to share information stored about him. Multiple unanswered requests and a lawsuit later, Spitz received 35,830 lines of code -- a detailed, nearly minute-by-minute account of half a year of his life. Talk by Malte Spitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-tap-dancer-s-craft-andrew-nemrTap dance, born out of the marriage of African and European dance traditions, went from extremely popular to barely existent to grand revival, all in under a century. Professional tap dancer and TED Fellow Andrew Nemr taps into the history of this truly American art form. Lesson by Andrew Nemr, produced by TED-Ed. Learn mo...

Cosmologist Sean Carroll attacks -- in an entertaining and thought-provoking tour through the nature of time and the universe -- a deceptively simple question: Why does time exist at all? The potential answers point to a surprising view of the nature of the universe, and our place in it. (Filmed at TEDxCaltech.)Talk by Sean Carroll. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore how seawater desalination methods transform saltwater into potable freshwater, and what drawbacks this technology has.--Humans have been transforming seawater into potable freshwater for millennia. Today, billions of people can’t access clean drinking water, and 87 different countries are projected to be “water-scarce” by 2050. So, how can we use seawater desalination to combat water scarc...

Watch the whole lesson on http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-we-see-color-colm-kelleherHave you ever wondered what color is? In this first installment of a series on light, Colm Kelleher describes the physics behind colors-- why the colors we see are related to the period of motion and the frequency of waves. Lesson by Colm Kelleher, animation by Vitreous. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Take a turn behind the wheel to discover 5 helpful and simple tips to improve your driving and build confidence in your skills.--As one of the agency’s best employees, you’ve been selected as a finalist to take on a new top-secret mission. You’ve already shown your aptitude for surveillance and disguise, but the agency’s looking to test one last critical skill: how well you can drive. Can you prov...

Follow the spider Anansi on his quest to complete a challenge from the Sky God in order to take ownership of the world’s stories.--Long ago, all stories belonged to Nyame, the all-seeing Sky God. But one creature, Anansi, was determined to bring the stories down to Earth. Anansi went to Nyame and requested to take ownership of the world’s stories. The Sky God told Anansi that he could have all the...

Dive into the bowels of the animal kingdom to explore why animals fart, and find out which creature has the foulest flatulence. --For most humans, farts are a welcome relief, an embarrassing incident, or an opportunity for a gas-based gag. But for many other creatures, farts are no laughing matter. Deep in the bowels of the animal kingdom, farts can serve as tools of intimidation, acts of self-def...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/beyond-the-shadow-of-a-doubt-gina-cookeSay the word "doubt" aloud. What is that "b" doing there? Does it have any purpose? Gina Cooke explains the long and winding history of "doubt" and why the spelling, though it seems random, is a wink to its storied past. Lesson by Gina Cooke, animation by The Leading Sheep Studios. Learn more about your ad choices....

Dig into the science of enhanced rock weathering, a technology which takes carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it in rocks.--Mount Teide is one of the world’s largest active volcanoes, and there may be a way to use the basalt rock inside it to save humanity. Obviously, destroying an ancient volcano would cause catastrophic and unpredictable ecological fallout. But what if we harvested only so...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/philip-zimbardo-the-demise-of-guysPsychologist Philip Zimbardo asks, "Why are boys struggling?" He shares some stats (lower graduation rates, greater worries about intimacy and relationships) and the reasons behind them, while challenging the TED community to think about solutions. Talk by Philip Zimbardo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Dig into the history that inspired Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Macbeth,” and find out just how much of the play is based on real events.--Of all Shakespeare’s plays, perhaps none is stranger than “Macbeth”— a parable on power rife with supernatural elements. But according to texts from the 11th century, this tragedy has its roots in reality. What’s more, other accounts mention witches, prophecies, and...

Traditional lab tests for disease diagnosis can be too expensive and cumbersome for the regions most in need. George Whitesides' ingenious answer is a foolproof tool that can be manufactured at virtually zero cost. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)Talk by George Whitesides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine global security driven by collaboration -- among agencies, government, the private sector and the public. That's not just the distant hope of open-source fans, it's the vision of James Stavridis, a highly accomplished Navy Admiral. Stavridis shares vivid moments from recent military history to explain why security of the future should be built with bridges rather than walls. Talk by James...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/maajid-nawaz-a-global-culture-to-fight-extremismWhy do transnational extremist organizations succeed where democratic movements have a harder time taking hold? Maajid Nawaz, a former Islamist extremist, asks for new grassroots stories and global social activism to spread democracy in the face of nationalism and xenophobia in this powerful Talk from TEDGl...

Dig into the challenges of modern pastoralism, a form of agriculture where farmers guide livestock to seasonal grazing areas.--For millennia, livestock farmers strategically guided animals to seasonal grazing areas. This mobile way of life, known as pastoralism, provided them with wealth, social status, and political independence into the 20th century. But in the last century, political and econom...

Explore the middle ground fallacy, which assumes that the truth is always a compromise between two extreme opposing positions.--It’s 1819. The US is preparing to make Missouri and Maine new states. One representative insists that slavery shouldn’t be allowed in any new state. Another believes it should be a state’s right to choose. A compromise is proposed: slavery will be allowed in Missouri and...

Explore what would happen if all of humanity’s satellites disappeared and the real-life scenarios that could lead to such a catastrophe. --What would happen if one day all of humanity’s artificial satellites suddenly disappeared? Within hours, most of the planet’s traffic would grind to a halt, the world economy would shut down, and most countries would declare a state of emergency. Even in the be...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/ellen-dunham-jones-retrofitting-suburbiaEllen Dunham-Jones fires the starting shot for the next big sustainable design project: retrofitting suburbia. To come: Dying malls rehabilitated, dead "big box" stores reinhabited, and parking lots transformed into thriving wetlands. Talk by Ellen Dunham-Jones Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

Explore the classic poem, “Beowulf,” which follows a heroic prince as he fights to free a kingdom from the monster Grendel.--An epic written in Old English, “Beowulf” is known for its haunting monsters, dream-like language, and paranoid perspective, where violent threats are always waiting on the fringes of society. The action follows Beowulf, a prince of Geats, who travels to aid a kingdom in fre...